Updata Technical Analyst

Had a free trial, YUK!

Tried this out for a month and have to say it's OK, but who do they think they are kidding at that price?

Use Sharescope full stop (just want ShareScope to improve the PNF charts for a full 5 out of 5)

JonnyT

Updata Technical Analyst

Updata Technical Analyst

I wish i could be complementary to the package...it has hallmark to be a good package but it is let down as I find that it is a 'juddring java' programme...

It does not adhere to windows command structure and has it's own menu method...very irritating if you use other programmes that comply with windows root meny command structure...

Support has improved lately but it was after people really laid in on their web site...

It is a good package if it was avilable for 300 pounds or so...for 900 pounds it is a grossly overpriced...why not spend a bit more than 900 and get tradestation..????..after all one will buy a 'industry strength' package...

Graphic is very crude and shaky...it is a 'flaky' programming..and is bug laden...however the boys are trying to improve the package...but then do I want to be a 'guinea pig' or do I want to trade?...if I want to trade then would I buy it?...Noy yet...!!!...sorry I have bought it by the way...and have found it hard way that it is some time still from being ready...so will shelve it for time being until ready...

zambuck

Pretty good

I am pretty impressed. It has loads of features. It can be a little tempremental but that is made up for by the excellent charts particularly point and figure.

Its scanner is also very powerful. I see it has a lot of Indexia indicators and moving avwerages

Updata Conference Services

Updata put on some great private investor conferences twice a year.....this is the kindest thing that can be said about them. Maybe they should invest in some call centre capacity.

Updata's Technical Analyst

Get a 'cuppa' prior reading this... :)

Technical Analyst (TA) can be an extremely frustrating bit of software for the user. Zambuck noted that "...does not adhere to windows command structure..." and how right Zambuck is! When first used TA the frustration levels almost made me give up.

Simple really - the Windows GUI is the defacto standard which generally speaking, all Windows packages with a GUI adhere to. The user 'knows' exactly what a key-press/mouse-(click/move) is going to achieve. I cannot begin to put over to the reader the total frustration and sadness (yes sadness!) of this GUI issue. Sadness since every package a PC user installs/has 'first-contact-with' is the start of a journey of discovery.

Please just imagine for a moment:- you are looking for a car and hving read the reviews etc. you get behind the wheel, start the engine, push the clutch down only to find the clutch does not go down! First reaction? probably something like "must be something wrong with clutch..."

Now then, what are you going to do when it finally sinks in that the brake is the clutch?????
Are you going to sit there and say "Oh well, I'll just have to relearn how to use the controls"? No you will not - unless the car was the last one in the whole wide world! You will most likely run away as FAST as you can!!!

That, dear reader is what I think about TA - RUN AWAY - unless already locked into using it.

Note: Real Time LSE streaming feed is monthly cost @ ukp57+vat as TA s/w is included.

PS. There are many other areas with this package which I personally feel are not what claimed to be:

Optimiser - Uses 'shotgun' approach in determining what user selected moving averages give the best buy,sell and/or sell,buy profits over user selected data and historical range. Tell me... Are you interested in a trade that makes a profit of tenths of a point???? I doubt it! There is no way to apply conditions to the Optimiser. Talk about being drowned in a tidal wave of data!

Highlighter - A data scanner using your technical indicators and specified conditions. Guess what? The only useful thing it does is say "yes, I found/didNotFind a match in this instrument for all your conditions and here is the 'count' of conditions which were satisfied 'when' I discovered a match." It DOES NOT tell you 'where' in the data or 'how many' times 'all' the conditions were met in all the scanned data. Fancy scanning possibly years of back data manually? (think not...)
So how does one compare different sets of conditions put through the Highlighter? Who knows... since it only says that [none/some/all] of the conditions under test have matched 'somewhere'.
How does this help the analyst? (Please tell me if I've missed the point here :)

These two functional areas are proclaimed as the "...most important parts of Updata Technical Analyst..." Well, this user thinks not!

