Sense or Mobile Shell or Titanium?

[x2umer]

I have used all these three and you know best i found and still on my diamond is SENSE 2.5. You know why it is perfact in all aspects..you have no need to install any fancy software for contact or any shell as it has its own well designed tabs/contacts/options/home screen etc.... Stay with HTC Sense 2.5=D>... SPB mobile shell gives your diamond a feel of china cell phone.. all china copied cell phone have an user interface like SPB mobile shell..

[georgepa]

Originally Posted by rhacy

All the Windows Mobile interfaces have pluses and minuses. In turn, what's best comes down to personal preferences, as well as overall speed and stability.

The HTC Sense vga port has the most eye candy, but it also has more lag at times and locks up more often, due to it's increased use of system resources. I have found the amount of main program storage and program ram memory needed, combined with the Diamond's limited amount of main storage, to be a real issue. Plus, Sense or even Manila for that matter, will eat up large amounts of precious diamond main storage over time, as more of your images and other data files are stored in the Application Data/HTC folders. This is a real drawback that I've not been able to permanently resolve to date. Nonetheless, if we were using a device with double or triple the main storage, ram, and processing power, there would not be an issue, and Sense 2.5 would be my first choice, just for it's animated weather home screen alone.

Titanium appears to be lean and mean, but antiquated and quite dull for a 2010 PPC GUI, in my humble opinion. That said, Windows Mobile really needs a complete revamp, to say the least. Hopefully, it will happen in a major way with WM7.

Spb has come along way since I started using the old Pocket Plus version back in the Apache days. That said, I find myself using Mobile Shell 3.5.2 the most at this time. The big pluses are that you can run it off your internal storage with no extra lag. Moreover, you can add Mobile Sense or other third party themes to increase the eye candy factor. Also, Mobile Shell uses less program ram memory than HTC Sense or Manila, and it does not continually decrease your main program storage over time, unlike Sense or Manila. Please note that MS initially installs to main memory, so you need to use a program like SKtools to move the MS program files folder over to your Diamond's internal storage/program files folder. The great thing about SKtools is that when it moves MS for you, it corrects all registry edits, install data, and saves you around 10MB's of precious main program storage. Another excellent program for MS is Shell Extension by NLWaard over at XDA. SE allows you to add more Life Style and Professional Screens and modify more items to your personal preferences. As far as where to find themes for MS, just run a search for Sbp Mobile Shell here or at XDA Developers, and you should be able to find links to a theme that suits your needs without any problem.

On a related note, you can have it all, lol..., if you like; HTC Sense or Manila, Spb Mobile Shell, Titanium, and other graphical user interfaces installed, and switch between them easily with TF3D Switcher, courtesy of Darkness231.

Hope this helps...

Best to all,
R

Sense 2.5: I am using PMDs Sense 2.5 Rom. It is a stripped-down OMJ. It gives around 82MB of available memory when it first comes out of the flash. I use a lot of apps off \Internal Storage (i.e. Opera 10, Pandora, Skyfire, WunderRadio, Sprint Navigation, Garmin XT, and tons more.) After loading the Iphonetoday application into system memory (an Iphone-like icon-based app that contains all my apps and games on 6 screens) and after adding the Manila TV tab (replacing Footprints tab) with over 100 TV channels ready to go I still have 72MB of available memory. That gives a nice cushion.

I tried the other ROMs, and you are right that after they are done you end up with precious little memory. Better to start off with a stripped down version and then add as much to \Internal Storage as one can. HTC Sense 2.5 works well for me, very little lag, no freezing, lots of qvailable memory.

[stJamesG]

Originally Posted by georgepa

Sense 2.5: I am using PMDs Sense 2.5 Rom. It is a stripped-down OMJ. It gives around 82MB of available memory when it first comes out of the flash. I use a lot of apps off \Internal Storage (i.e. Opera 10, Pandora, Skyfire, WunderRadio, Sprint Navigation, Garmin XT, and tons more.) After loading the Iphonetoday application into system memory (an Iphone-like icon-based app that contains all my apps and games on 6 screens) and after adding the Manila TV tab (replacing Footprints tab) with over 100 TV channels ready to go I still have 72MB of available memory. That gives a nice cushion.

I tried the other ROMs, and you are right that after they are done you end up with precious little memory. Better to start off with a stripped down version and then add as much to \Internal Storage as one can. HTC Sense 2.5 works well for me, very little lag, no freezing, lots of qvailable memory.

I very much agree. I'm using PMD's Sense 2.5 ROM too. I like the efficient nature of Sense - you get a lot of content on the home tab. The OS is very snappy and clean, even with all the added eye candy.

[b4u2]

I like the Titanium. Nice and simple. I have used manila and spb in the past but so far sticking with Titanium.

[rhacy]

Originally Posted by georgepa

Sense 2.5: I am using PMDs Sense 2.5 Rom. It is a stripped-down OMJ. It gives around 82MB of available memory when it first comes out of the flash. I use a lot of apps off \Internal Storage (i.e. Opera 10, Pandora, Skyfire, WunderRadio, Sprint Navigation, Garmin XT, and tons more.) After loading the Iphonetoday application into system memory (an Iphone-like icon-based app that contains all my apps and games on 6 screens) and after adding the Manila TV tab (replacing Footprints tab) with over 100 TV channels ready to go I still have 72MB of available memory. That gives a nice cushion.

I tried the other ROMs, and you are right that after they are done you end up with precious little memory. Better to start off with a stripped down version and then add as much to \Internal Storage as one can. HTC Sense 2.5 works well for me, very little lag, no freezing, lots of qvailable memory.

Thanks for the heads up on PMD's Sense 2.5 ROM, georgepa. I'll have to give it a go as soon as his next revision uploads. Cheers!

In regard to Sense 2.5 ROMs, I did flash OMJ's latest 28014 v1.5 Sense 2.5 ROM on my spare Diamond last week, and really like his tasteful 6.5.3 build and the Sense 2.5 eye candy. Moreover, it's been stable, fairly fast, and has not locked up during use yet. Nonetheless, even after moving everything I could to Internal Storage, the Diamond only has around 20MB's of Main Program Storage Memory left (from about 46MB's just after flash). Even less if I do not delete the ever growing cache file in the Application Data/HTC/HTC Album/Cache. That said, I use a bum load of third party programs too. In turn, this system has been loaded up with 100+ extra apps/games, and it's still holding up well under moderate use so far. To clarify, I only have a few MB's of programs in Main Program Storage, and around 240MB's of programs in Internal Storage, and the WM 6.5.3/Sense 2.5 system is still running quite low on main storage.

Yikes! Did not mean to type ramble again, lol... Guess my thread topic opinion is still the same; Sense 2.5 is the best for the eye candy factor, but heavier on main storage and program memory. Titanium is fast, clean, and functional, but kind of dull. Spb Mobile Shell is very functional, and has many options available to customize it's look and feel, plus it runs great from Internal Storage, and uses less system resources than Sense or Manila.

Best to all,
R