Rating: 
Summary: Disillusioned
Review: I purchased this software on the advice of a lawyer who used this in his preparation for the GRE. I completed the first Pre-Algerbra disc and although some of the lessons used a convoluted approach in explaining a procedure, I thought it was fine. However, the second disc, entitled Algebra I, would not come up on my computer. I took the disc to my work and had our computer people look at it. The software would not come up on the office computers.
My home computer registered that it was a damaged disc. The item is clearly defective but I can't get Amazon to take it back.
I am very disappointed. I intend to take the GRE in six months and thought I had enough time to prepare. I didn't plan for damaged software and I did not expect that the vendor would refuse to be responsible for it. There are eight discs in this program and I was taking it one by one. There may be other disappointing surprises in the remaining discs that I have yet to discover. I need to learn this material and if any reader has another suggestion for instructive math software, please let me know.
Rating:
Summary: Math Advantage 2004
Review: I wholeheartedly recommend that users with Windows XP DO NOT PURCHASE THIS SOFTWARE. It doesn't work on my Windows XP system. Their tech support is woefully inadequate, and their customer service poor. Encore is just selling junk!Here's a follow up to my original review: Encore's Tech Support finally replied to my week-old tech support request concerning the fact that not one of the CDs would run on my computer, but only after I left a relatively nasty email with their sales department. Unbelievable as it sounds, they are telling me that I must modify my Window's virtual memory (cache) file size every time I use their software. Now, virtual memory is automaticaly set by Windows for best performance, usually at 1.5 to 2x the amount of physical RAM. In other words, if you have 128 MB of RAM, your Windows OS will set virtual memory at 256 MB. I personally have 1 GB of RAM, so Windows sets virtual memory to 1536 MB. I have great performance with this setting. Anything less and I lose performance because Windows spends a lot of time swapping code from RAM to disk. As I said earlier, Encore recommends that I change the virtual memory setting each time I want to use Math Advantage 2004 (which, by the way, requires a reboot of my computer). Isn't it obvious to Encore that end-users might not want their kids to be mucking about in system settings.
Rating:
Summary: Not Recommended
Review: If this program can confuse X and Y intercepts I can only imagine what else may be wrong with it. I just purchased this for my son today, but will be returning it tomorrow. He has a placement test in 2 weeks and I don't want him to blow it because of this faulty software.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: My kids hate it. What more is there to say? The software is kind of a hodge-podge of different lessons and programs, most of which are pretty dull and uninspiring for an interactive environment. There is no continuity at all from one disk to the next, either in content, presentation, or by learning style. The whole package looks dated and old. I've seen better programs available for free on the Internet. This was an impulse purchase for me and I feel like I've wasted {$$$}. They say the product is guaranteed -- we'll see, as I plan on trying to get my money back.
Rating: 
Summary: Math DIS-Advantage?
Review: The earlier review about how "8-bit" this software seems, is right on the mark. I bought Math Advantage to try to learn the math I had missed in school... and I am finding the whole experience of using this software slow and frustrating. What may be salvagable to me is to use M.A. as a starting point for further exploring, on the web and elsewhere. Such that, when I get to a point where the convoluted and seemingly "wrong" lessons bring me to a point of frustration, I can then go to the web and search on whatever the lesson is trying to teach and hopefully get clarification. Having now spent the money and having had the motivation in the first place to learn what I had missed, perhaps I can salvage some knowledge from actually using Math Advantage 2004 (which is unchanged since 2002, if not earlier) - but this product is in serious need of a makeover and modernization to compliment the abilities of today's computer operating systems.
Rating:
Summary: $40 + junk = angry customer
Review: This is a faulty and buggy piece of software. It will not run on my PC (XP Home)without me changing my Virtual Memory from 1000 mb to 200 mb...what an absurdity! The developer offers no solution other than to change my VM everytime I want to use their software. Well, forget it. They're not the only game in town.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Program
Review: We really like this program. Warning: Not XP professioanl compatable but works fine on XP home. But wonderful for students who need another method for studying.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful program
Review: Wonderful program. We love it! Is not Windows XP professional compatable, but works just fine on Windows XP home. Tech support were nice, but could do nothing to fix the problem on XP professional. I blaim Microsoft. I have trouble with about 1/2 the home software programs I have bought on the XP professional program. But if you dont have XP professional I would HIGHLY sugest this program. Even for adults who want to recap before heading back to college.
Rating: 
Summary: No Technical Problems Here, But Title is Still Underwhelming
Review: You know how a lot of games out there are just recycled stuff from the 8-bit days, only with better graphics? This software would have been quite adequate back in the 8-bit days, but in the 21st Century it adds absolutely nothing new to the experience...it's straightforward, which may sound like a postitive characteristic, but so is one of them dry, old texts still in circulation in our run-down inner-city public schools...the games are fairly interesting, but the remaining little bit of "multimedia" is disappointing, nothing imaginative at all...generally speaking, I do not recommend this product -- it's worth only $15 at most. One last note: I have not had any technical difficulties on my WinXP Home laptop. The installation was a little strange (each subject [i.e., algebra, trig, etc.] had to be installed separately), but so far ("so far" because I don't know how much of this boredom I can take -- again, it's just slightly better than rummaging through a textbook and workbook on your own) everything runs fine, if not interestingly so...I do hope they think out of the box for next year's edition: due to a lack of space, I can't go into details, but there is a much better, more interesting, and ultimately much more enlightening way of presenting and teaching mathematics than this, which seems like a straightforward "port" out of some textbook, almost like the kind of generic, unimaginative, half-baked stuff one might find on a CD included in some texts these days, to cash in on the "multimedia 'bug'"....
Rating:
Summary: Buggy, terrible piece of software.
Review: [...]
In addition to the 3MB memory problem, which has no excuse, I encountered an even more frustrating and obvious bug in the program.
They MISSPELLED THIER OWN DIRECTORY! The result was that the install ended with an eror telling me that they could not find the directory and that it did not exist.
This error, along with the 3MB error caused confusion as to the true cause of the problem.
I have had this program for 10min, and that was all the time it has taken to get the feeling that ENCORE put out a buggy, untested steamy pile that is good for nothing but frustrating the buyer. I will never purchase another encore product, and advise agianst anyone else who values their time and sanity to do so.
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