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View Full Version : A Tale of Two PIMs


Tycho Morgan
03-05-2002, 02:06 AM
<a href="http://www.writingonyourpalm.net/column020304.htm">http://www.writingonyourpalm.net/column020304.htm</a><br /><br />Jeff Kirvin, has posted a comparison article for the two new Pocket PC Power PIMS, <a href=http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&platformId=2&productType=2&catalog=0&amp;amp;sectionId=0&productId=10226" target="_blank">Pocket Infomant 3</a> (yes we know that it has been released), and <a href=http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&platformId=2&productType=2&catalog=0&amp;amp;sectionId=0&productId=22539" target="_blank">Developer One's Agenda Fusion</a>. I believe Jeff Kirvin (I believe) misses the great Agenda screen and super powerful PIM software for Palm OS; not the stock applications, but the Datebk3/4 and ActionNames applications that some believe to rival the power of Outlook 2002 for the desktop. After more than a year, even I'll admit to missing this surprisingly useful feature. <br /><br />"It's a familiar story. A PDA comes to market with a PIM that falls just short of organizational perfection. Third party developers pick up the ball and run with it, and the market seems to settle on two roughly equal front runners. One of these super-PIMs is chock full o' features, can file your taxes, land the space shuttle, etc., but it also tends to be cluttered, overly complex. The other super-PIM is smooth, polished and looks incredible. It can't do everything the other PIM does, but it's still much better than the default, and much easier to use than the competition"<br /><br />"Agenda Fusion, like Action Names Datebook on PalmOS, seems to be slicker, more polished, better looking. Features like ClearType on every screen and the ability to use Today themes on Pocket PC 2002 devices seem aimed at making Agenda Fusion as pleasant as possible to use. Pocket Informant:3, like DateBk4 on PalmOS, is more utilitarian, more feature-packed, and more customizable. It lets you do what you want, how you want, as long as you're willing to put the thought into how to do that."

dshirley
03-05-2002, 02:33 AM
One of my biggest disappointments with the PocketPC was Pocket Outlook(I used Palms and Psions before but due to working for one of the PocketPC manufacturers had to transition). The PIM functions are a vital part of a PDA for me since my organisational style is built around having a one. I really missed Datebk4 and noticed how much more cumbersome planning my time had become!

This article was exactly what I needed! I was just at the point of choosing a PIM app (naturally PocketInformant and Agenda Fusion were the two candidates) and this article did the one thing I had been searching the web for - a point-by-point comparison of some of the key differences.

Here I come PocketInformant!

alex_kac
03-05-2002, 04:34 AM
One interesting item is ClearType. At one point we were using ClearType in all our views (its actually just a minor if ... then in the creation of all our windows), but we got comments from most users who wanted it off. So we turned it off by default in Pocket Informant: 3. We were planning on adding it as an option for users in 3.01 - I guess we'll have to now :)

Doug Raeburn
03-05-2002, 06:09 AM
ClearType support was added to Agenda Fusion shortly after it was introduced due to many requests for it. It can be turned off for those who prefer it that way. :wink:

st63z
03-05-2002, 12:29 PM
Jeff quote:
"I've even heard tell that C.E. Steuart Dewar, the developer of DateBk4, was working on a Pocket PC PIM but shelved it. He allegedly cited that Pocket Informant:3 was everything his PIM would have been, so why write a redundant application?"

Heh, I remember reading many user laments that this PalmOS app is still much better than both PI and AF on the Pocket PC. :)

Anyways, the provided Handango/Amazon links for PI don't seem to work and I'm too tired to hunt for it right now (damn this insomnia!). I'll probably just wait 'till Alex emails users with the upgrade info.

Also, does anyone know if there are any problems/conflicts with installing both PI and AF at the same time? May trial AF just to see what the hoopla's about, but generally I don't have the $$$ to buy duplicate software these days...

James Bond
03-05-2002, 03:39 PM
No, there should be no problem. You can install both, as I have done in the past. The only thing is to decide which one (if any) will have control over your hardware buttons. I myself use AF.

ironguy
03-05-2002, 04:43 PM
I feel the article skipped some things that need to be addressed...

