Make Note of It: Commontime's Cadenza mNotes 3.02 Reviewed [Archive]

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Doug Raeburn

05-21-2003, 04:00 PM

Synchronization of data with your desktop PIM is one of the most important capabilities provided by a Pocket PC. Microsoft's desktop PIM, Outlook, is well integrated into the Pocket PC right out of the box. But, if your organization uses the other leading enterprise PIM, Lotus Notes, where does that leave you? With Cadenza mNotes 3.02 from Commontime, you can take Lotus Notes with you everywhere you go. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/raeburn-apr03-mnotes-0.jpg" /> <!>Synchronization of data with your desktop PIM is one of the most important capabilities provided by a Pocket PC. Microsoft's desktop PIM, Outlook, is well integrated into the Pocket PC right out of the box. But if your organization uses the "other" leading enterprise PIM, Lotus Notes, where does that leave you? With Cadenza mNotes 3.02 from Commontime, you can take Lotus Notes with you everywhere you go. Synchronization Challenges Contrary to what many people believe, there are some categories of basic office software in which Microsoft still has strong competition. The most prominent of these categories is the Personal Information Manager, or PIM. In many large corporations, IBM has a major presence with their PIM product, Lotus Notes. Notes has become very popular over the past few years, mostly by virtue of its groupware and application development capabilities. However, in corporations that use Notes, the most visible component is its PIM desktop client, which has much of the same functionality as Outlook. So, if Lotus Notes is your PIM and you have a Pocket PC, what are your choices for synchronization? Several companies market general purpose synchronization software that handles a number of PIM and/or email products not supported by ActiveSync, such as Outlook Express, ACT!, Lotus Organizer and Novell GroupWise, as well as Lotus Notes. These products include IntelliSync by Pumatech and XTNDConnect PC from Extended Systems. IBM (the parent company of Lotus) markets its own solution, EasySync Pro, which is a privately branded version of XTNDConnect PC. A Dedicated Solution In contrast to these general purpose programs, Cadenza mNotes v3.02 is dedicated to Lotus Notes. It has been developed using the same APIs (application programming interfaces) used for Lotus Notes to optimize its ability to leverage a wide variety of the special capabilities of Notes. So what does that mean in a practical sense? Here's a list of capabilities of mNotes that the general purpose products lack: <ul><li> Create/accept/decline/counter/delegate invitations<li> Correctly update or delete an appointment created through an invitation <li> Reserve rooms and resources<li> Check free time for others<li> Synchronize with multiple Notes address books, calendars and mail files<li> Correctly handle recurring appointments in Notes<li> Remotely forward email<li> Full email folder support</ul>And all of these capabilities on the Pocket PC side are available through the familiar Pocket Outlook applications, Calendar, Tasks and Inbox. Those applications are given additional functionality by mNotes to handle these capabilities. If your organization uses Notes to its full extent, the capabilities listed above enhance the interaction between Notes and your Pocket PC to a tremendous degree. In my mind, mNotes is the solution of choice if you need to access Lotus Notes with your Pocket PC. What's New? mNotes version 3.0 is a major new release with many enhancements. The UI on the Pocket PC side has been completely redesigned for greater ease of use. Replication is now managed through ActiveSync rather than being a separate process. And best of all, replication speed has increased dramatically. Installation Installation is a two phase process. First, the desktop-based server is installed, followed by the software on the Pocket PC. Both of these installations are simple and straightforward. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/raeburn-apr03-mnotes-1.gif" /> Figure 1: The Cadenza Services dialog on the PC The server portion is controlled though the dialog box above. mNotes reads the configuration information in your Lotus Notes desktop client and sets itself up to synchronize with it. Replication <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/raeburn-apr03-mnotes-2.gif" /> Figure 2: We are rockin' and rollin'... and replicatin' Aside from the server dialog above, nearly everything else is controlled from the Pocket PC. The Replication screen shows the items that you’ve chosen to replicate, as well as the date and time they were last replicated. Progress is also shown while replication is being performed. mNotes can be set to replicate on connection, and then it will replicate at a specified time interval or on demand. A variety of functions are available from the Tools menu, including contacts import/export and categorizing. Categories can be applied to contacts, tasks and calendar entries, and mNotes uses the standard Pocket PC categories. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/raeburn-apr03-mnotes-3.gif" /> Figure 3: Setting the date range for Calendar replication Additional options are available for certain types of replicated items. For calendar items, you can set the date range of items to be replicated. This will establish the ongoing range, and the number of days that the date range represents will continue to be replicated going forward. