Which PDA Platform is Best for Syncing to a MAC

[blgolf2000]

I need HELP… I have a G4 PowerBook and I am looking to get a PDA for both business and pleasure. I have noticed there are two routes for syncing:
1.) PalmOne and use the Palm software which syncs some Apple programs but not all (doesn't sync iCal, Entourage, or iTunes)
2.) PocketPC and the purchase software called PocketMac that not only will sync iCal, Entourage, iTunes, Word, and excel but also makes the PDA look like a Mac

I am currently looking to get either an HP iPaq hx2415 or hx2755...any recommendation as to which for best value for the $??

What are people’s experience using either of these syncing routes and what is considered the best route.


Thanks and I look forward to everyone’s help

~Brian

[Menneisyys]

I need HELP… I have a G4 PowerBook and I am looking to get a PDA for both business and pleasure. I have noticed there are two routes for syncing:
1.) PalmOne and use the Palm software which syncs some Apple programs but not all (doesn't sync iCal, Entourage, or iTunes)
2.) PocketPC and the purchase software called PocketMac that not only will sync iCal, Entourage, iTunes, Word, and excel but also makes the PDA look like a Mac

I am currently looking to get either an HP iPaq hx2415 or hx2755...any recommendation as to which for best value for the $??

What are people’s experience using either of these syncing routes and what is considered the best route.


Thanks and I look forward to everyone’s help

~Brian

You should have asked this Palm vs. PPC question in a more neutral place ;)

I think the PPC is the way to go, even when speaking of Mac syns support. If I were you, though, I'd get a VGA PPC, unless you ONLY want to use your PPC for PIM functions.

[WolfUK]

I've used both Palms and Pocket PCs with my Mac and in generally both have problems to a greater or lesser degree but overall a Palm is more suitable for someone who only has a Mac and does not have access to a PC.

Essentially, if you use a Palm you can either use the Palm Desktop application (very good but you might perfer to use the standard applications) or you can synchronise your diary and contacts with iCal and Address Book using iSync. This is okay but iSync does not support synchronising categories nor does it support the newer Palm PIM database which allow for things such as multiple addresses per contact. You can also buy The Missing Sync from MarkSpace (http://www.markspace.com) which helps with things such as iTunes and iPhoto transfers.

On the Pocket PC side of things you have to use PocketMac or The Missing Sync. I personally use The Missing Sync since I used it with my Palms and I generally heard better things about it. Again you can use it to synchronise your diary and contacts with iCal and Address Book.

The big crunch comes in two areas: software installations and desktop components for your PDA. You can install Palm applications from a Mac without a problem since they are simply PRC and PDB files which are copied over to your Palm. In addition, a reasonable number of Palm applications have Mac applications which they will synchronise with, ie SplashID, DocumentsToGo, SplashPhoto, etc. If you use a Pocket PC the only way you can install applications onto it is via CAB files since the Windows-based installer won't run (obviously). Some developers are very good about providing CABs but some won't so I have tended to resort to using a PC to install software onto my iPAQ. In addition, I have yet to see a Mac application that synchronises with a Pocket PC one. About the closest you can get is to move the native files between the Mac and Pocket PC and have it as a manual process with no real synchronisation. This works for things such as Word and Excel files if you use PlanMaker and TaxtMaker on your Pocket PC, iSilo documents and a few others but generally you either have data on your Pocket PC or on your Mac but not both.

It's hard to make a recommendation because I don't know what you want to use a PDA for but I hope that the above is of some use.

[blgolf2000]

I am looking to use the PDA for use of Word, Excel, Entourage, Internet, iTunes, iCal, and sometimes PowerPoint. I only own a Mac and I want to sync all these applications to it. I am looking for a PDA with wi-fi and bluetooth and that is as iser friendly as possible as I am not nearly as computer savvy as most on this site

Thanks for any other help you can lend

~Brian

[WolfUK]

I am looking to use the PDA for use of Word, Excel, Entourage, Internet, iTunes, iCal, and sometimes PowerPoint. I only own a Mac and I want to sync all these applications to it. I am looking for a PDA with wi-fi and bluetooth and that is as iser friendly as possible as I am not nearly as computer savvy as most on this site

Thanks for any other help you can lend

~Brian

Brian,

To use Entourage you are limited to either a Palm or a Pocket PC with PocketMac Professional

For Word and Excel, with a Palm you can use DocumentsToGo and with a Pocket PC PocketMac Professional will convert the standard Pocket Word and Pocket Excel files (although I would strongly recommend buying TextMaker and PlanMaker).

For iTunes either a Palm or a Pocket PC will be fine as long as the music is not encoded using the AAC format. The simplest solution is to mount your PDA as another drive and just drag and drop the MP3 files onto a storage card. However PocketMac Professional looks as if it can do some sort of synchronisation here.

Internet access is available on both Palms and Pocket PCs.

I'm not sure if either a Palm or a Pocket PC will allow you to sync to both Entourage and iCal but I may be wrong. You will have to look into this further yourself unless someone else here has an answer.

As for PowerPoint, again I'm sketchy on this. I think that one of the versions of DocumentsToGo for the Palm supports PowerPoint files but I'm not sure about the Pocket PC side of things.

The Palm T3 and T5 both include bluetooth and you can buy PalmOne's WiFi SD card but it does suck a lot of power (at least on a T3). Most Pocket PCs include both as standard these days but make sure to check that whichever device you go for does.

As for what you should do, my gut feeling is actually to suggest that you go for a Palm since they are generally simpler to use, especially if you are not used to the Windows operating system and a Palm with DocumentsToGo and one of the music players (Pocket Tunes was my favourite) should meet all of your needs.

[Mark Kenepp]

1.) PalmOne and use the Palm software which syncs some Apple programs but not all (doesn't sync iCal, Entourage, or iTunes)



I am almost sure Entourage comes with a Palm conduit, unless things have changed in the newer versions of MS Office for the Mac.

It has been a long time since I used a Palm OS device but I assume things are still the same and Palm is still the best solution for syncing with a Mac. There are good reviews here on this site regarding connecting a Pocket PC to a Mac. Search for Pocket Mac and give them a read. With Pocket Mac, syncing with a Pocket PC may work quite well for you and you might find that it does all you need.

[OneAngryDwarf]

I don't seem to be quite as much as much of an expert and I really do hate to say this as Pocket PC enthusiast but I think Palm might be a better choice for this guy. If he isn't savvy then he's not gonna want to have to figure out the stuff to get his PPC to work well w/ it and w/o having a PC also, that could make things problematic.
Can VirtualPC be used to run Windows and do things like sync/install apps? Cuz if he has that, it could change the answer to PPC.
PPC is pretty much superior to Palm and cheaper in terms of bang for your buck but its not really a better choice if you can't use the handheld like you are meant to be able to.

[WolfUK]

Can VirtualPC be used to run Windows and do things like sync/install apps? Cuz if he has that, it could change the answer to PPC.It can and some people do go down this route but it still means that some applications with a desktop component would have to be used within the VirtualPC application rather than as native Max application. However, as you say, it is an alternative solution.