Handcent also has an option to "Set as default SMS." So with that, and disabling the stock notifications you should be all set! (that's what I did at least)
I use GoSMS which also has the "set as default sms" feature, but I found that I still had to go into the stock text messaging app, go to settings, and way down at the bottom, uncheck the notification settings. That did the trick for me.
I seem to have a problem though with sending pictures on either GoSms and Handscent to some one that doesn't have that particular service...is this a known issue?
I seem to have a problem though with sending pictures on either GoSms and Handscent to some one that doesn't have that particular service...is this a known issue?
Not that I've seen. I tend to send a lot of picture messages to my sister and she doesn't have GoSMS, just the stock text messaging app on her LG Ally. I also get her pictures without issue. Maybe you could email the developers? I know Go Launcher EX gets updated frequently to fix tiny issues here and there, so they seem pretty devoted to fixing bugs for people.