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/raeburn-apr03-mnotes-4.gif" /> Figure 4: Mail Folders dialog Attachments can be automatically downloaded, and you can set a size limit so that very large attachments won’t be downloaded. Again, you can select attachments to be downloaded during the next replication. mNotes automatically uses the conversion settings in ActiveSync to process attachments. In other words, if you set Word documents to be converted to Pocket Word, mNotes will convert Word attachments to Pocket Word when it downloads them. More receive options include a setting to download only read messages, only unread messages or both, and to restrict the number of days for which messages will be retrieved. Calendar Appointments and events can be entered on either the Pocket PC or through the Lotus Notes client on the desktop, and the replication process will keep them in synch in both environments. Special calendars for project teams or other groups can be created through Notes, and mNotes provides the capability of supporting up to three of these additional calendars. Since Pocket Outlook has only a single calendar database, mNotes uses categories to keep the entries for a specific calendar distinct from entries for other calendars. Invitations <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/raeburn-apr03-mnotes-5.gif" /> Figure 5: Responding to an invitation Just as with the desktop Notes client, invitations are received in mNotes via email. When you open an invitation in Inbox, mNotes displays an icon in the bottom toolbar that you can use to select your response. If you accept, mNotes will respond to the chair indicating that you’ve accepted, and a meeting will be set up in your calendar. You can add comments to your response if you’d like. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/raeburn-apr03-mnotes-6.gif" /> Figure 6: Proposing an alternative for an invitation You can also propose an alternative, if the time on the invitation isn’t good for you. The dialog for this allows you to select a date, a time and a room. Finally, you can delegate the meeting to another person by entering his or her name in the Delegate To: field. mNotes will automatically forward the invitation to the person you specify. To-Do entries have similar options to Invitations when they’re assigned to someone. Contacts Lotus Notes supports a huge variety of Address Books and mNotes can support them as well. The Pocket PC has only a single Contacts database, so mNotes uses categories to distinguish between different lists if you use them. No additional commands are necessary for Contacts, so the standard Contacts interface isn’t changed. Mail <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/raeburn-apr03-mnotes-7.gif" /> Figure 7: Remote Forward command in Inbox Notes supports the standard set of email commands, such as reply and forward, commands which are already covered in Inbox on the Pocket PC. The only additional command provided by mNotes is the Remote Forward command. This provides forwarding of large messages and attachments that you have downloaded to the Pocket PC without having to transmit the message back to Lotus Notes. With large attachments this can be a significant timesaver. Support Commontime’s home office is located in the UK, so US customers may wonder about the responsiveness of support given time zone differences. In my experience, support from Commontime has been nothing less than outstanding. In many cases, if I submit a support request through email first thing in the morning (US CST), I’ll get a response that same day. I’ve never gone longer than one business day without a response. And the responses come from support people who know the product very well, so most inquiries are resolved with a single response. Gotchas <ul><li> Although replication is initiated by ActiveSync, it often continues after ActiveSync synchronization is complete. Make sure that replication is complete before disconnecting.<li> Delegate option for invitations needs a Contacts lookup function.<li> As with most products of this type, it’s a bit pricey.</ul>Where To Buy mNotes can be downloaded from the <a href="http://www.commontime.com/ProductsCadenza.htm">Commontime site</a>. A single license sells for $75, and volume pricing is available. Specifications mNotes server software requires Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000 or XP. Lotus Notes 4.5 or greater is also required. On the portable device side, mNotes supports Pocket PC, Pocket PC 2002, Palm-size PC, HPC and HPC Pro. Storage space is approximately 600KB. A version is also available for Palm devices. Conclusion I’ve tried several of the available solutions for synching Lotus Notes to the Pocket PC, and mNotes is the one that I recommend most highly by far. It supports the most comprehensive set of Lotus Notes features of any product offered for the Pocket PC. Performance is fast and rock solid. And Commontime’s support is second to none. Finally, the "wow" factor with your co-workers is great fun... they find it fascinating that I can look up anyone's phone number or create a meeting right on the spot. There’s really no reason to consider anything else.

