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Comment on UK Cheap BitDefender Anti-Virus 2011, 3 Users, 1 Year Subscription (PC) Best Price by The usual suspect

The usual suspect — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:44:47 +0000

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Hogger, 22 Jun 2011

The usual suspect (2nd aisle on the right, top shelf) -

This review is from: BitDefender Anti-Virus 2011, 3 Users, 1 Year Subscription (PC) (CD-ROM)

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)

I used it on a fresh install on a medium spec'd laptop, running Vista Home Ed with 2G of memory. After the install and all it's updates were complete, I was left with a nicely operating machine. At this stage, I had to install the loathsome but unfortunately essential anti-virus pack. It was Bitdefender's turn this time. The installation went smoothly - I didn't bother with all the fancy new video's that they've included as a help file it seems and chose to simple rely on good old gut instinct. A quick bit of whipping through the setting under the advanced mode and we're ready to go. I must point out that it does set itself up a bit too securely in my opinion with the scan setup being too frequent.
The way I judge the effect of an AV is it's effect on start-up time. I refer to the amount of time it takes for the PC to bootup and the HD light to stop flickering. Before Bitdefender, the machine was reasonable fully booting up in 2 minutes (nothing fantastic but this is Vista on 2Gb). Post Bitdefender, this went up to 8 minutes+! The machine becomes available to work after a few minutes but since it's so busy with Bitdefender, don't even bother trying.
It is true that you could say that I'm not comparing it to another AV on that machine, but 8 minutes is a bit extreme. A bit of investigation showed that VSSERV.exe with choking the machine. It all seemed to be tied in with updating itself. It also seems to be an issue that is inherent thoughout the Bitdefender series. In my case, I disabled the automatic update and told the user how to do it manually periodically. Give it 12 months and then it's coming out.

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Comment on UK Cheap BitDefender Anti-Virus 2011, 3 Users, 1 Year Subscription (PC) Best Price by AndyBSG "A. Graham"

AndyBSG "A. Graham" — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:45:10 +0000

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

One of The Weakest Anti Virus Packages I've Used, 15 Dec 2010

AndyBSG "A. Graham" (Essex, UK) -

This review is from: BitDefender Anti-Virus 2011, 3 Users, 1 Year Subscription (PC) (CD-ROM)

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)

I'd only vaguely heard of Bitdefender before getting this but and unfortunately I now know why.

Most people end up with the resource hog of Norton or McAfee when it comes to AV software but these are notorious for 2 major weak points... They chew through your PC recources and once you've installed them they're almost impossible to get rid of with constant pop ups if you haven't renewed when your subscription runs out.

While I can't comment on the pop ups for Bitdefender I can confrim that it is equally unfriendly when it comes to using up all the available processing power on your PC but even more worrying for me was it's comoplete lack of effectiveness at recognising and blocking Malware.

Anyone after a good AV package should really look no further than Kaspersky or possibly Trend because Bitdefender just wasn't up to the job.

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Comment on UK Cheap BitDefender Anti-Virus 2011, 3 Users, 1 Year Subscription (PC) Best Price by Cartimand

Cartimand — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:55:04 +0000

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

"Up and running in minutes" my ar*e! Very poor product., 2 Jan 2011

Cartimand (Hampshire, UK.) -

This review is from: BitDefender Anti-Virus 2011, 3 Users, 1 Year Subscription (PC) (CD-ROM)

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)

Before trying to install it myself, I thought the other reviews here must be the overly harsh comments of technophobes. Now though, having spent a frustrating and fruitless afternoon attempting to install it, I have to admit that BitDefender is blighted by a thoroughly unprofessional and probably unfinished installation process.

I have virtually given up on BitDefender. After being prompted to install an updated version of the product, the process fell over after two hours. I then tried reinstalling, but ignoring the updated version prompt. This time, it required me to restart my PC after removing my existing anti-virus software (McAfee), but utterly failed to continue with the installation following the restart. Thought I'd give it one final chance before hurling the package out the window. This time, it seemed to get stuck on the "updating BitDefender" stage even though the progress bar had reached 100%. I left it another hour with no apparent progress. When the software tells you "the installation process will finish shortly" do NOT believe it *

The progress bars are obviously incorrectly implemented, giving you no true indication of the real status of installation. Unlike McAfee, the "updating" icon on the toolbar doesn't even give an approximate percentage to indicate progress.

