I must be stupid...

[French]

I can't figure out how to get my contats to sync!! It's driving me nuts.

I am trying to covert from a Palm to Pocket PC and I am very close to giving up.

Can someone help me figure out why my contacts won't sync? When I go to the menu Contacts is greyed out.

[KTamas]

I can't figure out how to get my contats to sync!! It's driving me nuts.

I am trying to covert from a Palm to Pocket PC and I am very close to giving up.

Can someone help me figure out why my contacts won't sync? When I go to the menu Contacts is greyed out.
Are you sure you have Outlook installed? If yes, try reinstalling it.

[egardner]

Do you have Outlook installed on the desktop ?
8O

[French]

I definetly have Outlook installed, and everything else synced just fine. Tasks and calendar are there. I have Outlook 2003. I'm very hesitant to do a reinstall...I'm worried about losing my information.

By the way, thank you for the quick replies.

[Darius Wey]

I definetly have Outlook installed, and everything else synced just fine. Tasks and calendar are there. I have Outlook 2003. I'm very hesitant to do a reinstall...I'm worried about losing my information.

If you're reinstalling, you shouldn't lose your data. Having said that, it would be wise to make a backup before you do. Open Outlook on your PC, go to File > Import and Export > Export to a file > Personal File Folder (.pst), then select Personal Folders with the "Include subfolders" box ticked, and follow it on from there.

Before you do all that though, have you tried deleting your Windows Mobile partnership and starting over? To do this, remove your device from the cradle, then open ActiveSync on the PC and select File > Delete Mobile Device. Connect your device again and follow the instructions in the partnership wizard. Hopefully, you'll be able to select Contacts again.

[French]

I did try reestablishing the relationship, and selected Contacts. It showed up in AS, but it still didn't syncronize. I guess my next step will be to reinstall Outlook after doing the backup. But Contacts sync just fine with my Palm.

And speaking of which...I don't mean to be overly negative...I decided to give Pocket PCs a try because I think they will have the market for support in the coming years. But coming into it as a new PDA user and having been exposed to the Palm TX as my first PDA...there are some things I'm sorely disappointed with.

No wifi sync capability?
VGA doesn't work "out of the box" (Dell Axim X51V)? I just paid $500 for a PDA with VGA capability but it doesn't actually work unless I install a hack??? I'm floored about that.

I'm running into other things as I go, but these two are darn near deal breakers for me. I'm still trying to plug along and give this device a fair chance...but so far I'm not impressed. I'm in my infancy with it so maybe this is an unfair judgment at this stage of the game. I don't mind that it's more complex than Palm...but I do mind that it can't do things that you would think a higher end PDA should do.

And I'm irritated that I have to perform a reinstall of Outlook to get contacts to sync, yet they sync with no issues with my Palm.

Thanks for letting me vent. This really wasn't the place for it...but I didn't want to be SUPER negative and start a whole thread on it (yet).

[lesterm]

yeah, I was disappointed that WM2003se didn't do 'real' vga too initially, but I very rarely find myself using se_vga any more. Coming from hi-res palms a year ago I found qvga ppc's a bit of a nasty shock (no offense!),so a vga ppc is a real improvement.

I wish more developers would use vga more fully though.

Have you tried syncing a different ppc to your pc, or your ppc to a different pc to see what end the problem is - ppc or pc.

Good luck & don't give up!

[Darius Wey]

No wifi sync capability?

Wi-Fi sync works for versions of ActiveSync before v4.x. If you still have Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, then install and use ActiveSync 3.8 instead. If you're running Windows Mobile 5.0, then unfortunately, you will have to stick with ActiveSync 4.x.

VGA doesn't work "out of the box" (Dell Axim X50V)? I just paid $500 for a PDA with VGA capability but it doesn't actually work unless I install a hack??? I'm floored about that.

You aren't the first to complain about it. However, I think after you try the VGA hack, you'll lose interest in true-VGA. The fonts are just too darn small, and you'll quickly revert back to the default "high-DPI" setting for VGA as it exists now. It's still a vast improvement over QVGA. :)

Anyway, every OS has its faults. But I think despite Windows Mobile's shortcomings, it's still a far more powerful platform than Palm OS. Give it time. You'll learn to love it. :)

[French]

Thanks. I misposted my device...I have the Axim X51V...so I'm definitely stuck with Windows Mobile 5.0.

Any idea if the wifi sync is something they might "fix" in the future? Honestly...that alone is a big deal to me. I want to be able to sync in the morning to get weather downloads, etc.

[Darius Wey]

Any idea if the wifi sync is something they might "fix" in the future? Honestly...that alone is a big deal to me.

No idea. Microsoft hasn't said anything publicly.

I want to be able to sync in the morning to get weather downloads, etc.

Oh? What weather program are you using? Most have the ability to pull updated weather data without ActiveSync (i.e. over a direct wireless connection with a router or carrier).

[French]

Oh? What weather program are you using? Most have the ability to pull updated weather data without ActiveSync (i.e. over a direct wireless connection with a router or carrier).

Aha...so maybe THIS is something the Axim can do that my TX can't do...my TX has to sync with my computer to download anything web related (at least that's as far as I have it figured out). So are you saying I can do Internet syncing without my laptop turned on? It can connect directly to the router. THIS would make me a much happier person.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Actually, unless I'm specifically syncing with Outlook, that's my normal mode of updating my weather, and RSS. I'm a bit puzzled though, as Palm programs like that ought to be able to do the same thing. I mean, what's the point of having wifi then?

[Darius Wey]

So are you saying I can do Internet syncing without my laptop turned on?

Well, not your PIM data (unless you synchronise with an Exchange server), but yes, most programs (RSS, weather, news, etc.) can pull updated data over a direct wireless connection. So, as long as your router's on, you can leave your laptop off.

It can connect directly to the router. THIS would make me a much happier person.

Right. Your Axim can essentially function like another computer on the network.