Tanker Bob
07-02-2005, 04:25 AM
I posted the following on another forum where it was suggested that I post here. Others on the forum suggested that I post the message here, so here it is:
I used spb Pocket Plus 2.5 on my X50v almost from day one. I suffered one hard reset a couple of months ago, but wrote it off to a beta version of another Today plugin I was trying. I recovered within minutes from my daily backup on the SD card. Then while testing another app about a month later, I suffered a hard reset when trying to reenable Pocket Plus after completing the trial. That reset erased a CF card, the SD card, and the BIS. I removed the program that I was testing, but within a week suffered 2 more hard resets that erased the BIS and SD card--one while working in spb Pocket Plus setup screens and one trying to enter its setup screen from the Windows Today setup screen. Since removing Pocket Plus several weeks ago but making no other changes, I suffered no problems at all.
In addition to ending the hard resets, removing Pocket Plus increased the general responsiveness of my X50v, decreased the load time of the Today screen, ended unplanned soft resets, and ended problems with icon spacing on the title bar.
I have written to spb about this through their tech support page, but they never responded. Having dealt with a large number of developers, I've found that those few who don't respond to private inquiries generally know there's a problem but don't want to deal with it--or worse. Pocket Plus continues to sell well, so why bother, eh?
I also asked others I know about the situation, and several mentioned incompatibilities between Pocket Plus 2.5 and WM2003SE on HP devices. Everyone I asked had removed PP from their devices after encountering the first problems.
Others here, of course, have not experienced any problems that they can directly attribute to Pocket Plus. I suspect that the vast majority of Pocket Plus users don't spend as much time in the setup screens as I did during the period that I experienced the worst problems. I personally think that there is some fundamental problem between PP 2.5 and the WM2003SE Today setup routines that may only be triggered by specific circumstances or incompatibility with other programs. I'm still waiting for spb to prove me wrong.
There is another possibility. The developer of Pocket Mechanic built a bomb into the program aimed at a particular pirated serial number. While he claimed it would never be triggered otherwise, several legitimate users were bit by that bomb and he was forced to remove it. It could be that spb did something similar, but didn't account for changes in WM2003SE that cause the bomb to be triggered "inadvertently". I included my serial number in the tech support inquiry for just that reason. I doubt that spb would own up to this after the uproar over Pocket Mechanic, hence the lack of reply.
At this point, all I can do is share my experience to warn others. YMMV, but maybe not.
Others have posted on various forums about issues they had with Pocket Plus, including unplanned hard resets which cease when PP is uninstalled or not reinstalled. I've also found that many who post about flash cards being wiped clean also use Pocket Plus, but certainly not all. To this day, I have received no reply from spb. FWIW.
I used spb Pocket Plus 2.5 on my X50v almost from day one. I suffered one hard reset a couple of months ago, but wrote it off to a beta version of another Today plugin I was trying. I recovered within minutes from my daily backup on the SD card. Then while testing another app about a month later, I suffered a hard reset when trying to reenable Pocket Plus after completing the trial. That reset erased a CF card, the SD card, and the BIS. I removed the program that I was testing, but within a week suffered 2 more hard resets that erased the BIS and SD card--one while working in spb Pocket Plus setup screens and one trying to enter its setup screen from the Windows Today setup screen. Since removing Pocket Plus several weeks ago but making no other changes, I suffered no problems at all.
In addition to ending the hard resets, removing Pocket Plus increased the general responsiveness of my X50v, decreased the load time of the Today screen, ended unplanned soft resets, and ended problems with icon spacing on the title bar.
I have written to spb about this through their tech support page, but they never responded. Having dealt with a large number of developers, I've found that those few who don't respond to private inquiries generally know there's a problem but don't want to deal with it--or worse. Pocket Plus continues to sell well, so why bother, eh?
I also asked others I know about the situation, and several mentioned incompatibilities between Pocket Plus 2.5 and WM2003SE on HP devices. Everyone I asked had removed PP from their devices after encountering the first problems.
Others here, of course, have not experienced any problems that they can directly attribute to Pocket Plus. I suspect that the vast majority of Pocket Plus users don't spend as much time in the setup screens as I did during the period that I experienced the worst problems. I personally think that there is some fundamental problem between PP 2.5 and the WM2003SE Today setup routines that may only be triggered by specific circumstances or incompatibility with other programs. I'm still waiting for spb to prove me wrong.
There is another possibility. The developer of Pocket Mechanic built a bomb into the program aimed at a particular pirated serial number. While he claimed it would never be triggered otherwise, several legitimate users were bit by that bomb and he was forced to remove it. It could be that spb did something similar, but didn't account for changes in WM2003SE that cause the bomb to be triggered "inadvertently". I included my serial number in the tech support inquiry for just that reason. I doubt that spb would own up to this after the uproar over Pocket Mechanic, hence the lack of reply.
At this point, all I can do is share my experience to warn others. YMMV, but maybe not.
Others have posted on various forums about issues they had with Pocket Plus, including unplanned hard resets which cease when PP is uninstalled or not reinstalled. I've also found that many who post about flash cards being wiped clean also use Pocket Plus, but certainly not all. To this day, I have received no reply from spb. FWIW.