Oh yes, ShareScope (SS) EOD from Ionic is indeed 'Kewl' regards it's GUI and refreshing easiness of becomming acquainted with it. SS has a real 'context-sensitive' help via <F1> and is FAST. (gosh... 'real' Windows functionality... how refreshing :)
Hit <F1> in TA and it calls up online help... assuming your online and can wait for enough bandwidth to get an intro screen up! You then have to do more keypresses (meaning MORE downloading from server, blah, blah...) So, no 'context-sensitive' functionality with TA that's worth it :( Best-bet is to download PDF manual then use locally with Acrobat Reader's <Ctrl-F> Find tool.
But, on balance TA RealTime is better regards data feeds and some other stuff I'm messin with so... (anyway I've put in sooooo much effort in becoming acquainted with the thing and financially locked in for a bit - that will plod on... (for now) :)

Support on Updata forum seems ok but documentation seems to me to just 'tell' what the package does, not really 'explain' why/reasoning behind/etc IE, is a very 'dry' doc. Also, PDF manual is BIG because loads pages are just screen shots of menus and some charts (why? as TA will be running on another screen anyway and useful info is more relevant than space wasting pic of what I can get by click of mouse!)

The reader may think that this unfortunately 'locked-in' TA user is frustrated/angry and saddened :-(

Perhaps... the reader is right!

Postscript: These are personal views of the reviewer and are not meant to slander Updata or any of it's products. Simply observational comments which are 'of course' open to interpretation and hence to their relevancy. (the std BS postscript just for laughs :)

--------------------------
Long live the BB and our 'very special' freedom to make comments without fear of a knock on the door in the dead of night!
--------------------------

Updata TA

I have been using the realtime version for 4 months. It is atantalising mixture of interesting ideas and botched execution. Yes, it is nice to be able to draw pretty charts. Pattern identification, data scanning ("Highlighters") and "optimisation" of moving averages are attractive concepts. But these are not slick implementations; the limitations are infuriating.

It runs very slowly (and is very resource-greedy) on even a fast pc; it should be properly written in a code that runs at a decent speed. DDE links to spreadsheets are too unreliable to use for real time data analysis. Daily maintenance of locally stored data is interminable; minutes of disk grinding ensue every time you open the application. User interface differs from Windows standards in lots of irritating ways - and why should any developer of a Windows product inflict these idiosyncrasies on users at this stage of software history?

The most apparently seductive feature is the Highlighter, but as others have pointed out, it is nowadays a poor data scanning tool that contents itself with listing hits. What you cannot do with the Highlighter is run statistical tests on potential trading setups.

Also, the toolbox for constructing new queries is extraordinarily clunky and difficult to use. Anyone who has tried to define a simple condition like "price k days ago exceeded n period regression value by > m standard deviations" will know what I mean. And when you have defined a query, you cannot tune it by editing the conditions or changing parameters (which is what you would naively expect the "edit" menu to enable you to do).

Updata frustration

I have recently had a trial for Updata Technical Analyst because I was interested in their announcement on ADFN:

"Now you can have Buy and Sell signals using the
Technical Analysis Indicators that produced the most profit

Updata Technical Analyst Version 2 optimises common indicators written about in countless textbooks
to produce signal arrows helping you to see BUY and SELL signals – as they happen".

I could not get these signals! I rang the help line who said it would be detailed in the manual- this had to be downloaded taking about 40 minutes.

No reference, so I rang the Customer Service, they didn't know what I was talking about and referred me to the help line, they faxed a message telling me how to draw a simple average chart.

Back to the Customer Service dept, they asked me to email their announcement. I then received this reply:

Now you can have Buy and Sell signals using the
Technical Analysis Indicators that produced the most profit

"This feature will be released this month as part of Updata Technical Analyst Version 2."

I emailed asking the date of release....surprise surprise, no response.

Having read the comments on this board I have uninstalled it!

Can anyone let me have any experince in using a programme with buy and sell signals. I have heared of GOLDLINE SYSTEMS, but it sounds too good to be true,

Updata

For my sins I use Updata and it is not the most easiest software package I have used.

It takes a good 5 to 10 minutes to download data to my hard drive when starting Updata in the morning, Even after all that I need to "Download history" all every chart that I have open in order to show the UP-TO-DATE information!

