ChemTutor Excalibur Software Review

3 Different Review

Review 1

In the product description and most of the reviews below, this software is presented as an interactive course and the Holy Grail for success in high school or introductory college chemistry. I made the mistake of ordering this software for my high school kids based on the product description and many of the 5-star reviews.

After I received the product from Amazon, I realized I should have paid more attention to a review posted by "marco" on July 4, 2004, who said: "I actually felt like a dupe for buying it". It also raised a question in my mind about the validity of the 5-star reviews, many of which have been posted in quick succession.

As pointed out by the previous review and also by "marco", ChemTutor assumes that you ALREADY know chemistry well. My opinion: ChemTutor is NOT a course, but a collection of multiple choice chemistry test questions with solutions, with the questions presented in random order of difficulty. One can get similar questions/solutions from the usual Chemistry test prep books, and most prep books also cover the basics. "ChemQuiz" might have been a more appropriate title for ChemTutor. I would have returned this product, but with opened software, that's not possible.

Unfortunately, even the ChemTutor software box says "A Complete Interactive Chemistry Course On CD", and has a quote printed on the back which says that with ChemTutor, "I could pretty much throw away my textbook".

This is probably the only instance in a few years of shopping on Amazon, where I felt misled by both the product description and "reviews". For that reason I feel compelled to post this, my first review on Amazon. For the misleading product description, I give this software a rating of 1 star; for the multiple choice questions, I give it 3 stars, resulting in an overall rating of 2 stars.

Review 2

I am a student of Chemistry AP course in high school. I took regular chemistry course during summer two years ago. Honestly, I forgot everything I learned. My memory's not so good. I was very worried when my teacher said we have a first big test coming up. Then, several of my friends recommended me ChemTutor Excalibur. They said it's great, so I tried it, and it was amazing! It explained many confusing stuffs in a very easy way, and "learn" and "explain" sections helped me more than my text book. Everything is organized very well. It was a great opportunity to experience many types of probolems. Also, great solution and explanation for every problem! I felt like I became a master of Chemistry! Indeed, I got 107 and 102 out of 100 in my two big tests that I took this year. I was very happy about that.
It is also very interesting to study with computer! It's not boring~!
I strongly recommend all of you to get this great helper!!!
ps: since it has very concise explanation, it's also very helpful for the international students!

Review 3

I have progressed quickly through loads of material in my Chemistry class, using only ChemTutor Excalibur. The "Learn" function effectively replaces your standard Chemistry textbook, and is all a student needs to learn either basic or advanced chemistry. Many students, including myself, have found the information on ChemTutor easier to grasp than its textbook equivalent.

ChemTutor is also wonderful for test preparation. It's the only tool I need to study! The textbook, the quiz preparation, and the sample term exams are all included in a single CD-ROM!

I wholeheartedly recommend ChemTutor Excalibur for the fastidious chemistry student, and for the teacher who wishes to do away with heavy textbooks. It's a lifesaver!