Log in

View Full Version : Weather programs


MacBriar
03-31-2005, 11:24 AM
Hi all looking for some advice here.

I am looking for a program to display weather forecasts on my hx4700.

I have tried out Weatherpanel 2 from Marsware and was wondering what the best other software was.

Specifically I am looking for one which has little impact on system performance as I am wondering whether WeatherPanel 2 (no pun intended) has been responsible for recent slowdowns I have noticed with the 4700.
(And I had been running MemMaid regularly before installing WeatherPanel to ensure a nice clean system.)

Any advice and pointer would be greatly appreciated.

MacBriar

laugher
03-31-2005, 11:34 AM
I am looking for a program to display weather forecasts on my hx4700.

I am using the newly released Spb Weather and all it does is display weather forecasts for the cities you nominate. As it just displays the weather and not continuously attempt to correct it, it does not impact your PDA performance. Instead, it synchronises weather data to the PDA during ActiveSync using your computer's internet connection (going out to a pre-determined weather site to retrieve data).

If there is a performance hit involved, there may be a VERY SLIGHT impact only because it is a Today Plug-in. But I haven't experienced any problems on my Jam/XDA II Mini.

fizzz
04-01-2005, 07:06 PM
try "Weather To Go", works great for me, updates when u press "update" as long as ur connected to the internet (duh).

www.tonaya.com

Darius Wey
04-02-2005, 02:33 AM
try "Weather To Go", works great for me, updates when u press "update" as long as ur connected to the internet (duh).

It's great because it's free, but it's only restricted to people in the US.

Personally, I use and prefer Spb Weather, but there are others out there. To name a few:

WeatherPanel
Pocket Weather
Journal Bar
Stocks & Weather Today

rediss01
04-04-2005, 03:11 AM
I use Pocket Weather and have been for the last couple of weeks. I used to use Journal Bar and had some problems with the weather updating, but have not had any such problems with Pocket Weather.

BUMP THAT
04-04-2005, 04:30 PM
I used Weather Panel for a while and noticed a significant slow down. I was also using animated icons. Then I got pissed of f and used SPB Weahter, it is so much faster. now my Today screen does not take 10 secs to to be seen. Also if you use Pocket Plus, you can habe SPB Weather as a Pocket Plus Tab.

firefoxrocks
04-05-2005, 06:47 PM
Spb weather is the best.

Perk
04-05-2005, 10:15 PM
I got Omega One's Journal Bar. It shows on the today screen in one of two selectable sizes, also syncs news and such and doesn't seem to slow down my PC at all. Most importantly, the weather forecast seems to be the most accurate of the ones I tried. Denver has very unpredictable weather at times so I tried a number of demo programs before landing on this one.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

Mike

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28854&view=previous

juni
04-06-2005, 05:13 AM
I think I've tried them all. Spb Weather is very fast, but doesn't have all the features of WeatherPanel (which really has just about everything...maybe too much if you just need a quick glance at what the weather is and will be).

For some reason I keep getting back to WeatherPanel:

http://www.kolumbus.fi/anders.ruohio/bbcchrome.png

socrates63
04-06-2005, 07:44 AM
Also if you use Pocket Plus, you can habe SPB Weather as a Pocket Plus Tab.
This is the main reason why I use Spb Weather... to save on Today real estate.

juni
04-06-2005, 07:52 AM
..or, if you use the latest PocketBreeze beta you can use any today-plugin inside PB :)

Stephen Beesley
04-06-2005, 09:37 AM
I use Pocket Weather and have been for the last couple of weeks. I used to use Journal Bar and had some problems with the weather updating, but have not had any such problems with Pocket Weather.

Pretty much the same story for me. I have been a long time user of Journal Bar, but at different times have tried pretty much every weather program out there. I have now settled on Pocket Weather which gives one all the info I need, and more(!), and does not seem to impact on performance on my Toshiba e755.

I also really liked spb Weather, but prefer the extra info on Pocket Weather which also seems a bit more accurate for me - you want unpredictable weather just come to Dublin!

Btw- still using Journal Bar for its great news feeds. I could not imagine the daily commute without them...

Phillip Dyson
04-06-2005, 11:27 AM
I currently use SPB Weather but find its usefulness limited since it doesn't really give you a real detailed view of the day.

I've been demoing WeatherPanel embedded in PocketBreeze. With WP I get more than just high/low. But I get the paragraph talking about "percentage chance of rain" which is most important. To me. It also gives weather alerts like flood warnings.

phanprod
04-06-2005, 01:29 PM
I've been demoing WeatherPanel embedded in PocketBreeze. With WP I get more than just high/low. But I get the paragraph talking about "percentage chance of rain" which is most important. To me. It also gives weather alerts like flood warnings.
Same here... I think WP is the most feature packed, and it works great when used with PocketBreeze. However, as for the weather alerts... the only time I'm unhappy is when I get a "Special Weather Advisory" alert. What advisory? What are the details? No more info is to be found.

