vBadvanced or vBPortal???

[syrus.xl]

I've used many portals, including some you have not listed. It really depends on your coding abilities, vbPortal is okay, but it's not what I would class as an easy starter, it does have a steep learning-curve. vBadvanced is lightweight, and far easier to customize (and it's free), you can purchase brand-free for a small fee.

In the past I've customized many portals, the most difficult I found was vbPortal. I would say go with vBadvanced CMPS and start customizing that. It's easy to change the layout, block headers, etc - if you can code in HTML and CSS.