SCOTTGSMITH62  The Bad:

1. The company is slow to update the product - the application ostensibly works just like it did five or six years ago, and it shows in the clunky feel of the application. The developer has a good core idea, but good ideas are not going to gain users of the Life Balance application.

2. The price of this application is really a joke, especially when you realize that you have to pay $80 for the Windows version as well as $80 for the Mac version (if you are one of the millions who use a PC at work and a Mac at home). If the price were $80 for both versions, then it would STILL be overpriced by about $30, when comparing the software to competitors.

The Good:

1. The company has a good reputation for support, and with the interface not being updated in such a long time, you will probably need support if you purchase the application.

2. The fact that the application is cross-platform, and allows a user to go back and forth between a PC and a Mac without troubling with conversion issues, really is nice.

Overall:

Even with the fact that this application is cross-platform and has good support, it cannot clear the hurdle of an interface that is ancient in computer terms, and is seriously overpriced. Before you consider purchasing this, do yourself a favor and look at competing products; there are a lot of them out there.  
(Version 5.1.1)

BUMBLEB  I use the iPhone app, which has a much more modern UI than the desktop version. I think the desktop version should have been rewritten in Cocoa a long time ago. I recommend Life Balance though, since it works productivity-wise. Much more for me and other sensible beings than the robotic GTD approach.  
(Version 5.1)

ZO219  It is to laugh.  
(Version 5.0.5)

WCITYMIKE  Just got Life Balance spam in my inbox which contains a claim that blows me away:

"The releases on Windows and Palm are free updates, the Mac release is a paid upgrade. [...] Give yourself a prezzie that will support everything else you need to get done during this busy holiday season.

"Upgrade now to version 4 from version 3.x for Mac for a limited time for just $52.95."

First, they have the chutzpah to bill a point upgrade as number jump ... and then they're trying to charge $53 for it?!?!

Llamagraphics is getting more and more and more laughable.

I mean, WOW. I've gotten ticked off at developers before, but I've never seen a company shoot itself in the foot THIS well.

Bye-bye, Llamagraphics!  
(Version 4.0.4)

WCITYMIKE  A long time ago, I bought Life Balance. As the commenter below me said, after an incredibly long amount of development time, they have now rolled out a point upgrade and billed it as an integer upgrade -- the "improved" feature set should make this 3.3 or 3.5, not 4.0.

The sad fact is that Llamagraphics appears to be a company that thinks an absolutely glacial, plodding development cycle is sufficient enough to keep them competitive in the virtually EXPLODING world of webapps and apps that manage to-dos.

If you don't even try, you might as well give up and go home.  
(Version 4.0.3)

LEV  Can't see a great deal of change from the last version - certainly it doesn't feel like an integer upgrade. The main problem with Life Balance has always been the inability to change a group of entries. You have to do each one individually, which can be a pain. The organisation of "places" (what GTD types would call "contexts" is excellent; Contexts can contain other Contexts (for example "Mall" can contain "Kinko's") and hours of business can be set for every Context/Place. Very fine. But the interface seems clunky, and there's no way to get stuff in rapidly as there is in iGTD and the (still in alpha) OmniFocus.

In short, it's a decent app with some unique features - particularly the "life balancing" algorithm which gives it its name - but it's being rather overtaken by other newcomers. I suspect they really need to give it a major overhaul.  
(Version 4.0.1)

WCITYMIKE  Wow! What an amazing upgrade! A restored 30-day expiration dialog and updated documentation! (I'm not kidding. That's the extent of the upgrade.)  
(Version 3.2.9)

OLIPOWER  I got interested in Life Balance a few years ago. That was before the whole David Allen Getting Things Done GTD wave started.

I've been wanting to use Life Balance for a long time. They offer a unique approach to life management and general productivity.

However, I've got stuck on many attempts to use it, because of a multitude of issues, issues which other users / testers, have also asked the developers to implement:

Syncing with iCal. Why? That would enable me to sync todays to-do list with a multitude of other things, including my cell phone. I don't want or need a PDA. PDA's are for business people. And geeks. Normal people just don't need PDA's after cell phones have become to refined and advanced.

Interface overhaul. The interface is too cumbersome to use daily. I cannot be scaled down in any way.

Easier input of tasks. For example via a menu in finder.

More frequent updates. This would bring more attention and momentum to the application. And a chance for them to weed out the illegal serial numbers floating everywhere. Let's face reality.

A lower price. Follow the market - sell more!

The developers response is, and always has been, a combination of denial, know-all, conservatism.

To the above, their response would probably be:

"Well, Oliver, we are very dedicated to the continued development of Life Balance. Actually, last month we received an intel-mac to be able to work on the universal binary, and we're also developing some AppleScripts now. And about our business model; well we have been in business for so many years now, so we know well how to stay in business... blah blah"

Well, just tell me straight that your cup is full, and you don't wanna listen.

Ok - what bugs me is just that Life Balance could be so cool, and a lot more usable, would they just listen to their users. I've seen on their forums many times, I'm not the only one voicing these needs. And has been for like ... 2+ years!  
(Version 3.2.7)

STAINBOY  i was looking for a to-do list that could sync with my Palm-based PDA, and i evaluated this program for a day. my conclusions:

1. i didn't need the "life manager" aspects. just an outliner or to-do list app to sync between my Mac and PDA.

2. Mac/Palm/Conduit bundle = $80. way, way too expensive, especially for my needs.

3. outliner/to-do feature far less robust than other options.

i ended up purchasing Shadow Plan. while the desktop edition is not nearly as Mac-like as Life Balance, it had the most powerful to-do list features on both desktop and Palm apps, and it was far, far less expensive.  
(Version 3.2.7)

WCITYMIKE  Life Balance appears to be pretty much in a case of feature- and code-freeze, and there doesn't appear to be any interest in rolling out any substantial overhaul or new features in the application. An especially amazing attitude on the part of its developers given the recent focus in the world of power users over productivity and other such things. Nowadays, pretty much a non-starter -- not even worth your time. And this is from someone who, long ago, registered the durn thing. (Oh, llamas -- PLEASE prove me wrong.)  
(Version 3.2.6)