Their un-HELPDESK are pretty useless.

Updata loses its connection intermittently even though my Broadband connected PC is still connected!
If I do reload a chart it saves LSR and other chart indicators such as MA but not my Support/Resistance lines even though Auto-save is enabled so I have to re-draw the lines every time I "Download history".

Not bad

I have used Updata since 1999, I have had loads of problems in the past, but in fairness they have improved several hundred % over the last 12 months, I notice members are having trouble with downloading and slow running, I must say I have no such problems, I am running Trader and TA I use windows 2k 1.2 athlon processor and 520 something ram.

I find that one has to practice to find out what the program can do, a instruction book would be nice but things at the moment are changing so fast.

yes, I have problems occasionally but it is not very often I ring the help desk, I find it easy to re download. ( in fairness, I am on broadband)

my opinion is, it was a poor starter in the early days but IMHO they have a good program.

Performance is the main issue

Ive not tried many other packages so on that basis it seems pretty good. Its got loads of features, but if you try and run anything else with it (including a screen saver), the system just grinds to a halt.

I guess if I was to buying this I would build a PC specifically for its use. If you dont go for the Realtime feeds it is now £27 a month which doesnt seem to bad.

Another plus is that you can try the software out for free to see if you like it, some charge for a trial version or are very very limited.

On the support side of things, with me they have been great. They have been able to answer my questions quickly and always followed up asking if I had any other problems to contact them giving direct line numbers and stuff.

"welcome back free two week trial"

got a letter from mr linton of updata,take our free trail,sign up within 14 days for £595+vat.

sounds good!!.

portfolio would not work.

any attemp to add ashare to quotescreen caused a total freeze of system needing a restart to cure.

tried to draw a tick chart of dow,caused a system freeze.

gave up in disgust,this free trail is meant as a "try and buy" show case of a much improved service.dismal.on this trail a total waste of money.

UPDATA TA

I've used the program for the best part of a year so this is a user's review. I subscribe to the EOD version at around £27 per month.

Its a very wide ranging program and possibly tries too hard to please too many. I find the Biorythms facility bizarre and feel that it shows the author's uncritical approach to some of the features they chose to include.

On the plus side, the P&F charting tools are very good although there is room for improvement in describing how the price objectives are reached.

There is the opportunity to tweak most of the indicators which is handy and it is possible to speedily access a wealth of information about any stock.

The program likes XP and a lot of RAM and a broadband connection.

Help with the program both onscreen and off is poor and I've found it difficult to access the information I needed about aspects of its features.

Help with the program installation and updates was good and they were able to talk me through install problems and a rebuild after a HDD failure very well.

About 60% of the communications from the company revolve around selling places on their training courses which weigh in at around the £300 mark.

Sadly, their response to some technical queries has been to suggest that I go on another course.

I did subscribe to Sharescope before Updata and must say that I prefer Updata.

I think the codewriters need to revisit basic features and beef them up a bit but am happy to continue using the program for the time being.

Updata TA

I have used this software for a few months now. Before that I was on Metatstock, and before that Indexia. I am an experienced chartist. If you are not then Updata may be too sophisticated for you. Its scanning for patterns and indicators is the best I have seen. Point and Figure is tops and the scans for P&F very useful. I am still getting my head aroound the backtesting module and have only worked with Rsi so far. Its pretty amazing and can tell me what RSi period I should use and what the buy and sell conditions are !! It has changed how I read Rsi. It also does P&F backtesting but I haven't got into that yet.

It allows scheduling so I run a schedule which prints charts for me early each morning and evening. Old fashioned me likes printed charts.

It can do anything really but you must have Windows XP or 2000 to use it effectively. Something about 32bit I am told. I have seen complaints about support but all I can give is my experience. It could not be better - fast replies to emails - very helpful and knowledgable. The range of data you get for only £27 per month is amazing. Its almost too cheap. I follow Nasdaq New York as well as some Chinese stocks. Updata bashing is fashionable so I will be criticised for saying I like the software. I don't like all the emails I get, but that goes with the territory. Their courses sound good especially P&F which I will go on.

