How does this compare to tools like PowerCmd and Windows Powershell? I've used Powershell before and enjoyed it, but also found that it took longer to start up than regular Command Console by a few seconds.

I recommend getting WinPatrol, which is free and installing it on your computer. There's also a portable version available. It can show all the start-up programs on your computer. You can then choose to disable the unnecessary ones and delay the less important ones.

I've used the delay feature to push all the less important services and programs to start up well after 2 minutes. I also leave a gap of 20 seconds between each of the delayed program starting, so they don't all hog the CPU at once. This has reduced the boot time of my computer to under 1 minute (time from boot to get to desktop). After 1 minute, my computer is responsive and I can already start launching programs.