01-20-2003, 08:00 PM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 599
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Shopping Smart with VOShoppingList 3.2
Regular supermarket shoppers generally use a list of some sort, often written on a scrap of paper. That goes against the grain of a true PDA user � after all, it is hardly a high tech solution! Shopping list software has the advantage of being reusable and often offers other features. Has VOShoppingList, a Pocket PC Awards 2002 Finalist, got what it takes to handle my weekly shopping needs?
VOShoppingList is a Pocket PC Awards 2002 Finalist and has received promising reviews on the Handango Web site. In practice, though, it has flaws that are quite readily discovered in real-life use.
Where To Buy
The software can be downloaded from Handango or purchased for $14.95 (affiliate link). There is a 10-day trial version available. After the trial is over, you can purchase the software or install AdWare which will play a 7 second commercial before the program starts. There is a desktop version of the software that is available free to registered owners of the Pocket PC version.
Strong shopping feature set
VOShoppingList has a comprehensive list of features that looks good compared with that old piece of paper:- Quantities for each item
- Location in the store for each item
- Whether or not you've got a coupon for the item
- How much the item might cost - this is useful for building up an estimated final bill for your groceries
- Whether or not the item is taxable; a single tax rate can be specified and is added to the estimated final bill
- Whether or not the item is a one-off purchase; such purchases are permanently removed from the list when purchased
- Categorization of each item; this can be used to filter the display of items to buy
- Easy selection of items to include in your shopping list
- Easy marking off of items as you buy them
- Synchronization of items & categories through ActiveSync
- Integration with the desktop version through ActiveSync
Figure 1: Main screen for VOShoppingList
Setting up the shopping list
The first thing that needs to be done is to add items to the list. The user interface is quite straight forward:
Figure 2: Adding an item to your shopping list
From here, you can enter your information into the appropriate categories, outlined above.
A new category can be added by clicking on the <New Category> entry. Categories in general are managed through the Category window.
Figure 3: Managing your categories
The Location window has an identical look and feel for those location names that don't fit into the supplied method of a number in the 1 - 30 range. However, only the first two characters of the location text are displayed in the main display.
Once you've built up a list of items, you can enter "Choose items" mode to decide which entries in that list you actually want to buy. Here, everything starts off as being present on your list. Clicking on an item in the list greys it out and removes it from the list:
Figure 4: Choosing items for shopping
While in this mode, you can incremently increase or decrease the quantity by clicking in the quantity column rather than having to open the whole item window � a useful shortcut.
If you've got more items on your list than will fit on a single screen, you can move through the list by clicking on the turned corner icons.
Going shopping
As you do your shopping, getting the items on the list, you mark the items off by simply clicking on the description. This puts a line through the item (as shown in figure 1).
However, because the item remains visible, the screen can become cluttered, making it hard to see what you've got left to buy. The software allows for an alternative, which is to hide the purchased items. This mode is toggled on and off by clicking on the shopping trolley icon. One frustration of this otherwise useful feature is that you can only turn it on after you've selected at least one item.
You can further manipulate the way the software displays your shopping list by filtering the category shown, from all items down to individual categories. You can also sort the location or the description by clicking on the column heading, with the current sort being bolded.
Gotchas
There are, however, some very irritating bugs in the software.
- When you add a new product, the window opens with the input focus in the Name field but the SIP isn't displayed. This means that for every item you add, you have to open the SIP, which gets quite annoying after a while.
- Another bug in the same window is in the way the software handles auto-completion. The feature is very useful, matching what you are typing against the known products and therefore reducing what you have to type, but it doesn't work properly if you are using the letter recognizer.
Supposing you wanted to enter "toothpaste". If you are using the letter recognizer, the letter T requires two strokes - a downward stroke (which is initially recognised by the Pocket PC as the letter L) and then a sideways stroke to change the letter from an L to a T. The problem with the auto-completion algorithm in this software is that it sees you enter the downward stroke, decides you have entered the letter L and immediately moves on to the next letter of the item name. It simply is not possible to enter two-stroke characters like T or I unless you use the keyboard SIP instead.
- Selecting/deselecting items from the main interface is not very responsive. Sometimes, there is a definite lag between clicking on an entry and it being shown as selected or deselected. This lag can often be long enough to make you wonder if you've actually tapped the screen in the right place � which means you then try tapping again!
- There is a "Choose Items" icon (the blue tick) but while clicking on it toggles between the two modes, the icon itself doesn't show you which mode you are in. The software instead indicates this by displaying "Choose Items" at the top of the list. This is a minor glitch but goes against the way lots of other products handle this sort of feature. The shopping basket icon suffers from the same problem, which is even worse because there isn't a visual indicator of whether or not purchased items are being hidden.
- The user interface doesn't tell you how many pages your list fits onto, or where you are in the list. This is a big oversight.
Conclusions
There is no doubt that using a PDA to manage a shopping list can offer big advantages over more "traditional" methods such as scraps of paper. VOShoppingList goes a long way to supply and support those advantages, but it is let down by bugs and a poor user interface in places. There are some very well thought out features, such as support for ActiveSync, categorization and an estimated shopping bill but, in its current state, I wouldn't be prepared to carry on using it.
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01-20-2003, 08:05 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 67
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To me, this seems a bit of overkill. I've always been very happy just to use regular old notes for my shopping list, actually, any list I have. It's nothing more than an exact duplication of my scratching it down on paper. I don't see the need to be so fancy, other than for geek-ness.
