Can I trust Prezi Next?

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I’m a very long time Prezi Pro subscriber and over the years have both loved the concept of Prezi and sometimes hated it’s implementation. I’ve had heart stopping technical issues (corrupted presentations) on the eve of big presentations any one of which should really have stopped me using it forever. Like a moth to a lightbulb I keep getting drawn back in because the concept is so great.

I just logged in and found that Prezi Next is a thing. This is quite exciting. It looks like it is built on the right technologies this time. Unfortunately that excitement lasted about 5 mins, dowloaded the App, logged in and:

There is nothing wrong with my connectivity, the same Prezi plays just fine from the web browser, loads of bandwidth and all outbound TCP connections allowed without proxy to any destination. Have seen same message as this in other failure modes where Prezi (classic) says “check your internet connectivity” when it means “sorry we corrupted your Prezi on the server”.

5-mins into Prezi Next and it seems to be as buggy as Prezi Classic which is a real shame. But it did make me stop and think. Before I decide whether to invest some more of my life in Prezi Next rather than just bale and go off and use something much less pretty, but more stable, I have some questions for folks who have been using it for a while and Prezi reps:

  1. Maybe my initial experience is just bad luck. How are folks experiences of the reliability Next so far. Much more stable than Classic, about the same or worse?
  2. Looks like there is no migration path from Prezi Classic for Prezi’s, or templates. Coupled with the fact that Classic is now a deprecated product (no new subscriptions) that means it will be come abandonware. Will we get a way of migrating Classic Prezi’s at some point in the near future?
  3. Whilst I would naturally assume that Prezi Classic users are being migrated onto the new product from the deprecated one, there is lots of (deliberate?) ambiguity around this. Apparently I have been granted a “complimentary” licence for Next which runs for a couple of months, whereas my actual Prezi subscription expires in about 6 months. Can Prezi guarantee that if I start creating content in Next, they won’t then do a “bait and switch” later and try to charge me more for the “double” subscription, reduce benefits etc, or will I be able to access both sets of content for a cost no more than my existing subscription? Reassurance on this is key.
  4. I’ve noticed here that someone else mentioned that they had lost access to real-time support on Next, and a rep reply that yes, that was true because the subscriptions weren’t equivalent you got less for the same money with a Next subscription. This isn’t a deal breaker for me but the only reason I’ve used support over the last 7 years is when Prezi has thrown me under a bus and corrupted a presentation. Hopefully those days are gone, but I don’t think I want to pay lots of $$ for an unsupported product.

Would love to get some answers to the above before I decide to commit time to migrate content to this new platform or instead save myself the grief and migrate to something less beautiful but more sustainable.

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My two cents as a Prezi Classic user since 2013 & Prezi Next user since ~Dec 2016:

  1. Reliability: Has been great, same or better than Classic in my experience. (So far) I think it does a better job handling bigger files & larger amounts of data. I have some Classic presentations that are quite layered & large and have a fair amount of groupings to allow for animated reveals, and those were getting nearly impossible to edit. I would feel more comfortable doing similar in the Next environment. That said, when they opened Next up to Classic users (I believe I was on the platform prior to the “Grand Opening”) recently, I have had a few more hiccups than normal. I definitely try to stay vigilant about saving at regular intervals, creating copies before making big edits, and I also download local copies to use as back-ups just in case. I figure that’s best-practice for most of my cloud software anyway…

  2. Migrating Classic to Next: Not for me to answer (I have no idea), but there’s another topic in this forum that addresses in depth.

  3. Subscription Reassurance: Also above my paygrade. :slight_smile:

  4. Support: I’ve had a wonderful support experience so far. The company I work for purchased multiple licenses though, so we’ve had a different type of transition. Personally I have called in once & talked with someone about technical difficulties, I have emailed tech support through the Prezi website, and I’ve used this forum; all 3 channels have responded in a timely manner. I may not always get the answer I want, but I’ve always gotten a prompt reply that has been courteous and open for further discussion if needed. I don’t know if this really covers what you want, though? I didn’t see or don’t recall the specific example you reference about getting less support in Next vs. Classic. I guess I haven’t experienced that on my end.

Bottom line, I think it’s worth giving a shot.

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Thanks, really helpful reply that has moved the needle a bit. Will await some official Prezi response on the commercials/support policy and take a better look.

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  1. Please check this topic for more info
    Import Prezi Classic presentations into Prezi Next
  2. Having access to Prezi Next is not a trial. As of April 25th you will have complete access to Prezi Next, and this will not change.
  • If your current subscription remains uninterrupted, you will continue to have access to both Prezi Classic and Prezi Next at the current price.
  • If you cancel your subscription and then choose to renew it at a later date, you will be able to do so for the price on our pricing page at the time.
  1. The level of support for each product depends on the type of license you have for the specific product. In case of an emergency, I’d suggest you reach out to our Prezi Support Twitter, but we have decent response times on any of our other channels (like email or forum) as well.
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