Customer Reviews

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 15 Deluxe

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are a beginning typist (or a proficient hunt and pecker) this software is absolutely terrible. There is no direct access to the lessons and practices so you can only go at a predetermined pace that is somehow built into the software. And if due to some glitch in the software, the program loses the level to which you have achieved, then it starts you all over again at the very beginning and there is nothing you can do about this.

If you are a beginner, DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. I recommend, TypingMaster.

Using this software, You can only go at a default pace set in the software. You cannot change the lesson time or repeat lesson rate. Forget about practice an extra set of keys.

The one nice thing for advanced users : You can make your own lessons (even a simple *.txt will work). But as a beginner, I don't have the time to do it.

When I started using this package I had already learned basic touch typing (ie just the letter keys and basic punctuation) from a program that I downloaded free from the internet. Mavis Beacon is cerainly a much more polished product than I was using before, but there doesn't seem to be anything under all the window-dressing.
My main complaint is that it simply doesn't give a decent chance to practise something before moving on. So, instead of mastering each key and then progressing on to the next, you find yourself getting more and more bewildered and frustrated. As there is a time limit to finishing the exercises, which if you fail you have to begin again all over, you find yourself making a lot of errors, which simply reinforces the bad habit.
Why this was became a little clearer to me when I looked at the diagnostic screen. It assigns each key to one of three levels - those you know well, those you aren't quite so sure of, and those you need to practise. All well and good, you may say, the only trouble is that it is just plain WRONG! It told me that keys that I had been typing quite happily for months were in need of practise, while some of those new ones that I repeatedly typed incorrectly, I apparently knew very well.
On the plus side, the games are quite fun, and each one practises a different aspect of typing(ie speed, rhythm, accuracy) which is a good idea.
In conclusion, if the designers of this had spent as much time getting the fundamentals right as they spent working on its presentation, this could have been a very good package. Ultimately, though, its just too frustrating to be of much use.

my personal opinion of this computer package is it is excellent! it teaches childrean and indeed adults to type properly using all ten fingers on the keyboard! it teaches you to type slowly and lets you excell at a pace that suits you you continue to be tested and you improve with the more you use it! it provides many benificial tips and it progresses in accordance with you! many children also find that the games the programme provides are fun! after you are tested and have done a sufficiant amount of work you are rewarded with being allowed to play a game! i highly recomend this package for anyone interested in learning how to type!

I have used the previous version of Mavis Beacon and have found that it actually works! It gave me a huge advantage in school, and I am a lot faster at typing up reports and other projects. The clean user interface also features games that, believe it or not, make it fun to learn how to type! If you're a school-age kid like me, you need to have Mavis Beacon.

I just learnd how to type about 4 1/2 months ago.
I learnd at school but, with Mavis Beacon. At first it would take me a very long time to just type a 1 page re-port. So I wanted to thank the invinter of the program Mavis Beacon. I still make mastakes, but everybody does.

So Thanks,
Kelci
You can be better at typping. Like if you have any thing lying around the house, pick it up and type it. You could lay a light weaight shirt over the key bord and type. That way you will have confadince in your self. If you say the letter in your head, your finger will know where the letter is.

Each user of this program must have administrator rights on an XP computer for the program to run. I returned the program rather than give my 9 and 11 year olds administrator rights. Otherwise a wonderful program.

This product looks terrific, with a lot of games, interesting features,etc.,but very soon you will be dissappointed as the program returns you to the same place again and again. You can do nothing about this. The seller's help is also useless.After 2-3 weeks of training I had to quit the program.

I have used this product and am very pleased with how well it teaches typing. I am purchasing the new version for my 12 year old son so he will have this great advantage in school. Enjoy! JK in San Diego

Hi,
I found this softwhare very helpful, it got my words per minute from 15 to 28 in one day, is that cool or what?