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Delicious Library 2 Beta Impressions... I am disappointed.

M

MajereXYU

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 11, 2005
125
0
Hello!

I just tried the new Delicious Library 2 Beta that got out tonight (may 24th) and I must say I am dumbfounded. I have no idea what direction they are taking with this, Delicious Library 1 completely changed the way I manage my media (Mostly video games and movies) but the beta for version 2, after many many months of waiting (can't remember how many times it was delayed), just left me completely dissatisfied and I needed to vent.

I included 2 screenshots, one being my current DL 1.6 library and the other one being the same library in 2.0 beta.
You can see that 2.0 is really less ergonomic and wastes way too much screen real estate. It is simply unusable for me on my 13.3" Macbook in its current state.

Delicious Library 1

Delicious Library 2 Beta

As you can see, DL2 can't even display 2 complete shelves at once... (I know I can resize the artwork display to fit more on the screen but should I have to settle when the previous revision of the software was doing the job just fine?).

Also note the GBA games, which display as DVD case format. Totally inacceptable. I hope this is fixed before launch.


Here is my feedback to Delicious Monster :

Hello!

Please take a few minutes to read this, it may help the product greatly.
It may sound like whining but it actually is constructive criticism.

I am a happy 1.6 user and have been looking forward to using 2.0 for quite a while now (what with all the delays). I jumped on the beta as soon as it hit the web to try out the new features and I must say I am quite disappointed.

I only have praise to give about the publish feature but as far as the main library window goes, I don't know what went wrong.

1-The items' box art doesn't display in the correct format.
Ex: Amonst others, GameBoy Advance games which should display cover art in a square aspect ratio show up as DVD case format (vertical rectangle) and Nintendo64 games, which should display in a horizontal rectangle format also show up as DVD case format.

2-The new visual cue for loaned items is simply unusable, sorry.
The former "out" and "late" tags were simple, to the point and professional-looking, while not affecting the gorgeous cover art display.
The new sepia tone faded-out look simply makes the items harder to identify on a quick look, makes them less "delicious" to look at and simply does not work for me (and I'm sure many others).

3-This one is a major point for me: the new location of the details panel.
I simply cannot work with the new details panel and I really don't understand how the designer could think it was a good idea to put it there (bottom of the screen).

It simply forgoes all common sense and interface guidelines.
Most of the information needed to be displayed in there is really short and can fit in a narrow horizontal space. It does not need to be as wide as it mostly need vertical space instead. The way it was displayed in 1.6 was perfect. All that wasted space in 2.0 beta makes me wonder what the designer's reasoning is for this change.

Also, putting the information in such a large area and scattering it so much makes it almost unreadable. I don't read books whose width is 20 times their height. Why should I do it with my library's information?
It simply does not work. What was wrong with the righthand side details column?
Worse of all, I can't even change the location of that damned thing! Let us at least change the location.

I thought the main attraction of Delicious Library was to look at your game/music/book/movie collection's depiction as nice, delicious graphics on virtual shelves.
Now, on a 13.3" Macbook, which is totally usable for everything else I do with it, I just cannot admire my collections and manage it at the same time becase the HUGE HULKING details panel takes up half of my 13.3" screen! I know I can reduce its size but by then, I don't see half the fields I need to fill out.
It's a shame.
Most Mac users these days use widescreen displays and they can spare some lateral screen real estate but most of the time, lack vertical space. Especially when trying to display wide shelves...

I am sorely disappointed in DL2. I waited so long and built so much expectations (my fault) that I really hit a brick wall with this beta.
I understand this a beta software, I understand it is not final (hence my suggestions, even though they come forward as criticism) and I have faith in Delicious Monster.

Let me just say: I was sold on DL2 and was ready to fork out the money on launch day but now I am not so sure anymore.

If this DL2 beta had been my first contact with Delicious Library, I am sure I would have turned away and never looked back.
It is THAT disappointing.

I am sorry to be so harsh and to have taken so much of your time with my blabbering but I really think the product has potential and with minor tweaks could really be the second coming of Christ.

Please don't let us down.
Click to expand...
 
From what Wil has said the version you have, if it is the most up to date, is the launch version. You are able to buy a license for DL2 now if you want. DL2 accepts third party plugins so maybe someone will create a fix for the view so it looks like DL1. As far as the cases, you could try this "hack" but with GBA cases instead. http://forums.macnn.com/106/delicious-monster/331414/hd-dvd-hack/

Wil has also said that any cosmetic fixes won't be looked at until the next version(2.1) so i guess if he deems them important enough to fix they might be. but with the amount of delays with DL2 who knows how long that will take.

EDIT: I just looked at mine and the GBA cases work as they should.
 

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Thanks for the quick reply.

