DonationCoder.com Forum
Main Area and Open Discussion => General Software Discussion => Topic started by: daddydave on October 05, 2010, 10:24 AM
-
I have been experimenting in slow motion with Thunderbird, to see if it is possible for me to use it for what I use Outlook for, as a hub for the Four Pillars of PIM (http://www.tipb.com/2008/11/06/pillars-pim-tipb-iceberg/): tasks, notes, calendar items, and contacts.
1. How do I stop the Mail Account Setup prompt from appearing every time I launch Thunderbird or go to Address Book? I use Gmail for personal mail.
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
EDITED: I put it my Gmail address and it was very smart about pulling up IMAP and SMTP server from a database, which is impressive but I don't really want to access my Gmail locally at this time.
EDITED 2: Discovered by accident that if I go ahead and set up a mail account and remove the account, it stops nagging me but for some reason I can only remove the IMAP server not the SMTP server.
2. Lightning seems to be the canonical add-on for tasks and calendar, contacts are built in, is there a notes add-on someone could recommend?
(EDIT 3: So far, it looks like ThunderNote (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/7742/))
3. Is there a good way to sync tasks, notes, calendar items, and contacts in Thunderbird with a PDA (any OS)? I see BirdieSync (http://www.birdiesync.com/) but it only seems to sync 1 to 3 of these, depending on OS.
BirdieSync™ allows synchronization of your Windows Mobile device (contacts, events, tasks and mails) or your iPhone (contacts) with Thunderbird™ with Lightning extension installed and Sunbird™ on your PC.
-
Spicebird (http://www.spicebird.com/) attempts to do this. Development has been rather spasmodic but appears to be continuing.
I suspect the easiest sync approach is through gmail, but that does mean having everything in the cloud and again probably won't cover everything (I've not tried).
-
Spicebird (http://www.spicebird.com/) attempts to do this. Development has been rather spasmodic but appears to be continuing.
-Dormouse
Doesn't seem to do tasks and notes, though.
EDITED: On second thought, if it has calendar by way of the Lightning add-on, it should have tasks, too.
-
Exported my Outlook notes to a CSV file and importing them into ThunderNotes (http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/6676/2/) as we speak, sure is taking a while, I didn't think I had that many notes.
UPDATE: OK, I guess it doesn't work. Nice thought though.
-
EDITED: On second thought, if it has calendar by way of the Lightning add-on, it should have tasks, too.
-daddydave
Indeed.
-
It's installed but having problems finding icon to make it work.
Did a right click to customize but the icon is humongous!
Quicknote
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/46/
-
Quicknote
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/46/
-dantheman
That's an odd one. As far as I can tell, you are only allowed to have 4 notes!
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
-
An odd extension indeed.
Clippings might be a better one:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/1347/
-
Synching with my PDA/Phone is the very reason I stuck with Outlook (and the only reason I got rid of the Android phone I was using - I HAD to use Google to sync with it! :down:)
-
To be honest with you, i don't have Outlook, nor am i planning on forking out the bucks for it, nor for it's affiliated service in order to sync with my iPod Touch.
At least with Google i can configure my iPod to sync contacts and one main calendar... for free!
-
To be honest with you, i don't have Outlook, nor am i planning on forking out the bucks for it, nor for it's affiliated service in order to sync with my iPod Touch.
At least with Google i can configure my iPod to sync contacts and one main calendar... for free!
-dantheman
I don't blame you. If it weren't for the fact that I get the entire professional suite for $10 through Microsoft's Home Use Program I wouldn't either. But there is a free alternative. Microsoft Mail (via their Live Essentials) is the updated version of Outlook Express. I don't know if the Touch will sync with it or not, but I think it does. Now if you are looking to avoid Microsoft products, then I can't help you other than to suggest going Linux where there are a lot of similar programs. And use an Android system while you are at it, though that tethers you to GMail closer than the iPod tethers you to Apple :huh:
-
To be honest with you, i don't have Outlook, nor am i planning on forking out the bucks for it, nor for it's affiliated service in order to sync with my iPod Touch.
