King Schools Private Pilot Practical Test Course Review

I was debating whether or not I should purchase this product about a week ago. I was unable to find any reviews online because a) I am too incompetent or impatient with Google search to find them, or b) none exist. Assuming no other (or very few) reviews of the PPL Practical Test Course exist, I have decided to do a review of this product. 
So, I ordered my King Schools Private Pilot Practical Test Course set last week Friday, with expedited 2-day shipping from FedEx. 
As requested, the product arrived on Tuesday (2 business days). Mark that up as a positive for FedEx. 

This is what is included in the King Schools PP Practical Test Course.

I ordered the course, unaware of what it included (the website seems to say nothing about what is actually in the box).

So what was the cost of the above items (listed left to right: Practical Test Standards book, King Schools Instructional Royalty article, packing slip, King Schools product magazine, Business Reply Mail card, VFR/IFR cockpit card, AVEMCO Insurance pamphlet, DVD case)?

$119

Maybe I am just a frugal stickler, but that seems like a bit too much for a DVD case and a bunch of advertisements. 

Some of my main hangups with the course:

1) Format. This is how the DVD works: you install software to run the DVD on your computer, then you put the DVD in to open the video files. I don't quite understand why two disks are needed for this, but that's just me. 

You can also order the course online, but given how bad the video quality is in the first place, there is a chance that you will have even worse video quality if you have low bandwidth. 

And why, exactly, can't the videos be watched on a normal DVD player??? I think this is a major oversight; most people prefer to watch DVDs on a couch, not a computer. 

2) Video quality. When I say quality, I mean picture quality. The videos look like they were filmed in 1993 and are low definition (probably around 360p or 480p). If you put them in full screen, they look like crap. 

3) The King Schools video player. The player used to play the videos (one of the things installed using the first disc), is primitive. It does not list how much time is left in the video (which may be to show you from seeing how little footage you are actually getting for $120) If I were King Schools, I would use something more advanced like Windows Media Player or VLC, heck, even YouTube is more advanced! 

Good news is that you can still watch the videos using a third party player, such as the ones I just described, by opening the video files from the DVD. 

4) Price. $119?! The price seems quite steep to me for what one gets in the course. I think a price of $50 to $60 would be much more reasonable for a DVD. 

The redeeming qualities of the course: 

1) Content. The content is indeed informative and as far as I can tell, up to date. John King does a good job of answering all questions and showing how to properly execute a check ride. 

2) Checkride pass guarantee. Evidently you are guaranteed to pass the checkride after watching the videos. I will take them up on this guarantee if I happen to fail (fingers crossed that I don't!). 

So how much footage is included in all?

4h 4m 12s 

In summary, the videos could use an update (John King accesses DUAT through an MS-DOS internet connection, excuse the lingo, but lol), a lower price, and some technical modifications. 

In all, I give it a: