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| ACT! 2006 | 
 enlarge | From: Sage Software
Category: Software
List Price: $229.99
Buy New: $179.95
You Save: $50.04 (22%)
New (1) Used (1) from $149.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  75 reviews
Sales Rank: 1509
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Windows 2003 Server, Windows Xp, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000
Media: CD-ROM
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 7.8 x 2.8
MPN: acts2006rt
Model: ACTS2006RT
UPC: 040689004708
EAN: 0040689004708
ASIN: B000AP0H6C
Release Date: September 12, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New in retail box! Manufractured Sealed! Priority Mail Shipping!
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 71-75 of 75 | | « PREV 1 ... | | |
 Using ACT since v3 - What a disappointment we have here! September 27, 2005
27 out of 28 found this review helpful
I've been an ACT! cheerleader since v3. Last year I purchased ACT 2005 and could not believe they actually released a product that performed so poorly. Returned it for a refund.
** Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago **
I received a promotional offer for 2006 talking about all the performance improvements, etc. I called and spoke directly to a Rep to relate my tale of woe w/2005, and to be assured that I wasn't going to be wasting my time again. The expected response: As far as performance issues of 2005, "this was a totally different product" and "we know that version had problems and all of those have been resolved..." (ok he's a sales guy - what's he supposed to say: "Yeah, this version bites too"??)
Well, I bit...and bought...and hoped...and couldn't believe it - same old dog as 2005. Startup takes forever, screen writes take forever, lookups take forever (anyone sensing a pattern here)? I REALLY wanted this to be a fixable problem since as mentioned previously, I'm a huge ACT! fan. Tech support could ONLY say that "this is a really big program" and suggest some tweaks for improving the performance of my system (not the performance of ACT!). All this despite the fact that other "really HUGE programs" I use (including Siebel 7 and Oracle) manage to perform acceptably. My system way exceeds ACT's minimum requirements (P4 1.8GHz, 512MB RAM, 30GB HD) - unfortunately the 2006 product is just a pig.
I have less than 5,000 contacts but when using the ACT! 2006 address book from within Outlook, it takes more than 90 seconds just to bring up the contacts so I can select an email address. ** That's a minute and a half of my life that I'll never get back! ** :-) This was not just on the initial attempt (which in itself is unacceptable), but even pulling up the addresses again *within the same email* takes....you guessed it - another 90+ seconds!
I tried my best to use it for a solid week, did all the recommended tweaks, etc - but it's simply intolerable.
Looks like my v6 will be around for awhile longer.
Not Quite There Yet September 25, 2005
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
Overall, I see some improvements but not enough to justify my return to ACT! Not sure why a great product like this sank like the Titanic. I'm keeping my Prophet 2004 for now. It has amazed me with all the functionalities provided by ACT and yet works lightning fast. Check it out at prophet2004.biz
ZERO STARS - Soooo slow and crash-prone. DON"T BUY!!! September 23, 2005
107 out of 114 found this review helpful
I started using ACT! back with ACT! 2000 (version 5) for our 5 member workgroup. That version was fraught with problems. Just getting it to run required monumental effort, with various Windows tweaks and Registry settings having to be modified. Once all that was accomplished the software ran, not well, but sufficiently well to serve our needs. It doesn't integrate well with Outlook or Word, which causes it to crash now and then, but mostly it works.
When version 6 came out, the marketing stated that it was more stable, faster, and better integrated with Office. I immediately purchased it, installed it, and ran it. Within seconds my system locked up and displayed the Blue Screen of Death. I rebooted, uninstalled, and called for a refund. I had visions of more weekends spent trying to get ACT! to play nice.
I skipped version 7. Then I received the Sage marketing pack for ACT! 2006, and read the very glowing claims that it put forth: Streamlined Productivity! Simpler Scheduling! Better Administration and Security! Time Savings! Guaranteed!
