SOHO Organizer 9.2.3 for Mac User Reviews
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"Organizer 9.2 has what I need that others don't."
Version: SOHO Organizer 9.2.0
Pros
For an inexpensive customer database this does what I need to run my business, which is mainly working with phone, email and customer database. I really like the Desktop Calendar and the fact that it keeps track of clients emails. I tried Bento, Daylite, and Filemaker. SOHO Organizer works for me. Neither Bento or Filemaker have a calendar (they use iCal). On Lion 10.7.2 Organizer 9.2 is fast and I've not had one crash like other commenters have mentioned.
Cons
None so far... well, you have to buy Notes and Print Essentials as part of Organizer, which I don't need, or at least don't use but might if they were all in one program.
Summary
Works for me. (work= nationwide remote sales via phone, WebEx, email)
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"This is one of the poorest applications I've tried."
Version: SOHO Organizer 9.0.4
Pros
The desktop view is excellent.
Cons
Extremely slow and unstable. Not all of the functions work.
Summary
Although I very much like the application from conceptual and graphical points of view, it is painfully slow and unreliable. Operations, such as changing from one tab to another, adding an event or deleting an event, changing the calendar for an event, can take up to 30 seconds, during which time the activity wheel is visible and it is not possible to move on to another operation. Very often, amendments to events cannot be saved. It is difficult to change calendar colours. It is not possible to copy, cut or paste events or tasks. Quite a number of the functions in Contacts do not work. For example: automatic postal lookup has not worked on any of the post codes I have entered (over 20 today); Skype is greyed out on the call and SMS menus and cannot be made to work; although my mobile and computer are set up for bluetooth, I cannot use the facility from Contacts; and sometimes alerts remain on the screen until the computer is restarted.
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"Getting There"
Version: SOHO Organizer 9.0.2
Pros
CalDAV and ConDAV. Notes is the best "collect all" database of all I have tried. Organizer is improving with every update. Flexible, configurable, customizable.
Cons
Still not responsive enough when switching from classic to landscape view in Notes.
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"Getting better and better."
Version: SOHO Organizer 8.52
Pros
I have been using this product since it's inception and although it takes Chronos a long time they are refining the product more and more. No difficulties at all with this version (8.52) at all.
Cons
Cannot individually encrypt a database with something such as Knox as I don't want to encrypt my whole home folder.
Summary
Keep improving it guys!
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"Good calendar and contact tools, lacks some refinements"
Version: SOHO Organizer 8.3
Pros
Adds some needed improvements to iCal, and syncs well with MobileMe; I like the ability to add contact info to events and to add many events to a contact.
Cons
I am experiencing some problems with slow entry, and some unexplained ockups, but am happy with the help I am getting from their tech support.
Summary
I am still looking for a product with the full functionality of the now-dead Now products, version 5 (not the disappointing and long-delayed Now X). I want a contact manager that will collect e-mails, telephone calls, web pages and other data about the contact, and let me easily add the info I need in a searchable format. Chronos' SOHO products is a start in the right direction. It needs to be faster, and more easily updated.
The calendar is an improvement over iCal, but still lacks some of the features of, say, Entourage, I enjoyed Entourage's Project Manager feature set. I'd like to incorporate something similar in my work flow with SOHO Organizer and Notes.
The addition of the Print Essentials mini-program to Organizer is useful, but I'd like the ability to add more templates for existing Day-Timer setups, etc. -
"encrypted notes won't open"
Version: SOHO Organizer 8.17
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
I have been a remarkable example of the triumph of hope over experience: I have been using this software since it was called stickybrain, i.e., for 10 or 15 years. I unfortunately have entrusted it with a lot of information that I don't want to lose.
the most recent wrinkle is that encrypted notes (e.g., in passwords folder) no longer recognize the password. Fortunately, I have had enough experience to know that a) Chronos will NEVER reply to questions/issues posted on their "support" site, and b) that I should never rely on the most recent version, so I have kept copies of previous versions, which recognize the password and give access to the encrypted data.
The downside of this strategy is that the most recent version of NoteLife does not sync correctly with 8.16, so I had to go thru the rigamarole of resyncing, then deleting the duplicate notes from the SohoNotes database then syncing again to restore the NoteLife database to a usable state.
