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If all the people in this world would be like me, then probably most banks won't exist. I know that some may consider this not to be a healthy way of thinking, but I would rather starve or live on the road rather than taking a loan. Nevertheless, I agree that when you know exactly what you want and a loan can help you, in the end it's not that bad to use a bank to get some money in time.
Since most ads only say things like "Now, only 5% effective interest for periods of up to 20 years", having a software able to tell you exactly how much you should pay to get a loan for a certain period of time is just great.


Setup

MAX Programming's Loan Calc is a simple application able to calculate loans and mortgages repayments, available for both Windows and Mac OS. Its latest version is 2.4, and is certified to work with Windows Vista. Priced at $15, Loan Calc is available as shareware, free to try before you buy, and this version available for free can only export the first 10 repayments to an external file.

The setup package of the Windows version we're talking about here has about 1.5MB in size, and installing it was extremely easy, as you can see in the screenshots above. If you encounter any error, most chances are that your file has been corrupted and you must download it again, but the chances to see something like this happening are really small, so let's move to the next phase...


Interface

Having only a limited purpose, Loan Calc doesn't have an interface with lots of buttons and menus. Its main window has all that you need, and the Preferences area is very simple, with only one screen to change all the settings of this program. The icons from the toolbar look great, and it's obvious they are an inheritance from the Mac version of the program. As long as they look good and they don't confuse the user, it's fine with me!


Features

When thinking about a loan, using Loan Calc you can get most answers to the questions you feel bound to ask your bank. While you may have to wait your turn at the bank, and also waste some time to get there, with Loan Calc everything is much easier. All you have to do is enter the required data (amount to loan, term, repayment period, interest and so on), and then press the Compute button from the toolbar.

As soon as the data you asked for is displayed (usually, this happens in an instant, and you don't have to use a powerful computer for that), you can export or print the results. While printing is something that you could have done anyway (in the worst case scenario, by using the Print Screen key, and then processing the result in an image editor, before printing the data you need), the ability to export data to an Excel sheet is the feature that seems the most valuable to me. Unfortunately, the basic results (total interest, repayment, and so on) are not included in the sheet, but I hope this will be fixed in future versions.

At last, you should be aware that this program is able to detect your language automatically and use it, if available, and that is currency independent. These being said, the time has come for the final thoughts!


The Good

Loan Calc is a very useful tool for those that use to get loans and I think that even bank employees could use it as a quick helper to the software their bank is using. The system requirements allow even ancient computers to run it (a Windows 95 system with 16MB of memory should be enough), and you won't have to get a loan to purchase Loan Calc...

The Bad

No matter how simple this program may be, a built in Help system would be a good idea. Also, the current "read me" document that loads when using the Help menu's Loan Calc Help command is outdated, having version 2.3 in its title.

Conclusion

Admitting that you may be wrong is the first step towards making things right, so if I am going to decide to get a loan one day, I know what tool to use to find out all I need to know about the real costs of my loan. Anyway, if such a day will ever come, I don't see it in the near future, but if you are in a hurry to make a loan, take your time to use this program, first of all, because it may help you save a lot of money!

Developer: MAX Programming, LLC
Price: $15
Trial Link: Download