Just got my Omnia

TedEBearNC · #1 (**permalink**) 04-16-2009, 08:16 PM

Hey all!

I just got my Omnia yesterday and I'm still getting familiar with it. This is my first WinMo phone and I chose it over the Storm for the ability to be able to tweak it like I want it although I do have 30 days to change my mind in case I don't like it.

I'm working my way through the stickied threads above to see what I can learn but I was interested in hearing your opinions.

What are your "must have" tweaks or apps... and why?

What kind of idiosyncracies does the Omnia has and what are good workarounds for those?

I look forward to your replies. In the meantime... time to get my feet wet and my hands dirty.

kgibson · #2 (**permalink**) 04-16-2009, 09:45 PM

I like pointui and s2u2 on my omnia. They both work great and very finger friendly!

gruven98 · #3 (**permalink**) 04-16-2009, 10:00 PM

hi there and welcome to the boards. you're in the right place because the folks that post on here really, really know their stuff and can help you out with anything when it comes to the omnia. I've been a palm guy for the last several years and haven't used winmo since the mid 90s. Don't be afraid to ask questions in here.

as far as my must have list so far, it's been:

1. Spb Mobile Shell
2. imarche skins
3. Phone alarm
4. PhonEx (testing trial now and i like it so far)
5. Flexmail 4 (testing trial version)
5. wakeonesms
6. i910 patch dialer

i've had my phone for a little over a month and these guys here have me hooked to this site and a couple others. have fun and you made the right choice over the storm. i was in the same boat, and i chose the omnia as well.

**syrguy1969** · #4 (**permalink**) 04-17-2009, 05:09 PM

I can't argue with a few of the suggestions already made like S2U2 (in fact all 2 of A_C's apps), and Mobile Shell (I'm trying out 3 now), but most apps are really just what you purchased the Omnia for...your own taste, you will have people comparing the Samsung Today, Today 2, Mobile Shell, PointUI.....I think you get the point.

BUT....There are a few that are real 'Must haves' in the WM world:

A good reg editing app like RESCO (pay), or a free one like Total Commander...this will help you make changes and tweaks yourself instead of waiting for someone to be kind and post a change for you.

That leads to my next suggestion....a good backup app!!! Along with reg changes and trying out a big app like Shell or PointUI comes the risk of causing irreperable glitches anf problems on the PPC, a good backup app allows you to do occasional backups of 'safe' points (I do about one a week) and be able to do a hard reset and restore your device to the point it was before the mistake. The two big hitters are RESCO and SPB. I use SPB but have heard a lot of good about RESCO....they are both pay apps, but well worth it!!!!

The third would be a good cleaning app like MemMaid (pay) or a free one like SKTools free version. This will allow you to clean out bad files and things taking up memory on your PPC (cache folders, leftover files....) and in some cases do minor tweaks to your device such as optimizing storage and running scheduled cleanings.

Now...the fun stuff...I have a few personal favorites I tend to install on all my PPCs....as mentioned earlier S2U2, S2P and S2V (doesn't work in landscape yet, but a great app), PocketCM (a great (and free) contact manager....really cool), Live Search, G-Alarm.....well I could go on like this for a while!!!

Please ask if you have anything specific in mind, need URLs to any of these, or just have a question!!!!

TedEBearNC · #5 (**permalink**) 04-17-2009, 10:36 PM

Thanks for the input everyone.

Well, the first thing I did was grab SPB Backup and made a backup before doing anything. Also grabbed a registry editor... CERegedit?.. and made a registry back up for a spare then imported the .reg file for the Samsung Today 2 screen to give it a look.

I installed SPB Mobile shell to give it a go but I had a problem when I tried to install the iMarch SPB Skins. Whenever I tried to go into SPB Manager from the Today Screen it would say Mobile shell had an error then it would lock up and I'd have to reset. I ended up uninstalling both and reinstalling SPB Mobile Shell. Not sure if it was something I did wrong or what.

I'm also trying out PocketPlus though I haven't tinkered with it much yet. The main thing it offered was closing of programs instead of minimizing them. Otherwise it looked to 'busy' out of the box but I'm guessing I can trim it down once I tinker with it.

I'd like to give M2D a try but haven't been able to locate exactly where to get it from to make sure I get the right version and how to install it.

I haven't looked at S2U2 yet but I plan to as well as Pockeshield to see which I like better.

Haven't seen PointUI so I'll give it a look. What is S2P and S2V? I looked at PocketCM but the screenies I saw didn't grab me. How customizable is it? I like the contact shortcut screens of Samsung and SPB but the scroll bars are too narrow to finger and I have to pull out the stylus if I want to scroll reliably so I'm eyeing Photo Contacts Pro as an alternative.

Guess that's all the questions I have for now.

Thanks again!

P.S. Cool avatar there syrguy1969.

**syrguy1969** · #6 (**permalink**) 04-17-2009, 11:40 PM

Thanks for the compliment on the avatar, huge Doctor Who fan!!!

Good catch in a task manager, another must have, Samsung did include one on the Omnia, so your covered if you like it!!

I didn't have the problems with Imache you did, maybe something happened in the install or another app is interfering with it. If your looking to get rid of the scroll bars and have icon shortcuts, take a look at Mobile Shell 3!!!

Pretty cool customization on it's own, you can select your own background on one screen (actually 3 screens in one) and customize the layout with widgets!!!! There is a thread for it in the software forum: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=56319

Here is an example of what it can look like:

fastevolutionviii · #7 (**permalink**) 04-18-2009, 02:22 AM

^ +1... You can't go wrong with SPB Mobile Shell 3! Only been using it 1/2 a day and it is a far superior UI than anything else out there as far as I am concerned. Give it a shot... you probably won't be disappointed.

TedEBearNC · #8 (**permalink**) 04-18-2009, 02:48 AM

Big Who fan myself.

Mobile Shell 3 does look interesting. Think I'll wait for the release though. Give 'em a chance to iron things out.

Yeah I know there is a task manager included but I like the idea of being able to have stuff close when you hit the 'X' and not just minimized. That way you don't have to go into the task manager just to make sure stuff is closed.

Anyway.. off to bed for now. Will try some of this stuff out tomorrow.

TedEBearNC · #9 (**permalink**) 04-18-2009, 02:49 AM

I probably would.. but since it's not released officially yet I don't want to get attached and have it expire on me.

TedEBearNC · #10 (**permalink**) 04-18-2009, 03:20 PM

I found M2D over on xda-forums and also a page for installing it on the Omnia. They don't make things too clear over there. :P Anyway, I downloaded the IOLITE version which I'm assuming is the latest but when I extract and try to install it says the .exe file is not valid. I tried re-downloading but had the same problem. Can anyone point me to a good install and maybe some instructions?

Thanks!

Edit: NM, I found some intstruction deep in the thread. Have it installing now.

Ok... I have it installed now but it won't run yet. When I tap to start TouchFlo it just goes back to "Tap Here...". There are two files it says to copy to the Windows directory of the phone so that's probably why, my problem is now when I try to copy them it says I'm not allowed. Is there something I have to do to be able to copy files to the Windows directory?

Ok.. finally figured out what I was doing wrong. I'll try it again but for now I'm playing with PointUI. It's very nice.