Anthony Newman tries out the latest version of this indispensable Pocket PC system utility and discovers it’s a definite keeper.
Omega One have made a bit of a name for themselves in the Pocket PC software field through their system information utility, Battery Pack. For many users it’s an absolute essential tool, one that does a shedload more than give battery information: at last count, the suite includes nine separate life-saving utilities. As it reaches a new version for the upcoming year, we give it a good going over and see what all the fuss is about.
 | Battery Pack 2004 consists of a slew of utilities, including two indicators that integrate with the Start Menu bar
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Battery Pack is actually a few different applications, most of which reside in the Pocket PC’s Today Screen. The first of these is Program Bar, an ingenious program launcher that displays a concise date as well as a user-configurable number of icons (up to 120, in ten scrolling rows) to quickly load frequently-used applications. These are chosen by the utility by default, minimizing setup hassle, and also include the program’s own little utilities to clean up the system, soft-reset the device, turn Bluetooth on and off and access system preferences, among others.
The most important of these is called Power Clean, which is a little app to remove temporary files, cookies and the IE cache to reclaim space. Icons can be dragged-and-dropped anywhere in Program Bar. There are many launcher apps for the Pocket PC, and few are as handy as Program Bar, especially when one considers that it’s bundled with a much more powerful suite.
Next up is an XP-styled task manager dubbed Power Task, which replaces the Smart Minimize button with a real close button, as well as offering shortcuts to close other apps and turn off the handheld, on top of a rather handy Today Screen link. The inclusion of this utility removes any need for another app - we’re beginning to see Omega One’s point when they bill Battery Pack as ‘the only Pocket PC utility you’ll ever need’.
Continuing the cleanup of every possible utility, Omega One have included another app called Power Adjust, which allows users to configure various system tweaks including fonts, window animation and so on. It does its job well, but does miss out some tweaks familiar from other, separate, utilities.
 | Power Store offers an excellent overview of system vitals
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Power Alert allows precise configuration of system sounds, enabling volume ramping, separate sounds for different application alerts, repeating alarms and other features omitted from the default PIM setup. Meanwhile, Power Light, the kitchen sink of the suite, makes the backlight of the unit into a handy torch.
Now that we’ve got the side orders out of the way, here’s the meat of the program: Battery Bar. This fulfills a number of requirements for users wanting precise information about the status of their handheld, from a mini battery indicator just below the clock on the status bar to a full Today Screen panel showing battery life in percentage and time remaining, free space on memory cards, available RAM and an analogue clock. The battery bar learns over time to becoming more accurate for each individual device, which is a great feature, and clicking on each customizable icon on the today screen brings up the relevant system preference for more detailed information.
Clicking on the mini battery indicator loads the final applet of the suite, Power Store, which gives a clear and pretty page of information about memory, battery status and free space, all colour-coded. The battery pack can even inform the user with spoken alerts when particular events occur: low battery, low space and so on. This is a very special little touch that really appeals to the gadget lover in us.
The only issue with Battery Pack 2004 generally is its slight lack of integration and accessibility. A great deal of flexibility can be achieved by having the program divided into nine applications and three Today Screen items, but this can come across as a certain confusion; we would be interested to see how successful the suite would be if it were integrated into one program with a single repository for settings and options.
Conclusion
Far from being just a battery meter (and a good one at that), Battery Pack 2004 is a competent system maintenance tool, program launcher, task manager, alarm manager and memory manager all in one. It single-handedly beefs up the Pocket PC platform with a bundle of useful tools, which work flawlessly and intuitively for beginners and power-users alike. This is an absolute essential purchase for any Pocket PC owner.
- What's positive: Covers every system aspect well
- What's negative: Could be more integrated; can spread itself a little thinly
Overall: 
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