SPB Pocket Plus 3.1 vs. WisBar Advance 2
I have searched everywhere on the net and there are such mixed emotions as to which utility is overall better (based on stand alone performance, plug-ins you add, themes etc.)
So I turn to this orgi of experts....
What are all your opinions (be detailed if necessary)???
(Please state which one of the two you are currently using if you are using either.)
I use Spb Pocket Plus 3.1 and tried Wisbar 2.x, the reasons I still run PP 3.1:
- I like tabs on my Today Screen to sort my stuff instead of going through menus, submenus and sub-sub-menus
- It performs better on my Vario than Wisbar
- It has a SafeMode for booting/removing programs that otherwise would have to be deleted by hand.
- I like the meters that come with PP3.1
- I like the interaction with Spb Diary 1.7 ( Messages, Contacts, Notes, Tasks, etc. )
- Its ease of use and simple customizing functions
- I prefer the taskmanager more than the wisbar one
But all in all its a matter of PERSONAL TASTE. Some swear on PocketBreeze/Contact Breeze others Spb PocketPlus & Diary for example.
So best thing is - try it - see how it performs on YOUR machine and then go ahead an purchase which suites you best.
hi
may be you can try WAD with WA2 from lakeridge software to. :wink:
regards
i wouldn't directly compare which one is better since they don't exactly do the same things
wisbar is more for skinning and interface while spb is more like utilities and plug-ins
i used to use both together, but i found that wisbar was slowing my device too much, not that it's bad, but i didn't care to skin it anymore
i also prefer pocket plus 3.1
if your using a Wizard device it seems to perform the best and integrates w/the other utilites very well! (i also have spb diary and weather and time)
i've noticed that since i've went to using spb based products/plugins the perf on my mda is way better! (tmobile mda usa w/kjam aku2 rom)
before i was using seperate apps for task managing and today screen info and had to reset daily. now i can go a few days with out a soft reset..
just my .02
oh yea, once you get pocket plus, extended themes will work! and you can make your own via a free add-on to the windows theme maker..
I Heard some things about spbplus, ilauncher and others. Now you as experinced users please advise me about which one I must install.
Thank you
I would go with:
Pocket Breeze & iLauncher
They are from SBSH and my favorite Today Plugins. Spb Tools are great too - but slow down the Wizard much more compared to the SBSH Tools.
DREAMBOXER said:
I would go with:
Pocket Breeze & iLauncher
They are from SBSH and my favorite Today Plugins. Spb Tools are great too - but slow down the Wizard much more compared to the SBSH Tools.
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Click to collapse
Bingo !
Fully agree on this, specially the support at sbsh is fantastic
Cheers
hrb
I installed SBSH PocketBreeze & iLauncher yesterday & think they're great, definitely recommend them
Don't forget Resco Explorer today plug-in, i couldn't live without it.
Another nice thing with PocketBreeze is that it uses the D-Pad; I'm into the no-stylus mode. Also it allows tabs-- I run PocketWeather (very nice), Backup, and ContactBreeze. Although ContactBreeze is merely "OK" in my book.
Separately, I run LVM time, which gives a narrow Date/Time strip on today and also puts the time in the taskbar, screening out the battery. It's free!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=45084
I have the Rescoe Explorer today plugin. How does it compare to PocketBreeze? Is one better or faster than the other, or should they be used together?
I am a big fan of SPB PocketPlus. Its not free but imo its the best one around. Its got a battery indicator, the requisit today screen tweaks like icons, indicators and tons more.
Pocket Weather
Is SBSH Pocket Weather transferable between devices i.e. if I pay $10 now & install on my Wizard will I be able to transfer it to a Prophet later?
Rather broad question...
*muttergrumble* dupe reply
Rather broad question...
It's a rather broad question, isn't it? What is the best Today Plugin for what? Launching applications? Showing the weather? Showing your agenda? Controlling a media player?
