Which Electronic Wallet To Buy?

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&amp;t=reviews&amp;id=823">http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&amp;t=reviews&amp;id=823</a><br /><br /><i>"Electronic wallets are one of the killer apps of the PDA world. Anyone who uses one will most likely tell you they can’t live without it. There are 3 major players in the electronic wallet space: Ilium Software’s eWallet, WebIS’ Flex Wallet, and Developer One’s CodeWallet. All three of these applications recently received upgrades. How do the major features of each compare?"</i><br /><br />Jeffrey Swerdlow at PocketNow has put together a table listing the top dozen or so features you'd want in an electronic wallet for your portable device and then how each of the three main contenders stack up. For those of us that want total security for <i>some</i> of our information but don't want to bother with bigger tools to encrypt the entire device, electronic wallets offer superb protection.<br /><br />It has been awhile since I've played with two of the contenders, but I use eWallet multiple times per day. I have two files, one for work and one for business. I am always in them for passwords, bank info, etc., and having it automatically shut down after two minutes (user configurable) and lock out for half an hour after a few wrong guesses as the password give me peace of mind that the data is secure, yet always by my side. Whatever you use, or if you are considering buying an electronic wallet, you should check out this quick comparison to help you narrow down your decision.

[Eriq Cook]

I use ewallet 1-3 times per day. Between credit card numbers for ordering food (I never open my physical wallet anymore) to bank account numbers for online payments, and the occasional EIN lookup for new business accounts.

Can't live without it. It's a huge time saver.

[choyboy]

I was disappointed that they did not include SplashID in their review, even though one of the programs imports data from it!

I've been using SplashID for 6 years, it's a rock solid program, the developer is proactive in listening to user requests/complaints, AND it's truly cross platform. So if you decide to change your mind and use another OS, you can do it without messy conversion as well. Even if you don't change OS, you could, for example, sync over your contacts to your "going out" symbian phone.

As far as I can tell it gets an tick in all the boxes as well.

I think I'll message the author of the piece....

[pmmax]

There are some free options too... like CryptoCard

http://www.pmmax.com.ar/

[welovejesus]

The PocketNow article (http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&amp;t=reviews&amp;id=823) is on the money! Ever since consulting Ed's software recommendation (http://www.ehansberry.com/pages/pocketpc.html) which listed eWallet, I have purchased eWallet and have not looked back. With today's Ilium Software's 9th Anniversary Sale (http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/custserv/anniv_sale.htm), my wife's PDA now sports eWallet and ListPro (only 9.99 each for the Pro versions)!

[KTamas]

I'm using Flexwallet, bought it when there were a huge discount for WebIS customers a while ago, and I'm very happy with it. I store a lot of stuff in it (website registration, IM accounts etc) and some other stuff so I use it multiple times a day - mostly on PC though but it is very handy on PPC too...I highly recommend it.

[alese]

I recieved eWallet and ListPro together with my iPaq 3870 back in 2002.
Four years later, eWallet is one of the first applications I install on my device and probably the one I could not be without...

[Eriq Cook]

The PocketNow article (http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&amp;t=reviews&amp;id=823) is on the money! Ever since consulting Ed's software recommendation (http://www.ehansberry.com/pages/pocketpc.html) which listed eWallet, I have purchased eWallet and have not looked back. With today's Ilium Software's 9th Anniversary Sale (http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/custserv/anniv_sale.htm), my wife's PDA now sports eWallet and ListPro (only 9.99 each for the Pro versions)!

I too have now upgraded to eWallet v4.1 Pro (from v3) from the sale. Works greats!

[schwuk]

With today's Ilium Software's 9th Anniversary Sale (http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/custserv/anniv_sale.htm), my wife's PDA now sports eWallet and ListPro (only 9.99 each for the Pro versions)!

I've just bought both of those myself through the sale.

[Ed Hansberry]

I've been using SplashID for 6 years, it's a rock solid program, the developer is proactive in listening to user requests/complaints, AND it's truly cross platform. So if you decide to change your mind and use another OS, you can do it without messy conversion as well. Even if you don't change OS, you could, for example, sync over your contacts to your "going out" symbian phone.
I know eWallet runs on Windows, Windows Mobile Smartphone, Windows Mobile Pocket PC and PalmOS, and they offer a signed version for some smartphones that have carrier restrictions on what can be installed. But SplashID does seem to support the most. It also does Mac OS X, Series 60 and Symbian UIQ.

[echernosky]

FlexWallet while it still belonged to TwoPeaks.

[mangust]

The review is really about the WM versions of the wallet. Not surprising since it's a WM oriented web site.

