Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jarthur!euler.claremont.edu!schitre From: schitre@euler.claremont.edu Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: DBase Mac Message-ID: <1991Apr9.145147.1@euler.claremont.edu> Date: 9 Apr 91 21:51:47 GMT References: Sender: news@jarthur.Claremont.EDU Distribution: comp Organization: Harvey Mudd College Lines: 27 In article , heskett@titan.tsd.arlut.utexas.edu (Donald Heskett) writes: > MacExpress is offering DBase-Mac, originally priced around $250, for > $59. Anyone know the why of the big price cut? > > Comments on the quality and utility of the product are also welcome. The last couple of times I saw deals like this the manufacturer was coming out with a new version and would not take back the copies of the old one the distributor already had. So, the distributor cuts losses by selling them really cheap. As a registered user you can buy the upgrade for less than half the money you save. You get a good deal on the software, and they get some money of out it to recoupe their expenses. As for the product itself, I've used in and in its field it's a lot better than a spreadsheet trying to emulate a data- base package. However it's not particularly easy to learn (you'll definitely need the manuals) and generating reports and forms can be pretty slow if they're long. If you have a fast machine (030 based w/ co-processor) then you'll be fine on that count. The database I created required customer records, which were no big deal, and sales records, which were a real pain. If you want the program to check the sales item numbers against a database of items and then automatically insert the price you could be working a long time, even though there's an example of how to do it in the book. It's a decent program, and for only $59 it's worth the deal. Sunil