Obviously an anti-virus package lives or dies on its ability to prevent viruses. Being unable to even install the damn thing, I cannot comment on BitDefender's effectiveness, but its thoroughly unprofessional installation and configuration process does not bode very well. Next year I'm almost certainly going with Microsoft Security.

At the time of writing, I've just sent an email to BitDefender's technical support team. Their claim that technical support is available "around the clock" is a bit of a fib, as I got an automated response saying I should be contacted within 48 hours. I'll keep you posted as to their reply and whether they can sort this mess out.

* Update; finally got BitDefender installed last night after waiting a couple more hours. I guess that's BitDefender's strange new interpretation of the term "shortly". Oh and the tutorial doesn't work either. The installation process was a right pain and will probably put many users off. Budget half a day or so to accomplish this. I'll keep you posted regarding its effectiveness but, given its woefully unprofessional installation process, I'm not that optimistic and will have Microsoft Security waiting in the wings as backup.

** Further update; the full system scan crashes after a couple of hours and has never managed to complete yet. You cannot stop and cancel a scan, as the dialog just keeps coming back. Attempting to update the virus definitions results in "an error occurred during the update (-1011)". Just check out the Bitdefender forum for the hundreds of serious problems users have experienced with this thoroughly unprofessional product. Avoid.

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Comment on UK Bargain RICHMOND Brown Leather Office Chair (Leather-faced) Oak Arms and Base In Stock by John Tiscornia "Windermere Golfer"

John Tiscornia "Windermere Golfer" — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:28:40 +0000

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Style in The Office @ Home, 13 Sep 2010

John Tiscornia "Windermere Golfer" (Windermere UK) -

This review is from: RICHMOND Brown Leather Office Chair (Leather-faced) Oak Arms and Base (Kitchen & Home)

A great chair for my home office, easy to assemble, comfortable to sit on with good support where it is needed, has all the features you expect of an executive style office chair. As one other cxomment has mentioned the arm covers do move but that is not an issue as far as I am concerned.

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Comment on UK Bargain RICHMOND Brown Leather Office Chair (Leather-faced) Oak Arms and Base In Stock by J. Fletcher

J. Fletcher — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:47:10 +0000

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Good Value Leather Chair - Looks Great, 22 Nov 2010

J. Fletcher -

This review is from: RICHMOND Brown Leather Office Chair (Leather-faced) Oak Arms and Base (Kitchen & Home)

The supplier corresponded almost immediately to say that it would take a couple of weeks to deliver and that I could pull out of the sale if I wish. I didn't and I'm glad I didn't.
The chair represents excellent value - the leather and wood finish push it above the norm for this price. My only criticisms could be 1) The wait & 2) The chair can't be adjusted in a rocking forward or back motion. If you can wait & don't care about the latter (as I don't) then I would whole heartedly recommend.
The seller also answered a query I had over delivery very quickly - so they're helpful and that's another good mark in my books.

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Comment on UK Bargain RICHMOND Brown Leather Office Chair (Leather-faced) Oak Arms and Base In Stock by Mr. N. Coleman

Mr. N. Coleman — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:24:42 +0000

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

Great bang for the buck, 11 Oct 2010

Mr. N. Coleman (SW England) -

This review is from: RICHMOND Brown Leather Office Chair (Leather-faced) Oak Arms and Base (Kitchen & Home)

I had reason to move the home office very recently and decided that the 20 year old swivel chair had to go. Since I had major spinal surgery in 2004 which was not successful, I was tentative about the selection process but now I am very glad I opted for this product. It arrived promptly and in the mother of all boxes, assembly was swift and without issue.

Once assembled (10 minutes) the moment of truth arrived and it was a happy moment indeed. Although this chair has no adjustment for lumbar support or arm height, it just works for me, in fact I find it more comfortable than my reclining leather sofas. I've spent up to 18 hours in it in any one day and find no fatigue or other issues arising; some chairs can rub, etc. This one is simply great. It looks good too. The spin is free and no wobble, the castors are so free that on a hard floor, turning the chair can send it moving. Very happy.

One point I would like to make, I personally feel that the leather was a touch dry on mine but a quick work over with leather conditioner and it put the cherry on the top, now the leather is nice and supple and soft to the touch.

All in all, I think this is a good buy.

