MAMBA BLACK V2 released

[liteglow]

I have tested the DEMO of MB 2.0 !
And I like what I see !

There is not so many visual changes, but I like that the design is still what we are used to have !
I don't have to fool around searching for the buttons when I already know where they are !

Performance is better in 2.0, show loads faster, it open quicker, more stable, design is better, options are better, effects run faster, timeline move smoother and load faster !

And there is much much more to say..

I will gladly pay for the 2.0 !!!
Consider how cheap MB was at the first place, (compared to the next best: pangolin, that cost 4-5 times more) .

And when I pay for 2.0 today, I KNOW that the "huge" wishlist will be completed and added with more updates (for FREE) later on as we speak, there is already a new update soon ready to be releases with more futures and fixes !!

So I know for sure that Mamba Black 2.0 will ONLY be better and bigger in the next years :-)
Rome was not built one one day...


Just remember when SMS2LASER and VST will be released, it will be at NO cost for the 2.0 users !!

[Pangolin]

By the way. One SUPER ironic point. Your avitar? That was made by Lightspeed Design Group, using what? Yes, Pangolin's Lasershow Designer...

[Jem]

Just remember when SMS2LASER and VST will be released, it will be at NO cost for the 2.0 users !!

My very first laser show software was Mamba. One of the reasons I bought it was because I was told it had SMStoLaser functionality. I spent ages (and £60) finding a phone that it was supposed to work with. I also had soooo many problems with Mamba software that it was a constant pain. I eventually came to the conclusion that it was time to move on, so...

I gave up and bought a Pangolin QM2000.Net with LivePRO and SMStoLAser which has always been 100% reliable.

One of the problems here is that however much effort Old Grumpy puts into Mamba, Medialas have already lost loads of customers through poor software in the past. I think at the very least this latest version should have been a free upgrade to existing users to compensate them in some way for having to put up with the unstable past versions.

Just my 2p's worth

Jem

[liteglow]

By the way. One SUPER ironic point. Your avitar? That was made by Lightspeed Design Group, using what? Yes, Pangolin's Lasershow Designer...

Haha.. that is true Well I can`t say that I dont love pangolin (I sure do, and wish to use it) .
But the price tag is above my limit this days..

In the future I hope to maybe have pangolin, but at this moment I will continue to use mamba.

I have always (when there was trouble) had very quick and very good help from Medialas when I needed it..



Bill: Many ppl maybe have a Ferarri in they r avatar, but they still drive a Toyota :P

[stanwax]

I think they would have gotten away with the charge if they had included lots of useful features right from the release. Its good that 2.0 will allow smooth and swift implementation of new fetures but there are so many people who have been waiting for this for a long time, and I really think they were clinging to the hope of new features.
Before anyone pipes in and say there are new features - yes I know there are, but the new features do not have a significant impact unless you are doing specific things that would use these features & I think are quite specialised. Better multi projector support, DMX support (as ive said before - only if your hardware supports this feature) Lan support (if your hardware has the ML implementaion of this function). I personally have some performance issues that hopefully OG is looking into but I see others say that the performance is good so this clearly is not affecting everyone.
I was under the impression that the thrust of the development was to make the app stable (which seems to have been achieved) fix broken things (not all of which is finished yet) and add new useful things (extra tools for the frame editor for example). The release seems to have fallen short of the mark and when people see the demo I think they will choose not to spend their money - or at least will spend it elsewhere.
I dont want to harp on about this too much but when ML themselves say ' major feature of this update is the user adaptable skin' - Im sorry but this does NOT help me make lasershows which is what I want to do with Mamba. This statement suggests they are trying to make it sound better than it is. Appart from anything else I have not seen a skin called 'Mamba' that dresses the interface like the previous version - but more importantly that makes it as clear as the previous version.
Has anyone bought the upgrage? Is ML actually selling out yet?
I would also like to say that I still think the Mamba interface is the simplest and most intuitive laser show interface I have ever seen and the fact that 2.0 retains that is bloody fantastic. Mamba can create some pretty impressive content but I think ML need to do more to keep its customers (happy)

Rob

[stanwax]

I have always (when there was trouble) had very quick and very good help from Medialas when I needed it..

Was thsi help from ML or from OG?
There is a difference
In my experience
ML = not easy to approach, slow to respond, not interested in customer opinion
OG = friendly, helpful, willing to listen & help

Maybe your experience is different with ML - I hope so

Rob

[Pangolin]

But the price tag is above my limit this days..