At least with Google i can configure my iPod to sync contacts and one main calendar... for free!
-dantheman
I don't blame you. If it weren't for the fact that I get the entire professional suite for $10 through Microsoft's Home Use Program I wouldn't either. But there is a free alternative. Microsoft Mail (via their Live Essentials) is the updated version of Outlook Express. I don't know if the Touch will sync with it or not, but I think it does. Now if you are looking to avoid Microsoft products, then I can't help you other than to suggest going Linux where there are a lot of similar programs. And use an Android system while you are at it, though that tethers you to GMail closer than the iPod tethers you to Apple :huh:
-steeladept
Good old HUP.. :)
And correct me if I am wrong, but neither Microsoft Mail nor iPod touch has any native tasks support, correct? I don't care about syncing mail. What I care about is tasks, notes, calendar items, and contacts, pretty much in that order.
-
Did you consider saving your notes as email drafts?
Another option would be to consider adopting Postbox free edition.
This program is based on Thunderbird and can take in many of the same addons.
Apparently it syncs with Omnifocus (tasks, notes with Apple stuff like iPod's etc.).
http://www.postbox-inc.com/express_features
-
I had pretty much decided that, in the case of notes, this is a hard enough problem to solve without the constraint of it having of be a Thunderbird addon, so I broadened the search to all note taking programs for Windows plus any PDA OS (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=24181.msg219709) (hence that thread) and not necessary things tied to Thunderbird: Keynote NF, Tomboy for Windows, Cherry Tree (because you can never have too many versions of GTK for Windows installed), and wikidpad. Unfortunately, almost no thought was put into import of existing notes with most of these (Wikipad comes close with its Multipage text format, but it does not seem to recognize non CamelCase wiki words, nor is it able to prompt for manual import to correct import errors). And once I solve that problem, I have another problem to solve, finding a PDA version of it. BladeWiki is the only one I've found with a reasonable import (there is not an import function, but it uses plain text files which are straightforward to manipulate). And there is a PDA version for Windows Mobile by the same author, which I have used before my Dell Axim went bye. So Bladewiki is scoring 2, everything else is scoring 0. Even so, I found myself in need of a renaming utility to match the note names with the file names (the filenames it recognizes will have %20 instead of space for example), it works well but I have a 10 step naming rule so far and I'm not done yet! Plus I would still have to filter out illegal characters in both filenames and wiki words which were the Outlook note names. I have decided I have spent enough time on this nonsense.
I should point out Keynote NF did just fine at importing my notes as separate tabs once I split them with Chopping List. But I wanted to import it into tree based notes, it's a pain to navigate through 100's of tabs. I still may use Keynote NF for other things, though.
Overall, though, I would gain absolutely nothing by moving exising notes out of Outlook format, I just wanted to see if it is possible without too much pain. I think that question has been sufficiently answered.
I don't see a version of Omnifocus for Windows btw.
-
What I went from Palm OS to Windows Mobile, I was using Outlook for my PIM functions (an infinitely better experience than Palm Desktop) and all I had to do to migrate my PIM functions was do a sync from Outlook again. But if I bought a Palm Pre, I would not have that experience, because Palm pre memos are not backwards compatible with the old memos, nor do they sync with Outlook. Sad. I was a registered user of MemoLeaf, too, which built on existing Memos functionality. I miss that program, there is really no equivalent on Windows Mobile, there are only things which copy your notes to a different folder altogether which seems unnecessary. Not sure what my next platform will be.
-
Have you looked at VueMinder Calendar?
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=24113.0
and
http://www.vueminder.com/index.php?page=lite-and-pro-feature-comparison
I have just started to use it and it seems to have the 4 things you are looking for. The generous discount in the above post is over but there is a free lite version, 60 day trial for the Pro and upgrade programs. Says it will import & export Outlook files. Haven't tried it yet.
-
I'm not quite familiar with Outlook but i hope this can help.