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Comment on UK Low Price TaxCalc 2004 In Stock by Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:09:04 +0000

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Problems Problems, 30 Jan 2005

By A Customer

This review is from: TaxCalc 2004 (CD-ROM)

Well I used Taxcalc to calculate my tax return and it all worked very well. Mine is fairly complex with Self-Employment earnings and the like but it all slipped into place.
NOW THE BAD BIT... they are scrapping it in 2005. I received a letter from Intuit saying it will no longer be supported and no 2005 version will be published so not much point in buying 2004 is there?

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Comment on UK Low Price TaxCalc 2004 In Stock by Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:43:57 +0000

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

Still very useful, VFM and recommended, 22 May 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: TaxCalc 2004 (CD-ROM)

This is the second year I've used TaxCalc. I bought it last year because I had a mess to sort out, this year is more straightforward. The 30 minutes or less is still nonsense as there's loads to explore and frankly a marketing gimmick (surely, and who cares anyway?) but the program remains very good.

It has an import from Quicken function but it crashed and is curiously missing from the Help file. I'm not fussed about that bit. Could be useful if you've loads to type in but I doubt most folk will and I suspect it's more trouble than it's worth.

If you've used TaxCalc before it's more of the same (and none the worse for that) and it easily pulls last years details forwards and then you're off. You uninstall 2003 before you start.

So I'd recommend it as well worth £20. Probably still the only remaining sane part of the Intuit product set, given last years Quicken debacle. I await the first reviews of this years with baited breath.

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Comment on UK Low Price TaxCalc 2004 In Stock by James Bury

James Bury — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:34:24 +0000

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

Take the pain out of tax returns, 23 July 2004

James Bury (Gloucestershire, UK) -

This review is from: TaxCalc 2004 (CD-ROM)

I loathe filling out tax returns, and the only thing that keeps me vaguely sane at the end of January is the knowledge that TaxCalc will help sort things out.

The best bit is it takes you relatively painlessly through various easy steps that identify the raw information it needs to fill out the form. There's no subtracting box 32a, 45d and 57.i ii & iii from the square root of your pension contributions. It's all very logical, straightforward and somehow less intimidating than those ghastly IR forms.

The other nice touch is when you get to the end and calculate what you owe, if it all seems far too much and you suspect there's an error, it's very easy to go back and amend figures or add in some crucial fact that can reduce your tax bill.

TaxCalc can either send your forms off electronically (but you need to register well in advance with the Inland Revenue first) or you can print them out (b&w is ok) and post them.

As for their various marketing claims, yes you could complete the return in under 30 minutes IF you have all the necessary forms and data to hand. If your filing is as shambolic as mine, this is closer to 30 days, but you can hardly blame the software for that.

Money saving tips - yes, these are ok but I don't recall any that were relevant to me - either so basic I'd already figured them out, or so complex I didn't understand.

In general though, the explanatory notes they provide for all aspects of the form are very good. They're not always simple, but this is a horrendously complex topic and they do a difficult job well.

Another nice benefit of TaxCalc is if you don't know certain figures, you can put guesstimates into the form and get a rough calculation. If you add an explanatory note, you can even submit your return with estimated figures and the TaxMan will generally be happy (which reduces the stress of not being able to find that crucial bit of paper).

I've used TaxCalc for several years now and I would be lost without it. It is absolutely worth £20 or so, I really can't imagine anyone using this and then wanting to go back to the horrendous paper forms. What's more the software isn't limited to filing one return, the whole family can have a go.

Great value, immensely useful, I'd award it 6* for sanity saving value, but feel obliged to drop it to 4* because some aspects of it could be easier to use. Even so, it's a must-have bit of software for anyone who detests tax returns.

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Comment on UK Low Price Helix Executive Floor & Desk Lighting Bundle Deal Lowest Price by Mrs. H. Clay "hele bear"

Mrs. H. Clay "hele bear" — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:30:36 +0000

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Helix light review, 5 Nov 2010

Mrs. H. Clay "hele bear" (uk) -

This review is from: Helix Executive Floor & Desk Lighting Bundle Deal (Kitchen & Home)

I order these lamps at a agreat price, though delivery was quite lenthy - 3-4 weeks. When they arrived the floor lamp cover was broken. I asked for replacement and guess what - floor lamp was again broken. Very disappointed with this.

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