GemX Crazy Summer Specials

[dspelley]

For anyone who still has an interest in GemX products, they're having a pretty big summer sale. Good through July 20, 2008.

$59 for the FULL do-Organizer (usually $162)
$25 for TexNotesPro (usually $50)
$10 each for all of their other applications

http://www.gemx.com/

[jgpaiva]

Most probably this topic: Gemx-Missing in Action? is relevant for your choice of buying gemx products.

PS:I have nothing against/for gemx, i didn't even read the thread, i just thought i'd link to what seems like the largest thread about gemx here on DC.

[dspelley]

Thanks jgpaiva! I meant to add that and just spaced out...

[Dormouse]

I read the other thread and it intrigued me enough to download do-Organizer.

I wouldn't use it to replace programs I rely on, but as a quick way of doing a lot of things I want to link it seems very promising. Clearly some casual programming still going on - my 60 day trial only gives me 6 days  - but if the program works well enough (and I can get more out of it than I can by using other programs), I don't mind if development has stalled and support is poor.

What does trouble me though are the frequent references to bugs. If the bugs are things that don't work as they should, then I can cope with that. However, if they produce instability in the program that is another matter.

All the info in the old forum seems to have disappeared, so I was wondering if anyone can say whether the program is made unstable by the bugs or whether there is anywhere better to look for info.

[Beth UK]

All the info in the old forum seems to have disappeared, so I was wondering if anyone can say whether the program is made unstable by the bugs or whether there is anywhere better to look for info.

-Dormouse (June 22, 2008, 04:04 AM)

Hello Dormouse,

I was originally fairly active on the GemX forum before it was closed. Have to say I don't use Do-Organizer now. To my knowledge the program was not actually unstable due to bugs although at one time there were a few very strange bugs that were allowed to drift for a long time without being fixed. One that I reported involved a so-called lock feature on notes that, when used used in a certain way, was not at all secure and revealed half the note that was supposed to be secure.

This rendered the product useless for me as I needed a secure notes feature for laptop and travelling. Not sure whether this was ever fixed.

My guess is that if the product works for you 'as is' and you are not waiting for significant updates then go for it!

[Dormouse]

Thanks Beth, that's very helpful.

I wouldn't use it for anything I needed to rely on and generally prefer to use programs that do one thing, but I have really been struggling to find a time efficient way of managing a lot of 'minor' day-to-day stuff. Feeling pushed towards Outlook just as an easy (?! ) way of moving stuff between programs I do like and desktop & PDA.

Do-Organizer seems to work fast on my machine and all the components can be linked (though I can't say I'm thrilled by the methodology here), so I feel as if I can use it for the minor stuff (reams of it) and just use the other programs for the more important, must have all the details present and correct, stuff.

[thomthowolf]

I have to say that I visited the "missing in action" topic, and I was stunned by the negativity there .  This is such a nice place ordinarily that I thought it significant.  After all, if a company can pi** off that many of the people on this forum, they must be really baaaad.  Still, I had played with the do-organizer software in an earlier version, and was fairly impressed.  I was also impressed with the price of the entire package.  I liked the software, but not enough to justify $165 US to get the parts I liked.  At $60 US however, I had to download the new version.  So, don't anybody throw anything at me, but I kinda like it .  It imported my outlook stuff seamlessly, everything can be linked to everything else, and all the pieces seem to work.  That is to say that I have been playing with it for a couple of days and nothing has failed to perform as I expected it to (except the license, which seems to be a decimal point off as noted above.)  Also, it lives on my thumb drive, giving me a portability I need.  Wherever the bugs are, I don't think they cause the program to be unstable. 
I never visited the Gemx forums, and I have had no occasion to interact with their tech support, so I can't really address those issues.  I do feel like the summer sale might be an attempt to make amends for former poor performance, and I think everyone deserves the chance to redeem themselves. 
Just my 2 cents, but I will probably buy the license. 

[tamasd]

I used to frequent their forums.
Don't use DO right now.
It has a couple of bugs, but what software doesn't.
They communicate poorly, and that's what annoyed most people. Well if you post plenty of stuff on their forums, help each other, post tips and so on, and one day you come there and the forum is deleted, that's not good way to improve user relations.
As for the support, I have good experience, I had my support requests replied promptly.
What I have seen on the forums before they were shut down, were many cases of people not receiving their paid license codes for days or weeks. That can happen (junk mail filters and so on), but there clearly wasn't a good backup procedure in place to handle that.

For most people, the only factor shall be whether the software works for them, and as with any software if the existing bugs don't go in your way, go for it. The concept of DO is great, the linking and stuff.

[Dormouse]

I fully understand everyone's response to poor communication and the removal of the forums. If there are bugs/problems forums are an invaluable method for users to exchange info about how to circumvent/solve them even if there is no development or bug fixing going on. And useful for other uses and ways of working. And if the program is a key one, you cannot do with poor quality support.

That said, it seemed worth it to me, so I went ahead and bought a license ( ). License code arrived almost immediately. Still haven't had a response to my email about the 6 day trial. Still haven't managed to exchange info with my PDA (though DO can tell me the OS & battery state ).

[Dormouse]

Tne 'new' price has been $49.95 for some time.

And now there's the 2 for 1 sale (until Jan 10) which brings it down to $25 (if there are two of you wanting it). And the whole thing is portable and can be carried on a USB.

[DBC]

Odd - I'm currently getting a "403 Forbidden..." when I try to access GemX this afternoon:

http://www.gemx.com/

Derek

[tide]

I'm getting the same message. I was going to go for their promo but texnotes messed up my file associations (.tex files) so I'm uninstalling.

[zenzai]

Hm, looks like they've set up a forum again?

http://www.gemx.com/forum/

Rich

[Dormouse]

Coming on BitsduJour - Do-Organizer price down to $25. Be interesting to see what they say about v4 upgrade price (or whether the upgrade will be included).

PS I noticed a few days ago that the forum website seemed to have been invaded by a malware planting prog. Haven't been back since to see if they have cleared it yet.