09-16-2005, 05:00 PM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 749
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PIMping up your Pocket PC -- Agenda Fusion vs. Pocket Informant
Product Category: PIM/Pocket Outlook replacements (but they really are MUCH more than that!)
In the RED corner: POCKET INFORMANT 2005 R2.1
Manufacturer: WebIS, Inc.
Where to Buy: Handango (affiliate)
Price: 29.95 USD.
System Requirements: Pocket PC 2002/2003/SE
Specifications: Requires 3.05M of memory. The Category Icons will require an additional 505K and the Colour Schemes will need another 48K.
...and in the BLUE corner: AGENDA FUSION 7.1
Manufacturer: Developer One, Inc.
Where to Buy: Handango (affiliate)
Price: 29.95 USD.
System Requirements: �All Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs, including 2003SE�
Specifications: Requires 4.63M for the main module and an additional 160K for the Category Icons.
The �Ring� (Test Platform): iPAQ 2215 running Pocket Mobile 2003 (Win CE 4.20) with 512mb Sandisk CF card and 256mb Lexar 32x SD card. Both PI 2005 R2 and AF 7.1 were running concurrently and installed to the CF card.
Summary: Pocket Informant (from now on, referred to as PI) and Agenda Fusion (AF) have been the predominant PIM replacement applications on the Pocket PC platforms for a number of years now. Each has its followers and detractors, and for the most part, discussions on which one is better boil down to a personal preference. Here, for the first time I�ve seen, is a side-by-side comparison of the two products for those who may not have a chance to play with both of them.
Read on for the full review!
Introduction
I originally started this to be a review of Pocket Informant 2005 (v6.0) � a kind of �companion piece� to the recent review of Agenda Fusion 7 by Steve Sharp. But to be honest, I just didn�t know where to start. PI has grown so feature-rich I couldn�t figure out what to include in the review without taking up as much space as their manual! Even the list of enhancements for the 2005 version was daunting! So, I thought the PPCT community might be better served by a comparison piece, since I had never seen the two products side-by-side.
I�ve tried various versions of Pocket Informant and Agenda Fusion since their respective original inceptions, but never really clicked with the either product enough to want to keep them installed on my Pocket PC. Both had pluses -- in terms of the better looking interface than Pocket Outlook and a wealth of extra features -- and things that bothered me (non-intuitive parts of the interface and a lot of extra features I didn�t need!).
My intent here is not to provide a detailed description of the features of each, since that would take far too long. Instead, this review will compare the common functions expected of a PIM in AF and PI, discuss their similarities and differences, then highlight the special and unique features and functions found in each product.
Installation
Both use the standard Activesync Install routines, requiring download to, then execution of the installation from the desktop PC. PI�s routine gives you the option to install Category Icons (505K), Colour Schemes (48K) and PhatNotes Lite. PhatNotes, which is used as the editor for Journal and Alarm Notes) requires 782K of memory, in addition to the 3.5M required for PI. Be forewarned however, that adding the Category Icons and Colour Schemes will add about 375 files to your My Documents folder which will then have to be synchronized with the desktop if you have File Sync activated. PI�s installation routine also gives the option to install trial versions of WebIS Mail and Correct Time (355K total). I installed everything to my CF card and everything seemed to work fine. I did notice a number of times that upon tapping on the calendar on the Today screen after initial power up, that PI would report a missing application. Usually, this was cured with a soft reset.
AF also gives you the option of installing Category Icons, requiring approximately the same memory space as PI, but without creating the huge number of files in the My Documents folder.
Initial Set-up
AF and PI come pre-configured with default parameters. There are a considerable number of these user-configurable parameters in both programs so it would be a good idea to peruse them as well, as you begin working with each. Both AF and PI use a similar context sensitive panel approach to display and configure program parameters. The top half of the screen provides a drop-down selection of the various types of parameters (usually separated by View). Once a selection is made, the bottom half changes to display the current settings for parameters associated with that group. Tapping on a setting in the bottom half provides the options to change it.
Figure 1: Comparison screenshot of configuration screens PI and AF. Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture.
Access to these settings screens is accomplished by selecting the AF icon in the system tray at the bottom of the screen, then tapping the Options... menu item. Similarly, in PI, you select the PI icon in the system tray, which pops up the Tools menu, from which you select options. PI also has context sensitive pop-up menus from within each view as well. In many cases, the ability to change the settings for the displayed view is available directly from here. PI also has an Options menu icon (a globe) in the system tray.
