Best schedule mgmt/contact software for college student???

[js415]

I'm looking for the best and/or easiest software for my daughters new Ipaq.

She has never used a Pocket PC before, so the learning curve might be a little strange for her at first. She is fairly savvy with computers though, so it might not make a difference.

What would be the best for a college student that needs to keep track of LOTS of contacts, different schedules every week, lab times, etc., etc.?

Neither of us have Outlook either, so is there a program that will let her manage her contacts on her laptop without having Outlook? It would be good for her to edit and add contacts on the PC and then sync them over.

Any ideas or suggestions, I could go ahead and buy it and load it on the ipaq so it would be ready for her to play with on Christmas day!!!

Thanks,

Jerry

[Cybrid]

I'm looking for the best and/or easiest software for my daughters new Ipaq.

She has never used a Pocket PC before, so the learning curve might be a little strange for her at first. She is fairly savvy with computers though, so it might not make a difference.

What would be the best for a college student that needs to keep track of LOTS of contacts, different schedules every week, lab times, etc., etc.?

Neither of us have Outlook either, so is there a program that will let her manage her contacts on her laptop without having Outlook? It would be good for her to edit and add contacts on the PC and then sync them over.

Any ideas or suggestions, I could go ahead and buy it and load it on the ipaq so it would be ready for her to play with on Christmas day!!!

Thanks,

JerryFor PocketPC's Outlook is compulsory. Is included in all but a few of the new ones which come with a trial. Most of what you seem to be asking for is right out of the box...unless I'm missing something?

[Nurhisham Hussein]

You could go for alternate software, but none of them will have the tight integration that the Outlook/Activesync combination gives. Every other alternative, like Lotus Notes for instance, requires you to purchase 3rd party sync software.

[js415]

Maybe I'm missing something!!!

Unless I am wrong, or can't find it, neither of the 2 ipaq's I just bought have Pocket Outlook on them.

We also do not have Outlook on our laptops. They only came with the trial versions of Microsoft office 2003, which have expired, and would have to be bought.

I have never had any real problems with activesync, so that much we can handle.

Maybe I'm missing something about the Outlook situation??

Thanks,

Jerry

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Unless I am wrong, or can't find it, neither of the 2 ipaq's I just bought have Pocket Outlook on them.

Pocket Outlook is integrated into the OS - your calender, tasks, and messaging applets are actually a part of it. There's no single application on your iPaqs that is actually called Pocket Outlook, in contrast with the desktop version.

We also do not have Outlook on our laptops. They only came with the trial versions of Microsoft office 2003, which have expired, and would have to be bought.

This is something the manufacturers have unfortunately started to do recently, and believe me, you're not the only one in this fix. The only saving grace is that you can get Outlook separately from the Office Suite, and if you subscribe to a hosted Exchange service, you can probably get Outlook 2007 for free.

[js415]

Well, all that makes sense, even though I don't like it!!!

I figured out what you are saying about Outlook being integrated, and thats good.

I also remembered that I have a copy of Microsoft Office 97 that I bought MANY years ago. I has Outlook, plus all the other items she may or may not need.

The problem now is that with Office 2003 installed on her laptop, Office 97 does not seem to want to install correctly.

Even after an "uninstall of 2003", it seems that there must be parts of it left over, and does not want to play nice with the 97 version.

I keep getting errors saying it can not create a workgroup.

Lots of searching has turned up similar problems with other people, but nothing I can fix yet!!!

Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,

Jerry

[Nurhisham Hussein]

I also remembered that I have a copy of Microsoft Office 97 that I bought MANY years ago. I has Outlook, plus all the other items she may or may not need.

I'm not sure if this will work - IIRC the earliest version of Outlook that will work with Activesync was 2000/2002, not 97.

[js415]

Your absolutely right. Not only could I never get it to load correctly over the top of the trial version of 2003, I don't think it would ever work.

I was once told, though, that the best solution to a problem is usually the easiest solution!!!

I put my "old thinking cap" on, and remembered I had a copy of Outlook 2000 that came with my Dell Axim that I will be retiring in a few days.

Found the CD,....loaded it right up....and away we go!!!

Everything works perfect!!!!!

Also got in on the free giveaway for PI last Friday, so after my daughter figures out how to use the new Ipaq, and can master the planning/syncing/etc., I can let her have the copy of PI if she thinks she can handle all the extra features.

Too good to be true.

Thanks for all your help.

Jerry