Pinnacle Studio Version 11 [OLD VERSION]

List Price: $49.99 Discount Price: $39.99

Features:

• Create impressive movies as easy as 1-2-3
• Enhance your video with photos, music, titles and effects
• Share your creations on DVD, the Web and more
• Quickly import photos and video from a wide range of devices
• Select from hundreds of 2D and 3D effects and transitions to give your movie that Hollywood look

Accessories:
Windows Vista: The Definitive Guide	PC World

Customer Reviews:

Buggy software, unresponsive support - stay away [Posted on 2008-01-15]
I've used Pinnacle Studio since version 1.06 and it seems that with each new release software quality deteriorates more and more. Studio has severe problems capturing analog video (from Pinnacle's own capture card no less) and corrupts portions of video during editing / rendering. Support is horrible to say the least - after an email exchange where all suggestions were taken from FAQ I was told that my issue is redirected to "level 2 support" which apparently stands for "black hole". I've never heard back and further emails went unanswered.
The bottom line - spend your money elsewhere.

Pinnacle Studios Very User Friendly [Posted on 2008-05-29]
I am by no means a computer expert. I recently received a digital video camera and couldn't figure out how to download the videos to my computer and make a movie with the software packaged with the camera. I purchased Pinnacle Studios and am making movies like a pro. Very user friendly, simple to operate and loaded with options for when I become more advanced.

Beware [Posted on 2008-06-23]
Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! I can't say it enough.

This is the first review I have ever posted, because I need to warn everyone not to buy this.

Only buy this product if you want crashes, frustration, to reinstall your entire system, poor customer support, and to waste a lot of time, lose a lot of work.

I have spent over a week of work time trying to get this to work, as a solo business owner this has cost me a lot, in both time and money, trying to produce a DVD for students.

Pinnacle should not be allowed to sell this product, and they should be embarressed to do so.

It won't even uninstall properly, after running all the uninstall programs, (inculding one you have to download) it leaves 43.5MB of files and data on your pc. Hah! try and delete those if you can!

Pinnacle Support is pathetic... software the same [Posted on 2008-07-26]
I bought this so I could convert mpeg2 files to divx... I've spent multiple HOURS trying to get the feature to work. Support is available on a VERY limited basis, and they don't know how to solve the problem anyway. They always send you a link to a faq that says the problem used to exist, but that it's been fixed... not so. Stay away from pinnacle. They make a poor product, and then want to charge extra to get support for it and try to get it to do what it's supposed to do. How do I get my money back?

Read the Fine Print! [Posted on 2008-07-29]
Pinnacle's Serial Numbers and Activation Keys expire after two years.

This applies to all Pinnacle software, not just software downloaded online. Activation Keys bought online AND Serial Numbers for software bought in retail stores only work for two years.

It's in the fine print - which you can't even see until you rip open the box (thereby forfeiting your right to a refund) and click the "Yes, I Agree" button during installation.

If you have to reinstall the program (or any part of it) two years and a day after buying it, you will have to completely repurchase the software.

What's especially fishy about Pinnacle is how it will suddenly start crashing at 2 years after initial installation. My video drivers stopped working at a point, I'd later realize, coincident with the 2 year anniversary of my having installed the Pinnacle software.

In trying to fix the suspiciously-timed program crash I was mystified to learn that a number clearly printed on a CD sleeve was suddenly "Not a Valid Serial Number." The Activation Keys I'd bought online, and had on file, were suddenly incorrect.

I contacted Pinnacle, who informed me of the two year statement in the agreement. Here is an excerpt from their email:

"The reason you are not able to obtain a redownload of your purchase is
that the Extended Download Service was not purchased with your download
and the time to purchase this service has expired. Unfortunately, this
means that in order to obtain the product, you will need to repurchase
it."

Keep in mind - I was asking Pinnacle for no software. All I needed was a Serial Number and Activation Keys, because the Serial Number printed on the CD sleeve itself, and the Activation Keys I'd received two years earlier no longer worked.

Just something you might want to keep in mind before buying Pinnacle software.

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