Contacts
Contact functions are similar in both products. I found PI�s default listing of Contacts more difficult to use, in that it didn�t provide the tri-letter tabs found in the Pocket Outlook interface. AF provides these by default, but in PI they must be specifically activated as an option.
Figure 2: Comparison screenshot of default Contacts list display in AF and PI. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Editing the Contact info is pretty much the same in each product. PI uses tabs to separate sections of contact info (home, business, etc.) while AF puts it all on one pages and uses horizontal separators. Of the two, I�d have to say that PI�s way is more intuitive and eliminates a lot of scrolling.
Figure 3: Comparison screenshot of Contact edit display in AF and PI. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Both have the ability to add an image to the Contact info page, and will pick up the same image in the Contacts database. Unfortunately, ActiveSync 3.8 will not pick the image up and transfer it to desktop Outlook 2003, even though it also has an image field. Nor will images attached to the desktop Contacts be transferred to AF or PI. Most of the other available fields are directly transferable to desktop Outlook and vice-versa.
Calendar
The Calendar or Appointments function is also handled similarly in both products, with the usual assortment of daily, weekly, monthly, annual, and agenda displays of the Calendar. The actual displays of data are pretty similar between the two products, but movement between views is different between each one and from Pocket Outlook. Outlook uses a simple hierarchy where tapping on an element at one level takes you to the display at the next lower level (e.g. going from year to month or day, month to day, week to day, day to appointment, etc.) AF uses a drop-down menu found in the top right corner of the screen to select the desired view, based on the currently selected element. PI users can either use the icons at the bottom of the screen, or context-sensitive menus which appear when you tap and hold on an display element.
Figure 4: Comparison of daily screens in AF and PI. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Figure 5: Comparison of weekly screens in AF and PI. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Figure 6: Comparison of month view screens in AF and PI. Notice that the PI screen gives you detail on what portion of each day is booked, an option also available in AF. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Figure 7: Comparison of annual views in AF and PI. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Generally, I found navigation through AF�s Calendar views easier, since they are closer to those of Pocket Outlook. I do like the way AF goes directly to the appropriate time in the daily display, based on the current time, so you can see what�s coming up next. I tried numerous times to do simple cuts and transfers/copies of appointments in PI but got frustrated each time. It just didn�t seem to do what I wanted it to.
One view in AF that I couldn�t replicate in PI was the Hourly Week view. I find this more useful than the Agenda View when I�m trying to locate free time for a meeting I�m scheduling.
Figure 8: AF�s Hourly Week View. I think some of the appointment text would be useful here.
PI has an additional Timeline View, in which Categories assigned to appointments are used to create a filtered weekly view of appointments in the selected categories. Thus, if you are working on various events or projects, you can create and assign specific categories for each, then get a picture of your time allocation to each project.
Figure 9: PI�s Timeline View.
As for setting up actual appointments, the screens used are very similar.
Figure 10: Comparison of appointment creation screens in AF and PI. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Figure 11: Even the screens for setting the start and end times for appointments are pretty similar. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Tasks
Tasks is one of the places where AF and PI begin to diverge. At the initial display, AF separates the task listing based on the due date (none, overdue, etc.) whereas PI�s default Task View shows all tasks upcoming. This is, of course, configurable to show only active tasks. In both cases, the default is to show overdue tasks in red and bolded.
Figure 12: Comparison of task views in AF and PI. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Figure 13: Comparison of add task screens in AF and PI. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Both allow you to set multi-level priorities to each task, which assists in sorting and can be used to manage tasks on a per-project basis. The settings are the same in each and transferable between PI and AF.
PI takes this a bit further, however, and allows you to create hierarchical trees of tasks. It suggests this as a way of managing projects by essentially replicating the work breakdown structure commonly used in project management tools such as MS Project.
Figure 14: PI�s Hierarchical Task Structure.
Unfortunately, hierarchical tasks are not supported in desktop Outlook. They are all transferred as peer-level tasks.
Linking
AF and PI both provide the ability to cross-link items such as contact names to appointments; notes to tasks or appointments; tasks to appointments or even files and URLs. Here, I found AF�s interface for adding links to appointments more intuitive than PI�s. It took me a little while and some reading through the manual to find out how to add a new link.
Figure 15: Comparison of linkage screens in AF and PI. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Notes/Journals
Both AF and PI have the ability to create and manage Notes, either separately or as part of an attachment to an appointment, task, etc. Both can also create Alarm Notes which will automatically turn on the Pocket PC and display/sound off at any time in the future.
