OT: Pinnacle support

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Former user wrote on 1/12/2004, 7:58 AM
He is a Real Estate attorney.
kgresko wrote on 1/12/2004, 10:10 AM
Yes I have asked for a refund for my initial purchase of Studio Deluxe 7, then the upgrade to 8. Then after trying all the betas that they posted, still cannot get it to work. I know I am not alone. And since a class suit is for people who all have the same interest, that appears to be our only alternative.

mmreed wrote on 1/12/2004, 10:13 AM
gris -

take a look at the pinnacle studio8 forums - you'll see the horror. <grin>

Ive been begging for a rebate only to get no reply. Well.. shouldnt be surprised - I get no reply to my support requests either.

Pinnacle may be good in the eyes of some, but looking at the forums they host, there are many restless natives seeking recoupment.

DaveT2 - even though hes a RE lawyer - they all go through the same basic law courses that teach them what they need to know to handle simple legal matters. Also - I imagine he knows the right people to get in touch with for the higher end stuff. I've been in contact with him and he is a pretty good guy... just looking to get pinnacle to address their unhappy users rather than ignore them.

On a positive note - had Pinnacle not stank so much, I probabbly would not have found Sony... maybe I should email Pinnacle a thank you. <grin>
Former user wrote on 1/12/2004, 10:39 AM
I understand there are some basics on law, but in order to get a class action suit, you will need lawyers that understand these. Will they work for free? Will they have YOUR interest at heart? How many participants do you need for a class action? What do you expect to get out of it?

I was a participant in a class action suit against the airlines in the 80's. Price fixing. I got some coupons good for $30 off a few flights. I never used them because I didn't fly enough so the only people who benefitted were the lawyers, not the participants.

And if Pinnacle can find people who are happy with the software, how many do you need to counteract that. I don't know, but I think if I was that upset with the software, I would just right it off as a loss and move on. There are more important things in life.

I know some will disagree with me and that is their privilege, this is just my own ramblings.

Dave T2
mmreed wrote on 1/12/2004, 11:10 AM
Yeah, Im not expecting to get much out of it... but at this point, there is no cost to me other than time to write a few emails... and maybe theres a chance I'll end up with a refund...or something... if not, at least I know Pinnacle had to confront the issue rather than ignore it like they are now.

Im happy with my canopus card and movie studio software...
mscherotter wrote on 1/20/2004, 10:05 PM
That's why I'm using Screenblast now.
Steve__A wrote on 1/27/2004, 7:16 PM
Mark said: "My posts on Pinnacles support forum remains unanswered too."

Hmmm... I was reviewing some of the 63 undeleted posts you made over at the Pinnacle forum and I see that many of them were answered by Pinnacle tech support, In some cases (such as the thread you started 12/10/03)Pinnacle responded promptly (on 12/11/03) and requested further information that you did not provide in that thread.

If anyone else cares to review your posts at Pinnacle they can cut and paste the following link into the browser address bar to generate a listing:

http://webboard.pinnaclesys.com/searchResults.asp?lng=1&qu=@WebboardID+%3D+W1+AND+@SectionID+%3D+S143+AND+@Posted+%3E+-180d+AND+@Username+%3D+mmreed+AND+@PageID+%3D+Message&Keyword=&WebboardID=1&SectionID=143&ForumID=-1&Days=180&username=mmreed

I did find your post from 12/14/03 to be very informative- that was the undated press release from Kim Fennel (the former CEO of Pinnacle Systems) regarding strategies in acquiring the Dazzle line and how that affected the shipping date of Studio 9.

FWIW it appears that your problem with OOS analog captures was very unique (99% of the complaints- like mine! - deal with MPEG captures and edits while your problem was with the recommended AVI format files). I suspect some incompatibility on the motherboard... did they ever suggest that you try moving the capture board to a different PCI slot? Basic troubleshooting for possible hardware issues would involve removing all unneeded PCI boards and trying out the capture board in all positions, optionally disabling various features in CMOS setup. The possiblilty also exists that your particular board was defective (I usually make sure that I can return any hardware that is not compatible with my computer without having to pay a restock charge).

I'm glad to hear that you have gotten good results with your Canopus card... I've been very pleased with the ADS Instant DVD 2.0 USB capture box that I bought earlier this month (which also has "audio lock" technology).

Like you I do feel some bitterness about spending over $200 on a Pinnacle hardware/software package that does not deliver the advertised results. And I wouldn't feel right giving away the Dazzle DVC-150 to a friend since they would undoubtably get frustrated with the OOS problems inherent in the MPEG captures and rendering. I do figure that they will "get it right" one of these days at which time I wouldn't feel guilty giving it away.

BTW one of the users (KlausHorst) came up with some interesting findings which might explain why Studio 8 screws up when you edit MPEG files:

http://webboard.pinnaclesys.com/read_messages.asp?WebboardID=1&ForumID=704&SectionID=143&ThreadID=172345&ThreadStart=0&Pos=14&cntThread=2260&lng=1

--Respectfully submitted by Steve A.