Quote from FT79:
First, I have a 2nd vendor and this one is more in line with TT. 2nd, TT is the standard in the business.
I am a former eSignal user and concur with your finding that eSignal comes up short.
As a side note on TT, I use TT X_Trader and X_Study (for backup charting) as well.
For execution platform and real time data feed, X_Trader is indeed considered by many, especially spread traders, as the 'gold standard.' Others may consider Ninja+ZenFire the gold standard.
However, X_Study charting and the associated historical data feed is a new product and definitely not a gold standard. The historical data in particular is hit or miss depending upon the specific broker's implementation of historical data servers, etc.