Figure 16: Comparison of alarm notes creation in AF and PI. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Figure 17: Setting the time for an alarm note in AF and PI. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
AF has a feature called Power Text which allows you to create pre-defined phrases which can be selected for various fields in appointments, tasks, notes, etc.
Figure 18: AF�s Power Text creation screen.
PI uses PhatNotes Lite from PhatWare as its primary Notes editor, which provides considerably more functionality than the �blank� page one provided through Pocket Outlook. AF provides its own Notes editing application as well. It�s similar to PhatNotes, but adds a number of templates for memos, meeting notes, etc.
Figure 19: Comparison of Notes editors in PI and AF. Click on the thumbnail for more detail.
Project-Based Views
This is where the products diverge considerably � both in their approach and the type of support given.
AF provides a separate database where you can record projects and tasks in a hierarchical tree and then record time against either the project or a specific task.
Figure 20: AF�s Project Tree display screen.
Figure 21: Recording time against a Project or Task in AF.
As with most everything else in AF, there is the ability to link the project or tasks to other entries in the Outlook databases, such as contacts, to dos, or appointments. AF projects can also have text or audio Notes attached.
As mentioned before, PI implements project support through the Timeline view for appointments, which uses assigned categories to filter and group the display of the appointments. PI also provides hierarchical task lists, which can be used to record progress on a project�s tasks list. Unfortunately, PI does not provide any way to record time against a project or task, as you can only record a task as being either �done� or �not done�. AF�s approach allows you to assign % complete to the sub-tasks or the whole project.
Documentation & Support
Both companies actively support their products � providing frequent upgrades with new features and bug fixes. WebIS clearly sees PI as their primary breadwinner, as hardly a month goes by when we don�t see a new version/upgrade release of PI being announced. Both DeveloperOne and WebIS have been very fair in their upgrade policies for existing users.
WebIS provides an extensive (over 60 page) manual for PI. Believe me, it�s needed to describe all the features! The manual�s focus is on the various features of each of the views, but I wish it was written more from a �How do I do this?� perspective.
AF has a 38-page user manual which is available in PDF format for download from the DeveloperOne web site. It basically describes the functionality of each of the views.
Both also provide an indexed online Help document, which is available from the application or from the Help selection on the Start menu. PI�s is an electronic copy of the manual mentioned above. AF�s focuses mainly on each of the views and their features, but also adds useful tips right at the start of each article.
Conclusions
Did I touch on everything available in AF and PI? No. Have I missed some favorites? Probably. Both of these are extremely feature-rich PIM replacements and I would strongly recommend spending some time playing with each and reading through the manual before making a final decision as to which one is best for you. This is especially true of PI, since some of the its features are not immediately visible or obvious from the default settings.
PI and AF both provide some project management capability at the task level, but I prefer AF�s use of a Notes-like database to record time booked against a project. This is especially useful to me as a consultant/manager. PI�s timeline view is a good way to get a quick view of the time allocated to various activities in your working and/or private life.
Both companies continue to upgrade their product, but PI is by far the most frequent in their posted updates. Since I started this review a couple of months ago, there have been at least 2 major releases of PI 2005. In some ways, I wish WebIS would adopt a more formal bug-fix/enhancement release strategy, to better package the releases, and slow down the number of releases.
While both applications are substantial in terms of Pocket PC memory requirements, I generally found PI to be the more responsive � especially when going from view to view. AF seems a bit sluggish, and needs a couple of seconds to update when loading its default Today screen.
Bottom line? It�s really up to a personal preference as to interface and features. I like some of the features and views in PI, and its more responsive feel. But I still find it difficult to use smoothly. AF isn�t quite as rich at the interface level, but it has the support for recording time against projects and tasks which is useful to me as a consultant. So for now, I�ll stick with AF, but I�ll continue to watch PI.
Don is an Associate Director of Project Management and System Development with Fujitsu Consulting. When not trying out new PIMs (�I just can�t seem to find one that�s �just right��), he works with government ministries, helping to turn strategies into reality.