Hah! Here's the reality: yes, there are new features in ACT! 2006, like company records, a new group heirarchy, security enhancements, and scrolling mouse support. Unfortunately none of those features can be used because the program is so painfully slow. It hijacks system resources like mad but appears to use none of the memory or processor capabilities; it just hoards them away from other programs.
Open a menu and close it, and a ghost of the menu remains. Move a field in Template Designer, and it leaves ghost images along the entire path. The only way to be rid of these is to minimize/restore, minimize/restore, over and over until you want to scream.
For those who will scoff, I'm not using some ancient box from Tandy. I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with a P4 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM, ATI Radeon 256MB graphics card. I work daily with Paint Shop Pro and SolidEdge, and the PC never hiccups. I typically have Word, Excel, Outlook, ACT! 2000, Navision, and SolidEdge open at all times, plus the numerous background programs everybody needs like ZoneAlarm, AdAware, Norton AV, yada yada.
Sage support tells me the computer is at fault. That's what they told me with version 6. That's what they'll tell you when you call them. Trust me - Big Blue couldn't make this program run faster.
The sad part is that there is really no other product for individuals or small businesses that can compete with ACT!. So I'm staying with ACT! 2000 and returning my copy of ACT! 2006. Maybe they'll get it right in version 9...
 better than 2005 but still has lots of issues September 22, 2005
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
Upgrade to 2006 is tragically not what I'd hoped for.
I started using ACT 2005 this past November, never having used it previously. Personally I would have chosen to role my own solution, however this is for my employer who already owned it, and has used ACT for several years.
My tasking was to customize the database fields, load all her clients and contacts into the system, then generate multiple marketing campaigns targeting various groups of clients and contacts throughout the year. I have two databases - one has 90 contacts, the other around 200. So this isn't anything huge, however I have the minimal system requirements, so I don't expect lightening fast speeds - just reasonable - you know, so I can remain productive in my day.
I was constantly frustrated by the grindingly slow functionality, the frozen screens when transitioning from one view to another, and the severely slow ghosting transitions from some views or screens. It was even worse when trying to launch a mail merge in MS Word, and often would drain my system's memory to the point of needing to reboot.
So I was glad to hear they were coming out with multiple patches over a few months. Sadly only ONE such patch ever came out, and it didn't do anything to help. As such, I resigned myself to dealing with the terrible performance, forcing myself to put up with it every time I needed to use the software.
When they sent us a promo for pre-sale of ACT 2006, I spoke with a rep, read up on their web site about it, and figured it couldn't hurt to take the chance on it improving my lot in life.
I've had 2006 for a few days - the upgrade actually went smoothly, a pleasant surprise. And yes, some of the functionality glitches and slow speed issues have been resolved.
Unfortunately however, many of the same issues still plague me now. The screen transitions are pitifully slow still. Some of the time even trying to launch print-preview locks the system up. The first time I did this, for printing mailing labels (a whopping 200 records) ACT crashed and shut itself down.
When I try to multi-task, it's a hit and miss as to whether there's enough system resources to allow me to do ANYTHING besides have the ACT window open. After closing ACT, the SQLSERVR database remains open in system memory - for example, I exited ACT 20 minutes ago, and SQL Server is still in memory.
It's a shame that this company is bent on their new "annual upgrade" path, which means that once a year we'll be asked to shell out another $150 - $200 per license if we want to live in the illusion that each next upgrade is worth it. So far, this upgrade has NOT been worth it. Oh - wow - they now offer 60 days of "warranty" support. I'd rather they offer 30 days, and put the resources into dealing with the real problems.
2006 still sucks September 22, 2005
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
I just downloaded ACT 2006 trial version since I knew that it had to be better than the 2005 nightmare. Although faster than 2005, it's still too slow. It also slows down all other programs on the computer. With the direction this company is headed, I am going to start exploring other options such as Goldmine. Act 6.0 was great but it doesnt sync with the best and most popular PDA phone available (Treo 650). This company is going downhill fast.
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