MacUpdate: Member Profile

pcharles

Downloads: 196

Posts: 78

Smile Score: +64

About Me

I am a Free member
Gender: Male
University professor at a Midwest Engineering Institution. I teach first year chemistry to over 1000 students per year! Outside of work, I enjoy skating, skiing, snowboarding, and the general outdoors. My hobbies include cooking, photography, and gardening. Right now, I am really in to hydroponics and have a number of different systems growing all manner of things from flowers to ghost peppers.

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Last Visit: 2 days ago
Member Since: 30 Mar 2006
Profile Views: 924

iPhoto to Picasa Web... 1.5
(Demo)

Google Chrome 19.0.1084.52
(Free)

Picasa Web Albums Up... 1.3.0.536
(Free)

AirPrint Activator 2.2b4
(Free)

Skype 5.7.0.1130
(Free)

TomTom HOME 2.8.4.1438
(Free)

Dropbox 1.4.7
(Free)

Insync 0.9.14.17141
(Free)

Google Drive 1.0
(Free)

MarsEdit 3.5.3
(Shareware)

BlueHarvest 5.1.0
(Shareware)

Logger Pro 3.8.5.1
(Demo)

pcharles's Posts

Average Rating from pcharles:

(30)

sort: smiles | time

MozyHome

pcharles reviewed on 08 May 2012

Mozy was my first cloud backup solution, but I have just abandoned it for Backblaze due to their switch from the unlimited plan. Even though I am not backing up a huge amount (200-300 GB of mostly photos and some movies) the new plan would more than double my current cost. Backblaze, however, will let me do this for $4 per month with a two year subscription.

Mozy offers a few more features, file "sharing" access, and a mobile app, but I have never used any of those features. I just want an inexpensive, fast, and reliable backup solution. If you have less than 125GB to backup then Mozy is still an excellent choice, but not if you have a lot more.

I've also found the Mozy application/prefpane to be a little slower at uploading than Backblaze, and a little more buggy. It tends to stop backing up a little more often than Backblaze, which on my network (3MBit/s) chomped through about 30GBytes per day!

[Version 2.6.0]

Backblaze

pcharles reviewed on 08 May 2012

I tested Backblaze in February and was so impressed that I have now paid for a two year subscription as a replacement for Mozy. Mozy is still a great service, but if you have a lot of data to back up (anything over 125GB) it starts to get a lot more expensive now they have moved away from the unlimited plans. Backblaze offers less file access features than Mozy and some other systems, but IMHO those file access features are gimmicks. What really matters in a backup system is the ability to backup your important stuff quickly, securely, and at a reasonable price.

Backblaze offers all those features. I was able to backup over 160GB of data on a 3Mbit connection at a rate of almost 31 Gigabytes per day. So it was done very quickly, all for $4 per month.

The software is also mind numbingly easy to install and configure because it basically configures itself, but there is also plenty of control over which things to exclude from the backup.

An important feature for me is that it will handle the backup of any external drives that are directly connected to the computer. I store all my media on an external media drive, and wanted to make sure it was backed up.

The web site is fairly basic, there is no mobile app, and no sharing, but IMHO that is good. Backblaze is a backup, and I believe it should stay that way. There are plenty of dedicated photo sharing sites out there already, not to mention Dropbox and iCloud's photo sharing.

Overall highly recommended.

[Version 2.0.5.508]

Default Folder X

pcharles reviewed on 30 Dec 2011

I really cannot remember how long I have used this application, it goes way back in to the "old" OS, back when life was simple and Apple was always one announcement away from Doom. . . . Or, so the analysts would have us believe. Its interesting how this application has become such a part of my Mac experience that when I use a machine without it, I get confused and think it is broken.

[Version 4.4.7]

MacUpdate Desktop

pcharles commented on 30 Dec 2011

Every time a new version comes out I look to see if it manages the MacUpdate purchased applications and serials, but so far I come away disappointed. . . . . Unless I have missed it.

[Version 5.0.12]

jBidWatcher

pcharles reviewed on 05 Sep 2011

At one time this was one of my favorite Applications for searching eBay, but I have since found that Auction Hunter provides a slightly better experience. both Applications are at the mercy of eBays ever changing mindset, so you never really know whether it will work when you need it or not.

[Version 2.1.5]

Printopia

pcharles reviewed on 05 Sep 2011

This application really has added a lot to the usability of my families iPads. I have a copy at home and a copy at work, which allows me to print most of the things I need. It even integrates fairly well with back to my Mac and printer sharing.

[Version 2.1.1]

RipIt

pcharles reviewed on 28 Jan 2011

I love this program and where it is going. Historically, I have always used Handbrake, but now I use a combination of RipIt and Turbo 264HD with the hardware accelerator to do all my conversion. This combination is so much faster than Handbrake and gives me plenty of options.

1. I Rip the DVD to a DVDMedia (VideoTS) file, which takes about 20 minutes for a 7GB DVD.

2. I then read the DVDMedia (VideoTS) file in to the Turbo 264HD software, which knows how to parse out the individual segments. I can then add titles, show series's and episodes, and then set it going.

To give you some idea how much faster this is on my Black Macbook than ripping with just Ripit or Handbrake, I was able to encode forty two 44-minute stargate episodes in about 8 hours while I slept. I simply loaded everything in to the Turbo software, along with the series and episode information. Set it to maximum quality, and went to bed. I know Handbrake allows batch processing, but am sure it is not that fast.

One thing I would like to see from Ripit is the ability to take advantage of the Turbo 264 dongles speed, provide more options for the compressing part, including adding the series and episode information. If they did this, I am sure it would become the the #1 encoder.

[Version 1.5.3]

Printopia

pcharles rated on 06 Dec 2010
[Version 1.0.3]

jBidWatcher

pcharles rated on 06 Dec 2010
[Version 2.1.3]

VueScan

pcharles rated on 06 Dec 2010
[Version 9.0.04]

Acorn

pcharles had trouble on 21 Apr 2009

Before placing a bad review I thought I'd describe my problem.

I registered this application as a possible "lighter" alternative to photoshop elements for simple editing and layer work. The problem is that the program on my Dual Core 2.3GHz G5 is incapable of pasting a photo on to a layer and then resize it to fill the work area. Photoshop Elements has the Place function, which this lacks, and can do this task in under a minute of work. Acorn goes in to spinning beach ball mode and never comes out.

I really like the looks of this application and registered it based on a few simple tasks, but if it cannot handle a few layers I will need to post another review.

[Version 1.5.2]

PCalc

pcharles had trouble on 25 Mar 2009

Seems to have lots of functionality, but is completely lacking in any useful instructions. It would be nice to have a desktop calculator to handle simultaneous and quadratic equations, but I cannot figure out how to use the functions.

The conversions and constants are great, but whout knowing how to use the "advanced" features I cannot see how this is any more use than Apples FREE calculator.

[Version 3.4]

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