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09-16-2005, 05:30 PM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,067
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Re: PIMping up your Pocket PC -- Agenda Fusion vs. Pocket Informant
Congrats, great article! I love comparative reviews/roundups like this. They're far more informative than reviews of only one app. :way to go:
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Originally Posted by Don Tolson
Installation
Both use the standard Activesync Install routines, requiring download to, then execution of the installation from the desktop PC. PI�s routine gives you the option to install Category Icons (505K), Colour Schemes (48K) and PhatNotes Lite. PhatNotes, which is used as the editor for Journal and Alarm Notes) requires 782K of memory, in addition to the 3.5M required for PI. Be forewarned however, that adding the Category Icons and Colour Schemes will add about 375 files to your My Documents folder which will then have to be synchronized with the desktop if you have File Sync activated. PI�s installation routine also gives the option to install trial versions of WebIS Mail and Correct Time (355K total). I installed everything to my CF card and everything seemed to work fine. I did notice a number of times that upon tapping on the calendar on the Today screen after initial power up, that PI would report a missing application. Usually, this was cured with a soft reset.
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This 'Today plug-in DLL's on memory cards can't be seen while booting in' can easily be cured if you relocate the PI DLL's (there is some 1600 kbytes of them, so, this can be done even with the meager size of the iPAQ File Store in the iPAQ 2210), while the rest of the files not directly used during boot time may remain on memory cards. Relocating the DLL's to the File Store and everything else to memory cards, I have never encountered bootup-time-initalization-related problems.
It should be stressed again that relocating the image files from \My Documents\WebIS is very important, also because of their sheer number (and the negative effect this has on the speed of the WM operating system).
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09-16-2005, 05:42 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 174
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What I found to be interesting is comparing the comments from Page 1 and Page 9.
Page 1 - for the most part, discussions on which one is better boil down to a personal preference.
Page 9 - Bottom line? It�s really up to a personal preference as to interface and features.
:confused totally: :?: :confused totally:
But the insights and perspective were interesting read.
Ron...
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09-16-2005, 06:23 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 263
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I've always felt a lot of respect to any one posting here and there's no exception for this review although IMHO it falls short, very short, analyzing features.
I agree with Hx4700 and don't want to start another PIM war so I won't tell here which one is my favorite (of course I have one and it might not be the same it was a year ago), but I can tell the PIM I'm using right now is barely showed in the review, lots of core features I use every day are not even mentioned.
Both are great apps and I think new users are not "low level" users, so, as always, there's no better path to make the right decision than making use of the free trial time the developers offer.
No flame at all, just my thoughts.
Regards.
__________________
MacBook Pro 2.53-250-4. iPhone 3G-8
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09-16-2005, 06:37 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 880
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I have not had a chance to read your article... since I am in a hurry today, but I will try and get to it later. But why are you comparing a current version of Pocket Informant against... an older version of Agenda Fusion... an upgrade to v7.25 has been out since May 23rd...???
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09-16-2005, 07:24 PM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 749
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ripper014
I have not had a chance to read your article... since I am in a hurry today, but I will try and get to it later. But why are you comparing a current version of Pocket Informant against... an older version of Agenda Fusion... an upgrade to v7.25 has been out since May 23rd...???
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Hi Ripper014 -- Unfortunately, this article has had an extremely long 'history' from the time I started to actually getting published on the site. To make a long story short, v7.1 was the currently available version of Agenda Fusion when I was writing up the material. I suspect both products have had upgrades since then.
My intent here was not to delve into all of the features available in both products, since I'd never do either of them justice. Rather, it was to take the 'basic' PIM features and provide a side-by-side comparison.
__________________
/drt
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09-16-2005, 08:18 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 319
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You are brave for posting a review on such a controversial match up.
I bought AF in December, 2003 after trying each of them out for a week or so. I used AF until November, 2004 when AF had a major (not free) update and it was time to try them both out again. This time I switched over to PI. The competitive upgrade made it cost about the same to get the latest version of either product.
I feel both of these apps have so many features and nuances that it is necessary to make good use of the trial versions and evaluate the apps personally. Maybe next year I will be switching back to AF, maybe not.
One thing is sure, most Pocket PC users will want one or the other.
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09-16-2005, 08:22 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ripper014
But why are you comparing a current version of Pocket Informant against... an older version of Agenda Fusion...
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I have to take some of the blame here - Don's article has been ready to go for more than a month now but I didn't publish it until today.  ops:
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09-17-2005, 12:02 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 58
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Excellent article! It's hard to find good, head-to-head feature comparisons out there and this was well written.
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09-17-2005, 05:13 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 76
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And just to keep it fun, WebIS has just issued a maintenance release a few hours ago. Here's one link:
http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=1011
I don't see any obvious changes; the update description is that it's a bug fix.
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