Questions about PIM synching

[sub_tex]

Unless the Zaurus C700 comes to the US very soon with 64 megs of ram or more, i'm most definitely buying a new PPC.

Some questions:

1. Will a PPC synch with anything OTHER than Outlook? I never have used nor do i ever plan on using Outlook. The same goes for Lotus. Yuck.

As cheesy as the Palm Desktop is, it gets the job done and doesn't have 4 million security issues.

So would i NEED to use Outlook?

2. Synching files. I never use the "My Documents" folder either. Can i synch other folders? Does the CF card on a PPC mount as a drive like the Mem Stick does on my clie?

3. Is the Axim the only PPC that's a good price with a CF slot? CF slot is major. But the Axim looks a bit cludgy.

[Janak Parekh]

So would i NEED to use Outlook?
Because it's a flexible PIM that works pretty well? If you don't use Outlook for email, you're not vulnerable to 99.99% of the security issues associated with the program. If you really don't want to, IntelliSync, et. al. can sync to other programs (which do you want to use?)... or there's one that even syncs to OE.

2. Synching files. I never use the "My Documents" folder either. Can i synch other folders? Does the CF card on a PPC mount as a drive like the Mem Stick does on my clie?
The CF card will appear as a folder inside Mobile Device in My Computer, but the data on it will not autosync to a folder on your PC.

3. Is the Axim the only PPC that's a good price with a CF slot? CF slot is major. But the Axim looks a bit cludgy.
What do you define as a good price? And the Axim is not kludgy. It's about the size of a Handspring Visor, for reference.

--janak

[sub_tex]

Because it's a flexible PIM that works pretty well? If you don't use Outlook for email, you're not vulnerable to 99.99% of the security issues associated with the program. If you really don't want to, IntelliSync, et. al. can sync to other programs (which do you want to use?)... or there's one that even syncs to OE.

I don't use it for several reasons. But the major ones are 1) I almost NEVER use my PIM data when at my desk. It's on my computer mostly as backup and the occasional tweak. Most editing is done on the PDA. 2) I don't like the interface at all. It's just plain ugly to me. 3) It's a huge app to install that i don't need.

In a perfect world, my PIM stuff would sync as native XML files that i could whip up an easy web page to view it in, Ah, dreams.....

I just can't see the reasoning behind needing to install a big app just to view addresses and a calendar.


The CF card will appear as a folder inside Mobile Device in My Computer, but the data on it will not autosync to a folder on your PC.

That's fine. As long as i have access to it.

What do you define as a good price? And the Axim is not kludgy. It's about the size of a Handspring Visor, for reference.

Yeah, I've held one in my hands. It's not bulky or anything, but it just don't like the way it feels in my hand. I'm quite used to the feel of my clie, and the Axim felt fatter and didn't sit as easily in my hand. The fatter thing i don't mind as much as how it felt in my hand.

Price? I dunno........ I guess the cheaper the better. I'm sure that $500 is more than i would pay.

[sub_tex]

Intellisync works with Palm Desktop 4, so that should work out great.

So, basically the "My documents" folder is the only folder you can synch with?

[Pony99CA]

Intellisync works with Palm Desktop 4, so that should work out great.

So, basically the "My documents" folder is the only folder you can synch with?
Check out MightySync (http://www.mydocsunlimited.com/html/mightysync.html).

Steve

[Janak Parekh]

In a perfect world, my PIM stuff would sync as native XML files that i could whip up an easy web page to view it in, Ah, dreams.....

I just can't see the reasoning behind needing to install a big app just to view addresses and a calendar.
While as a programmer I'd love to see XML sync formats (perhaps SyncML, ideally), the "big app" argument doesn't wash, IMHO, unless you have a 2GB hard drive. It's not like Outlook runs in the background, eating up resources. It eats up ~ 100MB on the disk and does what it needs to do. Honestly, you're welcome to use any program you want (including IntelliSync - note that I've never tried syncing a Pocket PC to a Palm desktop - the irony is just too great) - but program size is a specious argument nowadays. Do you run Windows 2k/XP? Both of those take far more resources and space than Outlook.

Price? I dunno........ I guess the cheaper the better. I'm sure that $500 is more than i would pay.
Well, there's the e740, which you can get for < $500... and the e740NW (No Wireless) is even cheaper. And it takes CF plus SD.

--janak

[sub_tex]

Check out MightySync (http://www.mydocsunlimited.com/html/mightysync.html).

Steve

Perfect!

And cheap too. :D

[sub_tex]

What about email?

Is there a conduit for Eudora? I use the Eudora suite on my palm. Can that be synched to PPC easily too? I'm assuming so....

[Pony99CA]

What about email?

Is there a conduit for Eudora? I use the Eudora suite on my palm. Can that be synched to PPC easily too? I'm assuming so....
I have Eudora 4.2, but there's no way to sync Eudora E-mail that I know of.

What I do is set up a POP3 account in Inbox and check my E-mail there. I delete spam and resync so that gets removed from the server. E-mail that I want to keep on my Pocket PC gets moved into a Saved folder. After that, I check my E-mail using Eudora, which removes everything I didn't save from my Inbox.

It's not true synchronization, though, because any E-mail I get using Eudora gets deleted from the server, so it won't show up in the Pocket PC unless I got it there first.

Steve

[Cracknell]

1. if the function of desktop PIM is just for PDA backup/data storage, what does it matter if it is Outlook or a magic gerbil who is doing the storing, as long as the data is available.

2. if you don't want to use the built in email client, there are tons of SMTP/POP client, some are freebies. (eg. nPOP) Hell you can even download Vi or emac for CE to do your emailing.

3. The world isn't fair, pick one.