topbarfade

Software Reviews

by RamirLopez

The reviews and opinions below are posted by SnapFiles visitors. They do not necessarily reflect our opinion, and are solely based on the experience of individual users.

iTunes
  • Freeware
  • Win2000/XP/Vista

qleft  Check the menus. no "play." no "ope  qright

iTunes version 7.0.2
  • Interface: 2
  • Features: 2
  • Ease of use: 2
  • Value: 4
  • Overall: 2

An mp3 player should require nothing more than ordinary Explorer tools. Drag, drop, delete. Software intended for playing CDs or audio files yet offers no "Play" or "open file" options from the Menus strikes me as strange, to say the least. iTunes is a bloated, Byzantine amalgamation of features designed to LIMIT what you can play, keep track how many times you can play it, then guides you to a "store" where you can buy audio files. There is no functionality offered by iTunes that is not provided by other applications WITHOUT the limitations and the pushing to buy that afflict iTunes. Read the fine print. iTunes only "permits" you to play or burn the same playlist seven times. I have freeware rippers, burners, players that perform quite well. File Management can be adequately performed using Windows Explorer. Drag, Drop, delete, play, and open are all I need. [Editor: Please note that iTunes is not designed to be used with just any MP3 player. It is a companion application for the Apple iPod device]

    Review date: Mar 09, 2007

Playlist Creator
  • Freeware
  • Win2000/XP/Vista

qleft  Small and useful  qright

Playlist Creator version 3.0.3
  • Interface: 3
  • Features: 3
  • Ease of use: 4
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 4

Browsing over my mp3 collections, I often spot a variety of mp3's that I want to have ready as playlists for future projects. Playlist creation is a component of several of my larger audio programs, but I don't want to opening these multi-featured larger aps until I need their other advanced features. When that time comes, I have my collection of playlists made with Playlist Creator ready to go. The FILE menu does not offer a "CLOSE" or "NEW" option. The option to "CLEAR THE PLAYLIST" is confusing, possibly leading users to think they are deleting the playlist just created. Many may find it self-evident that "CLEAR THE PLAYLIST" means "prepare to create new playlist," but, when using new aps, I've been fooled more than once by guessing at what might be self-evident. In any case, I find Playlist Creator convenient and useful.

    Review date: Apr 02, 2006

Visual CD
  • Freeware
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  Visual cd: an indispensable tool  qright

Visual CD version 2.0
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 5
  • Ease of use: 5
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 5

Visual CD is an indispensable tool for me. I use it to maintain a very large collection of installation files, digital camera uploads, MP3s and other audio and multimedia files. Visual CD's option to generate and save thumbnails within its catalogs is a lifesaver. I also use visual CD to make play-lists. I include printout reports of the catalogs in my albums of CDs. There are other features not mentioned in the Snapfiles description of the application, but the thumbnail feature and the tool to generate play-lists are the first that come to mind. I have used Visual CD for more than three years with no problems.I have experienced neither crashes nor significant discrepancies in file-size reports. (Mentioned by others who evaluated this app.) Without Visual CD, my collections of CDs, application-installation files, jpgs, MP3s, and other files would be as useless as a PC without a file manager. Problems with earlier releases? Try this newer release. RamirLopez

    Review date: Nov 08, 2005

EssentialPIM Free
  • Freeware
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  Be careful with the "contacts" feature  qright

EssentialPIM Free version 1.5.3
  • Interface: 5
  • Features: 5
  • Ease of use: 3
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 4

The CONTACTS feature invites the user to move the fields in any way preferred, implying that one can change the order of FNAME, LNAME, STREET, CITY, Home Phone, etc. Do not take the risk. It might be safe if done before entering any data; however, when I made changes in the order of fields after entering many contacts, the database was corrupted by the action, and I've found no way to restore or recover. Luckily, the data can still be brought up (with error messages), but PRINT is disabled. I assumed that my changes would affect only onscreen view. The "MOVE" option of the CONTACTS feature should be disabled after the first entry. it may be "common sense" to keep the default order of the fields. But it is also "common sense" to use features offered in the application, assuming that the developer would not include "MOVE" options in the GUI if using the options presents high risks to the users' databases.

    Review date: Jul 15, 2005

cdTree Standard
  • Freeware
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  Nag, nag, nag. and to pay for common features  qright

cdTree Standard version 3.14
  • Interface: 3
  • Features: 2
  • Ease of use: 4
  • Value: 1
  • Overall: 2

Scanning one folder of my hard drive with cdTree, I received no less than four NAG interruptions. Things got worse when I tried to export to HTML. The nagging is relentless. cdTree ran more slowly on my PC (XP SP2) than the other two snapfiles freeware downloads I tried. And the other two freeware products provided extra features free of charge available only in the paid version of cdTree. I agree with the first reviewer of cdTree. If you want fast and accurate cataloging of your CDs, with export options, reading/reporting of compressed archive contents, jpg thumbnails, and other good features, you can do much better with other Snapfile offerings. (I thought we were not supposed to name names of other applications, but I agree with the first reviewer's opinion, even though the reviewer did not select my personal favorite of catalog aps.) Considering the better options in freeware, I'm going to uninstall cdTree. It's freeware I would rate as too expensive. RamirLopez

    Review date: Jun 07, 2005

AxCrypt
  • Freeware
  • Win2000/XP/Vista

qleft  One dangerous omission  qright

AxCrypt version 1.5.4.2
  • Interface: 5
  • Features: 2
  • Ease of use: 5
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 4

This application does not allow password protection. Anybody can encrypt all your files in your absence. I tried other programs to encrypt the AxCrypt.exe, but had no success. (Some of the other opinions I read here made me wonder if we were all talking about the same application. AxCrypt does indeed encrypt and decrypt entire folders.) The only flaw I find is one that I consider quite serious: AxCrypt is a little too convenient for anybody who uses your computer. I find no way to PASSWORD PROTECT the use of AxCrypt, so it stands ready to allow anybody who can get to your computer to encrypt all your files. All such programs should allow the user password protection of the ENCRYPTION program. You should be the only one with the rights to encrypt your files.

    Review date: May 05, 2005

WinHTTrack
  • Freeware
  • WinWin (All)

qleft  Best Freeware of its Kind  qright

WinHTTrack
  • Overall: 5

I ve used this program for several years, and it just keeps getting better. Even though newer operating systems have facilitated a greater degree of site downloading, the extra features of WinHTTrack are wonderful. WinHTTrack has served me well under WIN98, NT4, WIN2K on Dell, Gateway, Packard Bell, and HP PCs. As a government employee, I have frequent need of entire sites containing data, graphs, text items, forms, PDF files etc. relevant to Departmental business. WinHTTrack has been a lifesaver for my making deadlines on presentations of up-to-the-minute information. I m just getting ready for my first go at WinHTTrack on a Dell using XP OS.

    Review date: Feb 10, 2004

WinHTTrack

WinHTTrack

&premieretext;

Spytech SpyAgent

Spytech SpyAgent

A powerful monitoring solution to record PC activity, including keystrokes, email and more.

Demo Builder

Demo Builder

Create interactive Flash movies and tutorials to show how applications and systems work