Resophnotes a Windows note taking app. It's small but not small enough to be in DCF but says it can import Outlook .csv
It syncs to a service called Simplenoteapp.com which will sync to your Apple gizmo.
http://www.resoph.com/ResophNotes/Welcome.html
The author just recently updated it so i guess it will in for the ride for a while.
-
Resophnotes terms of use look very peculiar
http://www.resoph.com/ResophNotes/Terms_of_Use.html
SKA
-
Good old HUP.. :)
And correct me if I am wrong, but neither Microsoft Mail nor iPod touch has any native tasks support, correct? I don't care about syncing mail. What I care about is tasks, notes, calendar items, and contacts, pretty much in that order.
-daddydave
Actually the iPod touch does have support for calendar and contacts - those were my two prerequesities that turned me away from Android and forced my hand to an iPhone - I had the touch and knew it would work with the iPhone too without forcing me to change to it (i.e. switching to GMail for everything). Not positive about notes or tasks, as I don't really use that feature, but I think it does (I set calendar items in place of tasks and notes I only access on my device, not on my PC). It is all done through iTunes, which I am not thrilled with, but is functional enough.
EDIT: If you can wait about 10 more hours, I will set a reminder to check it out when I get home from work to verify that you can, indeed sync Notes and Tasks as well. I will check in then as well with that info.
-
If you can wait about 10 more hours, I will set a reminder to check it out when I get home from work to verify that you can, indeed sync Notes and Tasks as well. I will check in then as well with that info
-steeladept
I appreciate that, and there is no urgency at all. While you are at it, if it does sync tasks, can you make sure it doesn't just dump them in the calendar, a "solution" I've seen in other places. I had the impression there were no native tasks on the Apple products to sync to, I will be happy if I am wrong.
-
I appreciate that, and there is no urgency at all. While you are at it, if it does sync tasks, can you make sure it doesn't just dump them in the calendar, a "solution" I've seen in other places. I had the impression there were no native tasks on the Apple products to sync to, I will be happy if I am wrong.
-daddydave
I am pretty sure that is exactly how it works, but I will check. I don't know of any separate task program and even if I did, I would expect it wouldn't work through iTunes like that. If it synced at all, I would think it would have to be through it's own interface, and that is such an issue for most software that they won't even deal with it.
-
LeaderTask (free on GOTD today) seems to have what you are looking for. Tasks, notes, calendar & contacts. Syncs with Outlook and Gmail.
And free; today at least.
-
LeaderTask (free on GOTD today) seems to have what you are looking for. Tasks, notes, calendar & contacts. Syncs with Outlook and Gmail.
And free; today at least.
-Dormouse
Nice find, I'll check it out. :)
-
Okay, just completed the check of the iPhone sync with outlook. It definitely syncs quite well with Notes, Calendar, and Contacts. Tasks do not sync at all with the native iTunes app sync, though a third party app may (again it is something I never do so I never tried). As a side bonus to everything else, it also can sync podcast feeds subscribed to through iTunes, your music (of course), videos, and TV episodes. And I can tell you that my music was never bought through iTunes (haven't tried any of the video entries yet). It isn't EXACTLY what you are looking for, but with a minor tweak of how you view tasks, it *MAY* still fit your needs.
-
And if you are just at the research phase at the moment, don't forget iTunes is not the only game in town. In addition to checking out the iTunes app store, you can look at the Cydia store too. You have to jailbreak your device, but that is trivial right now. Once jailbroken, you can download apps that Apple doesn't allow through their store as well as apps the developer just doesn't want to go through the Apple hassle with.
Just did a quick search and there is a third party app that may work well if you have a device to try it out on. It is called Smart Tasks 4. According to the reviews, the only thing it is missing is a calendar app, but then you can still use the Apple calendar app for that. Apparently they have a full line of apps that handle each of these tasks separately. It looks like it was designed to work with Google Apps specifically but lists Outlook as well. Smart Tasks 4 is in both free and paid versions. You can look it over to see the differences and what other apps they have available.
