Laridian's Life Application Commentary Series

[Ed Hansberry]

In the fall of 2002, Laridian released two new commentaries for their Pocket Bible Product, the Life Application Study Bible and Life Application New Testament Commentary. When I <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3705">posted about their release</a> back in September, several people asked which one to get if you only wanted to buy one. Well, if you want the long answer to that question, then this dual review is for you.<!><br />Laridian makes an excellent program, <a href="http://www.laridian.com/ce/catpocketBible.asp?ref=apwzwtzws">Pocket Bible</a>, for reading the Bible and has a number of great commentaries that makes the Pocket PC the perfect Bible study platform for people on the go. Two of those commentaries are from <a href="http://www.tyndale.com/default.asp">Tyndale House Publishers'</a> Life Application series.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,9485"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/review-laridian/cover-lab.gif" /></a><br /><br />The first is the Life Application Bible Study Notes. It has a brief commentary that covers just about every verse in the Bible and includes supplemental study notes.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,9486"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/review-laridian/cover-lantc.gif" /></a><br /><br />The second is the Life Application New Testament Commentary. This goes into much more detail than the Life Application Study Bible Notes does but only covers the New Testament. It also has its own additional study materials included.<br /><br />Because of the unique nature of these products, I'll review each book in its own separate review but will make comparisons to each other where appropriate. I will also compare each to their paper versions you can buy online or at various book retailers. Each link below will open a new browser window.<br /><br />To read the review of the Life Application Study Bible Notes, <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,9485">click here</a>.<br />To read the review of the Life Application New Testament Commentary, <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,9486">click here</a>.

[gorkon280]

Thanks for adding another thing to my B-day list! :D I have been meaning to pick up the Laridian NIV (been making due with Olivetree's ASV). The have Laridian's on CD at my local Christian book store. 80 bucks and you get like almost everything (not sure if you get these, but you might!). This sounds like some interesting reading! :) One other thing thats related that I thought would be nice....is there anything that will insert either on the Today screen or within your Outlook some dialy scripture readings? I figure if it's on the PPC I will read it! ;)

[Ed Hansberry]

The have Laridian's on CD at my local Christian book store. 80 bucks and you get like almost everything (not sure if you get these, but you might!).
That CD, if I recall correctly, has both of these, Daily Reader, One Year With Jesus reading, NIV and a few other goodies. It would be $120 or so if purchased individually. If I were getting started, that is what I would buy. I've paid the $120 and more by now but it has been spread over 3 years. :)

[baker]

What store has the CD? Thanks.

Oh, take a look at this: http://dsrtech.net/bibleverses/index.htm

[Ed Hansberry]

What store has the CD? Thanks.

I know http://www.lifewaystores.com/lwstore/ carries it. Might try some of the contact options at http://www.laridian.com/ce/aboutlaridian.asp to see if they sell the CD direct or can give you a list of retailers in your area that may stock it. I'd bet Zondervan book stores would have it too.

[baker]

Man, that was fast Ed. Thanks.

[gorkon280]

What store has the CD? Thanks.

Oh, take a look at this: http://dsrtech.net/bibleverses/index.htm

I tried it. It just did not work right for me.....I forget what problem I had but I uninstalled it. I have not had real good luck with today screen plugins. Only one I run now is Journal Bar (I LOVE YOU OMEGA ONE! :) ). Also, you had to maintain the file....I was looking for something that was semi automated. The verse does not necessarily have to be on the Today screen, but maybe a link to it from within Outlook. I guess what I am looking for isn't out yet.

[dMores]

can someone explain to me how you use this pocket bible?

i mean, i'm a religios person, i go to church, i try to be a "good person", and i live by the 10 commandments (most of the time), but i don't really see a point in having a bible on my pocketpc.

do you read it every day? then you should be through with it twice by now.
or do you ctrl-f for something specific?

don't get me wrong, please, i'm not questioning anyone who uses a pocket bible. just trying to understand what i might be doing wrong :)

[Ed Hansberry]

can someone explain to me how you use this pocket bible?

i mean, i'm a religios person, i go to church, i try to be a "good person", and i live by the 10 commandments (most of the time), but i don't really see a point in having a bible on my pocketpc.

do you read it every day? then you should be through with it twice by now.
or do you ctrl-f for something specific?

don't get me wrong, please, i'm not questioning anyone who uses a pocket bible. just trying to understand what i might be doing wrong :)
I do read it daily. I use Daily Reader for that mostly since it has some nice devotionals and keeps track of my progress, but I am also reading I &amp; II Samuel as well. Lots of good lessons in that, as well as the rest.

