ComicBookLover for Mac

User Reviews

• Simple Comic is better...

  albabe7/27/2010

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />... and it's free.

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• Has Features, but fundamentally flawed

  zeroskie8/2/2009

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I've used CBL for a long time now, essentially because it's the handiest and best looking CBZ/CBR app out there. For the price, you'd expect to be getting something nice, but it's actually a lemon. I run a 2.4 GHz Core Duo w/ 2 GB 667 MHz RAM this one app uses up so much RAM that it slows the whole computer down. The more you use it, the more RAM it takes up. The only way I've found to troubleshoot such a problem is to periodically quit it and restart it and clear the Cache + Application Support folder. But that's extremely annoying. Who knows, with SnowLeopard and 4GB+ RAM, this might not be an issue anymore, but for now I wish I had a lightweight app like CDisplay for the Mac.

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• Used to love it -- but now, not so much

  L.R.E. King4/23/2009

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Overall, I liked the application a lot and relied on it heavily. But in the last few months, it's been freezing up just about every time I try to open a comic. I've cleared out the pref's, downloaded and installed fresh copies (multiple times), but nothing has solved the problem. An e-mail to the company went unanswered. I don't know whether recent OS updates have interfered with it, or there's something about my setup (which has not changed), or what, but it has become useless to me. So, now I'm using Comical. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but at least it works consistently. To sum up: She's gorgeous, but she may break your heart.

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• It changed the way I think about e-comics

  xamevou4/22/2007

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Imagine you have a lot of photos in your hard drive, and have only Preview for watching them... Then someone comes with iPhoto and everythig seems to change... Something similar did this app. for me, with regard to electronic comics. Before this, I had a bunch of cbr and cbz files that I did not how to organize, and read them with apps that add nothing to the experience. Now, with this app, I can organize and read them in an amazing way, and my love for electronic comics has increased.

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• Terrific!

  maxgruv2/9/2007

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />This app makes it easy (and fun!) to organize, sort, and view comic files. I especially like the adjustment feature for sharpening images, plus the ability to view full-screen is essential. Inteface is identical to iTunes, which makes it very intuitive. Highly recommended.

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• Best Comic Viewer

  machspeed8/23/2006

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I also agree. I've tried FFview and while it does seem speedy, it also makes the fan on my powerbook turn on like crazy since it draws using opengl. not only does CBL match (or even beat that speed) but it offers the best user interface. it seems programmed using some kind of apple framework as you'll notice many of the interface is shared with Apple's iLife apps. (iphoto and itunes)...by the time this hits version 2.0 i'm sure it'll be well polished. needs :advanced sorting, deselecting. Love: the preview keyboard shortcuts, fullscreen and being able to visually look at my collection.

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• What is really funny about ComicBookLOver

  VersionTrackerUserOpinion7/23/2006

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />That they claim that their product opens up .CBR files, but it doesn't. That they provide directions to MANUALLY force .CBR files to open CBL when you double-click on them and are able to then read them - then those instructions are wrong. My favorite thing about ameteur programmers is that they want to overcharge for a product that simply does NOT do the job. All my .CBR files are not recognized by CBL (it indicates so) and I'm SO glad I didn't actually buy this. Oh, yes, my specs in case there is any question: - iMac G5 (w iSight) - 10.4.7 - 1.5GB memory

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• well made, but a few loose threads...

  maboroshi5/16/2006

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />First of all, the two main comic viewers for mac are currently FFView, and this. After trying ComicBookLover I've stopped using FFView. The whole iTunes layout is perfect for a large comic book collection with slick smart lists and id tag editors to enhance the comic reading experience. Now on to the few loose threads that would make it perfect: â?¢My main issue is the lack of a free sort option as seen in iTunes. That is, to be able to sort a list by the order you drag the comics to. Many comics do crossovers and being able to manually put some Wolverine issues in between some X-Men would help with fluidity. â?¢Another list issue is that the lists don't save how they were sorting and reset each time they are selected. â?¢Lastly, it would be nice if it were possible to make a new list and then be able to add comics to it by dragging them from the finder. Sure this works with new comics that are actully imported, but if the comics already exist in the library it just skips them and leaves you with an empty list. (Sometimes its just easier to drag folders of comics from the finder, instead of scrolling through hundreds of comics in the library) Keep up the good work! This is the start of something great!

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• Promising .cbr/.cbz viewer

  Spoon!--20081/12/2006

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I have been using ComicBookLover for a few days now and it has the potential to be a 5-star product. The ability to see a list view of my collection is great and the thumbnail view is outstanding. I have two suggestions for the developer to make ComicBookLover truely great. First, add folder or "playlist" organization ability for grouping certain titles together in the list view. Example: I have DC's Elseworlds titles collected in a single folder, and I would like to be able to import and group them in a playlist-like listing, and have just those titles show up in the thumbnail window so I don't have to scroll through an entire list to find them. Second, add the ability to jump a page when in Western page viewing to keep page spreads in order. I noticed when I open up a file, the cover will be displayed with the first page in a spread, which causes all other page spreads to be out of order. Otherwise, keep up the great work.

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• excellent

  matthew2012/7/2005

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Really nice piece of software. As far as freeware goes, FFview is really a rare gem, it's true; but for me personally, the organizing/librarian features and many small enhancements in CBV were worth ponying up a few shekels. (Considering that, let's face it, and nobody's proud of this, that we're getting most of the comics for free.) Just the regular pleasure of seeing all those lovely cover thumbnails laid out side by side is worth something all by itself. There is one inherent limitation, though, in trying to transfer the MP3-collection fun of iTunes to comics, and that's of course that MP3 files can store their own metadata internally, and comics can't. This means your CBV database is a far more fragile and less portable thing, if you're thinking of putting a lot of work into entering data about your comics. Perhaps future versions of CBV can somehow make use of the new metadata features of Tiger/Spotlight (which I don't entirely understand even though I read that whole long Siracusa article about them)?

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