-
One thing to bear in mind is that I am used to is interacting with my data with several different apps. I registered both Pocket Informant and Agenda Fusion (tried not to use both at the same time but they both had their annoyances so I switched back and forth). In addition I used NewTray (http://www.sto-helit.de/index.php?module=download&entry=24&action=list&menu=28) and liked to try out various freeware addons to display tasks on the today screen, many of which were aware of not only the native tasks but of Pocket Informant and Agenda Fusion. I think if I went with Apple, that ecosystem doesn't seem to exist I would be locked into one app and wouldn't be able to work around its annoyances. I don't have a lot of incentive to go with Apple anyway, I would not be able to write an app for it for example unless I purchase an Apple computer. So for the time being I will stick with Windows Mobile, although I strongly considered Palm Pre and Android.
-
LeaderTask (free on GOTD today) seems to have what you are looking for. Tasks, notes, calendar & contacts. Syncs with Outlook and Gmail.
And free; today at least.
-Dormouse
I did take advantage of the giveaway and was very impressed until I saw that sync is one-way except for contacts. When you click on sync, you do a two way contact sync, and then an import of Outlook notes, tasks, and calendar items, but it does not push its own notes, tasks, and calendar items to Outlook. I was interested in seeing how it represented sub-items, like subnotes and subtasks in Outlook, but it doesn't try. However at least there is a mobile version so that may not matter.
The interface is very nice.
-
I think if I went with Apple, that ecosystem doesn't seem to exist I would be locked into one app and wouldn't be able to work around its annoyances. I don't have a lot of incentive to go with Apple anyway, I would not be able to write an app for it for example unless I purchase an Apple computer. So for the time being I will stick with Windows Mobile, although I strongly considered Palm Pre and Android.
-daddydave
That is what I thought, and a big reason I tried an Android phone first. I am definitely no Apple Fanboy, and this was the first time I actually bought an Apple product. I tried and tried to avoid it, but there was no use - there is no alternative that is comparable if you want Outlook integration (unless you are using an Exchange Server). The problem with Android is that the Android platform locks you in every bit as the Apple platform, and worse, doesn't have anything to allow you to sync with Outlook at all (again, there is an exception IF you use an Exchange Server)! If you wanted to program your own, sure, but then you could do that with any system and wouldn't really be looking here (at least I would think you wouldn't). With the Android platform, the only difference is instead of being held to the Apple Hardware (but able to use just about any software you want), you are able to use any hardware that will support the Android platform, but you are locked into Google. All mail pretty much MUST go through GMail (there are some email apps out there for other platforms such as Yahoo and Hotmail, but they are little more than shortcuts to the web version). All documents end up going through Googledocs, and most apps just do not have the smooth polish of Apple apps. Combine that with the possibilities of a Jailbroken iPhone (completely reversible btw), and you really open yourself up to at least as many options on the iPhone.
All this said, if you have time, I would wait another month or two (or three) and see how the Windows 7 Phones work out. If I wasn't in immediate need when I got my phone, I would have waited for just such an occasion. Unfortunately that was not an option for me.
-
steeladept, does that assessment change any at all when it is considered I will not be buying a data plan for reasons stated here (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=24246.msg220269#msg220269)? How many cloudless Apple apps are out there?
Actually looks like there are a few (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-free-productivity-ipod-touch-apps-offline-capabilities/). I know there is an iSilo for iPhone as well.
Also, can iPod Touch use passthrough connectivity from a PC when connected to the PC like Windows Mobile can? Then in theory I could do some things like downloading podcasts "online".
-
The problem with Android is that the Android platform locks you in every bit as the Apple platform, and worse, doesn't have anything to allow you to sync with Outlook at all (again, there is an exception IF you use an Exchange Server)! If you wanted to program your own, sure, but then you could do that with any system and wouldn't really be looking here (at least I would think you wouldn't). With the Android platform, the only difference is instead of being held to the Apple Hardware (but able to use just about any software you want), you are able to use any hardware that will support the Android platform, but you are locked into Google. All mail pretty much MUST go through GMail (there are some email apps out there for other platforms such as Yahoo and Hotmail, but they are little more than shortcuts to the web version).