You have to read it and study it to understand it, not pick up individual verses here and there. If you really want to get a flavor for what you can get out of it, pick up Daily Reader and "Experiencing God's Word" from Laridian's Daily Reader pages. You'll need Pocket Bible and a translation of your choosing for it to work. If you don't want to spend that much money on it, email me and I'll help you track down the paper version that you can use with your paper Bible. (instructions in my sig)

http://www.faithfirst.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/id39.htm has some good info, but you'll have to turn off images or print it out. Knowing about the Bible doesn't mean you know how to do HTML. :wink: Man that page is ugly, but the message is right on target. You have to study to know. :way to go:

[blusparkles]

I currently have Pocket Bible (NIV), Daily Reader, Life Application Study Bible Notes, Experiencing God Day by Day and The Daily Walk. But I haven't really been using them to their true value. A problem with me is finding the right balance - I frequently attribute too much time to things that are urgent and important and urgent and non-important and tend to neglect things that are non-urgent but important.

When I first bought the Daily Reader books, I promised myself that I would read one of the readings every day, which I did for the first couple of weeks .. and then I found myself frequently using the "Catch up" menu option because I'd fallen behind with my readings - until a whole year would pass before I'd do the next reading!

It would be great if there was some sort of today plug-in that linked in to the day's readings, so I could see what the subject of the reading for that day was, and then just tap through to the reading in DailyReader. I suppose I could do some sort of recurring reminder to read my DailyReader readings for that day, but it's not as elegant a solution 8)

[Weyoun6]

I use Pocket Bible and have the ESV, NASB w/Strongs, Greek & Hebrew Dictionarys, and NIV translations. The ESV is my main translation. I also use the Daily Reader. As some as you know, I am into apologetics. I am reading thru the Bible so I can better understand and defend my faith. I often use the Pocket Bible to read verses I heard about or for inspiration. It is very handy not to have to lug around a big bible.

The best way to know your religion is to read it. Just like any good literary novel, you have to read the Bible (or whatever) over and over and over to understand it better.

[Ed Hansberry]

It would be great if there was some sort of today plug-in that linked in to the day's readings, so I could see what the subject of the reading for that day was, and then just tap through to the reading in DailyReader. I suppose I could do some sort of recurring reminder to read my DailyReader readings for that day, but it's not as elegant a solution 8)
I had to set up a recurring task until I got into the habit of doing it. That was 3 years ago and I think sometime in 2004 I will be able to delete that recurring task.

I personally didn't care for the "One Year Bible" in Daily Reader. If you can read the Bible in one year and get something out of it, more power to you, but I can't. I like the devotionals better. Then when I read I like to have either of the Life Application commentaries open and read those in with the verses I am reading. I've also really enjoyed "The Message" paraphrase bible. It makes it so easy to understand.

[MacPPC]

What store has the CD? Thanks.

The Life Application CD is availble for $70 at http://www.rejoicesoftware.com/laridian/lac.html

It comes with PocketBible, DailyReader, the Life Application NT Commentary, Life Application Study Bible Notes, One Year With Jesus, One Year Bible, NIV, and NLT.

[crairdin]

Ed, thanks for the thorough reviews.

The maps are not in the products because they're licensed separately and would probably add a bit to the cost. We don't talk about what we may or may not do in the future, but we like maps, too.

Someone asked where to buy the CDs. They're carried by all the major Christian bookstores: Family Christian Stores, Lifeway Christian Stores, and Berean Bookstores to name a few. They're also in all the Parable and Covenant stores (these stores are independently operated and aren't named "Parable" or "Covenant" but rather use a common catalog that goes by that name).

If your local Christian bookstore doesn't have them, there are several online sources including Rejoice that was mentioned earlier. Also Christian Book Distributors (www.christianbook.com).

Craig Rairdin
President
Laridian, Inc.

[baker]

Thanks!

[Brad Adrian]

can someone explain to me how you use this pocket bible?
I particularly use it a lot when I go to church on Sundays. When the week's scripture has been read, I use the Notes feature of Pocket Bible to take notes of the sermon. As a Youth Counsellor, I also use the bookmarks feature when I prepare for our discussions. I can then easily retrieve the verses when I need them.

[Craig Horlacher]

I have PocketBible and nearly all of the translations and referances. It's great to be able to quickly compaire translations (sync and split screen) and also use more than one referance to look things up. I've had many times where Mattew Henry's Concise Commentary and New Ungers Bible Handbook have very different information for the same thing. The same thing applies to Easton's and New Unger's dictionarys. I haven't found one to be better than the other over all for anything. Each referance seems to have strong points.