Good luck to those who are in a situation like mine. -
"FINALLY OKAY!! (I think)"
Version: SOHO Organizer 8.09
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
I think SOHO Organizer has finally arrived in a solid, reliable, very helpfully integrated, flawlessly-synchronizable state!! I have been a Personal Organizer heavy user since version 3 and have been stalled on version 4.5 for a long time. It is used to manage my psychiatric practice (all contacts, clinical notes, reports). I have tried every attempted upgrade of SOHO Organizer, all of which were very disappointing, and have regularly followed other's reviews, complaints, and disappointments. Version 8.09 is what I've been waiting for. It loads quickly, has a very clean and intuitive user interface and integrates well with SOHO Notes, iCal, Address Book, and Mail. I like being able to email from Organizer, the linking capabilities. I tried StickyBrain in the past, found it not intuitive enough and settled on Yojimbo. However, I will probably move to Notes after I have tested the demo bundle a little longer, given the promise of good integration with Organizer, etc. One recent glitch with QuickNotes (froze when trying to save a QuickNote) gives me concern. I am waiting for an email reply from Chronosnet regarding this. My experience with their support was satisfactory the few times I needed it a long time ago; no recent attempts. They are reportedly about to release NoteLife, an iPhone app that syncs with SOHO Notes. Print Essentials seems very powerful and complete and is a very much improved upgrade from Personal Organizer's template-producing element. The most recent version is reportedly a complete upgrade using a different database engine. They state that they sacrificed some group organizer capabilities, but since they were mostly used as a personal product, they chose to go in this direction. I think they finally realized that they needed to do a major change or completely fail. My impression is that the company is not sensitive to the importance of customer satisfaction and not very business-savvy. They market their products very sparsely. Their presence in Mac journal reviews has generally been almost non-existent. They stopped being at MacWorld Expo about 4 years ago, while Now has been aggressively pushing the beta upgrade of their Now-up-to-Date/ NowContact product (code named "NightHawk"), which was just released as Now X. I tried it: would you believe that it is even much buggier and slower than previous versions of SOHO Organizer? I've looked at DayLite which I found too expensive and geared more for businesses with projects, etc. I was a strong devotee of Act! before moving to Personal Organizer, before Act! stopped supporting the Mac platform. I still pine for it. I suggest giving SOHO another try and will be following your feedback. The manuals for each of the products in the bundle are very clearly written without being wordy. I think the price is reasonable for the bundle at $100. (Now X is $130 and DayLite is $150 and are both without the other ancillary apps.) -
"Chronos Organizer is truly awful"
Version: SOHO Organizer 8.07
Pros
Great concept -- if it worked, it would be genuinely helpful.
Cons
Chronos Organizer 8 is terribly buggy. It loses data during the upgrade. It can't perform basic functions like saving phone call logs properly. Chronos' customer service is not terrible -- it's non-existent.
Summary
A quick google search will reveal that Chronos has had the same problems throughout its entire existence. Version 7 of Organizer (the one I originally bought, with some trepidation) was less buggy than previous versions, but Version 8 is so bad it's unworkable. Don't buy Chronos Organizer unless you want to spend hours trying to figure out work-arounds -- and in no case try to contact Chronos -- they simply don't respond. (Note: don't take my word for it: check other people's experiences.)
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"Nice Way to Clean up the Clutter"
Version: SOHO Organizer 8.06
Pros
Version 8 is faster than previous versions.
Cons
Handles most, but not all, file formats
Summary
I find SOHO notes a really nice way to clean up the clutter of the myriad of files that I save to my computer. Yes, you can do this with the Mac's file system, but I like the added structure that SOHO notes gives.
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"No support"
Version: SOHO Organizer 8.05
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
I just posted the following to Chrono's "support" site:
In the last month or so, I have submitted a number of requests for support regarding both SohoNotes and Organizer, and have received no reply. One update corrected the most serious problem I reported (constant crashing) but I was not notified of the update till I checked for updates myself. Other problems I have reported (e.g., no longer able to rename notes in SohoNotes) have been completely ignored. A request for for info regarding NoteLife received a reply that essentially put responsibility for delay in making it available on Apple - I have begun to think that it was never submitted to Apple for approval and that the announcement was used only as bait for the gullible like myself to buy into an upgrade to version 8.0 that is quite a lot less functional than its predecessors. Meanwhile, I object strenuously to the "feature" in support that takes me to a FAQ list of utterly irrelevant issues regarding such matters registration of version 3 or 4, to see if they answer my question, before I am allowed to send in my questions. I plan to publish this note on VersionTracker, where there is, I believe, an option for public replies or explanation from developers. In any case, I'll be looking forward to hearing something by some avenue, whatever it is.
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