-steeladept
I don't really understand any of this. I have an Android phone and I'm not locked in. Email apps are available and easy to sync with any email provider that you are using.
I haven't looked at syncing with Outlook, since that is the last thing I want to do. But I've seen references to CompanionLink (http://www.companionlink.com/androidusb/ol-android-usb.html) and Fliq (http://www.markspace.com/products/android/missing-sync-android-requirements.html) which claim to sync.
-
steeladept, does that assessment change any at all when it is considered I will not be buying a data plan for reasons stated here (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=24246.msg220269#msg220269)? How many cloudless Apple apps are out there?
Actually looks like there are a few (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-free-productivity-ipod-touch-apps-offline-capabilities/). I know there is an iSilo for iPhone as well.
Also, can iPod Touch use passthrough connectivity from a PC when connected to the PC like Windows Mobile can? Then in theory I could do some things like downloading podcasts "online".
-daddydave
No. Everything I said works equally well with my iPod Touch (that is what I am using as a proxy for testing). As for the passthrough connectivity, yes. Well sort of, I think. I honestly am not exactly sure what you mean by passthrough connectivity. The iPod Touch can link to any wireless (802.11b/g maybe n) connection and run directly as a device for podcasts and whatnot. You can also use iTunes (either on the computer or the preloaded app) to download podcasts and other similar content. Lastly, there are yet more apps out there that allow you to view pretty much anything else that they support independent of Apple (YouTube, for example, has an app that will let you download YouTube videos directly to the device without going through iTunes). Actually most apps that are made for the iPhone work equally well with the iPod Touch. The few exceptions I can think of are phone specific, or location based apps. These need the GSM towers to connect and function. Everything else (even SMS apps and the like) work fine on the Touch. Of course you need a wireless connection for any connectivity type apps, but they work.
I don't really understand any of this. I have an Android phone and I'm not locked in. Email apps are available and easy to sync with any email provider that you are using.
I haven't looked at syncing with Outlook, since that is the last thing I want to do. But I've seen references to CompanionLink (http://www.companionlink.com/androidusb/ol-android-usb.html) and Fliq (http://www.markspace.com/products/android/missing-sync-android-requirements.html) which claim to sync.
-Dormouse
The problem is you need a separate app for each of them and not all services provide one. On the iPhone, the generic email app allows me to consolidate my Yahoo, Hotmail, GMail, Exchange, and any other IMAP or POP3 email account (up to 4 accounts) into the one app. I can likewise download separate apps if that works better. With the Android platform I *MUST* create a GMail account and I *MUST* register and use it for many different uses, even if I already have several email accounts and don't want to use GMail (which I don't). With the Apple platform (Gah, I am already starting to sound like a fanboy, yuk! - <washes mouth out with soap....comes back to finish typing>) I do need to create an Apple account for the iPhone/iPod Touch, but then I don't need to ever use it again (except for any iTunes/app store "purchases"). All email communication comes in on any email service I prefer, and in fact I have no Apple email service at all.
As for the apps that claim to sync, I don't recall Fliq, but I know CompanionLink is VERY expensive ($40+ USD) and really doesn't fully sync. I think it syncs emails, but my main concern was with contact lists and calendars and it didn't do calendar syncing at all IIRC. Must have been thinking of a different app I tried. However, to make it even more expensive, not only is this app $40, but then you needed to get DejaOffice on top of that. Don't know how much more that would cost.
Just looking at Fliq real quick already shot it down. Need a Fliq account and must sync with the account, not just between Outlook and the Device. I can already do that if I am willing to go through GMail and use that as the common hub instead. Guess I really do need to read closer. But this app too is quite expensive. If I had seen it when I had my android device, though, I might have given it a whirl and seen if that would have satisfied my needs.
My problem is I didn't want a common hub to complicate my life further, I just wanted something that consolidated my already too distributed electronic life.
