MY touch - current favorite software/configurations

diomark · #1 (**permalink**) 03-05-2008, 03:58 PM

Wanted to share what I was running, and see what others were running. I really like the way that my phone is currently behaving...

ROM -
Still running stock sprint rom; haven't seen a need to upgrade.. I get annoying notification errors from time to time, and my activesync tends to go out of whack (fixed by having a backup of my activesync registry settings and re-importing it when it happens - about once/week) - also my storage card corrupts temporarily from time to time (fixed by rebooting - about once/2-3 days..) - do the new ROM's address these issues? I've been holding out for the next official sprint rom (which was supposed to be out, last week?)

Today screen -
SPB Mobile shell 2.0 w/ SPB traveller for weather and SPB time for alarms (tabs under SPB Mobile shell) ( http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/mobileshell/ )
SBSH Pocket Breeze ( http://www.sbsh.net/product.php?id=20 )
Octrochat for GTALK/AIM/YIM - in my testing this used the least amount of battery vs. IM+, etc.. ( http://octro.com/ )
SBSH Phone Weaver for phone profiles (profiles for mute, normal, normalNoVibate, soft, softNoVibrate, vibrate, and emailOff) ( http://www.sbsh.net/product.php?id=28 )

UI -
Touchflo disabled
SPB Mobile Shell 2.0
FTouchSL for gestures configured as follows - down->up, bring up spb mobile task list; left-bottom corner, lock screen w/ S2U2 lock; right-bottom, go to today screen using aebplus today shortcut ( http://www.ftouchsl.com/ )

Browser -
Opera mobile 9.5beta simply rocks! enough said. I've set the zoom levels to what I think works - it allows for barely being able to read when zoomed all the way out, and nicely formatted (usually not requiring scrolling left/right) when zoomed in

Multimedia -
all buttons/icons configured under SPB multimedia
Slingplayer for tv/tivo ( http://www.slingmedia.com/go/spm )
coreplayer for videos/mp3's ( http://www.coreplayer.com/ )
resco photo viewer for pictures/albums ( http://www.resco.net/pocketpc/photoviewer/ )
Resco radio for internet radio streams ( http://www.resco.net/pocketpc/radio/default.asp )
Motorola S9 bluetooth stereo headset to enjoy it all... with bluetooth hacks to increase stereo headset quality.

RSS feeds -
newsbreak is awesome and simply works ( http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/nw/newsbreak.php )

Navigation -
I have an external GPS - but would *really* love the internal GPS once/if that's enabled in ROM.
Using tomtom navigator primarily ( http://www.tomtom.com )
Google maps for traffic/directions ( http://www.google.com/gmm/ )
live search for traffic/directions/movies/etc ( http://wls.live.com/ )
I used to use GPSGate so that all apps (i.e. live search for traffic and tomtom for navigation) could see the gps.. but haven't used it recently.. it causes my stereo headset to cut out every few seconds when it's enabled. ( http://franson.com/gpsgate/ )

Email -
Using 4smartphone.com's email service (well, now msoutlookonline.net ) It costs money, but it's been reliable. ( http://msoutlookonline.net )
Also have the google email client running under the jvm

Keyboard -
TouchPal pro rocks! try it you'll love it. ( http://www.cootek.com/ )
I also have the pcm keyboard w/ the touch layout, and the 10k english dictionary. ( http://www.pocketcm.com/keyboard.php )

Bluetooth headsets (and mini-reviews)
Current headsets -
Motorola S9 for stereo - the mic on this sucks.. but better then nothing. The stereo sound quality on this is awesome and is open air (so doesn't block out ambient noise..) Hard to lean back on a chair/lay down with them though as it sits high up behind your neck.. The multimedia controls work great.
blueant Z9 headset rocks! People can hear me, I can hear them, and it has a really nice clip for storing it. (usually store it clipped on on a belt-loop next to my pocket..) Not perfect in the wind, but better then what I've tried in the past.

Older headsets -
jawbone - ok but over-rated.. half the time people can't hear me.. and I can't hear them.. This works great if it's on your face and you're not moving.. but in my experience moving (i.e. walking) means that it's not always touching your face and tends to cut out for the people listening. Not to mention it's big and bulky
Plantronics 655 - this is ok - I had problems storing it. The ear pieces keep falling off or disassembling in my pocket
Plantronics 645 - forget it.. this thing sucked.
Ericson HBH-GV435 - it's comfortable, and fine for low-noise environments.. terrible with even the slightest bit of noise.
Sennheiser BW900 - not worth the price. My jawbone (which was my other headset at the time I bought it) outperformed it. This one went back to the store.
Plantronics Voyager 855 - not so good for phone usage.. the plantronics 655 and jawbone (my headsets at the time) were much better. For stereo usage - it sounds ok - but very annoying in that whenever the cord between the two ears gets rubbed against something (i.e. walking rubbed against your cloths), it amplifies that annoying sound... I couldn't stand these. Went back to the store.

