Monday, November 4, 2002
Battery Pack 2002 Reviewed
Posted by Jason Dunn in "SOFTWARE" @ 02:00 AM
http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&platformId=2&productType=2&catalog=0&sectionId=0&productId=24948
Battery Pack 2002 has been the #1 selling application on my Handango list since we launched the new version of the site was launched, and after seeing it on the list for the 500th time I decided to take it for a spin. I wish I would have given it a try sooner! It's a very useful application that gives control-freaks like myself the information we love to have.
The application consists of two modules that plug into the Today screen: Program Bar and Battery Bar. In the screen shot above, the Program Bar is below my owner information, and below that is the Battery Bar. Each module has several features worth noting, so keep reading!
Tapping on the small battery/folder icon brings up the Powerstore screen, which gives you main battery level, backup battery level (if present - in my XDA, it's not), program memory, storage memory, and storage card memory (two slots are supported, but I only have an SD card inserted).
By default, the Program Bar lists two lines of applications - in this regard, it's not much different than other freeware applications like Launcher. What I found interesting though was how it automatically included every available shortcut on the device, including links to the Control Panel applications. Each shortcut can be re-mapped so you can build your own set of shortcuts in whatever order makes sense to you. There are also some unique apps like Cleanup which purges the temporary files, cookies, and temporary internet files.
The Program Bar can be expanded to five rows of icons, and the date can be disabled.
The results are a little too chaotic for my liking, but if you like having everything one tap away from your start screen, this is a good way to do it.
The Battery Bar has a wide variety of configuration options, including choices as to when the audible warning is triggered. The "voice" sounds like a highly-compressed WAV file, and I'm not convinced it's useful - I had to open up eight applications before I could force my device to run out of program memory, and unless your volume is cranked up to maximum, you probably won't hear it. The Battery Bar has two modes: Large and Small.
The small mode is shown above - this is my preferred mode. It's small enough to keep out of the way, but it still has the information the larger version does.
All in all, this is a very useful tool and well worth the $9.95. I've even found that with the shortcut to the list of running applications, I haven't needed to install a task killer to recover memory. If memory serves there's a free demo - I can't confirm that right now because Handango is spitting up Internal Server 500 errors when I browse to this app, but by the time this review goes live it should work. Be sure to check this app out!
Battery Pack 2002 has been the #1 selling application on my Handango list since we launched the new version of the site was launched, and after seeing it on the list for the 500th time I decided to take it for a spin. I wish I would have given it a try sooner! It's a very useful application that gives control-freaks like myself the information we love to have.
The application consists of two modules that plug into the Today screen: Program Bar and Battery Bar. In the screen shot above, the Program Bar is below my owner information, and below that is the Battery Bar. Each module has several features worth noting, so keep reading!
Tapping on the small battery/folder icon brings up the Powerstore screen, which gives you main battery level, backup battery level (if present - in my XDA, it's not), program memory, storage memory, and storage card memory (two slots are supported, but I only have an SD card inserted).
By default, the Program Bar lists two lines of applications - in this regard, it's not much different than other freeware applications like Launcher. What I found interesting though was how it automatically included every available shortcut on the device, including links to the Control Panel applications. Each shortcut can be re-mapped so you can build your own set of shortcuts in whatever order makes sense to you. There are also some unique apps like Cleanup which purges the temporary files, cookies, and temporary internet files.
The Program Bar can be expanded to five rows of icons, and the date can be disabled.
The results are a little too chaotic for my liking, but if you like having everything one tap away from your start screen, this is a good way to do it.
The Battery Bar has a wide variety of configuration options, including choices as to when the audible warning is triggered. The "voice" sounds like a highly-compressed WAV file, and I'm not convinced it's useful - I had to open up eight applications before I could force my device to run out of program memory, and unless your volume is cranked up to maximum, you probably won't hear it. The Battery Bar has two modes: Large and Small.
The small mode is shown above - this is my preferred mode. It's small enough to keep out of the way, but it still has the information the larger version does.
All in all, this is a very useful tool and well worth the $9.95. I've even found that with the shortcut to the list of running applications, I haven't needed to install a task killer to recover memory. If memory serves there's a free demo - I can't confirm that right now because Handango is spitting up Internal Server 500 errors when I browse to this app, but by the time this review goes live it should work. Be sure to check this app out!
