A better programmer for PIC microcontroller?
I have an ICD3, and the real ice with lvds pack.  I think you would find that the icd3 on MPLAB8 is much more solid.  I find it similar to you with the icd3 on mplabx 2.0.  The only reason I put up with it is that the ide is much nicer for coding.  For debugging, mplab8 is 200% superior in all aspects.  I do think perhaps, that the real ice is more solid with mplabx than the icd3, but that could vary depending on the mcu chosen.  That said, the real ice seems to have a few of these annoyers too, though they appear to be much fewer with my target mcu of the pic32mx460f512l and the lvds pak.

I cannot understand this problem.  Its like they hire the best for their silicon side, and fall short on their debugging/ide system.  Its ok when it works, but these little bugs are annoying enough to look around at other offerings.  However, my legacy projects and their unparalleled silicon/library offerings keep me from it.