Which Star Explorer version to buy

RandySmugMug

the trial is great but I can't decide on which of the 3 versions to buy....

What have you done ?

thanks

cmason

Randy, I have been very happy with just the Standard version. It is hard to find, but Nik offers this simple comparision:

http://www.starexplorer.com/SE_purchase.htm (sorry had to break the frames to get this to work)

basically, if you need things like bandwidth control, statistics download, and image download, go with Power. If you also need sales info, go with Pro. There is a bit more to it than that, and the main page lists all the features.

I have been very happy with Standard, and I don't miss getting the data, since I usually ignore that anyway, or get it from my smugmug control panel. Note: I am not a Pro, and do photography as a hobby only. As for bandwidth control, that would be nice, but usually I prep all my uploads in S*Explorer, then just before I head off the bed, I have S*E start, set to shutdown when done. Somewhere in the middle of the night, it finishes and shuts down. Since I have a cable modem, this likely works better, using bandwidth when my neighbors are asleep.

RandySmugMug

cmason wrote:

Randy, I have been very happy with just the Standard version. It is hard to find, but Nik offers this simple comparision:

http://www.starexplorer.com/SE_purchase.htm (sorry had to break the frames to get this to work)

basically, if you need things like bandwidth control, statistics download, and image download, go with Power. If you also need sales info, go with Pro. There is a bit more to it than that, and the main page lists all the features.

I have been very happy with Standard, and I don't miss getting the data, since I usually ignore that anyway, or get it from my smugmug control panel. Note: I am not a Pro, and do photography as a hobby only. As for bandwidth control, that would be nice, but usually I prep all my uploads in S*Explorer, then just before I head off the bed, I have S*E start, set to shutdown when done. Somewhere in the middle of the night, it finishes and shuts down. Since I have a cable modem, this likely works better, using bandwidth when my neighbors are asleep.

thx !
I have a pro account so I can sell some sports stuff but it's more of a hobby than anything. I do do alot of uploading of big files and sometimes hundreds of them after a soccer tourn.

What is bandwidth control ?
What is S*E start and where do you set it to shutdown ?


Downloading is not something I do since the pics are on my hd and stats are easily seen online

cmason

RandySmugMug wrote:

What is bandwidth control ?

You can set S*E to cap the bandwidth it uses to a certain amount, otherwise it will simply use all available, as does a regular upload...basically, you can tell S*E to slow down the upload, in case you have other things going.

RandySmugMug wrote:

What is S*E start and where do you set it to shutdown ?

What I mean is....with S*E you can create an upload 'session' that uploads to multiple folders, and you can add photos to it at any time...you do not have to start S*E and begin uploading right away. So as I edit photos, I will 'export to S*E" in Lightroom the ones I want to post on Smugmug. Then once I am done, I have a bunch of photos in S*E ready to upload.
Then I click the green 'go' button, and in the dropdown box that is labelled 'action' I choose 'shutdown'.

If this does not match what you see on the screen, here is a tip, one that frustrated me for a very long time: maximize S*E and you will see all the options along the tool bar. Otherwise, the toolbar doesnt resize nor indicate that there are additional tools that just are not visible when they do not fit the window (Nik you listening?).

RandySmugMug

cmason wrote:

You can set S*E to cap the bandwidth it uses to a certain amount, otherwise it will simply use all available, as does a regular upload...basically, you can tell S*E to slow down the upload, in case you have other things going.


What I mean is....with S*E you can create an upload 'session' that uploads to multiple folders, and you can add photos to it at any time...you do not have to start S*E and begin uploading right away. So as I edit photos, I will 'export to S*E" in Lightroom the ones I want to post on Smugmug. Then once I am done, I have a bunch of photos in S*E ready to upload.
Then I click the green 'go' button, and in the dropdown box that is labelled 'action' I choose 'shutdown'.

If this does not match what you see on the screen, here is a tip, one that frustrated me for a very long time: maximize S*E and you will see all the options along the tool bar. Otherwise, the toolbar doesnt resize nor indicate that there are additional tools that just are not visible when they do not fit the window (Nik you listening?).

thx for the info...very helpful