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01-20-2003, 08:23 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 278
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I use ListPro to manage my shopping lists and I am very happy. I now have in excess of 150 items on the list and I have it set to "Don't Show Checked Items". As I need things during the week, (eggs, milk, etc) I will "un-check" each item. Usually, by the end of the week or so I will have 10 or 15 items that are un-checked and therefore "visible". As I shop, I check the item and it disappears until needed next time. I find it works very well.
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01-20-2003, 08:30 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 338
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Re: Shopping Smart with VOShoppingList
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Originally Posted by Philip Colmer
There are, however, some very irritating bugs in the software.
When you add a new product, the window opens with the input focus in the Name field but the SIP isn't displayed. This means that for every item you add, you have to open the SIP, which gets quite annoying after a while.
Another bug in the same window is in the way the software handles auto-completion. The feature is very useful, matching what you are typing against the known products and therefore reducing what you have to type, but it doesn't work properly if you are using the letter recognizer.
There is no doubt that using a PDA to manage a shopping list can offer big advantages over more "traditional" methods such as scraps of paper. VOShoppingList goes a long way to supply and support those advantages, but it is let down by bugs and a poor user interface in places. There are some very well thought out features, such as support for ActiveSync, categorization and an estimated shopping bill but, in its current state, I wouldn't be prepared to carry on using it.
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Nicely done review.... but I do have a few points I'd like to make, particularly with regard to the comments I quoted above.
1. The bug pertaining to entering a new product / the input field NOT having a SIP displayed: YES... This is a major pain. I can't wait for it to get fixed. I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed this problem (I was just to lazy to contact the developer to complain about it  ops:
2. The "autocomplete" feature: YES... I can see how this would be a problem. I use transcriber, which for me has minimized the problem, but certainly this could be fixed/addressed.
As for the program in general... Let me just say it has been a true joy to use. I noticed in the review that Philip shows adding items and then using the categories to break items into different groups (Bread products, Fresh produce, etc.) and while that would work out nicely, I use the categories for each store I shop at. So I have grocery stores, Costco, computer stores, Office Depot, etc. all as categories. When I think of something I need at a store that will require a special trip, I simply enter the item (and whether it's a one-time purchase or not). Then, when I make my shopping trip to Seattle, I can hit all the stores I need to, knowing I won't forget anything!
Another note, VOShopping List interfaces with Pocket Cook for your Pocket PC, so if you like to cook, and need any easy way to migrate your receipies into shopping lists, look no farther.
I highly recommend this software. And Upgrades are free !!!
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01-20-2003, 08:32 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,386
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by wrightca
To me, this seems a bit of overkill. I've always been very happy just to use regular old notes for my shopping list, actually, any list I have. It's nothing more than an exact duplication of my scratching it down on paper. I don't see the need to be so fancy, other than for geek-ness.
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I agree somewhat. I'm sure there are those that would appreciate the extra functionality included (price totals, coupons, items from various locations, etc.). Plus, the larger the list, I think the easier it is to manage when you have your PPC automatically removing items from the list when they're "crossed" (this beats a regular notes app). So, this kind of specialized shopping list app I think will appeal to some...
I would recommend though, that for anyone truly serious about lists, I think a more versatile list app such as ListPro may be a better buy.
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01-20-2003, 08:32 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 121
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I want to know what the heck PARCETAMOL is????
(Look at the shopping list)
heyday
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01-20-2003, 08:33 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2
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Close but...
I am a recent PPC convert, having received an Axim A5 for Christmas and moving from my trusty HandEra 330. Most programs I have found suitable replacements for, but the one prgram I miss most from my Palm OS days is HandyShopper.
I am currently using VOShoppingList, but agree with most of the review's stated drawbacks to this program. With HandyShopper it was very easy to add items, sort by stores, check them off, toggle between purchased and not, etc. And it is WAY better than paper lists. (And HandyShopper was even free!)
VOShoppingList is the closest analogue I could find and does most of these things adequately, but without the ease of use found in HandyShopper. Speed is definitely an issue, but perhaps this can be fixed in future releases.
As for ListPro, I found it to be less intuitive, even for an moderately advanced tech person such as myself.
Would I recommend VOShoppingList? Sure. I purchased it (the AdAware stuff would slow down this already sluggish program even more!) because I haven't found anything better for the PPC yet. But I hope they keep tweaking and improving.
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01-20-2003, 08:44 PM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 599
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by heyday
I want to know what the heck PARCETAMOL is????
(Look at the shopping list)
heyday
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Spelling mistake aside, it is a painkiller that is quite popular in the UK.
<off-topic>
I've got a nagging feeling it might not be available in the US. One of the reasons might be that you can overdose on it if you aren't careful, and you die quite a while afterwards due to kidney (or is it liver?) failure. There are versions of paracetamol that include enough antidote to make it impossible to overdose, but for some reason they are incredibly hard to find!
</off-topic>
--Philip
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01-20-2003, 08:46 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,386
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Re: Close but...
Quote:
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Originally Posted by robspahr
As for ListPro, I found it to be less intuitive, even for an moderately advanced tech person such as myself.
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Funny. I initially bought just based on all the rave reviews I kept hearing. Once I got it, I didn't really use it for a few months for the reason you mention. It's just not something you can pick up and really make good use of immediately.
After having sat down with it one afternoon and just fiddling around, it is now one of my most valuable apps. One of my top 5 definitely.
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01-20-2003, 10:39 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 15
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<getting way off topic>
Paracetamol is Acetaminophen is the US. No idea why it's called that in the US though.
</getting way off topic>
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