Posted by TonyP on 11/30/05 15:24

ed jurewicz wrote:

> Not to add to the clamour but a little indignation at times is warranted.
> You may have had an easy transition with your dv500 but I'm one of those who
> researched, the product, read the compatibility lists, followed the
> newgroups, made inquiries to pinnacle and after three years of frustration,
> three computer builds to pinnacle specifications, and numerous unanswered
> emails to technical support never was able to import or export a single
> frame of video.

I can't answer to your DV500 problems. Mine was very reliable and worked
in several computers that the card was installed in. Mind you, I did not
have the card with the "daughter" card attached. I did many many videos
with it and loved the ease of use. So, I continued the upgrade path to
Liquid Edition.

> I have worked in the video business for over 25yrs. and have grown
> accustomed to overstatements and overblown promises but you have to admit
> pinnacle and avid both have a reputation for advertising a product as
> something it is not and then striving towards driving that product to
> premature obsolescence while leaving its loyal customer base high and try.
> That may be business these days but it is just not good business.

I thought that the Pro One crowd were left out. I was going to "upgrade"
to the Pro One, but held off. Glad I did. That product had a short
lifespan as opposed to DV500. And, with the DV500, there many updates
from the first version all the way up to v4.5a. And, they were free.

> Despite my obvious consternation with pinnacle I recently did some
research
> and came to the conclusion that le6 was a more mature product and more
> easily adaptable to the needs of video professionals than any similar
> product out there. I purchased le pro 6 and despite some obvious bugs have
> been relatively pleased with its performance. Well guess what --they got me
> agian. Two months after purchasing le and one month of shaking down the
> product, my new purchase is literally outdated with the release of le7.
> After contacting pinnacle, the only response I got was a rather curt le 6 is
> old le7 is new so you need to purchase le7. I do not expect software to last
> forever but having your newly purchased software become outdated before you
> even get the visa bill for it is a little absurd.

Your product is not outdated. It still works, right? The update to v7 is
not a "must have" for some people. It is a major upgrade, not just an
update. You get Commotion compositing built in. SmartSound now
integrated and a host of other features including your choice of what
interface you want to work in. If you've followed the forums, you would
see that Smartsound was one of the highest requested "updates". Finally,
it's arrived. I will be upgrading (again, this isn't just an update/fix).

> Clearly some of the crusaders in these newsgroups go overboard but so do
> some of the defenders. This is a professional product and should produce
> professional results. If we don't keep the manufacturers to maintain a level
> of performance in line with their level of promise, who will.

Agreed. In the forums, there were gripes about various problems along
with "why don't we have this feature". For the most part, Pinnacle/Avid
have listened. There are still a few things that people still want and
list, but for me, the product is great.

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