Ace Reader Pro Review

AceReader Pro is a great speed reading program for children and adults with 13 reading levels and 247 included texts. The varied features allow the program to guide students through their course activities or students can take control.

Ace Reader Pro Review


AceReader Pro by Stepware, Inc. and winner of ldquo;TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award” focuses on breaking two slow reading methods: sub vocalization and re–reading. Sub vocalization is silently pronouncing each word as you read and re-reading is accidentally reading the same line twice.


AceReader Pro is equipped with over 247 texts for speed, timed and comprehension tests. Choose from 13 reading levels for children and adults with over 60 activities for each level. The program is equipped with 260 comprehension tests—20 for each reading level. The activities for the reading levels include eye warm–up drills, regular drills, Eye Span games and self–paced reading comprehension tests.


AceReader Pro and our #1 product, The Reader’s Edge have similar programs, but the user–interface of AceReader Pro is a bit less intuitive than The Reader's Edge. However, unlike Reader's Edge, AceReader Pro has a version available for both PC and Mac.


Furthermore, we would like to point out that AceReader does offer a Pro Deluxe version that will work with up to five users and incorporates password protection for the same price as the #1 product, The Reader’s Edge.



Features Set:  

AceReader Pro provides three different learning modes to give speed–reading students every advantage to learn based on their personal learning styles:


Course Mode is an automated approach to develop speed–reading skills. Based on a student's reading speed, activities such as drills and comprehension tests are automatically created by the program–students simply have to follow the course activity schedule. The most recent version of AceReaderp Pro has even more flexibility than before. Course Mode will now allow the Administrator to change settings and options that make it possible to perform activities out of order.
Menu Mode is a semi–automated arrangement that allows students to select the activities they want to perform. The program creates speed–reading activities after a student establishes his/her reading speed. In Menu Mode, students can choose the order of activities to perform.
Expert Mode allows students full control over their course activities, which include the order of activities, selection of reading material and setting reading speeds. Students can also load web pages, ebooks, .doc, .txt, and .pdf files to the program; choose the type of text display (columns, rows, flash, etc.) and change the font color, style and size as well as the background color.


AceReader Pro has administration functions for teachers and parents such as adding custom text for drills and tests as well as adjusting the program's default settings. Teachers can now even override the speed settings. The program also tracks a user's speed–reading progress and generates progress reports in graph format.


AceReader also has a variety of additional add-ons available to further customize their software and make your speed reading learning process even more valuable. These add-on's include test sets for American History, Earth and Space Science, Famous People, Fun Facts, and even Spanish. Now you can learn all sorts of subjects while you're improving your reading speed and comprehension.


Although we evaluated the Pro version Ace Reader does offer a Pro Deluxe version that includes multiple users and password protection.

Ease of Use:  

AceReader Pro is pretty straightforward and easy to use. Students and teachers should have no problems using the software. The interface is simple and the learning process is quick and understandable. With additional tools and options in the newest version, AceReader Pro is even simpler and more user-friendly.


The program's divisions into Course Mode, Menu Mode, Expert Mode and Admin. provides different levels of user options that are displayed on toolbars, scroll down menus and function buttons. This type of organization makes AceReader Pro easier to use and navigate. Not all the functions were as intuitive as we expected; however, after a few false starts, we were able to navigate the program. A detailed help menu and “Tip of the Day” pop–up box (in Expert Mode) also provide useful information about how to use AceReader Pro.

Ease of Installation/Setup:  

You can purchase AceReader Pro directly from their website. To download the program, a confirmation email is sent with a download link and instructions. Installation is straightforward, and takes only a few minutes. To order by mail, you can print an order form from the AceReader website. Allow 5 to 10 days for delivery. AceReader Pro works on all Windows applications (including Vista), and Mac.


The startup screen is very clear and allows users to try (for 30 days), buy, or activate. The typical activation process does require a one-time internet use, but after that, the software is a completely offline solution. In fact, StepWare even has a process available to activate the program without an internet connection for the rare case when a live connection isn't available.

Help/Support:  

AceReader Pro, has an embedded help menu and the AceReader website has manuals, tutorials and a list of FAQs. For questions, you can contact Stepware, Inc. by phone or email and they will reply within 24 hours. You can download a trial version of AceReader Pro and they have a 30–day money back guarantee.


As part of your purchase price, AceReader Pro includes free minor upgrades (major version upgrades may cost a few extra dollars).

Summary:  

AceReader Pro is a great speed–reading program for children and adults with 13 reading levels and 247 included texts. The varied features allow the program to guide students through their course activities or students can take control and customize their own program. AceReader Pro is easy to install and their customer service is excellent.


With a simple interface, competitive price, and a variety of valuable add-ons available, AceReader Pro is an amazing speed reading software, one of the best available for both PCs and Macs.










Read review at TopTenReviews.com



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