Re: filmscanners: Silverfast Ai and Silverfast HDR

["Lloyd O'Daniel" <lodaniel@bham.rr.com>]

I purchased my copy of Silverfast prior to the bundle deal.  Perhaps that
is why I got the break on the version 5.5 upgrade.

I am using SF for virtually all my scanning, primarily because of its
reputation and the large investment I have in the software . As Polaroid
continues to improve Insight, Silverfast will become less and less relevant
. Lasersoft's pricing policies have always irked me, forcing one to pay
essentially full price for each scanner. I could somewhat understand a
premium to support scanners with special features such as ICE. But it is
absurd to have to pay if one switches from an Epson to a Umax flatbed, or
from one model Epson to another.

Lasersoft has administrative problems .  As I stated in my original message
, I was unable to get SF to work for a month after purchasing it . I was on
the verge of demanding a refund when the problem was resolved
serendipitously by upgrading  to Win2000. I was led to believe by tech
support that I was the only customer in the world with my problem and
therefore it must be my particular hardware .  A short time later , I read
on this board of at least one more user concurrently having the identical
problem. He was told the same story.

Then there was the fiasco with the version 5.5 upgrade .  I ordered over the
internet on August 4 and received  a number to unlock the download site .
When I went to the site, the number was useless. In fact, the full version
files had not even been made available at that time . Of course , the order
page had no difficulty in processing the credit card info . My cc was
charged on 8/4. Version 5.5 was
made available on August 6. I still had to call to get User IDs, passwords,
and serial numbers for the software . This is not how I would want to run a
company.

As I said , I like the software and that is the only reason I've put up with
the company this far .

Lloyd


----- Original Message -----
From: "Lloyd O'Daniel" <lodaniel@bham.rr.com>
To: <filmscanners@halftone.co.uk>
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2001 5:58 PM
Subject: Re: filmscanners: Silverfast Ai and Silverfast HDR


> Paul,
>
> No, it was Silverfast USA. In fact, your message jogged my memory. In
fact,
> I spoke with Annie during both calls. Perhaps they had not yet formulated
> their firm policy. I later read here that there was a dispute between
> Germany and USA regarding this issue. I don't remember which had which
> position, but it looks like greed prevailed.
>
> Lloyd
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Paul Chefurka" <Paul_Chefurka@pmc-sierra.com>
> To: <filmscanners@halftone.co.uk>
> Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2001 3:08 PM
> Subject: RE: filmscanners: Silverfast Ai and Silverfast HDR
>
>
> > And the chant of the crowd grows louder:  "Ham...rick Ham...rick
> Ham...rick" :-)
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Owen P. Evans [mailto:opevans@istar.ca]
> > Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2001 2:30 PM
> > To: Filmscanners
> > Subject: filmscanners: Silverfast Ai and Silverfast HDR
> >
> > [snip discouraging customer support story]
> >
> > Today I had not had a reply so I sent a second notice and I received a
> > telephone call this afternoon from their customer service. They do not
> give
> > HDR updates for free! They will refund my $45 and we are finished. The
> > customer service rep, Annie, was very pleasant and firm with the policy.
> She
> > felt that maybe Mr. O'Daniel may have been dealing with Germany because
> > Lasersoft Imaging Inc. of the USA will not do this!
> >
> > There you have my experience. As for me; I'm sticking with Vuescan like
I
> > have all year and who updates the product on a weekly basis...FOR FREE!
> > Sorry for the long post.
> > Owen
> >
> > Owen P. Evans
> > Osgoode, Ontario. Canada
> > (near our nation's capital; Ottawa)
> > opevans@istar.ca
> > J.33-3
>