1) Clear Type works in Agend Fusion. Great. Does anyone know if the RegKing hack to enable Clear Type in all applications works for PI?

2) Nothing mentioned about speed. There's a thread over at Brighthand that shows some of the speed differences between the two apps. AF seems to be the clear winner.

3) Does AF do phone dialing from the contacts list? I know that PI does. I currently sit my ppc next to my speaker phone, tap a contact (with dial enabled) and it dials the number.

4) Neither of them interface with the Today page.

I started using PI a year ago and will probably stay with it as I don't want to fork out the $$$. Maybe AF would let people switch for the price of the PI upgrade...hmmm...good marketing strategy!

Doug Raeburn
03-05-2002, 06:18 PM
I feel the article skipped some things that need to be addressed...

1) Clear Type works in Agend Fusion. Great. Does anyone know if the RegKing hack to enable Clear Type in all applications works for PI?

2) Nothing mentioned about speed. There's a thread over at Brighthand that shows some of the speed differences between the two apps. AF seems to be the clear winner.

3) Does AF do phone dialing from the contacts list? I know that PI does. I currently sit my ppc next to my speaker phone, tap a contact (with dial enabled) and it dials the number.

4) Neither of them interface with the Today page.

I started using PI a year ago and will probably stay with it as I don't want to fork out the $$$. Maybe AF would let people switch for the price of the PI upgrade...hmmm...good marketing strategy!


3) Yes, AF does phone dialing from the Contacts list.

Jeff Kirvin
03-05-2002, 07:31 PM
Also, does anyone know if there are any problems/conflicts with installing both PI and AF at the same time? May trial AF just to see what the hoopla's about, but generally I don't have the $$$ to buy duplicate software these days...

I had both installed concurrently when I was doing the review with no problems.

Jeff Kirvin
03-05-2002, 07:47 PM
1) Clear Type works in Agend Fusion. Great. Does anyone know if the RegKing hack to enable Clear Type in all applications works for PI?

No, they seem to use their own display code, so enabling ClearType system wide doesn't seem to affect it.

4) Neither of them interface with the Today page.

I believe PI is working on this for the future. Don't know about AF.

James Bond
03-05-2002, 08:40 PM
I believe PI is working on this for the future. Don't know about AF.

AF is working on a today plug-in module as far as I know.

alex_kac
03-06-2002, 07:58 AM
We just updated Pocket Informant on our site.

Visit our home page to see what's changed - but mainly we added ClearType as an option. So now you can get ClearType within Pocket Informant 3 as well.

MikeB
03-06-2002, 08:06 AM
There's a thread over at Brighthand that shows some of the speed differences between the two apps. AF seems to be the clear winner.


Do you have a link for that? I found this:

http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=ae63c584a0eb87a8ffe8b8ba471d9ebc&threadid=47236

but it didn't seem to indicate AF as a "clear winner", so it must be another thread. Just for fun I loaded the same Outlook data on two machines side by side, one running AF and one running PI. I then loaded up the same category icons and had them both draw the month view. There wasn't really much difference in the speed between the two in this view when switching months. I really didn't test it any further but I'd be curious to see if anyone else has. I would say that compared to the last version of PI it sure seems like the performance is much improved.

Mike B.

st63z
03-06-2002, 11:02 AM
Quickie question: Can we install PI v3.0 on top of an existing v2.x installation, or should we uninstall the old version first?

ironguy
03-07-2002, 01:08 AM
Here's the thread. See the chart by Raeburn.

http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9874

Doug Raeburn
03-07-2002, 12:24 PM
I decided to delete the link to the AF performance figures. While they are accurate, I've come to the realization that this was not an appropriate place for the post. I apologize for any misunderstanding.

MikeB
03-07-2002, 01:33 PM
Doesn't Talon95 work for Developer One? And all those numbers are for the contacts view only, which is probably what I care the least about. When I use the contacts view I'm usually just digging up an address or phone number, in which case the built in contacts app is fine for me. Let's see some calendar numbers, like speed of month view and week view and agenda view, preferrably from someone not "on the inside" of either of these two companies......

Mike B.