andrewjhscott

05-21-2003, 05:08 PM

You're right about this software - it really is the best Notes sync software around. I can use my network PC card in my HPC to access my Notes mail anywhere on the company LAN - without any server installations, just leaving my laptop/desktop on and connected to the network. Great for avoiding network administrators :lol:

One thing I've found is that when I write emails on my HPC it's best to use internet mail addresses rather than the Notes style addresses as I don't have those saved in my HPC Contacts. If I just send to a name then mNotes tries to assign a Notes style address and can't match it to my Contacts - make sense?

The support is superb and once you've paid the upfront cost the annual support costs are quite low. Far more options and power than the other sync offerings.

Of course offering a Palm version rounds things off...I guess there are still people using Palms....

Cheers

doogald

05-21-2003, 05:29 PM

This is VERY timely... we are currently getting ready to migrate to Notes. I tried EasySync Pro and was very underwhelmed. This looks much better - I just downloaded an eval and I am replicating to our test system as we speak.

Well, there are a few issues - it appears that I cannot both replicate with mNotes and synchronize with my personal Outlook data, unless I am missing something. That's a bit of a pain but otherwise looks good so far.

acollet

05-21-2003, 05:32 PM

For syncing notes there is nothing better. NOTHING.

JvanEkris

05-21-2003, 06:56 PM

Well, there are a few issues - it appears that I cannot both replicate with mNotes and synchronize with my personal Outlook data, unless I am missing something. That's a bit of a pain but otherwise looks good so far.Reason for me to switch to the microsoft to Notes connector......

Jaap

Chris Spera

05-21-2003, 07:32 PM

K... Where is that thread about MS asking what kind of features the new ActiveStink...uh ActiveSuck...uhhh, ActiveSINK, no that's not quite right either...ActiveSYNC (that's it!) should have?!?

This review needs to be forwarded to them IMMEDIATELY!!

I've been looking for Accept/ Decline/ Tenative/ Delegate/ etc. features out of my Pocket PC since 1999 (it may have been my HPC Pro or my PsPC...same difference).

The Product Manager/ Engineering Manager/ HMFIC of ActiveSync over at MS should read this and build ALL OF THIS into the next version of AS. It doesn't all have to be done on the PC side, as mNotes shows us.

These features are MUST HAVE'S for me. Its impossible to invite others to meetings when you can't create an Invitation on your Pocket PC. The ability to do this seems core to me, especially if you have Wi-Fi at the office and sync when NOT connected to the host PC. Ever since I discovered that, I've been foot lose and fancy free.

I've used Notes before, and while its great for collaboration, i thought it stunk for e-mail. Outlook was much better. I also liked Outlook more for its Calendar, too. Phone Books are phone books... Notes was just as effective in managing contacts as Outlook was, so they were about even.

If the next version of ActiveSync doesn't include client side features like this, I truly believe that I may have to try to convince the office that they want to dump Exchange in favor of Domino and that moving mail to Notes is just the next logical step...

Hey, can you blame me..?? Don't you want your PPC to do this, too?

Kind Regards,

Christopher Spera

sweetpete

05-21-2003, 08:13 PM

Chris Spera, have a look at Symmetry Pro from Infowave if you are looking for something similar on the Exchange mail side. It has the ability to manage and create metting requests while wireless (though I believe they still lack delegate support).
Infowave also has licensed the CommonTime solution for over a year so if you are looking for a solution that can handle both Exchange on Notes, they are a good solution to check out. I believe the Notes feature is for their enterprise server product only however, but maybe they will license a client only version to add to their SymmetryPro line of products.

doogald

05-21-2003, 08:19 PM

Well, there are a few issues - it appears that I cannot both replicate with mNotes and synchronize with my personal Outlook data, unless I am missing something.

Never mind. A later connection worked fine.

Thanks again for the review.

MikeKey

05-21-2003, 08:38 PM

In addition to Doug's review, here's some extra useful information I've picked up about mNotes in my 3 months evaluating it.

