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Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your money...
Review: Especially if you are a beginner. There's no manual, no documentation, the lesson plans don't include drills, and the onscreen moving fingers on the keys are too opaque -- you can't tell which finger is on the desired key. Some simple coding to change the color of the finger along with the key would be really helpful. The beginning lessons are too advanced (even if you tell the program you are in the children's age/lesson range,) and omit the very basic instructions that a true beginner needs. Add a few annoying installation quirks (manual placement of desktop icons, and a "personal coach" that automatically runs in the background) and you're left with software that is a total waste of time and cash. The whole program is bulky and clumsy -- and if you are using Windows XP, expect to see momentary freeze-ups of your monitor as the program lurches in and out of execution.
Rating:
Summary: Mavis Becon has Defects
Review: Firstly, This program has major flaws. If it were not for the fact that compusa pushes it then it would not have even as many customers. It has a defect that causes an 'ergonomic break' window to pop up when the program is not running (at least for windows XP). Second, the programmers at broderbound were too lazy to switch one of the internal screens/windows to say something '...Mavis Mecon 12' when in fact it is version 15. They put makup on an old program and are selling it for much more. The lessons are alright but I am sure that this program is not the best- It simply can't be.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money...
Review: How hard would it be to support DVORAK? A hundred lines of code would probably do the trick, since no new graphics would be needed. Just cross-reference the keys to make finger positions right, and you're done. They're resting on their laurels, selling a clumsy DOS program that takes over your monitor as if it were still 1989.
Rating:
Summary: Dumb DOS program, no DVORAK support.
Review: How hard would it be to support DVORAK? A hundred lines of code would probably do the trick, since no new graphics would be needed. Just cross-reference the keys to make finger positions right, and you're done. They're resting on their laurels, selling a clumsy DOS program that takes over your monitor as if it were still 1989.
Rating: 
Summary: This Program Is Addictive
Review: I love this program, and have logged over (can you believe it) 14 hours of total lesson typing time so far (think about it, that is huge). I will probably double that before I stop using it. I am now typing between 22 words a minute for really hard lessons (lots of punctuation and numbers) to close to 40 for easy words and sentences. I am thrilled. I am nearly 40 years old, and to finally be able to type is really a dream come true. Thanks Mavis. Here is the good and the bad. Mavis goes a little fast in the beginning to learn the keys. You might need to open another user and just start over again to get more drill time before advancing. This is easily done, and no big deal. Anyway, more drill is always good. Once I learned the keys, this is where Mavis really shines. Mavis encourages you with her sweet voice, and I like that. She always varies the lessons, so it stays interesting and challenging They really crammed so many different texts into Mavis, that there is always new material to learn. Riddles, Shakespeare, famous quotes, bizarre difficult word lessons, cute stories, and more. She is almost limitless in this regard. Sure some lessons get repeated, but there is SO MUCH material, I am always amazed that there is more and more new stuff I have yet to type and I have type a solid 14 hours so far. This is a Big Plus. After time, Mavis get addictive, I really look forward to sitting down and typing. It stays fun, and this is key. By getting me to type a lot with it, I keep improving. No other program has as many lessons in it, and will stay as interesting. It is not really the best graphics of all the typing programs, but it really does have the most material to learn from, and done in a way that you slowly keep getting better. I guarantee you this, if you are disciplined and do not look at the keys, and if you regularly sit down and work with Mavis for 10 minutes to an hour a day, you will become a typist for sure. I never though I could learn at my age, thanks Mavis!
Rating: 
Summary: A typing program that actually works
Review: I was a little dubious when I first purchased this program but after using it for several days I noticed an improvement in my typing speed. The typing lessons slowly pull you along introducing new keys while reinforcing ones you have already learned. Intermixed within the lessons are typing games to break the monotomy, along with a constant voice over (which can be turned off) from Mavis Beacon herself, providing tips and encouragement. Fingering for almost every key is explained and Mavis Beacon Teached Typing provides a visual keyboard with transparent hands at the bottom of the screen to help with positioning your hands. Overall the lessons are easy to follow and provide enough variation so that you can sit down for 30 minutes a day and except to see a reasonable amount of improvement after a while. The most annoying aspect about the lesson formula is the transcription lessons where you need to consult the manual. The major problem being that there is no hardcopy of the manual, it's all on the CD making these lessons rather pointless, but they can at least be skipped. Mavis Beacon also has some technial issues. Firstly, the resolution needs some improvement, considering the day and age Borderbund should have spent some extra money and improved the graphics. If you're running this program in 1024 X 768 you'll notice a lot of pixlation which can make reading some of the letters a little difficult at times. Fortunatly the program allows you to resize the window to half size, improving the resolution but now all the information is half size too. Once you install Mavis Beacon you will notice that a program called the Mavis Beacon Personal Typing Coach is added as well. This program contains a small of host of rather useless applications such as providing you with finger positions for keys after you type them and telling you your typing speed. The most annoying being the Ergonomic Break Scheduler which constantly reminds you to take a break, mercily you can switch off this feature. While Mavis Beacon will not turn you into a 100 word typist overnight it will improve your typing if you practice enough and help you with the basics needed for good typing.
Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: This is a very good typing program. You learn very fast and easy. I type right now 50 words per minute and I'm loving it. Their games makes typing fun and enjoyable. I suggest to get this one. If not this one then get the Dexule edition which i think is even better!
Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: This is a very good typing program. You learn very fast and easy. I type right now 50 words per minute and I'm loving it. Their games makes typing fun and enjoyable. I suggest to get this one. If not this one then get the Dexule edition which i think is even better!
Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: This program is very good. It teaches you the basics and even records everything you do. You take tests based on how well you are doing on practice quizes. If you are working hard, Mavis herself lets you play a typing game. There are a set of hands and a keyboard that stay on the screen all the time so that you can see where to place your fingers and these hands move to the right keys so that you know where to go. This is the greatest program!
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