Dongle Bongle

[Guest guest]

Dear Ekanatha Prabhu,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I just

received the updated Bhaktivedanta Vedabase. Aside from a few bugs that I

found already (it crashed on me twice, though I'm not sure I can reproduce

it), I really wish I had been informed about the "Dongle" before ordering.

 

As you know, the "Dongle" is a little thing that plugs into the printer

port, which is the new copy protection system of the Vedabase. It won't run

without it.

 

This is totally impractical for laptop users to have an extra thing hanging

out the back of the computer, which also means on my machine having a little

plastic door open all the time too, making it highly suspectable to breaking

off. Plus, my printer *is* biodirectional, and the Dongle doesn't work with

biodirectional printers.

 

Now I'm screwed because I'm in the USA but I'm returning to England soon and

to send the PCMCIA card (at an additional $65!) to me in England means I

will also have to pay VAT tax in the UK simply because I didn't order it

here in the USA because I wasn't told about it.

 

I'm not happy about that at all. What to do. Your order people didn't inform

me of this when I was placing the order.

 

Another thing I don't like about the Dongle is how easy it is for a laptop

user to lose the thing. Basically, since I use the Vedabase almost

everywhere, like in meetings, etc., I have to keep the stupid Dongle thing

with me all the time. If I keep it sticking out the back of the machine it

is not only awkward, but risks having the little plastic door over the

printer port breaking off. If I remove it and stick it in my pocket, it's

only a matter of time before it gets lost somewhere.

 

Had I known all this I probably wouldn't have ordered it and stayed with the

older version of the Vedabase. I know there is a PCMCIA card lock which is

an alternative to the Dongle, but you charge an extra $65 for that and I was

not told about it up front. Wouldn't it have been more honest and

straightforward to mention that up front, and then given me the option NOT

to have a Dongle and have the PCMCIA card instead from day one rather than

have me wait 2 weeks for it to arrive and then discover I don't have

everything I need? Perhaps a discount could have been offered on the PCMCIA

card because no Dongle would have been required to send to me?

 

So in a nutshell, here are my complaints:

 

1) The Vedabase has bugs and crashes at times.

2) Had I known about the Dongle I probably wouldn't have ordered the new

Vedabase but stayed with the old one.

3) The Dongle is easy to loose.

4) An option to have a PCMCIA card OR a Dongle should have been offered to

me from the beginning. The cost of the Dongle should be deducted off the

PCMCIA card by sending one OR the other but not both.

 

That having been said, I do not wish to return it (though I am considering

it). I only wish to gripe about it. At the same time, I would not recommend

to other laptop users that they order the new Vedabase if they already have

the old one. Most of the changes in the interface seem cosmetic and

unnecessary, though it is nice having the Song books and other things also

on the disk. All in all, I wouldn't recommend the Vedabase if someone has

the old one.

 

Hoping this meets you in good health and spirits,

Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada,

Vipramukhya Swami