The Deals Guy for
October 2005
by Bob (The Cheapskate) Click
Greater Orlando Computer Users Group)
 There isn’t much trade show work
in the summer so we always go
north in July to visit our families.
This year it was a challenge paying
for the gas. Not only that, but at
two stations (in different states),
we felt we got short gallons. Our
car calculates its gas mileage and
tells you how much gas we have
used so we know about how much
gas the tank should hold when filling it up. It’s
pretty accurate and when you get near that number
of gallons, the pump nozzle usually shuts off. When
it continues to fill the tank for a gallon or more, it
seems possible we are getting short gallons there.
Yes we could try to report it to the state, but when it continues to fill the
tank for a gallon or more, it
seems possible we are getting short gallons there.
Yes we could try to report it to the state, but when
we are on a trip with a destination and a time
frame, it’s easier to chalk it up to experience and
don’t stop there again. Gas prices are bad enough
without a gas station clipping us at the same time.
Construction doesn’t help either since signs are often scarce or hard to spot at
construction areas. In
all the years I have traveled I-75, there has always
been plenty of construction, especially in some
states. It’s just as bad, if not worse, here in central
Florida with ongoing construction all over for years,
especially on I-4 where we often travel. That road is
always a mess with ongoing stop-and-go conditions.
I’m sure all of my readers can relate to construction
and traffic problem in their own areas.
*How About Designing or Remodeling Your
Home
If you plan to build or remodel a home, how tough is
the job of getting the design just like you want it?
You could browse through a ton of architectural
designs, or read a lot of magazines and become
completely confused. You might even have a
conference with an architectural firm or builder and
discuss the entire project; or you could purchase
Super Home Suite by Punch! Software and
experiment all you like right on your own computer
to prepare.
This package has everything you need to
design or remodel your own home, as well as the
landscaping, and you can use your own creative
contribution to get what you like. In fact, you can
move walls around and even adjust the studs to get
the type structure that suits your fancy, not to
mention even the landscaping design around the
home.
This package contains seven powerful programs that
work as one to help you in the design or remodeling
plan. They are 3D Home Design, 3D Landscape,
Home Estimator, AutoFraming, Floorplan Trace, Real Model and 3D Furniture
Workshop. Besides that, you also get Ultimate Deck as a bonus. Comparing it with
a competitive product shows many features in Super Home Suite not included in
the other product. When I worked with it, I was impressed with the versatility
of this product, and the many features that I found during my experience
checking it out. I always need instructions so it also took some reading and
experimenting from their 120-page manual, and checking the help section. I sure
didn’t get prolific in a day. Even the packaging was unique when I opened it.
A
good example of the complete coverage and interaction in this product is the
Home Estimator that automatically tallies your expenses and calculates total
material costs as you design. You can add local costs and view information in an
exportable spreadsheet format (which I did not do). It recognizes 2"x4", 2"x6"
and custom studs; and keeps separate counts; also door and window schedules. You
can list quantities of trees and other plantings, and square footage
calculations are included. This product has so many features that I suggest you
check their Web site [http://www.punchsoftware.com] for complete information. I
loved working with this product even though I don’t need a house right now.
After a few days, I designed a new home with my favorite desires at my present
income, but I’m working on a million dollar home to build after my wife’s
lottery ticket wins the thirty-five million this week. Of course there is just a
slight chance she might not win! I love this new toy.
Punch! Software tells me
there is a $10 Manufacturer’s rebate available on the Super Home Suite (MSRP
$49.99) making it just $39.99. Sounds like a bargain to me. There should be a
rebate sticker on the box and a form inside to send in on all their rebated
products.Punch! Software also offers several other products, some of which are
more specialized for particular tasks. I will describe two others below and more
products with a rebate next month:
Punch! Master Landscape and Home Design
Professional. MSRP is $79.99. Manufacturer’s rebate is $20, making it only
$59.99.
This product is new, but here is partial
information from a similar product on their Web site: “This package contains
nine powerful garden and landscape design software tools, patent-pending
PhotoView™ and their sortable PlantFinder™ database with over 2,000 landscape
plants, and in one easy-to-use interface! In addition, you will receive Ultimate
Deck, a Punch! deck design software completely integrated. PhotoView™ technology
lets you combine real-world photos with your own landscape and garden designs to
create a realistic image of your future outdoor living space. You can import a
photo of your own home, add landscaping or a deck, then view it from any angle,
with realistic 3D photo-quality perspective. Place a scanned photo of doors,
windows, pets, even add your children into the backyard!”
I didn’t see the new
Pro version described on their Web site, but the basic version is there with
plenty of description. It appears to be very powerful.
Punch! Professional Home
Design Suite Platinum. MSRP is $99.99. Manufacturer’s rebate is $20, making if
just $79.99.
This home design software package lets you design all of the
critical components for your home. The powerful home design capability includes
foundations, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, custom windows, custom roofs, and much,
much more. You can turn layered drawings on and off for uncluttered viewing of
your home design and you can combine as few, or as many, layers as you wish, and
spot potentially costly design conflicts. Ordinary blueprints could never give
you that level of insight into your home designs!
Their Web site showed fourteen
major features in this package, but I didn’t see the new Platinum version posted
there. However, check the Web site for more info. They say they have offered the
#1 selling products in this field for the last five years, so take a look.
*An
Announcement I Received Back In June And Edited For publishing
Our company,
XP-Web-Buttons, would like to announce the release of XP Web Buttons 3.15 for
Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003. We'd like to offer your members and
subscribers a 25% discount off the regular price.
Design Website Buttons With
StyleA large part of a website’s appeal and navigability comes from the clever
design of menus and buttons. XP Web Buttons is a nifty tool for creating stylish
web buttons, navigation bars and menus with fully customizable features in a few
clicks of the mouse. Web page designers have a complete palette of XP themes,
font faces and styles, shadows, icons, targets and more to choose from. XP Web
Buttons generates all images, JavaScript and HTML code automatically. These
custom buttons react to mouse activity like rollover and clicking, and each
button parameter, including size, color, alignment, word wrap and many more, can
be easily adjusted and then previewed to test how each button will respond to
mouse events. The latest release of XP Web Buttons sports a new interface,
support for .ico files and clear-type fonts, revised help and tutorial functions
and more icon selections in .gif and .ico formats. A host of sample projects for
inspiration has been included.
Free demo version and product information is
available at [http://xp-web-buttons.com/]. A personal license for XP Web Buttons
costs USD $29.95. Windows™ 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003 operating system is
required. To get the UG discount, order at [http://www.regsoft.net/purchase.php3?productid=62316&pc=GS198].
That's it for this month. Meet me here
again next month if your editor permits.
This column is written to make user
group members aware of special offers or freebies I have found or arranged, and
my comments should not be interpreted to encourage, or discourage, the purchase
of any products, no matter how enthused I might sound. Bob (The Cheapskate)
Click [bobclick@mindspring.com]. Visit my Web site at [http://www.dealsguy.com].
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