Perk
04-06-2005, 04:51 PM
I currently use SPB Weather but find its usefulness limited since it doesn't really give you a real detailed view of the day.

Try Journal Bar. If you tap on a weather icon, it opens a page with specific details for every day in the forcast, plus local radar. Again, the biggest reason I landed on this one had to do with the accuracy of the forcasts. As important as that seems to me, I can't believe it's not part of everyone's evaluation here. :?

Phillip Dyson
04-06-2005, 07:01 PM
I currently use SPB Weather but find its usefulness limited since it doesn't really give you a real detailed view of the day.

Try Journal Bar. If you tap on a weather icon, it opens a page with specific details for every day in the forcast, plus local radar. Again, the biggest reason I landed on this one had to do with the accuracy of the forcasts. As important as that seems to me, I can't believe it's not part of everyone's evaluation here. :?

Are you saying that Journal Bar is more accurate?
What source does it use to get its data?

BUMP THAT
04-06-2005, 08:47 PM
Has anyone noticed a longer load time for Weather panel to load.. or even the TOday screen to be more exact? When I removed WP it was much faster. So I switched to SPB Weather. But I think I am going back to WP. :D

Pat Logsdon
04-06-2005, 09:05 PM
For some reason I keep getting back to WeatherPanel:

http://www.kolumbus.fi/anders.ruohio/bbcchrome.png

Those are gorgeous icons, Juni. Any chance of getting that skin in QVGA? 8)

juni
04-07-2005, 05:58 AM
Those are gorgeous icons, Juni. Any chance of getting that skin in QVGA?

Most certainly, I'm working on it right now :)

Phillip Dyson
04-07-2005, 11:45 AM
Has anyone noticed a longer load time for Weather panel to load.. or even the TOday screen to be more exact? When I removed WP it was much faster. So I switched to SPB Weather. But I think I am going back to WP. :D

I've got WP embedded into PocketBreeze beta. So its not loaded until I go to that tab. Of course I go to it often, so I'm not sure I've gained too much. :)

kiwiruss
04-07-2005, 12:52 PM
I have used stocks and weathertoday, journalbar but have been using WeatherPanel for the last year. its great.

I use it within pocket breeze and also use pocketRSS within pocket breeze.
Top this off with pocket plus and wisbar advance 2 and your all set.

phanprod
04-07-2005, 01:17 PM
I use it within pocket breeze and also use pocketRSS within pocket breeze.
Top this off with pocket plus and wisbar advance 2 and your all set.
You can have more than one custom tab in PocketBreeze? I'd love to have a second prog running in there...

I tried wisbar - was not happy with it. I don't know if it's my device or my luck, but I can't get that program to run reliable and fast for the life of me. It is a great add-on, though. I wish it would work for me.

Phillip Dyson
04-07-2005, 02:17 PM
PocketRSS has integration independant of the custom tab. I've read on their forums that I is likely only one custom tab will be there for the initial release.

If you haven't tried the latest Wisbar Advanced 2 beta, you might want to. They've made a lot of improvements. Its much faster on my PDA. That combined with the PocketBreeze beta and it all is pretty responsive.

BUMP THAT
04-07-2005, 04:06 PM
I will have to try the beta of the new WBA 2. The release version I am using sometimes does not always load. I hope PB has more than one custom tab.

Phillip Dyson
04-07-2005, 08:41 PM
I will have to try the beta of the new WBA 2. The release version I am using sometimes does not always load. I hope PB has more than one custom tab.

Be sure and try the icon caching in WA 2 Beta. Startup is a bit slower, and it will take up memory, but after the first time, the Start menu is quite fast.

My understanding is that additional custom tabs will be added shortly (hopefully) after the initial release.

Unless they decide to surprise us.

BUMP THAT
04-07-2005, 09:54 PM
WOW!! I really love the new bete. Vey fast. Even thought it takes up more memry. I like how I can have as many buttons on the top bar as I want. And I like the better enhancements such as my documents and favorites.

Just a thought. If I put WP to display a small waether info instead of me alwaye using large 3. It would take up less running memory? Right?

Phillip Dyson
04-08-2005, 02:36 AM
WOW!! I really love the new bete. Vey fast. Even thought it takes up more memry. I like how I can have as many buttons on the top bar as I want. And I like the better enhancements such as my documents and favorites.

Just a thought. If I put WP to display a small waether info instead of me alwaye using large 3. It would take up less running memory? Right?


Ahhh ... another satisfied customer. My work is done. :)

BUMP THAT
04-08-2005, 04:00 PM
Yes I am very satisfied. Thank you. When is WBA 2 to be out of Beta? Boy does it take up memory too. I hope it is not a memory leak!! 8O

Phillip Dyson
04-08-2005, 05:57 PM
I'm not sure what the ETA is.
The betas seem to keep coming. Though they're not just bug fixes. New features show up too.

If you have the icons caching turned on, then it definitely will take up more memory but I like the added responsiveness.