It's the kind of software that quickly gives you confidence in it. We actually tried IBM Mobile Connect before that but we got sick of reinstalling it after it constantly fell over... :roll:
They really didn't miss a trick with this from the install/uninstall process to the settings available for the various types of data you can replicate. Everything works as you would expect it to - which is nice! :D

Here are some things which I think are worth a mention...

First, the server part of mNotes will run in one of 3 modes:
Personal mode, as reviewed, consists of the mNotes server application running on top of your Notes client on your PC. It's a one user solution.
Workgroup mode also runs on top of a Notes client, but supports multiple users. We have chosen this configuration as it easy to set up and doesn't involve any changes to the Domino server. You just set up a server or PC running a Notes client and mNotes in Workgroup mode. All your PPC clients can then connect to this to replicate.
Server mode runs on a Domino server and supports multiple users just like Workgroup mode. I suspect you may gain some performance by doing it this way, and it's probably simpler in the long run, but we didn't want to mess with our Domino servers!
The great thing is that switching between these modes is a case of selecting a different radio button and restarting the mNotes server! 8)
The mNotes server also includes a 'Push' service which will push Notes updates to your PPC when connected.

Something not in the review was the mNotes control database. This is a Notes database where all the mNotes configuration info is kept. It stores logs, user profiles, device profiles, licence information, even a downloads area where you can make files available to your mobile users.
In case you're wondering, the control database can be kept on any accessible Notes server, it doesn't have to be in the Notes data directory on the machine mNotes is on.

There's a mine of information in each user/device profile, including repeating entry controls, whether individual users can store the mNotes password on their PPC, what password to use, (internet, profile, either or Notes ID), you name it. For each user, you can configure up to 4 mail files to replicate, 4 address books, and configure whether the user should be able to update each one or not. You can even override the categories applied to each of these, change the Notes field mappings, it goes on...
Incidentally, if you attach the user's Notes ID to the profile and set it to authenticate them with their Notes ID password, they can download and read Notes encrypted mail on their PPC! 8)

It's also useful to know that mNotes will perform free time lookups and supports Notes Journal databases. Journal entries are sync'd as PPC Notes files.

mNotes replicates when you ActiveSync, on a schedule, or a combination of the 2, and I've tried this through ActiveSync, a network card, a modem card and over a GSM dialup.
(Note: Watch out if your users are going to do dialups. We found that if the dialup connection is lost part way through, mNotes appears to hang for 5 minutes or so. This is actually the PPC socket timeout and can be adjusted.)

As AndrewJHScott said, CommonTime's support is excellent. I've submitted a couple of issues, all of which have been acknowledged within hours, (and usually resolved), or in one case, put into the next mNotes build within weeks!
Since we started evaluating mNotes, it's gone from version 2.x to 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2 and now 3.0.3. Don't think this is because it's full of bugs, it's not! 3.0 worked just as well as the current version, but each one has just improved on things, such as moving the new mail notification icon to the notification area. It's nice to see it's being actively developed and improved.

CommonTime also produce a product called mForms. Although this is a separate product, it is definitely worth a mention. If you want more information, check out the website, but it lets you replicate other databases, even non-Notes databases, to your PPC.

Anyway, I hope that's enough to convince anyone looking for a Notes -> PPC replication product to at least try mNotes.
If anyone wants any more information please ask, I've had lots of experience with this product!

Mike

davidm

05-21-2003, 10:01 PM

Except for the fact that one must first uninstall a prior version, I can't say enough good things about this product for all the reasons noted in the review and MikeKey. I have used it since its first version (with my HP548)with no problems. I too was glad to have access to the control file to tweak some of the conversion settings. I now use version 2.5 wth my Loox 600.

Unfortunately (Fortunately) my firm is now converting to Outlook, and I will no longer need this product.

mmurdock

05-22-2003, 12:51 AM

What program are they using in those screen shots to give the taskbar a windows xp look?

Doug Raeburn

05-22-2003, 12:56 AM

I can only agree entirely with everything that's been said here but, no offence to Doug, I have to say that review was far from complete!

My review was targeted at individual users, not administrators or developers. I reviewed the product as I use it, in personal mode. I didn't go into detail on features that I had no opportunity to use, such as workgroup and enterprise modes and mForms. And I felt that the control database was too complex to adequately represent in a relatively brief review.

