Help me with a review I'm writing

[johnsemlak]

I'm writing a review for a PDF product I bought recently and I wanted some ideas on how to rate these things.

Basically, I feel the product has very good material, is well edited and very well written. However, as a PDF it is not attractive-looking and is not convenient to use.

-It has no borders at all, so it looks like a converted word document. Illustrations are also scant, though where they are they are superb.
-It does not have any bookmarks, and the product is 128 pages.
-Plus, a minor irritation is that the front page and ToC have a default viewing setting of 'Fit in Window', which means that every time you scroll back to the ToC the viewer resets to 'Fit in Window', which is too small to read.

I was wondering what other people thought about the above points (particularly the first two). How should they affect a product's rating (particularly here at EN World where we can't rate style, substance, etc separately)?

It's occured to me that with other e-publisher's out there releasing very presentable PDF material (incluing, though not limited to, EN publishing and Malhavoc), that I really ought to dock a product for not meeting layout standards that have been set by the competition.

One the otherhand, I think the product is very good overall and am afraid to give it a bad rating just because I don't like the layout.

Thoughts?

 

[nsruf]

Well, you could always give marks in separate categories of your choice and include them at the end of the review, then average them to get a single rating. Round up, or give a larger weight to content, if you feel that the content outweighs the formatting problems.

 

[Mark]

I think PDFs walk a fine line between trying to please the on-screen reader and trying to please the people who wish to print it. There's also the line between people with older computers and modems versus those with new computers and DSL/cable access.

Borders not being there shouldn't bother anyone, IMO. If a border choice is clearly wrong for the feel of a product or a border choice makes printing a pain in the whazzit, I'd deduct some points, but otherwise it doesn't really hurt the actual product, does it? (Same with art, IMO.)

Bookmarks can add lots to the size of a file, especially if someone goes nutzo with them. Hard to say what is right and wrong, but if it is a big PDF the table of contents might be the only place one should add links and the bookmarks should probably only reflect the chapter headings. Meh... Just my feeling on that one.

With regular Acrobat you can change the default viewing. I'm not sure if you can do that with Adobe Reader. Give it a try, but if not I suppose they chose poorly in defaulting it to something you personally do not like.

For someone who prints out the PDF, none of the above things are really problems and, in fact, the lack of bborders is a ink-cartridge-blessing. In the end I'd not give bad marks for what you describe. It is likely that the company's target market is people who print out the PDFs. It might be worth noting that for those who prefer to use a laptop at the table, they may wish to also have Acrobat so they can change the default view and add their own bookmarks. I'd be hardpressed to deduct from what you've outlined. *shrug*

 

[johnsemlak]

Very good points Mark. I had thought that those who wish to print documents might view those things differently.

I personally prefer to read off the screen, but it's understandable that both camps need to be pleased.

Which reminds me, I'd like to get more people to vote on my How do you read PDFs poll.

 

[Mark]

I didn't want to skew your poll with a publisher's opinion...or should I vote anyway?

 

[Drawmack]

-It has no borders at all, so it looks like a converted word document.

Bastion releases all of their products in two formats with borders and without borders because we all spent months complaining the borders make it hard to print. Can you really nail someone for listening to the majority of pdf purchasers?

Illustrations are also scant, though where they are they are superb.

See above. This saves printer ink and paper. It's a nice feature in a pdf.

-It does not have any bookmarks, and the product is 128 pages.
-Plus, a minor irritation is that the front page and ToC have a default viewing setting of 'Fit in Window', which means that every time you scroll back to the ToC the viewer resets to 'Fit in Window', which is too small to read.

Improper or poor use of features offered via the medium of distribution I'd nail them on these two.

 

[Psion]

How you rate is pretty much up to you. I personally don't weigh in attractiveness near as much as I do utility and ideas... after all, it's the utility and ideas which makes a difference at the table.

However, I do feel that lack of bookmarks is a utility hit.

Overall, these sort of limitations might keep a product from being a 5 for me, but they wouldn't knock a 4 down to a 3 or less.

 

[Voadam]

I think the product is very good overall

Thoughts?

I think that is the defining factor, your overall feeling about the product.

But the ratings don't matter as much as what you say in your review IMO.