Mini-Review and Discount (Sep 2010): USB Safely Remove and Zentimo

[IL1keT0Donate]

There's not much difference between USBSR and Zentimo IMO (http://zentimo.com/zentimovsusbsr.htm).

They gave Zentimo away for free some week ago (http://zentimo.com/giveawayd11.htm). Missed that. Well, they had free giveaway of USBSR and Zentimo all the time, I'm sure there'll be another giveaway.

-wr975 (February 11, 2012, 05:47 AM)

Yes wr975 you're right on both matters but ultimately Zentimo is supposed to be the companies all-in-one-all-singing-and-dancing USB (& SATA) control toolkit.

As I sort of indicated USB Safely Remove is mature (and years old) at version 5.x, but Zentimo is only 2 years old and version 1.5x at present but BOTH products do continue to constantly develop.

Having said that, I have seen some other excellent USB applications about the interwebs worth consideration.

I believe I've read Zentimo & USB Safely Remove BLOG comments asking things like: "why do do keep giving away Freebies on sites such as GOTD when I've paid good money for a license" & Igor Tkachenko (the chief developer) usually answers with the following paraphrased responces: it increases the user base, gets feedback regards compatibility and errors as well as feature requests and some of the Freebie owners try and then later buy.

Igor (I.M.H.O.) really prefers people to take the subscription model and has given some dreadfully lame answers when people asked about the Zentimo 'Lifetime License" purchase option removal such as: you cant give a LiFETIME license when the company may not exist forever and other such crazy answers but the fact remained that USB Safely Remove was still being offered with an L.L. and Yet the same company wasn't offering L.L. for Zentimo which didn't seem fair especially as a group of owners who "bought in" to Zentimo when it was a fledgling product did have L.L. and would never have to pay anymore money.

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It would seem obvious to most rational people, that when they buy software with a 'Lifetime' license the term "means for the life of the product" but IGOR used to imply that it meant 'for the life of the owner' which of course was utter codswallop.  Plenty of software programs reach their "zenith" were further updates would be tinkering for no real reason and ultimately a waste of resources, for example: Anvir Task Manager Pro v6.3.1 didn't release an update for almost 2 years (v6.5.x was released in Feb. 2012) and "some" buyers complained and felt they'd wasted their money as updates weren't being released, but many more reasonable people were happy that they had a "stable" program which didn't require updating and they knew they could always email for support at anytime if a problem occurred.
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Anyways after that small digression the point of my comments is a "heads up"  to many owners that at this moment in time, at last the Zentimo L.L. is a purchase option again, and, as it includes free major upgrades as well as the usual free minor updates, the L.L. purchase option is for most people 'the best value for money' license option that CrystalRich dot com offer (and to previous "paid owners" of Zentimo or USB.S.R. will almost certainly be discounted from the face value price)

[Innuendo]

I just recently posted a thread here discussing whether or not USBSR & Zentimo are even needed anymore. At least you were doing better than me. You knew that Crystal Rich had stopped offering lifetime licenses. Up till a day or so ago I didn't know they had ever stopped.

I did ultimately buy, but I probably wouldn't have pulled the trigger if I hadn't worked the system to get a steep discount (see my thread above for details).

Since you are talking about licensing I will reiterate here for emphasis what I observed in my aforementioned thread. I found it a little odd (probably an oversight) that USBSR licensees are able to upgrade to a lifetime Zentimo license no matter their current status and yet, at least visible on the web site, there seems to be no way for a Zentimo licensee to change their license into a lifetime one.

[IL1keT0Donate]

I just recently posted a thread here discussing whether or not USBSR & Zentimo are even needed anymore. At least you were doing better than me. You knew that Crystal Rich had stopped offering lifetime licenses. Up till a day or so ago I didn't know they had ever stopped.

I did ultimately buy, but I probably wouldn't have pulled the trigger if I hadn't worked the system to get a steep discount (see my thread above for details).

Since you are talking about licensing I will reiterate here for emphasis what I observed in my aforementioned thread. *I found it a little odd (probably an oversight) that USBSR licensees are able to upgrade to a lifetime Zentimo license no matter their current status and yet, at least visible on the web site, **there seems to be no way for a Zentimo licensee to change their license into a lifetime one.

-Innuendo (February 12, 2012, 12:53 PM)

*: Yes I too have never really understood the logic behind that peculiarity with respect to USB-S-R but getting a logical explanation out of Igor isn't easy (perhaps it's a Russian to English translation thing?)


**Last week there was a 30%OFF promotion (ending 17th February) but just a few minutes ago, I went back to the Zentimo order page and there was a selectable "drop down" allowing the user to choose between normal/non-discounted prices of: a 1 Year License for USD$29.00, 2 Year License for USD$10 more at USD$39.00, or Lifetime License options at USD$59.00  .


Certainly Zentimo's 'Lifetime License.' option is a welcome addition, at least I.M.H.O., and I note that based on a 1 Year purchase price the 'L.L.' is being offered for only twice the normal retail price, and most people (with a value for money mindset) would be happy to pay only the equivalent of '2x the normal 1 Year price' for never ending support & unlimited upgrades and updates, by comparison to paying a never ending annual or biannual subscription arrangement - albeit 'optional' as the license owner can choose at any time to not renew their subscription.


Edit addition:
When I started writing this reply, almost 24 hours ago, the 30%OFF promotion had expired, but it (30%OFF) has now been renewed until February 29th, 2012, so the options to choose from are now: a 1 Year License for USD$20.93, 2 Year License for USD$7 more at $27.93, or Lifetime License options at $41.93 (Bargain )

[Innuendo]

Edit addition:
When I started writing this reply, almost 24 hours ago, the 30%OFF promotion had expired, but it (30%OFF) has now been renewed until February 29th, 2012, so the options to choose from are now: a 1 Year License for USD$20.93, 2 Year License for USD$7 more at $27.93, or Lifetime License options at $41.93 (Bargain )

-IL1keT0Donate (February 21, 2012, 07:27 PM)

Yeah, it looks like he has started to price his stuff the way Slysoft prices AnyDVD & the rest of their products. Jack up the regular price but run perpetual sales to make the user think he's getting a great deal.