Need Help Selecting PDA/Smartphone

  • Thread starter Thread starter vindalooo
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vindalooo

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Hello All,
I'm new to posting here, so please bear with me. I currently have a Q, which I like & don't like. I have seen that some here have been able to fully utilize it's capabilities, but I need a "works out of the box" tool (I'm technologically challenged). I am thinking of changing to a Palm or Blackberry and would like some experienced user input on pros and cons for these models and their adaptability to GTD. Specifically I am looking at the Palm 700wx or Blackberry 8830. I need to be able to synchronize with Outlook 2003 and the tool must be able to capture tasks, contacts, notes & email (at a minimum) and be able to manipulate the information as necessary.

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

Vindy
 
I love my Q!

Hey there.

I was in the same boat as you are with my Q. But adding the app. Agenda One has made the difference for me. It's very easy to install and use.

The push technology in the blackberry is great, as is the data compression (more email for you data dollar). But the syncing with outlook is where it falls short...in that it doesn't (not perfectly)

If you use outlook for your scheduling/contact management etc. I think a device that runs windows mobile is the way to go.

Those are my thoughts anyway.
 
My husband and I each have a Treo 700wx and we also loaded Agenda One just like the previous poster. We are beginners with GTD so I can't say if this set-up is good for someone who is advanced with GTD, but it works great for us. We can manage tasks, contacts and our calendars and we will soon set them up for e-mail. So far, so good!
 
Thanks for the input Bassdrone42. I checked out the Agenda One website and it looks pretty interesting, but it brought up a couple more questions (of course!) 1. Are you able to sync with Outlook? 2. Does the appearance of Outlook change or do things just look different on the PDA? This is important to me because we have a very strict -and limiting IT department that doesn't like anything different. If this works, it's a good thing because it's a lot cheaper than buying a whole new PDA!

PKS1994, glad to hear this also works with Palm. I still might change since my contract is coming up and I like a new toy as much as the next person!

Anyone else care to weigh in on this topic? I'm open to all suggestions/input.
 
I have a Treo 650 (Palm operating system, not Windows) and a Blackberry Pearl.

I installed Agendus on the Treo. This was a significant improvement on the pre-installed software, and sync'd well with Outlook (you have to manually sync). I got on very well with the touch screen. The downside was that my Palm crashes constantly. I don't lose any data, and I'm pretty sure it is an Agendus problem. The Agendus customer support suggested re-formatting and re-installing. Too much of a headache for my liking.

I then got a Pearl. I found the pre-installed Tasks function a big problem for GTD. It syncs (over the air) with Outlook without any problem but you can't easily switch between next action categories. To be honest, I found it unworkable. I have just installed the latest version of Next Action and this is a significant improvement. It seems to work very well (only installed it yesterday).

I can't really talk for the particularly Palm you are thinking of getting, but on balance I prefer the Pearl. Having said that, I really do miss the touchscreen.
 
I have a Palm Treo 680 and it syncs beautifully with Outlook. It took some tweaking when I first got it to make it stable, but things were fixed with a firmware update. No problems since then.
 
I have a Blackberry Curve (8300) and use Next Action. It is a simple system and does exactly what I need and no more. The BB OS is rock solid and I find that Next Action provides a perfect view into the tasks create with Outlook and the contexts created by the GTD add-in. Email, contacts and calendar synch perfectly OTA.

The input mechanism is far superior to the Palm and I find it a cleaner overall experience than my former use of the Treo (I began with a Palm III, went a V, then the Treo 600, 650, and 700).
 
Thanks for the add'l input on the Palm v Blackberry. Since I am technologically challenged (as previously mentioned) I have a couple of questions concerning Next Action. I googled this software and found some screen shots. It looks very minimalist - which is a good thing in my opinion. More importantly, does it sync with Outlook and does it appear differently on your desktop or does it "run behind the scenes" and the appearance of Outlook does not change? Also, when you download one of these applications, Next Action or Agenda One, what happens to the preloaded apps on the PDA/Smartphone - do they dissapear or are they integrated into the new app? I guess I'm worried about competing software. Whatever it is, I need it to be as simple as possible.

BTW, thanks for sharing your wisdoms.
V
 
I downloaded Next Action over the air direct to my Pearl. It installed in a way that the 'technologically challeneged' will be happy with (very easy).

I haven't installed any other software on my desktop, and Next Action syncs with Outlook without any proplem. I don't know how it all works behind the scenes, but I guess I don't need to know!

One other thing I would say is that I bought an earlier version of Next Action from Mobilesoft. I couldn't get it to work at all. I emailed Mobilesoft and got my money back without any argument. Very impressive customer service.
 
Agenda One on the Q

Agenda One syncs perfectly with Outlook.

You can change categories on the fly (can't be done with outlook mobile)
Sort tasks by category etc.

It's a great improvement to my phone. Very happy with the purchase.
 
I think I'll give the Agenda One a try. For some reason all the icons appeal to me. I give it a shot next week on my Q and report back on my success (thinking positive). Thanks again everyone for the input.

V
 
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