http://www.pfgbest.com these guys have a great real time futures simulator. dont know of any good ones for stocks other than real tick will give you a week free trial on their simulator if you ask them. ib has a simulator but it is delayed.
These guys have a free level ii simulator for trading stocks. http://www.realfasttrader.com/ The quotes are real time and I think it's good for a week. The only other firm I know of that has a simulator is Cybertrader, but you said you didn't want theirs. If you're a newbie to active trading, it's definitely a good idea to use a simulator and get used to level ii executions and routes. Good Luck