Personally, I view the wallet application as a tandem of mobile and desktop client. That's why I use CodeWallet, the only program that does card-level synchronization between multiple PCs and a mobile device.

The review indicates that FW does card-level synching but the product's web site only mentions file-level through ActiveSync. Can someone shed some light on this?

[Ed Hansberry]

Personally, I view the wallet application as a tandem of mobile and desktop client. That's why I use CodeWallet, the only program that does card-level synchronization between multiple PCs and a mobile device.
eWallet does card level syncing. that was introduced in 4.0 a year or so ago.

[Jason Lee]

flexwallet does file level syncing through activesync.
It handles card level syncing through the desktop version of the software. It works very well and can even sync multiple wallet files on the card level.
Plus it does not use activesync. This is the last data I want activesync to corrupt. :)

[Ed Hansberry]

flexwallet does file level syncing through activesync.
It handles card level syncing through the desktop version of the software. It works very well and can even sync multiple wallet files on the card level.
Plus it does not use activesync. This is the last data I want activesync to corrupt. :)
that is exactly how eWallet handles it. Works great for Smartphones since they can't do file syncing.

[mangust]

eWallet does card level syncing. that was introduced in 4.0 a year or so ago.

Unfortunately, it can't do it with multiple PCs.
http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/ew/ew_suptn1a.htm#2win

[karinatwork]

When upgrading to WM 5, I tried all three of these applications, but in the end, I chose Flexwallet. It had the most "pleasing" UI, if that is a valid argument. I guess it's very much a personal preference, but Flexwallet has my vote. :)

[Chairman Clench]

I was disappointed that they did not include SplashID in their review, even though one of the programs imports data from it!

I've been using SplashID for 6 years, it's a rock solid program, the developer is proactive in listening to user requests/complaints, AND it's truly cross platform. So if you decide to change your mind and use another OS, you can do it without messy conversion as well. Even if you don't change OS, you could, for example, sync over your contacts to your "going out" symbian phone.

As far as I can tell it gets an tick in all the boxes as well.

I think I'll message the author of the piece....

The reason I didn't include SplashID is simple... it is simply not in the same class as these other 3. I used to use SplashID on both my Palm and PocketPC. On Palm, it may well be the best wallet... on the Pocket PC, it pales in comparison to the other 3. Most notably, there is no copy and paste ability from SplashID to other apps. For example, if I go to a website on PIE and I forgot my user name or password I could go into SplashID to look it up. I can't copy and paste the info from SplashID to PIE.

The same holds true with registration codes. Even worse, SplashID does not remain open when you are multi-tasking. The other 3 apps have settings that allow you to specify the time-out period. With SplashID as soon as you open another app or switch to another app using a task switcher, it closes itself. I think SplashData (the developer) is stuck in the world of Palm single-tasking.

Eventually I grew really tired of these 2 limitations and wanted to switch. Since eWallet had the import utility, I went with that one and have been very happy.

SplashID has an easy to use interface and yes, it is stable. Overall, even beyond my 2 primary complaints above, it still is not on the same level as the other 3. Just my opinion... if you use it and are happy with it, more power to you. Everyone has different needs!

[Ed Hansberry]

...but in the end, I chose Flexwallet. It had the most "pleasing" UI, if that is a valid argument.
If your basic security needs are met - and I think all three meet them - I certainly think asthetics is valid criteria.

[Jason Lee]

When upgrading to WM 5, I tried all three of these applications, but in the end, I chose Flexwallet. It had the most "pleasing" UI, if that is a valid argument. I guess it's very much a personal preference, but Flexwallet has my vote. :)

I am very much in the same boat. When I got my k-jam I used ewallet and flexwallet both for about a week. My first choice was ewallet. it had a lot more to it. more options and more feature. But the more I really used the two programs I came to realize that flexwallet was much easier to use and I liked the ui much better. plus one hand navigation if flex wallet is perfect. I can do anything in the program and never need to touch the screen. However I think ewallet has released an update since I last tried it so this may work a lot better there now too.
I'm happy with flexwallet.

I like how the custome card creation works in flex wallet much better than ewallet also. yeah, I just like the way it works better. it works well for me.

[DaViD_BRaNDoN]

Am using eWallet :mrgreen:

[racerx]

I own eWallet for the PC, the Pocket PC and the Smartphone. But I recently started using a program called RoboForm and it is quickly becoming my new electronic wallet. I have it installed on all of the same devices, but since it automatically captures my username and login when I go to a new site, it is always up-to-date.
Available over at www.roboform.com. Not the cheapest program, but it is an essential program for me now.