Recieving emails on a Pocket PC / Mac OSX Query ?

[kiekelly]

Hi,

I'm thinking about purchasing a PDA pretty soon and I know that very few are actually MAc compatible, although there's third party software that allows synchronisation and compatibility PocketMacPro at http://www.pocketmac.net/

1) Does anyone have experience using this Software? Is it possible to Synchronise my MAC Entourage/mail/calender etc with something similar on a POCKET PC ?

2) How would it work with have x2 computers effectively accessing the same email account? would emails downloaded to the PocketPC then not arrive on my Mac ? and vice versa?

3)How does the Pocket PC deal with large emails? say if I was recieveing 7mb attachments whilst using my PocketPC on a wireless Network... would these not clog up the storage capibilities on a PDA ?

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Thanks

Kieran

[Menneisyys]

2) How would it work with have x2 computers effectively accessing the same email account? would emails downloaded to the PocketPC then not arrive on my Mac ? and vice versa?

You can - if you access the mail through POP3/IMAP/Exchange on your PDA, then, by default, the mails are not deleted from the server (unless you explicitly delete them). This means later your desktop Mac will also be able to access them.

3)How does the Pocket PC deal with large emails? say if I was recieveing 7mb attachments whilst using my PocketPC on a wireless Network... would these not clog up the storage capibilities on a PDA ?

You can instruct all PPC mailer clients to store attachments on storage cards.

I also recommend http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=569&more=1 for more information on the current mailer apps. Pay special attention to the Pocket PC Thoughts link.

[Guest979]

Keep in mind that neither The Missing Sync nor PocketMac currently supports WM5, so you will have to either find an older PPC or wait for an update.

I had an awful experience with PocketMac Lite - it is actually widely known that this program does literally nothing, and PocketMac refuses to do anything about it. I haven't tried PocketMac Deluxe, but I've decided to stick with TMS, even though Mark/Space's ethics aren't perfect either.

For anyone reading this, please hold off on the replies saying, "but PocketMac can use Windows EXE installers, and TMS can't!!" This is not entirely true. All PocketMac does is search for CAB files embedded in the EXE, which it may or may not find successfully. It does not have any Windows emulation capabilities. In fact, Stuffit Expander can do the same thing as PocketMac if you rename the EXEs to ".zip". Since neither method works consistently, it is probably a good idea to have Virtual PC handy if possible.

Although you can access the same e-mail account from a PPC and a Mac as described by Menneisyys, there are currently no e-mail syncing options between Mac OS X and PPC.

[kiekelly]

thanks guest 979....

I don't think I want too buy an older PDA just for limited Mac compabilty - It's a shame Mac's arent more compatible with Pocket Pc's - it'd be fantatic to pair one up with my entourage/Powerbook ... I suppose I'll just have to forget about syncing for now... or start using my PC :-(

any idea of wwhen an update might happen?

kieran

[Guest979]

thanks guest 979....

I don't think I want too buy an older PDA just for limited Mac compabilty - It's a shame Mac's arent more compatible with Pocket Pc's - it'd be fantatic to pair one up with my entourage/Powerbook ... I suppose I'll just have to forget about syncing for now... or start using my PC :-(


Nah, it's a shame PocketPCs aren't more compatible with Macs. ;)


any idea of wwhen an update might happen?

kieran

Unfortunately, not really. The Tiger release broke The Missing Sync 1 (which never quite worked right anyway), and I think it was at least six months before The Missing Sync 2 came out and fixed the problem. It was not a free upgrade either. This is why I called Mark/Space's ethics imperfect - their program stopped working due to an OS upgrade, but there was a large delay and $20 fee just to fix things. Not outrageous, but not "friendly" either.

Anyway, you can read Mark/Space's WM5 info here (http://www.markspace.com/wm5.html). Basically, Mac developers are swamped with porting to Intel right now, and WM5 isn't even a high priority yet. PocketMac's site has "Windows Mobile 5 support coming soon!" (in version 4) banners everywhere, but no specifics.

[CoreyJF]

I gave up on trying to sync my i-730 and my MAC. I have a spare XP laptop that I use for email and Verizon's wirelesssync app (to push email appointments and contacts to my phone.) I keep the cover closed and the laptop shoved into a corner. I use VNC to connect to the laptop through my mac.