I am using WisBar Desktop, You can make as much as You want windows
with shortcuts of programs like desktop version.
mattucd said:
I have the Rescoe Explorer today plugin. How does it compare to PocketBreeze? Is one better or faster than the other, or should they be used together?
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They do totally different things, so can be used together.
I use spb pocket plus and pocket breeze. Pocket breeze is a must have,IMO
Was just over at Handango and saw that the Sbp Mobile Shell and Pocket Plus were two of the best selling programs they have. Yet a search of the entire xda forum gives back no hits. Does no one use this? The shell seemed like a pretty good looking interface.
Mobile Shell versus Pocket Plus
So far I think the general trend is to towards Pocket Plus as Mobile Shell is still on version 1.
I use pocket plus and so do quite a few others on the forum. It's very customisable and a good piece of software.
So far Mobile Shell is lacking in a lot of areas and while it promises to be a good interface I think it will take a few more versions.
There is a thread on it somewhere.
You're searching wrong if you're getting no hits on "Sbp Mobile Shell". There are several threads.
However, remember that XDA devs ironically borks at search keywords <= 3 letters. (ie SPB is not a valid search term)
Ergo, try google:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22Mobile+Shell%22+site%3Aforum.xda-developers.com
I use SPB Mobile Shell. Some bits of it are nice. Some are useless or eye candy only. Give it a trial! It's technically a nice piece of work, and will improve your productivity. You have to decide on whether it's worth the price.
V
mobile shell IS quite nice. I use it with Diary and GPRS monitor. could use some refinement but it works as a today screen.
SBP software
I'm a big fan of SPB stuff.
I use SPB Pocket Plus, SPB diary (which work well together) and SPB finance.
I've trialled some of the others - the phone suite is good, but not as good as phone alarm...yet. I'm hoping it does improve as it was the first version.
Have also tried SPB mobile dvd and SPB backup - both work very well too - they'll be next.
J.
I used to use SPB programs as well, Mobile Shell is quite nice... of course there are much more advanced and skinnable today plugins than SPB today plug ins so I dont use them anymore..
I use MobileShell and PhoneSuite on my 8525
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/htc-hermes-cingular-8525/211777-my-setup-log-my-cingular-8525-a.html
Is there any problem using spb pocket plus, weather, time, diary and etc.?
Does it affect the performance of the Wizard?
Thanks!
amar963 said:
Is there any problem using spb pocket plus, weather, time, diary and etc.?
Does it affect the performance of the Wizard?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have them all and use some of them. I have kept Plus and Diary on my MDA and use it daily.
Weather is not accurate. Get SPB Traveler instead of Weather and Time.
I would not buy SPB Finance if you use Quicken 2007 or 2008. It is not compatible with SPB.
SPB Backup is good.
Tried SPB Wallet and it was not an app that I found to be something that I couldn't do with phone contacts or Excel.
Hope this helps.
If you want a Weather app, I would suggest Pocket Weather.
Dear asctony,
Thanks for your reply
I just want to know if these applications cause any conflict in general.
As you mentioned, Weather is not accurate but at lease it's much better than HTC Touch Flo weather plug-in
I have SPB Weather and find it's reasonably accurate in the UK. (Not perfect 2+ days ahead, but to be fair nor are most online weather sites I find.)
I'm also evaluating SPB Phone Suite at the moment, which is useful for adding photo dialling icons to the today screen. It also adds a lot of other phone-related 'fixes', which I must admit I haven't really noticed/used. I will almost certainly buy this, although for $19.95 it's pretty expensive.
amar963 said:
Dear asctony,
Thanks for your reply
I just want to know if these applications cause any conflict in general.
As you mentioned, Weather is not accurate but at lease it's much better than HTC Touch Flo weather plug-in
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not incurred any conflicts and I have a lot of apps on my MDA and have had it for 14 months.
