17 replies to this topic

[Nathan Parker]

While I'm at the comparisons, I have another question. I'm currently using Mellel for my academic papers for seminary. I'm doing this to prepare for when it's time for Biblical Language (such as Hebrew) work, as well as the performance of Mellel is definitely better than Word.

So far things have been OK with Mellel and my seminary papers. Performance has been great and I love the new iCloud integration.

Only two issues I have are:

1. The interface is a little "different". I've finally mastered enough of it where I can type my seminary papers easily (I've created a few "template" files). Usually before figuring out anything high end, I've had to consult the manual, or turn to a forum page (some of you on here REALLY helped me out recently when I needed it and it was MUCH appreciated!).

2. It does save everything in a proprietary format. So usually when I'm done, I do have to export to Word, then open it inside Word 2011 and cleanup the formatting slightly before sending it on.

I've also seen on here where some are trying Nisus Writer Pro and really seem to like it as well.

So my question is...

Should I give Nisus Writer Pro a look, and would it streamline my workflow better than Mellel, or since I've finally conquered Mellel enough to write my papers with, just stick with it? I'd love to hear people's evaluations on the programs.

Thanks!

[Ryan G]

I personally use Mellel and would not want to change. It handles RTL well, and is really fast. Additionally, it can load extremely large files with ease.

[Ken Simpson]

Hi,
I use both, but I definitely use Mellel more. It's fast, is brilliant with Hebrew, and works perfectly with Sente (my preferred Reference manager). Nisus tends to clog up with big files, but does graphics a bit better (or at least I have worked out how to do it better).

Nonetheless, for my papers for seminary, there's never a thought. Mellel is front and centre.

[HansK]

Hi Nathan,

Where are you studying at the moment?

Gr. Hans

[Nathan Parker]

Thanks for the comments guys! I agree. Mellel has been excellent in terms of performance and stability. Far superior to Word when I need to chunk away at large papers. I haven't gotten into RTL text yet, but I know it's coming and wanted to start using Mellel ahead of time so I'd feel more at home with it when the time came. I'm also going to spring for Accordance 10 soon and buy into one of the new base collections to prepare me for the hardcore Biblical Language studies when they come up. :-)

@HansK I'm currently studying at Luther Rice University in Lithonia, GA. I'm a couple semesters away at finishing my bachelor's program, then going in for Master's and eventually my Doctorate. I recently moved back to Hot Springs, Arkansas (my hometown), but LRU is allowing me to continue solely through online studies which has been great. Makes it extremely convenient for me.

LRU is primarily a Windows shop, so most professors use Word for their papers. While I could have used Word and worried about Mellel later when it came time for RTL, Mellel has much better performance than Word, and I wanted to get a grip on Mellel and become comfortable with it on a few smaller papers first instead of jumping into it when it came time for something big. :-) The interface is "different", but I've finally mastered how to prepare a paper in it to LRU's specifications and only have to perform some minor cleanups in Word afterwards. If more of my professors would get Macs, that'd be nice. :-)

[rdtaylorjr]

I used Nisus Writer Pro as my primary word processor for about a year before switching to Mellel. I agree that Mellel is better, especially if you have already taken the time to learn its peculiarities. At least one commenter on this forum switched to Nisus primarily because it has more powerful macro scripting capabilities, but unless you're a programmer or a power user, that won't make much difference for you.

As far as formatting goes, I found that files created in Nisus still need to be cleaned up when opened in Word on a PC. Even though Nisus and Word both open rtf files without any problems, the formatting does not stay exactly the same.

I generally just save to a pdf from mellel and send that to other users. No one has complained so far.

[J. T.]

Interesting that this thread should appear today. I've begun writing a Book Review in both Mellel and Nisus Writer today. I've used both for different writing assignments in the past. In college, I used Mellel consistently. I found its integration with Bookends a helpful time saver. In the past several months, I've been using Nisus Writer Pro for several reasons. One is the adaptation of Nisus Writer to previously established conventions (here I am thinking of Regular Expressions and .rtf). I don't particularly care for the search features of Mellel. Moreover, with Mellel having its own proprietary format, its documents are not compatible with DEVONthink pro (my research database organizer of choice). Another pesky think I am observing today is Mellel's inability to allow me to make editorial notes. Conversely, Nisus Writer easily allows me to add an editorial comment. Likewise, I particularly enjoy the extant Dictionary/Thesaurus in Nisus Writer.

Edited by James Tucker, 10 November 2012 - 08:57 PM.

[Nathan Parker]

@Russell I really don't get into programming and Macros, so I'm probably better off with Mellel. I had to do some basic AppleScripting and Macros in Word for a Keyboarding class, but I'm not a big fan of having to spend time building them. :-)

Thanks for the info on formatting. If I have to cleanup formatting anyway, I guess I'm OK with sticking with Mellel. The formatting cleanup is very minor I have to do now. Usually just adjust a page number or indent a Bib line.

I wish I could just PDF all my Mellel stuff, but my professors like to make comments using Word so...I'm stuck with exporting to Word. Once I go from student to professor, I can PDF my stuff for students, or give them Accordance modules of my notes (incentive to get Accordance). :-)

@James Interesting tidbits on Nisus. I don't use DEVONthink Pro, I really don't "search" my documents yet (we'll see if this changes when I have to start writing lengthy stuff), plus I don't use editorial notes yet. So with that in mind, should I even eyeball Nisus or keep using Mellel?

[J. T.]

Nathan,

Use what works best for you. If Mellel assists you in doing your best work, then stick with it. If you're not satisfied with it, look elsewhere.

[Nathan Parker]

Sounds good. Does Nisus have a trial version? I could run it on my test machine and just see what I think of it. Good way to do a solid comparison.

[Ken Simpson]

Yes, NW Pro has a free trial at their homepage

[Mark Nigro]

With all the interest and inquiries in recent threads about the product, I thought I would let you know that right now through December 30, Mellel 3.1 is being offered at a special holiday price of $19.00...with free upgrades for life! You will find it at RedleX's online store. Oh, and the education pricing is only $17.00.

Edited by Mark Nigro , 23 December 2012 - 01:32 AM.

[arcanemuse]

That figures. I just bought it at full price a month ago. Sigh.

[pjmedia]

Last time I checked, Mellel Lite is available @ App Store for $4.99 (just for a short while); you can in-app purchase the full version for 19.99. Total: $24.98. If you buy the full versión directly, its $39.00.

[craigminah]

Last time I checked, Mellel Lite is available @ App Store for $4.99 (just for a short while); you can in-app purchase the full version for 19.99. Total: $24.98. If you buy the full versión directly, its $39.00.

I've seen Mellel included in a few recent software bundles as well where you get $500 to $1000 worth of software for $49.99.  I personally use and prefer NWP but I do all my work in English using standard fonts so I don't see the benefit of Mellel's Hebrew support.  They're both really good word processors though.

[luoar]

I used Mellel for years, then switched to Google Docs which handles Hebrew perfectly. More recently I found that the application I like most is TextEdit. It handles Hebrew as well as the others and is simple and fast.

[craigminah]

I used Mellel for years, then switched to Google Docs which handles Hebrew perfectly. More recently I found that the application I like most is TextEdit. It handles Hebrew as well as the others and is simple and fast.

Text Edit is really good but NWP uses the same basic text processing and layout engine as Text Edit (which is part of the problem with NWP but also one of the benefits).

[Ken Simpson]

Rari, there's no wy of using google docs when you have no Internet access, is there?

Edited by Ken Simpson, 30 March 2013 - 08:54 AM.