Presto! MagicSlide - Earning its Presto Name with Simplicity and Usability

Presto! MagicSlide is a nifty little application from Newsoft America that is geared toward computer novices who want to show off their photos and home videos to their families and friends. Presto! MagicSlide is designed to operate without any complications, making it easy to learn and use. If you're a Vista user, however, you'll have to look elsewhere, as MagicSlide is compatible only with pre-Vista versions of Windows.

The idea of a simple yet powerful slideshow DVD creator is far from new, as there is a lot of competition out there at comparable prices. Feel free to read my review of Ulead's CD & DVD PictureShow 4 (http://www.brighthub.com/review/Ulead/Mike-Garcen/article/229.html).

Presto! MagicSlide sells for $49.95, which is a fairly hefty amount when you consider: a) What the competition offers, and b) All the free utilities that offer a lot of the same features, even within Windows itself with Movie Maker.

That being said, I do think there is still a solid value to the package price, as it provides everything users need. For the asking price, you have the disc creation and editing tools, as well as the CD Labeler, plus, most importantly, the burning engine necessary to burn photos or videos to disc.

Also, Presto! MagicSlide supports both NTSC and PAL (the two most common video standards), so if you have family across the world, or if you move, you can have support in those areas.

The configuration of Presto! MagicSlide couldn't be more simple. One of the features I love about this application is that it doesn't force any configuration choices on the user, but keeps them readily available for those who want them.

Want to add text to an image, just click the icon and a dialog appears, and dissapears when you're done. [See Screenshot 2] If you want to change transition time or type it's the same process. It doesn't clutter the interface and it doesn't overwhelm novice users either.

My main problem with the setup is the lack of display options. Presto! MagicSlide is opened in a windowed mode, so if you have a huge monitor or desktop, you really can't make use of it. [See Screenshot 1] Again, tough to complain when the target audience for this app is probably using a 15" monitor, but still, it would be a seemingly easy addition.

The only complaint I can think of with the User Interface of Presto! MagicSlide is the lack of ability to scale the interface to bigger displays. It really limits what you can see on screen, which isn't a problem for simple small slideshows, but when you get to a large number of albums or photos, it would be nice to be able to stretch.

Additionally, the CD Labeler application launches as a separate program. Not a huge deal, but I prefer the consistent interface of everything being under the same roof.

Besides those two complaints, the interface is fantastic. It's laid out very clearly and is easy to follow. The graphical start screen gives you clear choices of the type of disc you want to select, and the rest of the interface remains just as simple. Buttons are where you would expect them and the icons they use for additional features make sense. The designers did a fantastic job of making every step from start to finish as simple yet useful as possible, and they succeeded.

Product features throughout Presto! MagicSlide are consistent and acceptable. There is nothing thoroughly impressive about what you can do with it, nor is there anything you can't do with the majority of the competitor's software. But the features that are supported are very well implemented.

The ability to support both NTSC & PAL (for Europe) formats allows for people with global families to not have to worry about having to convert something. You can create a DVD slideshow, or even a Video CD if you don't have a DVD burner, for added flexibility. Abilities to manage your transitions, inclusion of some templates for your CD labels, and the slideshow interface itself, all make the process that much simpler.

Overall, if you envisioned what you would need to do to create your basic photo/video slideshow, there's nothing I could think of missing from MagicSlide. The reason for the 'Average' rating, is for just that reason; it seems to do just what you would expect. Not a knock, per say, but you deserve more for your $49.95.

Support Windows Vista. This is an obvious must if the company plans to continue the life of the product.

And if they could just drop the price, it would make purchasing this product a no-brainer.

I understand this won't make sense, but I just loved Presto! MagicSlide. I know it's not feature-laden for the $50 price tag, but from the outset of playing with Presto! MagicSlide, I knew this was the type of application I could give to anyone; from my mother, who knows nothing about computers, to one of my colleagues. They would all be able to create their own slideshows, easily, without any frustration, and most importantly, without having to call me.

The goal of Presto! MagicSlide is clearly to be as easy to use as possible while also providing the necessary tools to do what most users will want to do. If this cost $20, I would have given it a five-star rating because it does exactly what it's supposed to do and it's a smooth enough application to make it a pleasure to use.

Ulead CD & DVD Picture Show4, Windows Movie Maker