Other notable apps -
SPB backup for backups
SPB Brain evolution for fun games/soduko
Flexwallet for storing passwords/CC's/etc (w/ desktop integration)
MS Voice command for dialing for bluetooth - although I'm using this less and less now. (so much easier to use SPB mobile shell..)
Resco file explorer for file and registry work...
SK Tools for system tweaks/etc ( http://s-k-tools.com/index.html?sktools/m_feat.html )

Notable customizations -
Touchflo disabled
Email notifications set to sound only
bluetooth registry hacks to improve stereo listening quality
all keyboards disabled except touchpal and pcmkeyboard
S2U2 set to lock on sleep and used for picture caller ID
Mark All as Read hack/plugin for outlook
HTC Task manager disabled (no need w/ spb mobile shell)

The above is definitely a winning combination for me and gives awesome battery life (as long as I stay logged out of octro chat..). Now if we could only have a fixed video driver (slingplayer was *so* much smoother under my ppc-6700) and internal ROM/fixed ROM.

What do you guys run?

-mark

**wldthng842** · #2 (**permalink**) 03-05-2008, 04:08 PM

Official Sprint Touch ROM was never due out in Feb, I think you are confused with the Mogul ROM. Touch ROM is est for Juneish but must go through the testing lab, which generally pushes things back.

diomark · #3 (**permalink**) 03-05-2008, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wldthng842

Official Sprint Touch ROM was never due out in Feb, I think you are confused with the Mogul ROM. Touch ROM is est for Juneish but must go through the testing lab, which generally pushes things back.

oh well

Hopefully the necessary drivers for gps/video are in the verizon model, and someone can just rip them...

Question for the group - knowing what I run, which custom 6.1 rom would you suggest?
-mark

benchsitter21 · #4 (**permalink**) 03-05-2008, 05:35 PM

My config:
Rom: I am running the current stock Rom and have a back up of my image on my laptop

Today Screen:
I am running the HTC today screen with 4 tabs, Home, Weather, Apps Launcher and Sound Control. Also have Calendar showing OZ Instand Messaging and Perastats with no2chem 6800 Battery Driver for 1% increment Battery display

Installed Apps im Running:
Macromedia Flash Player Activex
Opera Mobile 9.5 beta, This is awesome but skyfire will be even better with embedded Flash
No2chem Battery Driver
WM6 threaded SMS with the reg edit that allows the keyboard to move to the top of the screen so you can see what you are typing, this makes the app totally worth it
Flashvideo bundle and TCPMP
Slide 2 unlock2
slide 2 view so i can choose and pic as my s2u2 background
MacFlo for the cube
googleMaps, will be awesome once sprint unlocks the GPS
Live search
Perastats so i can see my RAM and battery meter in numerical value instead of just a meter
psShutXP for soft resets like windows on a PC does
Vtap for youtube videos
SKtools for reg edits and button maping

Email:
Runnning Gmail under outlook tab as IMAP4

Use HHC to customize the today screen and icons

I use the default touchkepad as this is the only one that works with the detached keyboard reg edit

**tmz** · #5 (**permalink**) 03-05-2008, 08:42 PM

How did you disabied touchflo? sorry for dum?

JaxDreamFunding · #6 (**permalink**) 03-05-2008, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diomark

Bluetooth headsets (and mini-reviews)
Older headsets -
jawbone - ok but over-rated.. half the time people can't hear me.. and I can't hear them.. This works great if it's on your face and you're not moving.. but in my experience moving (i.e. walking) means that it's not always touching your face and tends to cut out for the people listening. Not to mention it's big and bulky

I have had just the opposite experience with the Jawbone. BEST bluetooth headset I have ever used. People tell me how clear I am and how they can not tell I am on a headset on my cell. In the car, people can not hear the A/C blowing and when I am outside, no one ever complains about any breeze...

It is bigger and more bulky that other headsets I have used, but for me it has the BEST quality.

Scott

JaxDreamFunding · #7 (**permalink**) 03-05-2008, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diomark

Notable customizations -
Touchflo disabled
Email notifications set to sound only
bluetooth registry hacks to improve stereo listening quality
all keyboards disabled except touchpal and pcmkeyboard
S2U2 set to lock on sleep and used for picture caller ID
Mark All as Read hack/plugin for outlook
HTC Task manager disabled (no need w/ spb mobile shell)

I have done a search or two....how do I hide or disable SIP's? I want to disable all the one I will most likely never use.

Thanks!

diomark · #8 (**permalink**) 03-05-2008, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaxDreamFunding

I have had just the opposite experience with the Jawbone. BEST bluetooth headset I have ever used. People tell me how clear I am and how they can not tell I am on a headset on my cell. In the car, people can not hear the A/C blowing and when I am outside, no one ever complains about any breeze...

It is bigger and more bulky that other headsets I have used, but for me it has the BEST quality.

Scott

Jawbone was OK - the best headset I had until the Z9 (the plantronics 655 was close behind if not better in some situations..) - but the Z9 sounds much more natural.

The main issue that I had with the jawbone is that it was inconsistant.. It was normally ok (although not natural sounding), but sometimes the other person would complain about not being able to hear me... The 655 was awesome in low-noise enviornment and just ok in noisy environments, but consistent.. the Z9 is definitely my favorite right now - in no small part because of the built-in clip.
-mark