With a product as complex as mNotes, I decided to concentrate on the features that I felt would be of the most interest to the most people, which is how the average user would use it every day. So I concentrated on basic replication, invitations and the like. Although many of the features that you mention are interesting and contribute greatly to the power of mNotes, I felt that representing that level of complexity would probably lose many members of my target audience. So the lack of coverage of some of the features that you mention wasn't an oversight, but a conscious decision. It's a judgment call.

Thanks for the feedback. Sorry that you were disappointed.

Doug Raeburn

05-22-2003, 02:09 AM

What program are they using in those screen shots to give the taskbar a windows xp look?

I'm using Dashboard and WisBar, with the eXPerience_blue skin.

MikeKey

05-22-2003, 09:43 AM

My review was targeted at individual users, not administrators or developers.
...I felt that the control database was too complex to adequately represent in a relatively brief review.
...the lack of coverage of some of the features that you mention wasn't an oversight, but a conscious decision. It's a judgment call.

Thanks for the feedback. Sorry that you were disappointed.

Doug,

That's fair comment. I wasn't disappoited though, PPC Thoughts reviews are always good, I just felt that a lot had been missed out. Now I know why!

If people want any more information than is contained in the review they'll find it in my post. :D

Mike

Doug Raeburn

05-22-2003, 01:52 PM

Doug,

That's fair comment. I wasn't disappoited though, PPC Thoughts reviews are always good, I just felt that a lot had been missed out. Now I know why!

If people want any more information than is contained in the review they'll find it in my post. :D

Mike

Thanks, Mike... Although the review conveyed the message that I was going for, I appreciate you supplementing it with information that would be of interest to people who go beyond everyday use. We should do more tag-team reviews like this! :wink:

doogald

05-22-2003, 02:52 PM

pjtrader

05-22-2003, 03:03 PM

pjtrader

05-22-2003, 03:28 PM

Because I never wait for the replies to my messages before tyring evaluation copies...

During install to a Dell Axim, I'm getting a "Device Not Supported" error. Anyone know anything about this?

Cheers,
Pam

WindWalker

05-22-2003, 03:56 PM

During install to a Dell Axim, I'm getting a "Device Not Supported" error. Anyone know anything about this?

Hey Pam.....I would strongly suggest contacting CommonTime. Their support is superb, and they will get back to you within 24 hours. I will say that I have had few issues with my Axim and mNotes, all of which were resolved when I did a proper reinstall.

Though they have sales offices in the US, their support comes out of England

doogald

05-22-2003, 04:00 PM

I am running it on an Axim and it installed without a problem.

You can set the replication rules pretty well. I thought that Doug pretty much covered it in his review. You can also download the manuals from their website. I do like the fact that each connection location can have different replication rules as well. So for ActiveSync I replicate just about everything, but for dialup I replicate just mail, calendars, contacts and tasks.

Note that I just installed this yesterday, haven't really read the manual at all, and we have implemented only a test system of Notes - we are going live in a few weeks, and are still learning what we can and cannot do with Notes itself. So I would not exactly call myself Notes literate, either. This app is easy to use, configure, yet has a lot of power. What I like about it is that if you are comfortable using PPC pocket apps, you are comfortable with this, but if you use Notes, you are comfortable with this as well. Oh, and it syncs just as well with Pocket Informant as it does with native PPC pocket outlook.

Doug Raeburn

05-22-2003, 05:52 PM

Doug,

I thought that your review was great. It's funny that I was just about to download the Cadenza demo when I caught your review.

What might be interesting is whether you compared its use with EasySync Pro, Intellisync, XTND Connect, and Pylon. Or did you just choose Cadenza mNotes without trying the others?

Of the other products mentioned, I used Intellisync for about a year, and I did try XTND Connect back then as well (which means I've had at least a taste of EasySync Pro, which is a privately branded version of that product). However, this was prior to using Cadenza, and I've been using it exclusively for 2 1/2 years.

I can say that I do remember that mNote's integration and smooth operation with Notes was so superior to the other products that I tried that there was virtually no comparison. Since then, none of the other products have added any Notes-specific features that would close that gap, so I doubt that my opinion would change much even after 2 years.

A more in-depth test of the current versions of the other products might be something to consider... I'll give it some thought.

