My MLS Website Stinks! What am I missing here?

[Matt Vaughn]

So I'm in the Washington D.C. area and have MLS access through my real estate agent's site, listingbook.com and frankly, I think it's lousy. I'm very aware that common consensus is that the MLS beats other websites, but I still much prefer doing my work on sites like Redfin or Trulia. Am I crazy here for not using my MLS site?

I understand that the MLS is going to have more accurate information (an obvious plus :) ), but this particular site doesn't have a lot of the features that I appreciate elsewhere (school ratings, easier map navigation, ability to set up multiple saved searches/alerts).

So here are my questions:

1. Am I crazy?

2. Are there different MLS tools out there that vary in quality?

3. What determines which tool you can use? If there is a great MLS tool out there, how can I get access to it?