Besides the commentaries of the Life Applications Bible I love the extras it has like "Charts" and "Personality Profiles". I recently got the Life Application New Testiment Commentary and am glad that I did. It's got loads of detail on the new testiment books, great for a Bible Study I'm in of 1 Corinthians right now.

I've had Bible software on my PC before but I never used it because it was never with me when I needed it and it was almost as worthless on my laptop because of boot time and battery life limitations. The Pocket PC is the perfect platform for Bible software! I use at church, in Bible Studies, and for personal study (which for some reason, at least for me, doesn't seem as personal when sitting in front of a pc). It's been well worth the investment I've made.

The only thing it's missing is *maps*! I've got plenty of CF space, help me out here Laridan!

One thing I don't have is the Daily Reader. I just wanted to mention this to let people know that you don't need it to use the Daily Reader Books. They work fine with pocketbible alone - just missing some nifty features I guess. I have Experiencing God Day by Day as well as By Faith Alone. I'm almosth done with both of them, going the whole way through without Daily Reader. I'm sure the features of Daily Reader would have helped but I wanted to point out that you can still pick a day from an on screen calendar without daily reader. Both of those devotional's have been very good. I think I liked Experiencing God a little more probably just because there were some things in BFA I didn't completely agree with or (more likely) disagreed with the presentation.

Ed, thank you for your great reviews of some of their products! I've had LAB for a long time but didn't get LANTC until your favorible review.

[ironguy]

When you get set up, I would like to suggest some reading for you if I may. Read Mark 10:17-31. Also read the LAB notes. I think you may find them helpful!

[tanalasta]

hi
I decided to purchase the LAB study notes after reading your glowing review and totally agree it's the best purchase i've ever made! (the only downside is my ppc crashed and now i can't use it... but i ought to get it back next week).
Here are my suggestions on how to make pocketbible even better:
1. How about a desktop version - either free/discounted for existing owners?
2. Ability to scroll up/down by using the stylus (similar to what you can do in iSilo) rathern than having to click on the arrows/use the jogdial. Not sure if that's possible using the HTML/IE engine though...
3. A shortcut button for synchronise (there's one for two books)
4. Option for always leaving/opening the preferred bible at the top of the screen rather than the bottom if we were reading the commentary/LAB in full-screen then switching to two books. It's just what i'm used to - its a bit awkward reading the bible at the bottom and it requires a couple of clicks to change it.
5. Ability to highlight verses!
6. Removing and then adding a bookmark automatically selects then opens the next bookmark on the screen which is a little annoying at times.
7. Maps and some pretty pictures everynow and then :) Just for the young at heart :D

[Ed Hansberry]

Those are some of the exact same comments I had tanalasta. Great program, but I'd like to see some tweaks to it. One other thing I'd like is the ability to quicklly switch between single/double view, maybe with some Windows style buttons (square/double square)

[josemaria]

I am a roman catholic from spain.

Has this bible been checked and given green light by the vatican or some roman catholic bishop ?

If not, are there any other pocket pc versions of the bible which have been officially accepted ?

Sorry if this offends somebody, but I do not read sacred scriptures unless I am sure it's trustworthy.

[crairdin]

Has this bible been checked and given green light by the vatican or some roman catholic bishop ?

If not, are there any other pocket pc versions of the bible which have been officially accepted ?


The Life Application Commentary is not a Bible, but rather a commentary on the Bible. As far as I know it is not approved by the Catholic Church.

We offer the NRSV Bible for PocketBible, which is approved for some uses in the Catholic Church. I'm not clear on the details of this; you'd have to check into it further.

Craig Rairdin
President
Laridian, Inc.

[javadoc]

I just bought a Dell pocket PC and I'm really interested in buying the pocketbible programs. I've been reading everyone's comments and it sounds great, but I have a few questions:
1. Is it better to buy the programs from a store on CD, or to download them directly from Laridian? I assume that if you buy the CD you can always reload the programs in case of a system crash. Is the same thing true if you download on-line? Does Laridian keep a record of what you've purchased and let you download it again?
2. Most of the comments in this stream are from march 2003. It is now march 2004 and I was wondering if any improvements have been made, ie- maps etc, because if so, I want to buy the improved versions and not the old ones.
Can anybody help? Is anyone still reading this stream?

[crairdin]

1. Is it better to buy the programs from a store on CD, or to download them directly from Laridian? I assume that if you buy the CD you can always reload the programs in case of a system crash. Is the same thing true if you download on-line? Does Laridian keep a record of what you've purchased and let you download it again?
You can buy from a store on CD or you can buy from our Web site on CD. If you register the CD you bought at the store you'll have download priviledges at our site for updates.
Most of the comments in this stream are from march 2003. It is now march 2004 and I was wondering if any improvements have been made, ie- maps etc, because if so, I want to buy the improved versions and not the old ones.
If you buy the CD it's going to be old because the inventory of CDs tend to outlast the updates we post on our site. Again, if you register the CD you buy in a store you're able to download the latest from our site. There are no improvements such as you describe but there are minor enhancements to the program. These are described in the tech support area of our Web site at www.laridian.com.