If I were to buy SPB Apps today, based on what is available, I would buy:
1. Backup
2. Diary
3. Pocket Plus
4.Traveler (Weather, Time, Conversion, etc., all in one)
SPB Apps are buggy at times and don't seem to be consistant in how they perform. So, again, I have tried them all, and only use Backup, Diary and Pocket Plus.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Here is the site to obtain more info.
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/downloads.html?en
I think the most popular are:- \ My experiences with them:-
SPB backup \ very good and simple, can have problems finding a file to backup, which causes it to fail the automatic soft reset after it backs up (this can be solved with a reg edit)
Weather \ I have used this every day since I bought it, it's the best if you can't use freeware and you can add custom data sources. I currently have data updating issues, maybe due to wm6. (Traveler is possibly better, but a much bigger program, which includes currency rates, clothing sizes, more cities by default and a small clock, but NOT the same functions as spb time)
Time \ It used to be a must have for me except for two reasons, 1 the alarm doesn't work correctly for wm6 and, 2 alarms don't support wma (only mp3)
Diary \ faultless. not the most customizable available (sbsh) or the simplest (today agenda (freeware)) but the best I think
Pocket Plus \ Simply put - not required. It looks nice but I can't think of anything it can do that freeware can't (wm5NewMenu is very good) can't do, so I gave up using it (SBSH's ilauncher is possibly better)
They're a good company for ease of use products, they all look nice and are uncomplicated in general. But, their support can be lacking, and their releases are slow and infrequent, compared to sbsh who often release updates weekly compared to twice a year from spb, and they are not as customizable as even some similar freeware apps.
I have Spb Mobile Shell and works great
bbobeckyj said:
I think the most popular are:- \ My experiences with them:-
SPB backup \ very good and simple, can have problems finding a file to backup, which causes it to fail the automatic soft reset after it backs up (this can be solved with a reg edit)
Weather \ I have used this every day since I bought it, it's the best if you can't use freeware and you can add custom data sources. I currently have data updating issues, maybe due to wm6. (Traveler is possibly better, but a much bigger program, which includes currency rates, clothing sizes, more cities by default and a small clock, but NOT the same functions as spb time)
Time \ It used to be a must have for me except for two reasons, 1 the alarm doesn't work correctly for wm6 and, 2 alarms don't support wma (only mp3)
Diary \ faultless. not the most customizable available (sbsh) or the simplest (today agenda (freeware)) but the best I think
Pocket Plus \ Simply put - not required. It looks nice but I can't think of anything it can do that freeware can't (wm5NewMenu is very good) can't do, so I gave up using it (SBSH's ilauncher is possibly better)
They're a good company for ease of use products, they all look nice and are uncomplicated in general. But, their support can be lacking, and their releases are slow and infrequent, compared to sbsh who often release updates weekly compared to twice a year from spb, and they are not as customizable as even some similar freeware apps.
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Click to collapse
You are right!
I've been using Time since 20 days and it was great with WM5, but after I flashed WM6 to my phone I noticed some problems.
I was thinking that maybe other ROM version will work fine with the application but failed with different ROMs.
Which software you recommend as best and guaranteed alarm? web address please?
Thanks to all
amar963 said:
Dear asctony,
Thanks for your reply
I just want to know if these applications cause any conflict in general.
As you mentioned, Weather is not accurate but at lease it's much better than HTC Touch Flo weather plug-in
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may want to read some of the postings on SPB's Forums before you decide to buy any of their products.
Here is the link for their forums:
http://www.spbclub.com/forum/index.php
asctony said:
You may want to read some of the postings on SPB's Forums before you decide to buy any of their products.
Here is the link for their forums:
http://www.spbclub.com/forum/index.php
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Click to collapse
Many thanks!
The web site you recommended is great
Spb backup is great.
I also use Insight every day to keep up on things.
I didn't like the weather app, I use Marsware WeatherPanel....It is very accurate and fast.