I am mainly expressing my disappointment in a product that is supposed to improve on the existing offering, yet all it does (for now at least) is change things for the sake of change and actually offers less in terms of usability and as such, I don't think of it as an improvement but more as a step forward and two steps backwards.

I don't think a version 2.0 of a software should need hacks and run-arounds to make it work as well as the previous iteration.

I know you were trying to be helpful but the solution proposed does not cut it for me. Thanks again for replying though.

For what it's worth, I would have really liked the solution in your link if 2.0 had not been anounced but now that it is close to shipping, I think the devs can do better than hacks.
 
I think with video games, what is written in the Platform Field determines what case is used. Also, typing unbordered in the format field will just use the jpeg of the movie, cd, or game without the case. works well with tv boxsets or dvds that came with outer boxes.
 
rodman109110 said:
I think with video games, what is written in the Platform Field determines what case is used. Also, typing unbordered in the format field will just use the jpeg of the movie, cd, or game without the case. works well with tv boxsets or dvds that came with outer boxes.
Click to expand...

I realise this and I appreciate the fact that DL changes the display style for different types of media.

My current library has been carefully tagged and organised in DL 1.6 and it displays beautifully in 1.6. The problems arise only in 2.0 beta.
 
I have to agree with the OP.

I just don't get why they put the details panel at the bottom. It makes NO sense.

The worst part is not even having an option to put it back on the side

I've already switched back to 1.6.6.
 
Me too!

I guess that on a 20"-24" display, it must not be so bad (even though it still makes no sense and usability is really compromised) but on anything portable, it is a two step process : edit details, close details panel or vice-versa.

Goodbye Apple Design Award! To hell with Human Interface Guidelines...
 
I also agree with the OP.

Other nits: my shelf labels seem not to work right; they display as "" until I go to list view, sort, and then come back. Each time I restart the program I have to do this.

The details view is among the worst ideas ever. Yowza. I am using a MBP/17 and find it horrrible trying to rea the details as I browse around.

The "burning" animation when you delete something is not a good idea. (If you are going to have gratuitous animations, may as well use the dock's "poof").

What's the point of listing itunes libraries?

The web export stuff isn't nearly configurable enough; i have 601 items in my movies (and i'm not done scanning), and the iphone version never stops loading. Why not support multiple pages when you have a lot of items?

So, what exactly is the benefit of 2.0 over 1.6?
 
I have to say, this is the biggest disappointment of my entire Mac experience. I spent $40 on Delicious Library only to find that the program was NEVER updated. The developers made promise after promise of new features and how awesome version 2 was going to be...but it seems clear that most of this was just talk.

I hope the developers shape up because I enjoyed the original program and it has so much potential....
 
I think I'll buy this just to keep track of what friends are borrowing. I downloaded both versions (without having used either) and I must say that 1.6.6 is much more usable, the main thing being the info bar on the left. Having it on the bottom is a bad use of screen real estate. I'll probably buy 1.6 and then get the free upgrade to 2 so I can use both. But one of the things I would love is the Dewey Decimal numbers for the books, which only version 2 has. Is there a plugin to add this for version 1?
 
I have to agree with everything the OP is saying. While DL ran like a dog on my old machine, it is great on my new machine. I tried the new beta version and was dissatisfied with the layout. I truly think that the info bar being on the bottom is a waste. While DL isn't updated often I think 1.6 ran just fine and if they never touch it again then it'll be too soon. Short of it not working with the latest OS of course.

I'd also like to say shame on the developers for pushing a product where users must find hacks to make it run better. I won't find myself using v2 any time soon, the info bar on the bottom is huge to me. The GBA cases not being displayed is lower on the list but still stinks.
 
I've been watching DL for a while. I've played enough with the demo of 1.x to know that this would be a great addition for my personal library.

I've been waiting for DL2 -- since it was announced ages ago, I figured I should wait, instead of buying 1.x and then paying again to upgrade.

Sounds like I should wait longer, and that DL2 isn't worth it at the moment. Is that a fair assumption? Certainly, none of these reviews are positive. I'd hate to spend the cash to end up with a substandard product.
 
After such a long wait, this is a pretty big disappointment and will motivate to finally give a go to the competition, especially the -pedias from bruji.com. With their use of coverflow and quicklook, it doesn't seem like much will be lost in terms of aesthetics and the additional functionalities will be welcome... $50 for the 4 pedias hurt a bit, but less than the $20 upgrade asked for that piece of junk that is DL2. To me DL remains clearly superior to the competition with its barcode recognition performance, but that's too little to keep me in...
 
Is Version 2 Faster?

I don't like the details on the bottom of the screen either. But, I can live with that. I used Delicious Library for a while up until about a year ago when the performance became unacceptably slow with my 900 CDs. I found out yesterday that 2.0 was out and I was thrilled as I had bought Music Collector just to catalog my CDs and it doesn't have bar code scanning (which wasn't exactly perfect in DL anyway) and it only categorizes music.

