Oneslowz28
03-23-2009, 06:25 PM
For years now I have been a loyal user of the Trillian IM client and yahoo messenger (for its file and photo sharing). As of late I have been slowly becoming aggravated with Trillian. It randomly crashes and sometimes will not connect to certain networks. I have tried the latest versions and still have the problem. It’s not a fire wall problem either. Now with a few new messaging systems thrown into the mix (facebook and gtalk) Trillian is no longer filling the need I have for a universal IM client (UIM)
That is where today’s review comes from. About a week ago a friend told me about a UIM that has it all and even has email capabilities as well as the ability to access your social networks. This UIM is Digsby (http://www.digsby.com) So I [url=http://www.digsby.com]downloaded[url] it and installed it. http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/main-digsby-window.jpg
The installer asks you to install several programs that can be described as bloat ware at the least. You can however decline them all and nothing will be downloaded or installed to your computer but the main Digsby program.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/1.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/2.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/3.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/4.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/5.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/6.jpg
When the installer finishes downloading and installing Digsby you will be prompted to create a free account. Never had to create an account with your other UIC’s? That is a change with Digsby. The good thing is that by creating the free account your settings are saved on Digsby‘s servers and you can download Digsby on any number of computers and by logging in with your user name it will automatically import your settings and you will be able to converse with all of your friends instantly.
I added all of the IM accounts I use on a regular basis. This included AIM, Yahoo, Live/MSN, Gtalk,ICQ and Facebook chat. I also added a pop3 Email account, a yahoo mail account and a gmail account. I added facebook and Myspace social networking accounts. This is far more than any other UIC on the market could handle.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/accounts-1.jpg
So how does it perform? During a stress test where I have several friends from different things message me at the same time. It popped them all up within milliseconds of each other. There was no lag that I noticed on a 6mb/s connection and a dialup connection that I use as a backup when the cable is out. I loaded digsby onto my laptop and my other desktop and had no trouble porting my settings over. All I had to do was log in and it did the rest. The Email checking feature was a nice addition but I use Outlook for my email needs so I didn’t get far into this feature.
What I was excited about was the Social Network features. You add you’re various social networking accounts and it will open a little widget of that network. For facebook it adds a box to your profile where people can send you a message straight to your digsby account. This is kind of useless because it already imports your facebook friends list and allows you to chat with them from digsby to the built in facebook chat feature. When one of your friends update their status or tags you in photos a little box at the bottom left corner of the screen pops up and notifies you of it.
Facebook widget
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/facebook-window.jpg
Facebook pop up.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/facebook-popup.jpg
I started playing around with the preferences and found the skin feature to be by far the best out there. There are plenty of options to choose from and you can even customize the base skin with more options.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/skin.jpg
So will I continue to use Digsby? Yes I will. I now have it on all of my machines and have removed Trillian. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an all in one UIC.
That is where today’s review comes from. About a week ago a friend told me about a UIM that has it all and even has email capabilities as well as the ability to access your social networks. This UIM is Digsby (http://www.digsby.com) So I [url=http://www.digsby.com]downloaded[url] it and installed it. http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/main-digsby-window.jpg
The installer asks you to install several programs that can be described as bloat ware at the least. You can however decline them all and nothing will be downloaded or installed to your computer but the main Digsby program.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/1.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/2.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/3.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/4.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/5.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/6.jpg
When the installer finishes downloading and installing Digsby you will be prompted to create a free account. Never had to create an account with your other UIC’s? That is a change with Digsby. The good thing is that by creating the free account your settings are saved on Digsby‘s servers and you can download Digsby on any number of computers and by logging in with your user name it will automatically import your settings and you will be able to converse with all of your friends instantly.
I added all of the IM accounts I use on a regular basis. This included AIM, Yahoo, Live/MSN, Gtalk,ICQ and Facebook chat. I also added a pop3 Email account, a yahoo mail account and a gmail account. I added facebook and Myspace social networking accounts. This is far more than any other UIC on the market could handle.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/accounts-1.jpg
So how does it perform? During a stress test where I have several friends from different things message me at the same time. It popped them all up within milliseconds of each other. There was no lag that I noticed on a 6mb/s connection and a dialup connection that I use as a backup when the cable is out. I loaded digsby onto my laptop and my other desktop and had no trouble porting my settings over. All I had to do was log in and it did the rest. The Email checking feature was a nice addition but I use Outlook for my email needs so I didn’t get far into this feature.
What I was excited about was the Social Network features. You add you’re various social networking accounts and it will open a little widget of that network. For facebook it adds a box to your profile where people can send you a message straight to your digsby account. This is kind of useless because it already imports your facebook friends list and allows you to chat with them from digsby to the built in facebook chat feature. When one of your friends update their status or tags you in photos a little box at the bottom left corner of the screen pops up and notifies you of it.
Facebook widget
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/facebook-window.jpg
Facebook pop up.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/facebook-popup.jpg
I started playing around with the preferences and found the skin feature to be by far the best out there. There are plenty of options to choose from and you can even customize the base skin with more options.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/skin.jpg
So will I continue to use Digsby? Yes I will. I now have it on all of my machines and have removed Trillian. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an all in one UIC.