Spb Diary -- Could not get through a work-day without it. Rock-solid, no-nonsense app that gets the job done better than a lot of flashier programs.
Spb Pocket Plus -- Essential to the way I work and navigate in WM 5. It adds a few small but but critical tweaks. You may not need it though.
Spb Insight -- If you do a lot of reading on the internet, this is an indispensable app! It will change the way you use the web. Best 20 bucks I've ever dropped on any hardware or software.
kidlockatong said:
Spb Diary -- Could not get through a work-day without it. Rock-solid, no-nonsense app that gets the job done better than a lot of flashier programs.
Spb Pocket Plus -- Essential to the way I work and navigate in WM 5. It adds a few small but but critical tweaks. You may not need it though.
Spb Insight -- If you do a lot of reading on the internet, this is an indispensable app! It will change the way you use the web. Best 20 bucks I've ever dropped on any hardware or software.
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Click to collapse
Agree with most of the comments. However, I don't use Insight anymore. I use NewsCopier - Free Edition V 1.1. I found it much faster and more selections. Here is the link for it:
http://www.freeware-palm.com/download-newscopier-v1-1.html
asctony said:
I use NewsCopier - Free Edition V 1.1. I found it much faster and more selections. Here is the link for it:
http://www.freeware-palm.com/download-newscopier-v1-1.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear ya.
I'll bet there are several better headline/summary/link news readers than Insight, but that's not why I use it. What I like about it is -- I can update complete articles for 20 feeds in a snap on a wireless broadband at home every morning, and read them all day without having to connect to the internet or any cellular service at all.
And they don't need to be RSS/Atom/etc. feeds, either. Half the stuff I download comes from sites that don't even use feeds. Or if they do, I pull stuff that they don't feed.
But not everyone may want or need that.
I use Spb Mobile Shell (top of my Avatar photo) It's weather tab is fairly accurate and tracks with the local forecasts. The photo speed dial tab is nice as is the battery / most recent applications tab. The clock is there, but I don't access the multi time zones much.
As far as performance, I have only run it on the Uni and the Athena, without conflicts or hang-ups. Can't testify to using it first hand on the Wizard.
kidlockatong said:
I hear ya.
I'll bet there are several better headline/summary/link news readers than Insight, but that's not why I use it. What I like about it is -- I can update complete articles for 20 feeds in a snap on a wireless broadband at home every morning, and read them all day without having to connect to the Internet or any cellular service at all.
And they don't need to be RSS/Atom/etc. feeds, either. Half the stuff I download comes from sites that don't even use feeds. Or if they do, I pull stuff that they don't feed.
But not everyone may want or need that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I download from 20 different feeds daily also. I just counted them to see how much I was downloading from. I also read them during the day without being connect to the Internet or any cellular service using NewsCopier. So, there are commonalities among both apps. The good thing about this thread is that you now can try both of them and even more and make your own decision. Not every app is suited for everyone or anyone user.
asctony -- Thanks! The page didn't seem to mention that. Will definitely follow up on it. Is that version usable on a wizard?
Got it. Thanks again.
I've used them all. The only one I use now and is rock solid is Diary. Phone Suit is VERY buggy. Most of the features only work intermittently. Weather is not nearly as good as WeatherPanel. I could not get Finance to work with MS Money Plus (2007). SPB Shell, Plus, Time, Traveler, and all the rest are too heavy on the PDA resources compared with what they do. The cost benefit analysis leans too far toward cost to justify using them.
kidlockatong said:
asctony -- Thanks! The page didn't seem to mention that. Will definitely follow up on it. Is that version usable on a wizard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a T-Mobile MDA. Model: WIZA200 Pocket PC
I run with:
IPL 2.26
SPL 2.26
GSM Radio 2.25.11
OS WxtRom 2.26.10.2
I have been using that version on my MDA for over 8 months. No problems and I do use it daily.
Let me know if you need anything else.