I downloaded 2.0 but since I don't have my CDs loaded in my database anymore, I don't know what the performance will be like. I can say that with my 1,600 different CD covers in iTunes, it takes forever to scroll the shelves there (not a good sign). I thought maybe this would be the case just the first time as it was importing and/or creating the thumbnails. But, it takes a long time every time. I'm running on a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mac with 4 GB of RAM. This is not a good sign that they've fixed the performance problem.

I don't understand why they'd release the software ahead of the release of OS X that we need to get the performance. I'm not buying (again) on the promise that 10.5.3 will fix this.

Is anyone seeing decent performance on a database of over 800 or 900 items? I really like the IDEA of DL. But my experience of the execution has been it is lacking in everything but the interface (which has actually taken a step backwards with that detail screen).

p.s.- I created a web page from my books using iWeb on .Mac. Is it supposed to have links? I get nice pictures of the books with their titles and authors. But no link to Amazon or nothin'.
 
I also have the same problem with all my games and Blu-rays being displayed in a DVD case, I know its only a cosmetic issue but it should be fixed and not forgotten about.

I also agree having the info/edit panel along the bottom is stupid in this day and age of widescreen displays, I have a 30" screen and would still want it back on the side so I can see more of my stuff.

The only good point is the export feature so you can share your stuff online but even this has a small bug, all my CDs display in no order what so ever.

Nice Try But No Cigar.
 
My only complaint is that the info pane cannot be displayed on the right, hopefully a preference will be added soon. Its really awkward to view on a MB (something Wil should know considering he has an AIR).
 
DL2 is a big disappointment like MS Vista ... after waiting all this time to find I'm better off keeping version 1.
 
Honestly, I am not concerned about the blur on the covers. But, I am finding the load time to be extremely slow again for my 1,600 CDs that are in iTunes. Everytime I look at the cover view, the page takes a long time to refresh the covers. This was supposed to be fixed with OS X 10.5.3 But, no such luck.

I am also amazed at the lack of support and documentation. The help file in 2.0 is pretty much nonexistent. And, there is no support forum. I guess their support is one guy answering emails? I tried to import my 900 CDs from Music Collector. They came over. But, just the titles. The artist was not put into the Creator field and Delicious did not recognized the CDs. So, no covers or any details.

I am going to hold off before I spend another $20 on a program that just seems to almost get it right each time. I do not understand why Apple is giving them awards, unless it is just for their designs.
 
Disappointed with Delicious Library Support

I purchsed DL1 a long long time ago, and loved it. Then last Wednesday when OSX 10.5.3 came out I upgraded and also purchased DL2. Afterwards I deleted DL1 which in turn deleted all the content as well as the serial number from DL2. Fortunately, time machine was able to restore the content but for some reason I couldn't get the license back.

I never received confirmation of my purchase via email, so I didn't have a spare license (my credit card shows the purchase going through). I posted a request on 5/30 for help asking for someone to re-send me my license so I could get DL2 up and running again. I haven't heard anything yet. I've submitted two more tickets since then, and still no luck. I've even called their office but no one answered the phone (I didn't leave a message). I'm starting to get really frustrated, I never have such bad support response from any company or website. I'd like to have a full working version of DL2 because I actually use it fairly often for school stuff. I'm thinking about asking for my money back but who knows if they'll even respond to that.

I honestly like DL1 and 2, I've been of fan of the program since I first learned about it so this is really disappointing thing to have happen.

Anybody else experience bad support or have any advice about what to do?
 
Support Requests

I made a support request the day DL2 came out. Not a peep. I eventually bought DL2 (which I do like now that I have it). But, I still need support. The help file is pretty weak.

I sent a support request in this morning.

1.) I imported my 900 CDs from another program. Great. It brought in the name of the CD and the "Creator". But, I can't figure out how to get anything else to come in "automatically". So, I'm manually doing lookups on them now. The iSight scanning option is significantly slower than just typing in the name of the CD and the artist and doing a search.

2.) I cannot figure out how to put multiple tracks in the tracks field.

It would be nice if DL2 at least had a support forum where users could help each other. My guess is the small staff is completely overwhelmed with the new release hitting just a few days ago. I understand that. But, at least have a decent help or FAQs or a support forum.
 
Loaning Items Icon is Missing Too

I hardly know where to begin.

I select a book, and in the "View" menu, the "Loan" item is grayed out.

In the Help menu, under "Checking Out Items to Borrowers", you say
"press the (an icon with a person on it) button", then Select an entry
from the address book panel, then press Select User. The selected
friend will appear in the borrowers list.

There's no button with that description; nowhere do I see a borrowers
list.

To top it off, when you send a message to their support e-mail, you get no reply. I sent a message on May 30; it is now June 9, and still no reply. Are they asleep?
 
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