I get curious every time I hear the word "price". It makes me wonder if our prices are really high, or if it is a simple fact that people don't know exactly how low our prices get for certain products. (i.e. lack of good advertising on our part)

If it's a matter that you've already spent the money you have, and don't have any more, that's one thing. But if it's a matter of comparing price-for-price in the first place, I think our FB3 competes rather favorably with what's available today, no?

Bill: Many ppl maybe have a Ferarri in they r avatar, but they still drive a Toyota :P

Hehe. My wife has a ferarri key chain, while we both drive cars made by Toyota. So I know what you're talking about .

Bill

[dave]

Hehe. My wife has a ferarri key chain, while we both drive cars made by Toyota. So I know what you're talking about .

Bill

Is that a subtle hint that yoru wife is waiting for you to buy her a Ferrari Bill?

[JoJo]

However, when buying a relatively expensive piece of hardware like the QM2000.NET, I expect many more (free) upgrades, new features en new software for a long term than when I buy something "cheap". It's something I invested in.

Hahaha!!
Sorry, Jeroen, but it seems that you NEVER have worked with professional software.
I bought the first version of my current PCB-CAD software in 1994 and spent 4000,- DM (about 2000,- Euro).
The upgrade from the WIN3.1 version to WIN95 cost 900,- Euro, the next Upgrade to the "99" version cost another 1000,- Euro.
In 2004, I spent 3800,- Euro for the big upgrade from 99 to 2004. 2006 the upgrade cost was another 1800,- Euro and last week, I spent another 1650,- Euro for the latest release "WINTER2009" (PLUS TAX!).
So more than 11.000,- Euro during the last 15 years using ONE AND THE SAME kind of software!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had no real problem with this, because this is an important working tool for me. If I didn't find it important for me, I could save my money. Nobody treats me to buy an upgrade.
I even buy a new car from time to time and don't expect to buy one and get a new one as upgrade or even as "bugfix" for free every year. Maybe we can see a kind of "car-flatrate" in the future where the customer pays, let's say 100.000$ for a "category B" car and gets a free one every 5 years until the rest of his life. But you will never get such a flatrate for the price of ONE car!

It is no question that Pangolin offered a very good deal with their whole addons and tools free of additional charge until now.
But how can somebody be so arrogant to "expect" this from all the rest of the world?
Medialas, Phoenix, me and many many other companies should recalculate their whole palette of products if it would be a "rule" just to sell a product only one time in lifetime and give free support and work on free upgrades for the rest of the life.
For my PCB software as an example, I get exactly 1 year of free customer support, not 1 day more.

@Bill: Could you please stop turning each thread in this forum into a "pro-Pangolin" one?

@Karl: I talked to you at the ILDA conference about this, remember?

Joachim

[JeroenVDV]

Hahaha!!
Sorry, Jeroen, but it seems that you NEVER have worked with professional software.

What a stupid consideration. You have no idea what I do for business and what I've worked with.

I bought the first version of my current PCB-CAD software in 1994 and spent 4000,- DM (about 2000,- Euro).
The upgrade from the WIN3.1 version to WIN95 cost 900,- Euro, the next Upgrade to the "99" version cost another 1000,- Euro.
In 2004, I spent 3800,- Euro for the big upgrade from 99 to 2004. 2006 the upgrade cost was another 1800,- Euro and last week, I spent another 1650,- Euro for the latest release "WINTER2009" (PLUS TAX!).
So more than 11.000,- Euro during the last 15 years using ONE AND THE SAME kind of software!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So those new versions did exactly the same as the old version? Or were there maybe IMPORTANT and USEFUL new features? Or did those versions support new operating systems (newer Windows maybe?)?

In this case, Medialas just made a product in the past that worked but was SO crap programmed that they couldn't go on with that source code. That's why Old Grumpy had to start from "scratch" as far as I understand. Well, everything OK, but don't ask money for an upgrade to a newer version that doesn't give you anything more then fixes for mistakes the manufacterer made in the past!

If Medialas would have waited with this release and actually made NEW software with NEW features and BETTER performance etc etc etc, and release it as "Mamba Black V2", people would buy or upgrade because it's worth money!

But how can somebody be so arrogant to "expect" this from all the rest of the world?

Arrogant? Oh, and I actually don't expect anything. I'm happy with LD2000 and with the good contact with the guys at Pangolin. I've used Mamba in the past and found it VERY buggy, unstable and not user-friendly. Now with the new version that should all be solved, but how can you seriously expect people to pay for solutions for the mistakes a manufacturer has made..

Medialas, Phoenix, me and many many other companies should recalculate their whole palette of products if it would be a "rule" just to sell a product only one time in lifetime and give free support and work on free upgrades for the rest of the life.

It's not a rule. It's something to decide for yourself and to make clear to your (potential) customers. They will make the choice.