Doug Raeburn

05-22-2003, 06:03 PM

Hi guys,
This was an extremely timely topic for me as our company is a Notes driven organization and my PPC is not.

However, I'm concerned about replicating my Notes as it can get rather large...I often let it build up to 100M or more. How will my PPC and mNotes handle this? (I'm not truly Notes-literate, so if I'm missing a key ingredient here, help me out!) Obviously, I don't want to eat up internal memory with such a large replication, so can I store the replicated data on a storage card? I also maintain over 20 folders full of the latest on whatever projects I'm working on as well as a huge archive. How does mNotes handle all these various aspects of Notes?

Pam...

mNotes provides a significant degree of control over the amount of data that you replicate. This is mostly controlled by date ranges that you can specify for replication. The idea is that most people probably only need the most recent entries in their Inbox, for example, so it defaults to the last 7 days. Of course, this value can be increased if desired. You can also specify if attachments are downloaded and if they are, the maximum size that it will download.

You have a very fine degree of control as well. Let's say that you have a couple of important project folders and you need to reference messages in those from as long as a year back. You can set those folders for longer retention, and set less important ones to a shorter interval.

Anyway, I think if you play around with the settings, you'll find a decent balance of information available and storage use.

As for the problem you encountered, but all means follow Windwalker's advice and contact CommonTime. I can't say enough good things about their support, and I can guarantee that their fine support staff will be happy to help you.

Doug

Doug Raeburn

05-22-2003, 06:15 PM

A couple of addendums...

First, as doogald mentioned, the special functionality of mNotes works just fine with Pocket Informant, as well as with the other major "super PIM", Agenda Fusion... I know about the latter product because it happens to be the one I prefer.

Also, I wasn't aware of the fact that the next point release (3.03) had been released, so I installed it this morning. It's a small maintenance release, so you won't see any dramatic differences, but they did address one of my "gotchas".

Although replication is initiated by ActiveSync, it often continues after ActiveSync synchronization is complete. Make sure that replication is complete before disconnecting.

The reason that this was a problem for me is that WisBar (my task manager) is a must-have. In versions of mNotes prior to 3.0, they provided an animated icon on the bar on the bottom of the Today Screen that indicated that replication was in progress. In 3.0, they eliminated this icon. Several users, myself included, asked for them to bring it back, which they did in 3.01. Unfortunately, they moved it to the notification area on the Start menu bar, and it wasn't compatible with the skinning that even the standard version of Wisbar does... the icon would not appear. I contacted them and let them know about this issue.

Anyway, they came up with a suitable solution... as of 3.03, when replication is in progress, an animated icon appears in the Windows Tray. So my "gotcha" is no longer a "gotcha", since I can now see when replication begins and ends.

This is typical of their product development... they're very much in touch with their user base. Nice job once again, CommonTime!

pjtrader

05-22-2003, 07:18 PM

mNotes provides a significant degree of control over the amount of data that you replicate. This is mostly controlled by date ranges that you can specify for replication. The idea is that most people probably only need the most recent entries in their Inbox, for example, so it defaults to the last 7 days. Of course, this value can be increased if desired. You can also specify if attachments are downloaded and if they are, the maximum size that it will download.
Doug

I will contact their support...because I'm not seeing any of these controls you mention and the mNotes log has mutliple errors in replicating the mail, tasks, calendar, and journal although contacts, free time, and books replicate fine.

This has potential, and the rest of you seemed to have an easy time of it, so this is still worth pursuing.

Thanks again,
Pam

Jason Dunn

05-22-2003, 07:44 PM

I can only agree entirely with everything that's been said here but, no offence to Doug, I have to say that review was far from complete...After evaluating mNotes for 3 months...

It's great that you have information to add based on your own experience, but in all fairness, no volunteer who writes Pocket PC software reviews in his or her spare time could ever spend three months evaluating a product, so I think your expectations are completely out of whack here. :bangin:

Also, Doug's review was already one of the longer ones we've had - a reviewer can't possibly include every bit of information about a piece of software. They made decisions based on what they think the majority of readers will want to know about. :D

davidm

05-22-2003, 09:01 PM

Jason:

For what it is worth, when I read MikeKey's comments, I understood to mean something something to the effect: "Thanks for the review, it is indeed a great product, there is more information that I can provide." It is only after reading all of the reactions that I ever got an inkling that MikeKey's comments were other than entirely positive.