-
The problem is you need a separate app for each of them and not all services provide one. On the iPhone, the generic email app allows me to consolidate my Yahoo, Hotmail, GMail, Exchange, and any other IMAP or POP3 email account (up to 4 accounts) into the one app. I can likewise download separate apps if that works better. With the Android platform I *MUST* create a GMail account and I *MUST* register and use it for many different uses, even if I already have several email accounts and don't want to use GMail (which I don't). With the Apple platform (Gah, I am already starting to sound like a fanboy, yuk! - <washes mouth out with soap....comes back to finish typing>) I do need to create an Apple account for the iPhone/iPod Touch, but then I don't need to ever use it again (except for any iTunes/app store "purchases"). All email communication comes in on any email service I prefer, and in fact I have no Apple email service at all.-steeladept
The app on mine will manage all my email accounts if I want.
Android does require a gmail account (& Google Checkout) for the Market. No different to Apple in that. No need to use it. All email can be through any service you want. And I suspect you can get manage it differently, and outside Google, if you want.
Maybe the Android phone you had wasn't the same as mine.
As for the apps that claim to sync, I don't recall Fliq, but I know CompanionLink is VERY expensive ($40+ USD) and really doesn't fully sync. I think it syncs emails, but my main concern was with contact lists and calendars and it didn't do calendar syncing at all IIRC. Must have been thinking of a different app I tried. However, to make it even more expensive, not only is this app $40, but then you needed to get DejaOffice on top of that. Don't know how much more that would cost.
Just looking at Fliq real quick already shot it down. Need a Fliq account and must sync with the account, not just between Outlook and the Device. I can already do that if I am willing to go through GMail and use that as the common hub instead. Guess I really do need to read closer. But this app too is quite expensive. If I had seen it when I had my android device, though, I might have given it a whirl and seen if that would have satisfied my needs.
-steeladept
DejaOffice is free (approx $10 to for no adds). But it isn't actually required if you are happy to sync with the Android apps & Google. $40 is quite a lot - but they charge the same for the iOS version.
These apps are quite expensive in app terms - but no different to the standard pricing for WM programs really. And only a small part of the price differential between Apple and Android.
I'm quite happy having a lot of things going through my gmail account and that works out free. I have some email accounts I keep completely separate, so I do that too. If I used Outlook, I could set up a system to sync with that too if I wanted. The only point I'm making is that there is no reason to be locked into Google just because you have an Android phone. And, because it is OpenSource, I'm sure that all needs will be met by someone as the Android App market develops.
-
steeladept, thanks for making me consider iPod Touch as an option, which was unthinkable for me before you started making the case. Sounds like you were where I was. My own research is so far corroborating what you say:
- MobileNoter Wi-Fi edition for iPod Touch/iPhone syncs to Microsoft OneNote cloudlessly. I don't currently use OneNote, don't really like it, but maybe I need to.
- Pocket Informant for iPhone (http://www.pocketinformant.com/products_info.php?p_id=pocketinformant_iphone). Used to sync only to ToodleDo and Google though, but "Version 1.2 adds syncing directly to Oulook via our WebIS Desktop Sync (http://www.pocketinformant.com/products_info.php?p_id=pocketinformant_iphone&tab_id=sync)" Thus it also can be cloudless.
- The PIM situation on Android seems grim (http://androidforums.com/android-applications/51352-pim-app-agenda-pro.html). Do a Google search for Android PIM and you will find dozens of threads like this, but no finished apps and apparently no open API's on Google's side.
-
I have been looking for a full fledged Android PIM for some time. No real luck. There are have been a number of posts by people on the Android Forum also looking.
DejaOffice has been trying but it seems it works well on some mfg & model phones but not so well on others. Companionlink is needed to perform a USB sync and there was talk of them coming out with a wireless sync about the time I stopped trying to get DejaOffice to work on my phone. Here is a link to their forum if you'd like to look at it.
http://www.dejaoffice.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?13-DejaOffice-for-Android
The Handbase database app has just recently been released for Android. I have not used it yet but there have been ex Palm & Pocket PC users on the Android and some other forums that have been waiting patiently for it's release. Saying this will allow them to use their Android phone more effectively. May be someone will come up with a PIM using it.
