News and Reviews > Mini-Reviews by Members
Addressbook Software Mini-Shootout
superboyac:
fantastic.
you know witha little bit of work and combined with m_s's stuff on A-book, and maybe a quick commentary on other programs saying why they don't quite make the cute, this would make a great full dc review..
i wonder if superboyac or superboyac and m_s could be convinced to team up and flesh this out into a full review? i think you're half way there already..
-mouser (February 03, 2006, 08:50 AM)
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True. I wanted to comment a bit more on other programs and on other features, but the article was getting pretty long as it is. I wouldn't mind polishing it up with m_s for a full review.
superboyac:
Pity, because it begs the question: did you try AZZ Cardfile, http://www.azzcardfile.com/
I saw this mentioned in the Yahoo! Group PowerToolsSoftware, mentioned by someone who said it had "immediae entry search," which I think is what you mean.
-rjbull (February 03, 2006, 06:00 AM)
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Yes! You're right. AZZ is a great program also, I used it for years. It does have the immediate entry search, which is great. I even think it's the first program where I noticed that feature. However, it only searches the titles of the cards, not the actual contents of the card. So, assuming the title only includes the contact name, that's all you'd be able to search. If you want to search the card contents with AZZ, you have to use a seperate search dialog which opens up another window, etc. Not worth it. Also, AZZ is a bit too freeform for an addressbook, there are no fields. So you wouldn't be able to do some of the more complex things with it. The difference with CardScan's search and AZZ's is that CardScan's filter will look at every single field. If you notice in my screenshot, I just typed in an area code, and the list shortened down to the contacts that have that area code. You can do anything...zip code, street name. That's what makes it so powerful.
rjbull:
superboyac,
Sounds like AZZ got the mix right in the sense that if you had immediate search on the whole record, you'd get too many "false drops." Think of trying to look up someone called Theodore - how many times does one use the definite article? The lady who mentioned AZZ Cardfile in PowerToolsSoftware actually said that she used it for quotes/one-liners/short paragraphs, so it looks like she implicitly agrees.
You obviously need a heavier-weight, more structured program...
superboyac:
superboyac,
Sounds like AZZ got the mix right in the sense that if you had immediate search on the whole record, you'd get too many "false drops." Think of trying to look up someone called Theodore - how many times does one use the definite article? The lady who mentioned AZZ Cardfile in PowerToolsSoftware actually said that she used it for quotes/one-liners/short paragraphs, so it looks like she implicitly agrees.
You obviously need a heavier-weight, more structured program...
-rjbull (February 06, 2006, 03:43 AM)
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I think you're right. AZZ got it right for the purpose they were trying to achieve, which is a general note accumulating program. But for an addressbook, I think you want it like CardScan, to search all the fields. Let's say, for some odd reason, you know 10 people named Theodore. Most likely, if you have 10 people who are named Theodore, you have a pretty big overall list of contacts. Therefore, you'd want to just type Theodore, and immediately shorten that list down to the 10 people. But you'd want to be able to do the same for anything, even phone number. Like, let's say you knew someone's number started with 398- but you didn't know the rest, it would be nice to just type in 398 and get the list in front of you. It's just more powerful that way. I'll never say no to more power, because you can always turn features off, but you (as the end-user) can't add features.
AZZ is a great program, it used to be one of my favorites. But I've now come to need a more specific and powerful program. As I've moved to more powerful note-taking programs and addressbooks, I've slowly come off of AZZ altogether. It's just part of my evolution as a poweruser.
Have any of you checked out EverNote? It's a cool, quirky program that reminds of of a suped up version of AZZ. It also has the filter-as-you-type feature that works on any word anywhere in the notes, but it's interface is pretty interesting and unique. And it's free, to boot!
If you can't tell, I'm in love with the filter-as-you-type feature. I'm immediately attracted to any program that has it, and more and more programs are using it. PowerMarks, EverNote, CardScan, Essential PIM, Directory Opus (so cool!), Find and Run Robot...that's all I can think of for now.
rjbull:
AZZ got it right for the purpose they were trying to achieve, which is a general note accumulating program.
-superboyac (February 06, 2006, 07:33 PM)
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I liked - still like - Memory Mate for DOS as a "random notes" program. Simple, clean interface, very fast and just enough power. But it didn't really make the transition to Windows :(
knew someone's number started with 398- but you didn't know the rest, it would be nice to just type in 398 and get the list in front of you. It's just more
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Memory Mate has simple but useful Boolean searching. When you've done a search, it's like you have a small stack of qualifying 5x3 file cards in front of you, though you can only read the top one and have to page through the others (but a well-designed search will limit the stack to only a few). If you want to see several cards at once, Info Select for DOS did that with immediate searching. Which begs the question, have you considered pushing the financial boat out and trying Info Select for Windows? It's $249.95 and isn't shareware, though there's a 30-day money-back guarantee. Link here: http://www.miclog.com/
powerful that way. I'll never say no to more power, because you can always turn features off, but you (as the end-user) can't add features.
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Agreed, with the proviso that the power features have to be organised so they don't put off the novice. Or indeed anybody who needs to get the job done, but doesn't have lots of time to learn.
Have any of you checked out EverNote? It's a cool, quirky program that
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Just had a quick look at the Web site, and was put off by the size. The free version is an 8.4Mb download, the payware one 18Mb. It's not just the download time and hard-disk footprint, I tend to expect that programs that size are going to be slow to load, which puts me off using them.
I mentioned to kfitting on another thread that there are lots of Keynote-type outliners now - and that's getting a problem in itself, because they aren't mutually compatible and you don't want to commit to the "wrong" one.
If you can't tell, I'm in love with the filter-as-you-type feature. I'm immediately attracted to any program that has it, and more and more programs are using it. PowerMarks, EverNote, CardScan, Essential PIM, Directory Opus (so cool!), Find and Run Robot...that's all I can think of for now.
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And Total Commander :D depending on how you set it up, and that's how I've set it up now as being most intuitive.
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