Pocket Informant 8

[Pete Paxton]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://software.smartphonethoughts.com/product.asp?id=16296&n=Pocket-Informant-8---Editor's-Choice-and-Winner-of-2008-Best-PIM-award' target='_blank'>http://software.smartphonethoughts....-Best-PIM-award</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Pocket Informant is The Next Generation in Personal Daily Management, but we don't just say that; we mean it. Pocket Informant 8 doesn't just simply let you work with your daily events through lists and grids, but with the new Events and Journal views you can look at your life's past and future in an easy cohesive environment. Even create contact links within your appointment or tasks' subject and notes let you quickly access a named contact without having to resort to links or a search. Most suprisingly, this power doesn't come at the cost of a complicated, cluttered interface."</em></p><p><em><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//spt/auto/1232516431.usr11642.gif" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></em></p><p>This has sure come a long way hasn't it? Pocket Informant is now in its 8th version and getting better all the time. Do any of you use it and if so, how do you like it? If you don't, what PIM do you use? You can purchase it from our <a href="http://software.pocketpcthoughts.com/product.asp?id=16296&amp;n=Pocket-Informant-8---Editor's-Choice-and-Winner-of-2008-Best-PIM-award" target="_blank">Pocket PC Thoughts store</a> or our&nbsp;<a href="http://software.smartphonethoughts.com/product.asp?id=16296&amp;n=Pocket-Informant-8---Editor's-Choice-and-Winner-of-2008-Best-PIM-award" target="_blank">Smartphone Thoughts store</a>&nbsp;for $29.95 or download a trial to see if it suits your needs. Let us know what you think.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

[efjay]

Good but bloated. I have a registered copy for Pocket PC's and I dont use it because of the huge space it takes up. Contacted the developer on having the option to install just the modules I needed (Calendar, Tasks) and was told no. Now looking to buy SBSH's Calendar Touch which is lighter and cheaper.

[doogald]

I used to, then I was using Agenda Fusion. I agree that they are both too big. I'm just using stock PIM apps now (and grumbling through the features that are missing.)

[alese]

Well, for me it's the second "PIM" application that I install on my device. First is E-Wallet with registration codes for all my SW and third is PhatPad.
It's also probably the most used application on my device.
It's not small and it's not the quickest, but the same goes also for Outlook on the desktop.
The reality is that with PI I could (and I sometimes I do) live without Outlook. I only wish it would be better integrated with mail.

[ucfgrad93]

I use Agenda One on my Moto Q9 Global. The stock PIM was bad enough that I felt it needed to be replaced.

[fromamerica]

PI 8 is the first piece of software I install on any new mobile device I get. I have to admit, now that the contacts functions of the devices are getting better, I tend to use PI less for contacts. The To Do list is what I use it for. It has a great capacity to prioritize and use with projects categories. A combination of MyLife Organized and PI helps me stay up to date with my life. I use Outlook to sync between the two. PI still has the functions I need in the calendar areas as well.

[Craig Horlacher]

Yeah, I have PI 8. I've been using PI for a few years now. I like it for the text in the month view. With a vga screen that's very useful! It drops jaws when people with other pda's see my calendar view. It's a must have on any pocket pc I have.

I still don't use much of it's functionality but I'm using a little more here and there I think.

I also like the access to email and call logs from in it's contacts.

My current device is an i-mate Ultimate 6150 with WinMo Pro 6.1.

[ntractv]

I use it because it is more useful than Outlook Mobile by leaps and bounds, but at the same time I would have to agree it is a bloated program. I doubt if I use more than 30 to 40% of its features.

[emuelle1]

I've been using PI since the 2005 version. I've always been impressed with it. It's powerful and configurable. The weak link is Outlook. I wish Alex would release a desktop version of PI.

[Yahdie]

Good but bloated. I have a registered copy for Pocket PC's and I dont use it because of the huge space it takes up.....

I agree, I've been using it for years but on my newest device, I never got around to installing it.
It has been about a month without it and I don't miss it at all, well, except the eyecandy.
I find that the standard PIM on my WM6 device does everything that I need it to do, including looking up contacts in the GAL without having to exit the program!
Yes I'm aware that that feature is included now but, it's not worth the upgrade price IMHO.

[doogald]

I agree, I've been using it for years but on my newest device, I never got around to installing it.
It has been about a month without it and I don't miss it at all, well, except the eyecandy.
I find that the standard PIM on my WM6 device does everything that I need it to do, including looking up contacts in the GAL without having to exit the program!
Yes I'm aware that that feature is included now but, it's not worth the upgrade price IMHO.

The two things that I miss in the stock PIM apps (on WM 6 Standard/Lame Edition):

- categories in calendar events. It's how I separate whether an event is mine, my wife's, the kids', a birthday, etc. The field is there, because you see it when you install PI et.al.

- search of calendar events. The lack of search for when my dentist appointment is, say, or when the kids' next track meet is, is dumb.

[Yahdie]

The two things that I miss in the stock PIM apps (on WM 6 Standard/Lame Edition):

- categories in calendar events. It's how I separate whether an event is mine, my wife's, the kids', a birthday, etc. The field is there, because you see it when you install PI et.al.

- search of calendar events. The lack of search for when my dentist appointment is, say, or when the kids' next track meet is, is dumb.

Categories dont exist in the WM Standard version of Calendar? They are there in Pro, however PI does make them much more useful.

The built in Search function of the device will find calendar events, but you won't have it right there as you do in PI.

I'm not saying that PI is no good, just that the additional functionality versus the built in PIM is not worth the additional $$, anymore, for me, I've paid for the app plus 2 upgrades and even purchased a copy for a friend for their HTC Wizard awhile back.
Who knows, maybe I will end up needing it a month down the road, and I'll end up loading PI7 and then I'll paying for an upgrade to PI8, but for now, I'm quite happy without it.

[doogald]

Categories dont exist in the WM Standard version of Calendar? They are there in Pro, however PI does make them much more useful.

They exist, but the field is not exposed in the stock PIM UI. (I know that they exist because if you install a third-party PIM after syncing my calendar events, you can see the copied events are in the proper category when the new PIM opens.) They are not only useful, they are really required in my use. It does not happen often, but it creates a productivity problem as every calendar item that I enter in the device goes into one specific calendar on sync, so if the category needs to change I need to alter the event after the sync. If I could set the category, it would not.

The built in Search function of the device will find calendar events, but you won't have it right there as you do in PI.

There is no built-in search function (at least on my phone). I can search very easily for contacts (which is great), but there is no way to search for calendar events. (There is also no cut and paste, FWIW.)

And now you know why I call it Windows Mobile Lame Edition.

[mmidgley]

I have been using PI for a long time. I really like all the features (at least the ones I get around to using). I don't like that to gain the features it has performance suffers. I have upgraded to the top-of-the-line device and it still seems to perform just a bit slower than it should. Their latest "speed-it-up" tactic (that I notice right away) was to change contacts to not show phone numbers immediately as you scoll through contacts. I guess that's all they can do to speed it up--remove database calls or other code rather than actually making things occur faster (and performance of some things like database lookups may be out of their control). Anway, it does annoy me that I have such a fancy phone that can do so much and yet I can't quickly view the details of a contact and easily tap somewhere to quickly see the next contact's details. It seems to be too much work to change screens from one item to the next or from one View to another. Overall it should just run smoother. One other item that bugs me is that items that should be a checkbox are a drop down requiring two taps instead of one (such as when editing an appointment and trying to toggle All Day).

m.