Handbase site
http://www.ddhsoftware.com/Android/
Edit
Adding the Handbase forum link.
http://www.ddhsoftware.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=7
-
Handbase on the Windows Mobile platform and also on Palm was a great app which I almost registered. In fact, I tried several and on the WM platform, I found it to be the best balance of power and ease-of-use.
-
steeladept, thanks for making me consider iPod Touch as an option, which was unthinkable for me before you started making the case. Sounds like you were where I was. My own research is so far corroborating what you say:
- MobileNoter Wi-Fi edition for iPod Touch/iPhone syncs to Microsoft OneNote cloudlessly. I don't currently use OneNote, don't really like it, but maybe I need to.
- Pocket Informant for iPhone (http://www.pocketinformant.com/products_info.php?p_id=pocketinformant_iphone). Used to sync only to ToodleDo and Google though, but "Version 1.2 adds syncing directly to Oulook via our WebIS Desktop Sync (http://www.pocketinformant.com/products_info.php?p_id=pocketinformant_iphone&tab_id=sync)" Thus it also can be cloudless.
- The PIM situation on Android seems grim (http://androidforums.com/android-applications/51352-pim-app-agenda-pro.html). Do a Google search for Android PIM and you will find dozens of threads like this, but no finished apps and apparently no open API's on Google's side.
-daddydave
It does indeed. The only real difference I see is your Notes requirement. The Touch does have a notes app, but does not sync with outlook. If that is the only problem, however, it may be your closest solution. I was a Die-Hard WinCE 3.0 fan, I just wanted a phone integrated at the time and it would have been perfect (the Dell Axiom line was SO CLOSE!). I am begrudgingly becoming an iOS fan, mostly because there is so little else to choose from. I really like my iPod Touch for what it is but I have a fair number of gripes about it, mostly dealing with my inability to get unapproved apps without Jailbreaking (which does have it's own set of issues - primarily when time to upgrade the OS if you so desire). Given the darth of alternative devices, it is effective for what it is. My biggest gripe now is the battery is starting to go on it and that is not a user replaceable item. Moreover, it costs about $70 to replace not to mention the time it takes to send it in, get it repaired and get it back. During this time you are SOL. Not a good option in my opinion. Supposedly there are some sites that tell you how to replace it yourself (which voids the warranty, but who cares, by the time the battery dies it is out of warranty anyway unless you buy AppleCare for the device, if it is even available). Still, the device is almost 18 months old and still very useable. I understand that the batteries typically only last 18 - 24 months on the iPhone, so I don't expect it to last a lot longer (if at all) on the iPod Touch. I get the funny feeling that you and I (and probably a ton of other people out there) have a lot of pent up demand for a device that just doesn't exist right now - and probably won't for a long time, if ever, for a variety of reasons. Let us know what you do decide to go with though. As you can see, there are several of us around with a variety of systems. I am sure someone can point you in the right direction for additional ideas on your chosen device.
The app on mine will manage all my email accounts if I want.
Android does require a gmail account (& Google Checkout) for the Market. No different to Apple in that. No need to use it. All email can be through any service you want. And I suspect you can get manage it differently, and outside Google, if you want.
Maybe the Android phone you had wasn't the same as mine.
