Windows Phone Thoughts: A Classic Just got Better: SPB Pocket Plus 3.1.2

Nothing’s Perfect
This is the part where I get to indulge my whining, peevish side. The user’s manual for Spb Pocket Plus 3.1.2 is 21 pages long. It does have a lot of functionality and the manual does have a lot of screenshots to illustrate the explanations. Maybe 21 pages isn’t so big for a program with all the features that Pocket Plus has, and maybe I’m just being unreasonable—it wouldn’t be the first time, I’m sure. I wouldn’t mind the fact that the manual has so many pages, or even more, if it was as clear and in-depth as it should be.

I found the user’s manual to be very helpful in understanding how to use some features and fairly ambiguous about explaining others. For example, they sometimes show a screenshot of some feature they’re explaining, but they don’t always tell you exactly how they were able to get to the screen that is being displayed.

My other beef with the program is that several of the features require the mapping of hardware buttons. “What’s so bad about that?” you may ask. Well, for people who have scads of hardware buttons that aren’t already mapped for important functions, it’s not a big deal at all. However, the IPAQ 6315 that I used for this review isn’t exactly riddled with extra buttons for special, user-defined functions. For this reason, it's a plus that multiple applications can be assigned to a single button, but it doesn’t overcome the fact that there are two other functions that must also be mapped to hardware buttons, and I simply don’t have two more buttons to spare.

Conclusions
Spb is a top-notch software manufacturer, and Pocket Plus 3.1.2 is a top-notch product. New users can easily set up the basic features without much difficulty at all, and “power users” can get as fancy and creative as they wish in building shortcuts and special functions to satisfy their needs. I don’t wish to start a war over which utility is best, and I already know that a person can search around for several free or inexpensive programs that can be used together to accomplish some of the same things that Pocket Plus will do. Opinions abound, but to my knowledge, there is no other single program that will do all that Pocket Plus 3.1.2 will do. Maybe everyone doesn’t need all of these functions. Maybe a couple of simple programs will accomplish all that you need in the way of additional features. Everyone has his or her own personal preferences and needs, but in my opinion, whether you’re spending $24.95 as a new user, or $9.95 to upgrade your old version, you could do a lot worse than spending your money on this product. A free demo version of the application is available at Pocket PC Gear and Handango.

Steven Sharp is a senior systems analyst by day and a freelance writer by night. He is a 40-year-old native and lifelong resident of Huntsville, Alabama. He has been freelancing for 16 years and his first book, The Art of Managing Everyday Conflict was released by Greenwood Publishing Group in May of 2004.