I think this is an example of where the inability to see facial expressions, etc. gives rise to incorrect interpretations of the message.

Dave

MikeKey

05-23-2003, 12:04 PM

It's great that you have information to add based on your own experience, but in all fairness, no volunteer who writes Pocket PC software reviews in his or her spare time could ever spend three months evaluating a product, so I think your expectations are completely out of whack here.
For what it is worth, when I read MikeKey's comments, I understood to mean something something to the effect: "Thanks for the review, it is indeed a great product, there is more information that I can provide." It is only after reading all of the reactions that I ever got an inkling that MikeKey's comments were other than entirely positive.

Jason (and everyone else),

Davidm was spot on. I'm sorry if my comments did seem at all negative to anyone, it was only ever my intention to point out how much more there is to mNotes than was contained in Doug's excellent review, especially for people thinking of using it in a multi-user environment.

Had I realised it was written with a specific audience in mind, I'd have probably worded my post differently, so I think I'll edit it a bit... :D

Mike

helloboys

05-26-2003, 02:12 PM

rock!

After moving to a company that uses Lotus Notes (:pukeface:), I've definitely missed the ability to sync my Notes contacts with my Pocket PC contacts. I trued IntelliSync, but really hated it.

I'll definitely give this a go, and maybe show a couple of other people I work with with Pocket PC's. Thanks for the review.

patwap

05-28-2003, 01:10 PM

Great product. I have been using this for the past year. The latest version states that Pocket PC 2003 is supported, there is even a cab file for it ! I was pleasantly surprised when I went to upgrade to the latest version and saw this.

david482

07-11-2003, 03:34 AM

I have recently started with a company using Notes, however, we mainly ise it for email. I currently use ACT and would like to sync the contact info from ACT but the email from Notes. I downloaded the demo of Mnotes, but am not sure if I can have activsync do some parts and Mnotes do the email?

The other question is how do I set up so that I can sync with my notes email remotly, via gprs.

Thanks

baker

07-11-2003, 03:53 AM

I use mNotes to sync my contacts, tasks, calendar and email at work which uses LNotes. Activesync syncs Avantgo and Files at work. At home we have Office XP and I sync via AS my files, contacts, tasks and calendar. Have been doing this for about three weeks without any troubles. I haven't figured out how to sync my mail at home. I've read posts that say you can and read ones that say you can't. Go to www.commontime.com and download the user manual to fine tune what mNotes can do for you. Their email support the first few days I started with mNotes was great.

bfausett

08-04-2003, 10:27 PM

Doug, on the mNotes review, the screen shots of your Pocket PC device's Start menu resemble Windows XP, how did you get your Today Screen and menus to look that way?

hollis_f

08-05-2003, 07:34 AM

Doug, on the mNotes review, the screen shots of your Pocket PC device's Start menu resemble Windows XP, how did you get your Today Screen and menus to look that way?
Hint - try reading the whole thread.

bfausett

08-05-2003, 06:51 PM

Thanks, got it.

Pjotr

03-15-2004, 11:17 PM

I've used Lotus Notes for 10 years at work. I've just bought an HP iPaq 4150 PPC, my first PPC, and have been trying all syncs for Notes. IntelliSync looked the best, but required docked syncing to work, I couldn't use TCP/IP remote sync for it. XTNDConnect was too overwhelming, looked like rocket science. Now I found mNotes, and after two tries got it all running. It is wonderful! All folders got replicated, nonne of the others managed that. I can open port 603 on my router and sync via Internet! So WLAN syncing at home, at work works, even from GPRS when mobile, so anywhere in the world I guess.

Configurations allow you to manage size, but at any time be able to still get any size mails and old mails. My contacts got duplicated at first sync, as I didn't want to risk losing any data and I already had it synced from the other softwares. So I had to clean out the doubles. This looks like a sure buy for me, I will try for the 30 days though, as it is $75. But a collegue, who is not so computerish, will love this and the ones at work without a PPC will want one now!

baker

03-16-2004, 03:27 AM

mNotes is great. I see that they now have an option for syncing wirelessly. The push feature is great. Go ahead and get ready to pay the fee.... :)