Customer Reviews

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Deluxe 16[OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Software locked-up Windows XP. On the Broderbund support site the company explains that the software was written for an older version of Windows and is not XP compatiable. They list procedures that may allow the software to work if running under the compatability mode. However, the box says the software was written for XP. If Broderbund's packaging labels on this product are misleading then what about their other products.

If you are running XP use something else.

I wish I could give them zero stars.

Broderbund pulled support for software I owned only 2 years after it was released.

I was unable to install it because it required internet registration which was no longer supported. To solve the problem, they offered to SELL me a different software title.

They must have thought I was stupid. They expected me to give them more money???

This company has second rate software and third rate customer service. Do not buy anything from them.

I have never attempted to learn touch-typing before. At first this program was great. It gradually walked me through a few letters with the left hand, then a few on the right, then some untimed practice, a few new letters and so on. Then it stopped giving enough time to practice and I had to be fast at keys I was still trying to learn. It's been exceedingly frustrating.

There is some great stuff here. I'm able to type this review without looking at the keyboard, after only a few hours of training with this course. It looks like I'll be able to learn what I need from this tool, but it is a whole lot more painful than it needs to be. I have to believe that there are better tools out there. I'd recommend a little reasearch...

There are lots of lesson/practice options but navigating the UI and finding what you want is very unintuitive.

The UI is low res and profoundly frustrating. In most modes, most of the menus are greyed out and you can't select them. You often have to exit to the main screen to get where you want to go. In most cases there is no "back" button so exiting to the main screen is frequently required.

In nutshell: This software has some good content. You can definitely learn to type this way. But it is somewhat poorly implemented IMHO, and the UI is profoundly lame.

Clearly, Broderbund always sinks their budget into marketing, not software development. What do you end up with? Vaporware.

Do not pay over $19 and it should be worth the money.

This program hijacked my computer. On start-up, it opens multiple windows, including an internet connection and registration window (despite my having already registered). I feel like I paid for a virus program.

The logical follow-up was to contact Broderbund tech support at the e-mail address provided. There was an automatic reply that gave a general response (as in generally dismissive) to my query and stated I would not get any further reply. This was extremely frustrating.

I purchased the program for my wife, who is not a power user on the computer. She likes the typing program, however, the start-up issues are difficult to get around. I am going to attempt to re-install it and hope for an improvement.

I originally used Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 8 on a PC Windows 98. Loved it. This was back when MB was with Mind Spring. Simply Flawless.

Now with Broderbund as MB Teaches Typing Deluxe 16 on an iMac G5 running OS X is a so so product for graphics. Actually pooh, pooh.

It works OK as a typing teaching tool. I recently got to a lesson and got a fatal error requiring me to Force Quit the program and start over. It went back to the same lesson and required another Force Quit.

Broderbund's website doesn't have any support. No updates for the S/W.

So, would I buy this again. Yeah, cause this is all that I know for teaching typing. If you can buy this for around $10ish plus shipping and handling like I did then OK.

I was surprised to hear that this software didn't work on others' computers that were running XP SP2, mine runs just fine. To be honest though it did take a while for the setup to kick in. After it started up the first time though it runs flawlessly.

During the exersizes(sp) there is a little keyboard on the screen with see-through hands telling you which finger needs to go where. That really helped me out, being a visual learner.

Graphics are very cheap looking, but you're not in this for a beauty contest, it's to improve your typing speed. This program really does just that.

First off, I am a long time MB user.(yes, you would think my typinng would be better by now...) :)
The program will run on a Mac, but in full screen ONLY and there is no way to "window" it.
The graphics are from 1990's at best.
A few bugs around, like not taking you were you click to go to.
Perhaps it's only the mac ver. that is this lame. But lame it is.

MB Deluxe 16 will only run under an administrator user account. Borderlund should not be selling this product for OS X until they correct this problem.

We got this to teach our 11 year old to type. Mavis Beacon 16 has been great for him, it's gotten my typing-phobic husband to learn to type and I've brushed up my skills considerably. We've had it on two PCs and a laptop - all with XP S2 and it has always worked perfectly. I do not understand what more anyone could want! Highly recommended.