PDAJunkie.net Reviews ListPro

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pdajunkie.net/index.html?listpro.htm&2' target='_blank'>http://www.pdajunkie.net/index.html?listpro.htm&2</a><br /><br /></div>It's an oldie, but a goodie - ListPro by Ilium Software is a classic Windows CE app, back from the good ol' Palm-size PC days. If you're looking for a good list management tool with some great flexibility, check out the review for more details.

[JimDantin]

ListPro has been a must-have application for me for years. The lack of a built-in database has caused the PocketPC software market to spawn many database programs. ListPro is not really a database -- and its "list" concept does take some getting used to. But, for keeping track of large amounts of data, it really does the job well.

The ease of data import/export, and the desktop version, are what makes this a keeper. I have dozens of lists on my PocketPC with everything from astronomy data to a database of my favorite single-malt scotches. The source for all this data was quite varied -- Access tables, web pages, text files, you name it. With a little bit of thought, you can massage your existing data through Access, Excel, and/or Word and create a tab or comma delimited text file. Not as clean as a direct Access import, but it works.

Other database programs are far better at creating business-level applications that sync automatically with an Access or SQL database. ListPro is targeted at reference lists, todo lists, instructions, or anything that can be organized into a multi-level outline style. Check it out.

[Jason Dunn]

Wonderful product summary Jim! :D

[ctmagnus]

My one complaint:

.01 upgrades are not free.

Otherwise, I've been using it since I got my 3670 in May 2001 and it's one of the very first things I install when I have to recreate my iPaq.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

ListPro has been a must-have application for me for years. The lack of a built-in database has caused the PocketPC software market to spawn many database programs. ListPro is not really a database -- and its "list" concept does take some getting used to. But, for keeping track of large amounts of data, it really does the job well.

&lt;...>

Other database programs are far better at creating business-level applications that sync automatically with an Access or SQL database. ListPro is targeted at reference lists, todo lists, instructions, or anything that can be organized into a multi-level outline style. Check it out.

You're right that ListPro is not really a database, but it certainly provides better "database-like" flexibility than the actual DBMS programs available. Some of those DBMS programs only allow you to create one table per file while others allow multiple tables but only support limited linking capabilities. Most all packages limit your ability to modify fields when you have data already installed.

ListPro allows almost unlimited flexibility to expand, contract, or change fields on-the-fly, which means you don't have to sit down and spend inordinate amounts of time thinking how you want your list to look (I actually think of lists as "virtual db tables"). You just start clean and let each list evolve around your needs.

I use it for nearly everything imaginable. I use it to track all the PPC software I've purchased (access codes, vendor websites, version, version date, date purchased, price, retailer, order number, etc.). I use another list to track all of my custom DivX videos (complete with resolution, audio/video bitrate, compression settings, volume / brightness / contrast adjustments, etc.). Yet another list is used as a personal issue log, which is a more detailed task list for those incidents requiring a full history of actions taken to resolve an issue.

The potential uses just go on and on... anyone who thinks this is just for maintaining lists is sadly just missing out.

The best statement I could make is that if I could only travel around with one application on my PPC, this would probably be it!