Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Interesting product, but just another one that has been added to the long list of software products that lack the fundamental design principles. The product's sales people try to make up for the lack of fundamental design flaws with unfounded and inaccurate claims. i.e.
1. "Turn PC files into optimized, small file-size PDF documents". I believe the person that wrote this did not have a strong understanding of the English language. I purchased the product to allow a PowerPoint slide file (file size 578K) to be emailed in a "small file-size". ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional 2.0 turned the file into a five (5) times larger file! Even with ScanSoft technical support on the phone with me for almost an hour, the smallest size was over 2000K!
2. "System Requirements...Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.1 or above". What I did not see listed was a requirement for a active internet connection. What a surprise to find that I actually have to be actively connected to get the activation process to work. What private information is ScanSoft collecting off my computer? I purchased a legitimate retail version from a Office Depot, a legitimate retailer. Why is ScanSoft so paranoid? What other design flaws have they included, due to their paranoia?
Here are some other interesting concerns:
3. During the installation process, there is no option to tell the software not to install in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc. What a surprise when I open up my PowerPoint to find that it takes five (5) times longer to load! Instead of 2 seconds, it now takes 10 seconds! Why did it take so long? Well, ScanSoft has now decided to load itself into every Microsoft product on my computer! It was not happy with just loading itself as a printer driver, it loaded itself on all my Office main menus and in my submenus! What else has it done without me knowing? Is it also sending my private information off somewhere? ScanSoft looks more like a SpyWare program than a PDF converter.
4. Now for the software return process...if you like to jump through hoops, try a return. I call up to return the product and I get what I think are the requirements. FAX a copy of the receipt and wait for a check. Sorry, the next day I get five (5) emails telling me five different things that I have to do from three (3) different people. Does this sound like out-sourcing? Yes!!! This explains it all to me. (I digress, this is a review of ScanSoft PDF Convertor 2.0, not of out-sourcing!)
5. Well, I think that I have jumped through all their hoops, now I will wait for a check. Does "check is in the mail" sound familiar? I wonder how long it takes a check to travel from India to the US?
6. The adventure is not over yet. Now, I have to clean up all the garbage on my hard drive and in my registry that the ScanSoft PDF Convertor Professional 2.0 Uninstaller program left. What no Uninstaller program? I sure hope that the Windows XP Add/Remove program can work properly! But it relies on an installation list provided by ScanSoft! I am in trouble. Yes, it is time to manually edit my System Registry (Do not try this at home. This a job for a technical professional.)
7. ScanSoft PDF Convertor Professional 2 is a great example of how not to design and implement software! Yes, it is only $99 which looks like a lot better deal than Adobe Acrobat. How many dollars have I wasted trying to get ScanSoft to do what the sales people wrote on the box? How many dollars am I going to waste trying to get ScanSoft PDF Convertor Professional 2.0 off my computer?
Here is my advice:
A. Buy software products with caution
B. Do your research (read reviews)
C. Beware of software products that have major software design flaws.
D. With poorly designed software the total cost is not what you paid the retailer for it!
E. Outsourcing is not the answer for technical support!
Click Here to see more reviews about: PDF Converter 2 Professional
Get 48% OFF
Click here for more information about PDF Converter 2 Professional
0 comments:
Post a Comment