Reviews by brian

brian says "If you thought the Windows version was bad..." about Intuit QuickBooks Pro 2007 Full Version for Mac

brian — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 16:30:56 GMT

As a small business owner, I've got no choice but to use Quickbooks for my accounting application. It's not the greatest thing in the world, but my accountant also uses it, so Quickbooks is essential in sharing my company's information with him. Trouble is, I was a Windows guy when I purchased and started using Quickbooks. Since becoming a Mac user, the only solution has been to use my existing Quickbooks for Windows inside Parallels or Boot Camp. I try to avoid using Windows as much as possible, so the other day, I decided to bite the bullet and plunk down the $200 for the Mac version.

I was definitely disappointed. They've tried to take the functionality of the Windows version and jam it into a Mac-like interface. The result is clunky and rather cumbersome. It also lacks some key features (or at least, I couldn't find them) from the Windows version, the most important for me being manual payroll (we only have two employees, not worth the $25-30 per month for a payroll service)....

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brian says "Might be a great console... but I wouldn't know" about Microsoft - Xbox 360 Premium Console

brian — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 21:41:09 GMT

I really like the Xbox 360. The games have stunning HD visuals and surround sound, and are a lot of fun overall. Playing with your buddies online (via Xbox Live) is also a blast. Gears of War, Guitar Hero, and Madden have kept me up late many a night.

However; unfortunately for me, this is not my first Xbox 360. Or my second. It's actually my fourth console since it was released in November 2005, and I have to send it back in for service... yet again. And, Microsoft has decided to outsource the whole support staff to an offshore company that's not all that interested in your problems, walking you through a long automated system and canned script before finally letting you send it in for repair. Each time, they've sent me a refurbished unit that's worse than the last. (Games freeze. The unit overheats. The eject button doesn't work. Just to name a couple of the issues I've had.)

The only reason I'd still recommend the Xbox 360 to a friend is because I know that not everyone......

brian says "This Crackberry tops them all" about Blackberry - Pearl Smartphone Cell Phone

brian — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:39:09 GMT

I've owned a couple of Blackberrys in the past, and while I've always loved the always-on e-mail and web browsing capabilities, I was never crazy about the bulky form-factor. Anyone who has a "regular" Blackberry knows what I'm talking about... not too fun to carry around in your pocket.

With the Pearl, at last we have a Blackberry that looks and feels like an actual phone! Same great push e-mail and phone features, in a much smaller, sleeker form-factor. To achieve the reduction in size, a predictive text keyboard is used instead of a full keyboard like in other Blackberrys. Unlike a normal cellphone keypad, however, there are only two letters per key, and it's nearly flawless.

Bottom line, if you're willing to trade a full-keyboard for a really good predictive text one and a much smaller, sexier device with the same great Blackberry features, go with the Pearl.

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brian says "I want my Tivo back!" about DIRECTV Group - HR20-700S DVR

brian — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 02:04:17 GMT

Having been a loyal Tivo user for over 7 years, I was quite hesitant to switch to DirecTV's new HD DVR box and service. I made the switch mainly because I had recently purchased a new HDTV, and DirecTV had severed their relationship with Tivo (I also own the excellent DirecTivo) in favor of building and selling their own DVR solution. When DirecTV announced a HD tuner/DVR that would be completely integrated into one box, and would receive and record HDTV programming at only $199 (Tivo's HD DVR is $800), I jumped at the chance.

It does the job. However, it's the little things that make me yearn for my Tivo. Tivo has a feature that, while fast-forwarding, backs it up a few seconds once you stop. This DVR has no such feature. The Tivo's remote control is simple and intuitive. This one has quite a few more buttons and is very confusing. The most commonly used features (e.g. picking a program to record) are hard to find in a sea of menus. The remote also stopped working after a week...

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