-Dormouse
Actually I understand that AndroidOS 2.2 does work that way like you said (except for the Outlook sync - that still is unavailable from what I have read and been told by others with an EVO on 2.2.). The phone I had was a Galaxy S phone with AndroidOS 2.1 which did not. Further, while Samsung released v. 2.2 for the Galaxy S phone line, AT&T refused to release it or, indeed, provide so much as a roadmap for the release. Given this and the other problems I had with it, I dumped it. Maybe it is more an issue with AT&T, but the neat part for me with the iPhone is my connection with AT&T is now with regard to phone service ONLY. ANYTHING with the device, Apple handles. Moreover, any updates Apple provides becomes immediately available to all devices using that OS. Not just becoming available to multiple other vendors who get to push their own crap onto the device and deciding if and when I can take advantage of certain features. With that Galaxy S phone, for example, Google set their own release schedule. Then Samsung would take the release version and test it on their phones with whatever extra stuff they decide "I NEED". Then when they get around to releasing it, AT&T gets to do the same thing! Only then do I get the chance at updating to features I may believe I want or need, which then may or may not be enabled by the "tweeners" that I had to deal with. With my iPhone and iPod Touch, Apple provides the device, device support, and the OS, and it's related support. Meaning when they release it, I have it immediately available. And with AndroidOS 2.2, yes, I felt that was an immediate need for several of the features.
-
According to this discontinued project on Google Code (http://code.google.com/p/ioutnotes/), IPhone 3.0 firmware and later allows syncing Outlook Notes natively. But not the iPod Touch?
Apparently the the iPod Touch too (http://www.ipodtouchfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202099). I may need to do a firmware upgrade
-
The deed is done, I got an iPhone Second Generation 16GB off ebay.
This morning I find some timely news (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Confirmed-New-PwnageTool-Jailbreaks-all-iOS-4-x-iDevices-Screenshot-161639.shtml).
-
Nice. Thanks for the news. Hope that works out well for you. It has for me so far.
-
The deed is done, I got an iPhone Second Generation 16GB off ebay.
This morning I find some timely news (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Confirmed-New-PwnageTool-Jailbreaks-all-iOS-4-x-iDevices-Screenshot-161639.shtml).
-daddydave
I wasn't aware PwnAge Tool was Mac only. So now I have the Chronic Dev blog (http://chronic-dev.org/blog/) and greenpois0n (http://www.greenpois0n.com/) bookmarked, or at least in browser history. I may try it un-jailbroken first so I have a better appreciation for the benefit of it. The device should arrive Friday. Making a list of apps I want to install, I think I'll put Couch to 5K (http://www.c25k.com/) first on the list.
-
An update: I am mostly happy with the iPod Touch, but not really found my groove in regard to Outlook tasks. I am struggling to implement David Allen's GTD as well, but I can't really find all the features I want in one app, and I have paid for a few different apps.
One nice thing about Apple is that you don't have to buy an iOS phone to see the contents of the app store. Unlike Google's Android. There are alternative app stores you can search and read reviews at, but not Android Market itself. So it was easier to research and conclude that Apple was indeed where the apps were.
iOS also seems to be where developers have been aiming first before bringing out their Android apps. Eventually the momentum will swing to Android, although I don't expect the PIM situation to be much better there, maybe I am too picky. This is my third PDA (had a Palm, and a Dell Axim before) and in each case I made the decision the same way: go to the OS where the apps are. I see a few developers starting to put their best work into their Android apps (Evernote for example) so I see the momentum swinging yet again
Coincidentally, two of my online accounts, gmail and gawker got compromised since I got the ipod touch, just as I was starting to feel I was being paranoid about having data in the cloud, I now realize I wasn't paranoid enough. The Gmail thing was weird, I avoid all the "free wi-fi" like Ebola and I only connected to my home wireless network,. However I hate all the iOS apps that have you put your Google account information in the settings, now all my apps are suspect. For the everyday individual who interacts with the web on a personal level, it seems that cloud security is all downhill from here.
One thing I wish I had considered was that the newer generations of iPod Touch have more memory to work with. I believe this is why Apple wisely disables multitasking on 2nd Generation devices. However, I feel I needed it and enabled it on my jailbroken device, just to be able to get back to the last several apps without having to go back to the launcher (springboard) or too much fiddling. Also I can see the amount of memory in the top status bar, thanks to another jailbreaking tweak. And if it gets too low, the device reboots and it takes forever for it to boot back up. However, the 3rd or 4th Generation weren't really at my ebay price point.