Reviews: Test Drive

Nelson Organizer
Untangled E-mail

by Charles H. Gajeway
December 01, 2000

Rating 91

Besides the phone, e-mail is the most direct means of communication available today. But once a user develops contacts and signs on to a few news services, an in-box can be flooded with information. Countless hours are wasted categorizing and purging messages.

Caelo Software's Nelson Organizer functions as an add-on to Microsoft Outlook 97/98 or 2000 (but not Express). Outlook need only be installed, not running, during message sorting. Nelson Organizer uses database technology to categorize messages and includes a search capability that promises instant access to information. Since the fear of lost messages is second only to the fear of lost revenue, we installed the program on a Dell Latitude CPt laptop and checked it out.

The process was painless and almost immediately rewarding. After testing the tabbed user interface while browsing through the day's mail, we had enough confidence to turn the program loose on 18 months of messages. It took under two minutes to process.

As the instructions warned, the categorizations weren't perfect. But after an hour of defining mailing list groups, things ran smoothly. We were impressed with Nelson Organizer's speed and transparency, the clarity of the online help, and the accuracy of the search. The only problem we found was remembering to return to Outlook to change communications options.

Anyone who uses Microsoft Outlook should give Nelson Organizer a try. For $30, you can't go wrong.

 

Rating:  91     90-100   Must Buy. Get it now.