Craig

[Wiggin]

I just bought a Dell pocket PC and I'm really interested in buying the pocketbible programs. I've been reading everyone's comments and it sounds great, but I have a few questions:
1. Is it better to buy the programs from a store on CD, or to download them directly from Laridian? I assume that if you buy the CD you can always reload the programs in case of a system crash. Is the same thing true if you download on-line? Does Laridian keep a record of what you've purchased and let you download it again?
2. Most of the comments in this stream are from march 2003. It is now march 2004 and I was wondering if any improvements have been made, ie- maps etc, because if so, I want to buy the improved versions and not the old ones.
Can anybody help? Is anyone still reading this stream?
:D
1) Depends on your personal preference. Both options will result in the same end point... Laridian installed on your ppc. Laridian does keep a record of what you buy AND download, and you can always get new, fresh versions of everything you have purchased and downloaded.
2) The core application has not changed much in recent months, but new content shows up occasionally, and existing content is updated frequently.
Unless you absolutely, positively, must have CDs in order to feel safe, the online purchase/download path is the way to go!
Hope that helps, and yes, folks still read old streams!
:way to go:

[sedmtd]

I hope Craig is still checking here.
First, praise! I have been a Laridian user for five years. I currently have a 5-yr-old Casio that is only large enough, memory-wise, to accomodate the basic Pocket Bible and the NKJV version. I have not had a single issue with my Laridian software in five years! Remarkably, when I logged into Laridian my 5-yr-old id and password still worked and updated versions of my previously ordered software are still available for download. I'm impressed. NOW TO MY REAL PURPOSE IN POSTING. I have just ordered a new Dell X50v VGA PPC. I am researching which Laridian applications to purchase and download. Having read the basic reviews on LAB and LANTC, I am motivated to get the Life Application collection from Laridian via online download. I also like my original NKJV version and am impressed with the PPC version of NIV Study Bible. So I am at a crossroads on what to do. I have four questions, hence my hope Craig will join in. Will the Life Application collection, NIV Study Bible and NKJV work together without conflict, albeit I know I can only use two at a time? Second, how much room, in terms of MB, do I need to store all of those applications? Third, where, RAM versus storage card, is the best place to put each item, and why? Lastly, has any one used these applications with VGA, especially the Dell AXIM X50v?

[crairdin]

I Will the Life Application collection, NIV Study Bible and NKJV work together without conflict, albeit I know I can only use two at a time? Second, how much room, in terms of MB, do I need to store all of those applications? Third, where, RAM versus storage card, is the best place to put each item, and why? Lastly, has any one used these applications with VGA, especially the Dell AXIM X50v?

1) All those books will work together without conflict.

2) File space can be determined from our Web site. Go to the order form and click on the product you're interested in. System requirements are at the bottom of the page.

3) Put programs in main memory because they launch faster. Put books on storage cards to save main memory space.

4) We just released an update that further improves our existing VGA support. I run in VGA mode all the time.

If you have further questions it's significantly more efficient to check the knowledgebase at our site then send an email to [email protected] if you have questions.

Craig

[tanalasta]

can someone explain to me how you use this pocket bible?

do you read it every day? then you should be through with it twice by now.
or do you ctrl-f for something specific?


I've perused through both the paperback version and PPC version (which I own) of the life application NIV bible and can honestly say, if you read your bible regularly, it's a fantastic investment.

Well, some Christians do try to read their bible everyday - though not all at once - they may jump through verses; study like verses with similar themes; investigate cross references etc... We don't necessarily read it cover-to-cover per se. But rather study it's meaning and how we can apply it in our lives. To that end, the electronic version is indespensible as it allows quick navigation and linking without having to flip through pages each time trying to find a verse but all we can remember is the general gist of what it says. e.g. a few keywords. Remember the bible doesn't have an index, so pocketbible makes searching a lot easier.

It is also handy to bring to church or a smaller bible-group study as opposed to a big, heavy hardcover book :) The life application notes just make it easier to understand in black and white how we can apply the bible to our daily lives - and it's a useful supplement to complement the basic bible-only pocketbible program.

And no. Whilst I know people who've been through the bible many times and can recite perfect verses/references, I haven't been through the whole thing twice. Never made it through the whole chapter of Numbers for example :P

I've read the reviews - they're comprehensive and explains the functions better than I could in this post :)