The only replacement for vB Advanced as far as I am concerned. Also the only current 3 column solution which some customers demand. The flexibility with block development is great. The plugin does lack support. But its free and still works.
This addon is more than a portal. It has been very useful to display article content in an article fashion. That is my favorite feature! I look forward to seeing what Jaxel has planned for his next release. I know you can do it! ;-)
This is a great add-on. When you go to the home page, you get all the latest news and featured threads. This is very useful because you can add twitter feeds and a lot more.