Ok, because all the spamming/flaming going on in the other threads, here is the thread where comparisons of the two products should be made. It is not fair to either developer to clutter their thread with another product. Ezainny and ani created those threads for product feedback and not to read about another's product. So here you go, put your comparisons and arguments for one program over the other here.

Thanks trevor. Refreshing to see a rational view on the situation. Thanks again.

I moderate on another cell phone site (Howardforums.com) so I have a tendency to try to stop online arguments. I guess it has rubbed off a little here.

Have to say that even though I've purchased SmartView, this version of Empower seems, to me at least, to perform better. I don't use multiple accounts so I can't judge how well it handles replies, etc. For now, though, the navigation keys seem to perform well, it appears "faster" (I don't get the percentage fuel guage) and, when reading an email, hitting escape doesn't back you out of the program so you're facing the same email but without SV, but right back to the message list.

I'm sure both developers will keep working but, for now, Empower seems to be heading in the right direction.

Empower is faster; however, I find the formatting system of Smartview more appealing. I understand Empower is still beta; but for me, Smartview just works better.

At least 3 of every 5 emails I open with Empower drop back to the standard BB view. Maybe because they are too large for now??

Jut my two cents.

ok.

Empower-

pro
Free
Very fast
Small

con
still beta
1 or 2 minor bugs

Smartview-

pro-
completed(mostly)

con-
not free
slow (loading of images and HTML takes a while)
did i mention not free?

see the big thing that empower will have over smart view is it's size and THE FACT THAT ITS FREE. people dont realise, its the SAME PRODUCT - one is free, and the other is $25!

Not Free

ooohhh - Math major

Free isn't always good...

ramble was free and look what issues we had with it

Forgive my noob of a question but is one of these more secure that the other? For me that's a major issue.

I don't think security is an issue here. Smart view I know just "interprets" the html and outputs it in a better looking form. No information is sent, only recieved (pictures). You should be fine security wise. I would assume empower works in a similar fashion.

To me, I will not compare a beta product and a completed product side by side. Not now.

Also, I will not determine a product as good or bad just because it costs you $25 for the program and another is so good just because it is free.

Some people do it for fun, some people do it for a living. Everyone love free lunch of course, but whilst you are enjoying your free lunch, you gotta think of the other people who are trying hard to buy themselves a lunch with their hard earn money.

So, there, everything has its pro and con. Whilst you are praising something that you like so much, please do not step on something that you dont like or dont agree with.

For me its this.

Empower:

Pros:
1. Fast - I don't have to wait for html to render when i open an email.
2. Very lightweight - 27kb or something.
3. Tighter integration with native email - I can delete from "mailbox and handheld" as well as handheld. So i can reconcile deleted items later. Also most of my native functions work.
4. foreign language packs work fine.

cons -
1. still in beta development.

Smartview:
Pros
1. supports background colors. more options for settings.

cons
1. Slow - i had to wait for sometime before the html showed, at times upto 5 seconds.
2. Some of the functions didn't work for me.
3. Okay, this last one is not related to me, but just so that i mention - it is not able to display correctly on devices with foreign fonts installed.


As you can see, I didn't include price (SV charging $25, Empower free) in my comparsion. Have compared the features, price is an individual issue so that is not a feature comparision..

Overall, i think empower is pointed in the right direction - they talk about folders, and spellcheck and other things.. so i think they have a longterm view..

Hmmm, Empower didn't render HTML images for me, while SmartView did.

Several people captured certain highlights, but so far my vote is for SmartView.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know if the emails went through another set of servers first before they were delivered to the BlackBerry itself which in my opinion isn't very secure. From reading about Smart View I can see that it doesn't go through another set of servers but didn't ready anything about that when I looked into empower.

Currently I really like the fact that empower is faster than SmartView and though it's in beta I am sure the little issues will be resolved once it's final release. I prefer the performance of empower and at a cost of $0.00 you can't go wrong. The extras such as spell check and folder is nice also as it really enhances the overall BlackBerry user experience.

Tried both Smart View and Empower, keeping Empower for its simplicity, speed and displaying of foreign fonts/language installed. I did not realize Empower is free.

In this case, it is!

Empower has color BG now!

so was ramble when it hit the market was best thing since sliced bread. Then nothing it just is what it is no updates no nothing. This thing just came out you have to give it a chance to either fail or succeed. A few days is not what I call tried and true software.

Can someone thats good with computers maybe post comparison pics ? Inbox, same email displayed, options, etc... Something like that.

Good idea ;)

Yep, very good idea to compare the screenshots of a beta product with a finished product. Kudos..

And how do we plan to compare the speeed of Empower with SV?