So to summarise, I don't think you can buy better for the price and features. Having looked at a lot of options after deciding to ditch Metastock, nothing came close. BUT, for serious chartists only. There's lots of others on offer if you are not.

Updata Technical Analyst

Well, where to begin with this one?

I've been using Updata TA on and off from the start. It has the best P&F I have seen in a software package, which is important to me, and the speed of use with the keypresses [simply PGUP/PGDN to scroll through chartlists, press a key to display an average on the screen].

When I first used it though, it was "buggy", there seemed to be resource issues despite the fact my machine was top spec (at the time, it's a bit in need of an upgrade now :( ), and it just felt generally clunky. I eventually and somewhat reluctantly gave up on it and switched to another product (SS).

Received a "Come back to Updata" mail at the start of the year, and thought I'd give it another try as I was really missing the P&F, and it didn't cost anything to install. I'm glad I did as the whole product seems to have improved by leaps and bounds. I now find it a joy to use, and all my previous issues have been cleared up. I would recommend it to anyone at this time.

Now all I need is for them to let me know the way the Market Tracker is calculated :D

Customer Disservice

I would have rated this zero if I could, purely on abysmal customer service.

Potentially a great product BUT….

I have used their real time (rt) TA Trader for about two years and their Market Hawk (alerting tool) since it was launched. The full product set costs about £80+/month though less if you pay upfront for a full year. It depends on what features you decide to take so best check their website for prices. Their most recent price increase was back in Q3/Q4 '05. I have not used the EoD product. Before choosing TA I spend a couple of months checking out other products like Metastock / Omni trader.

Your PC
In my view you need a really good spec pc to run their base product TA (let alone TA Trader plus Market Hawk) otherwise you will be disappointed. In my own view if you don't have at least 1GB of memory plus at least a 2GHz processor forget it - you won't get the most out of the product or your free trial.

Support
Even if you have a good PC spec. the product in my view contains too many bugs. To be fair to Updata they have improved the stability of the product over the past two years though problems remain. You may or may not hit them in your trial of the product - it depends on what features you use. I have logged a number of bugs / queries which have now been outstanding for a long time (months+++). For me the issue is that I am not sure when/if they will be fixed.

I actually find their front line telephone support pretty good at sorting general queries (non s/w bugs) over the phone. How they organise and prioritise bug fixes is unclear but it appears to be based on how many people squeal when they find a bug. Very little feedback on problems submitted / fixed.

Product
In terms of features, I think it’s really good in terms of indicators, studies, overall functionality, flexibility and ease of use. Their P&F charts and tools are "probably" the best around.

Marketing Emails
Be prepared to be bombarded on an ongoing basis with emails promoting/selling their products (e.g. training courses) - I find this really annoying.

Summary
Potentially a great product but I'm starting to lack confidence in the above RT products because of the issues I have had and their general approach / commitment to sorting them.

Point & Figure - it is excellent.

I've been using the software for around two years after reading a book on P&F by Weber and Zieg in which they recommended the package. I am a position trader and so use the EOD version. It has many features I don't use but what I do like is the P&F charts - the book by by Du Plessis who is the Updata specialist on P&F proved a major turning point in my use of the package. I can honestly say that using a simple highlighter scan to pick FTSE 100 stocks has proved profitable. That is why I continue to use it. It means I can predefine risk, determine stops and have profit targets.

What I am not so keen about is that the company after providing upgrades to the Point & Figure package seemed to do so as a means to promote both Jeremy's book and the courses. This last year the flavour of the month seems to be customised indicators so nothing much for me - I don't use them - so you do feel that they upgrade rather selectively according to what they are wanting to sell. Have no particular issues with the support. In terms of value for money I think they are a bit behind some US products - I use Ensign for its pattern recognition software and the guys there have produced masses of information in videos and newsletters which are indicative of their total enthusiasm for their product. However, nothing beats Updata re. P&F

Best Software in UK

I have just finished the trial after sharescope. Now I feel this is the fasted and best software in UK.
Data download speed is super, Chats management and volume details are excellent.
As compared with the sharescope which is worse software I have ever seen, so compilcated to manage and user.

Regards
techTD