CyberLink PowerDirector

A newer version of CyberLink PowerDirector is available.

• 1.0 stars

  "30-day guarantee UNTRUE, Video Preview TOO SMALL"

  July 6, 2012  |   By brainout

  Pros

  Cyberlink allows greater resizing of the Video editor window than others of their type, but the Preview Window's design is still too small. You can't size the window big enough to see TEXT in a screen-recorded video. So there is no advantage in buying Cyberlink for HD videos.

  Cons

  1. THEY WON'T HONOR THE 30-DAY RETURN GUARANTEE.
  2. Like many other video editors, they waste too much screen space on the lines below the Video Preview Screen, which you can't properly shrink.
  3. Too much space to the left of the Preview screen, is reserved for your Library or Video or audio effects they offer -- which are paltry.
  4. So, you can't detach the Video Preview, or resize it to be wide enough.
  
  BAD DESIGN, guys; especially, for instructional or HD videos.

  Summary

  I made the horrific mistake of buying this software, since I couldn't try it first, and now can't get my money back. If it worked, I'd have gladly paid any price, so it's not about the money. It's about BREAKING YOUR WORD.
  
  Bad design, goes with not telling the truth. Cyberlink Power Director 10 won't size the Video Editor/Preview screen wide and big enough so I can read the video and edit it. The program design allots too much space to the icons of videos or effects, which are already too big, and it won't scrunch down the lines for audio or video effects enough so you can see the Video Editor Screen.
  
  So about an hour after trying to make the video's TEXT VISIBLE in Preview, and instead only getting Greeked text (which happens when the display image is too small), I uninstalled the program. Then wrote the seller for Cyberlink (Hermanstreet.com) requesting a refund; then was refused a refund, because THEY claim the product isn't defective; so the 30 day money back guarantee, doesn't apply.
  
  SO NEVER BUY THE PRODUCT, SINCE THEY LIE ABOUT YOU BEING ABLE TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK. IT DOESN'T WORK DUE TO A DESIGN FLAW IN THE SCREEN SIZE OF THE EDITOR. That's a defect. But it shouldn't have been a condition, since you cannot decide if the product works for you, UNTIL you buy it. I can return a pair of shoes I bought, if they don't fit. So why not a bad program?
  
  It's a bad design. Unfortunately, all the major video-editing software developers ape it. They ape Windows Movie Maker, which won't allow a detached sizable Video window, and limits how far left and down you can shrink their over-sized Video Collections lists. In Movie Maker, this isn't much of a problem, since the max resolution is 640 x 480 or so. But for an HD video, you need a bigger screen to view text (i.e., for an instructional video you recorded your LARGE FLAT PANEL screen).
  
  So Cyberlink isn't the only developer with deaf ears. But at least the others let you try before you buy. So DO NOT BUY this product.
  
  Updated on Jul 8, 2012

  I just made a video showing the problems cited in my written review, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak5Ado4Csk8
  
  Updated on Jul 8, 2012

  I just made a video showing the problems cited in my written review, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak5Ado4Csk8
  
  Updated on Jul 12, 2012

  UPDATE: Herman Street, vendor for Cyberlink, refused refund unless I went to Cyberlink's tech support; so I did, sending the video link; ergo demanding refund; as Cyberlink forces 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio; so no 1280 x 1024 video could ever process correctly.
  
  But of course, you can't know that until you buy the software, which you're willing to DO, if you can get your money back.
  
  So now Cyberlink refuses to refund, since THEY didn't sell the software, but Herman Street did. So oh how clever: that creates a circle of NO REFUND; customer is forced to write to seller with a predictable outcome; wasting yet more time; customer remains out of pocket for the nominal cost of the software.
  
  They count on you just giving up, since you've already wasted time. Figure your time is worth $100 an hour. I lost maybe 6-7 hours on Cyberlink's dysfunctional customer service webforms; on making the video, writing emails.
  
  But busy people read reviews and thus AVOID vendors like these...
  
  Updated on Jul 13, 2012

  UPDATE: I'm to get the refund. Apparently Herman Street demands you furnish a Support Ticket number from Cyberlink, before they will issue a refund. So that's the deal. If I had known that upfront, all this complaining could have been saved.
  
  The software will expand the Preview window, but its fatal flaw is that when you START the program, you must select either 16:9 or 4:3 resolution. There is no option for 'original' resolution, no option to view in 'original', either. So the system cannot display in 'original' resolution, even though Cyberlink CAN display your in-progress video in fullscreen. The upfront forcing of those two aspect ratios, ruins the facility of clear display.
  
  So if Cyberlink would just consider upgrading or offering another version which allows fullscreen 'original' resolution of a video, they would capture more customers. For fullscreen instructional videomaking is a major market, whether the maker is a corporation or just a plain ol' Youtuber like me.

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1 reply to this review

• Reply by brainout on July 8, 2012

  I tried to paste a link to a video I did on my review so you could SEE the problem in action. Not sure if the link pasted. Google on 'Cyberlink', 'brainouty', and 'Youtube' to find it.

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