What Smartphone do people use to sync with Outlook

[tominperu]

Thanks

PaulK,

Thanks a million. Much appreciated. My response to your response is as follows.

Does it synch with outlook without any third party software that costs money?
Yes - Blackberry Desktop is free

Great!

Does it allow multiple categories of notes. I have about 40 categories?
Yes - I only have about 15 categories, but worked fine

I think Palm only allowed 15 which makes me still wonder if more are possible but I'll assume you checked that.

Does it allow post dated tasks which only appear at the date they start?
I don't think so - mine only has 'Due' date, not start date

Good to know but I guess it's not a deal breaker.

Does it sync adequately with the Outlook GTD add-in?
Haven't used this

This question was asked before by another poster above and nobody seems to know. I may post the same question on the add in forum. This is pretty critical to me.

Can you hide notes only allowing opening with a password?

Not that I can find

Okay, again not a deal breaker.

Does it allow a task to have multiple categories/contexts at the same time?
Yes

Excellent. That suggests to me its more in tune with Outlook than Palm used to be.

 

[ProfessorSue]

Android

I like my Android. It syncs well, and has a big enough screen for tired old eyes.

(But oops -- I realize you're asking about Outlook. I'm using other programs, for Apple. Don't know whether Outlook syncs with Droid.)

 

[tominperu]

Oh dear

Just bought a Blackberry Curve!

I like the web surfing compared to my old Centro and the fact that I can use wifi in the house.

But it seems I should have asked a lot of other questions above, like for instance, can I switch easily between categories/contexts for tasks? It seems I have to go into some menu function to change the filter just to go from say @home to @office. That means it is just so much slower to use. So after a couple of days I still haven't moved from my old Centro as I know its going to be really annoying to suddenly have to go though that whereas before it was so much easier. Seems an incredible oversight.

Also having used Chapura Keysuite on the Palm for about 4 years I had forgotten the delight of having the same categories coming up in tasks and notes!

I really don't think I can cope with that now! It would just be going backwards totally.

So, can people out there help me use my Blackberry? I've read about NextAction on the web which seems to deal with these problems but it doesn't look too pretty on the slides I've seen. But is that a good option that people are using?

The alternative is to try and change it for another phone.

Why are GTD on PDAs going backwards? Why is there nothing that just does the basics so well like Chapura Keysuite on the Palm. Seems incredible that that things have to be worse with all this extra power and sophistication of smartphones.

 

[PaulK]

PDAs previously focused on productivity. Current uses for smartphones include web browsing, music, games and many other 'apps'. I think loss of focus is the reason things may seem 'worse'.

Good news is there are plenty of apps to fill the gap. iPhone seems to have the largest number, followed by Android then Nokia, Blackberry, Windows.

Might be worth looking at productivity/GTD apps for Blackberry. I haven't tried any since my work Blackberry is locked down. I use Pocket Informant on Android - good view of actions by context. There is a Blackberry version:
http://www.pocketinformant.com/products_info.php?p_id=pocketinformant_bb&tab_id=pocketinformant_bb

 

[tominperu]

Thanks PaulK. I suppose with the Centro I was using a third party app and with Blackberry I need to find another.

Pocketinformant is the other I'm considering. I've just looked at the website and it seems to sync directly to Outlook via cable rather than just via toodledo over the cloud. Is that true?

Has anyone used Pocketinformant and Next Action and can give an opinion on both?

Seems like neither have a notes part. Any recommendation for that for the Blackberry? The default version looks too basic to work well. That is not so important to sync with Outlook.

 

[PaulK]

I haven't synched Pocket Informant directly to Outlook on the Blackberry. There is a trial version that you could download to see if it works for you.

Sorry, no ideas on the notes app for Blackberry.

 

[BenvenutoCellini]

please keep us informed how it goes

tominperu -- we have communicated before about this stuff -- I still have my centro and really would like to take the leap to a new device but don't have the time or energy to handle set backs.

have you checked out companionlink?

http://www.companionlink.com/blackberry/outlook/

Do not use it now but have it on my list of sync software to check out if I ever upgrade devices. I have the same needs and I thought it presented a possible solution.

good luck and please keep us informed!

 

[tominperu]

tominperu -- we have communicated before about this stuff -- I still have my centro and really would like to take the leap to a new device but don't have the time or energy to handle set backs.

have you checked out companionlink?

http://www.companionlink.com/blackberry/outlook/

Do not use it now but have it on my list of sync software to check out if I ever upgrade devices. I have the same needs and I thought it presented a possible solution.

good luck and please keep us informed!

Just finding time to ring my company's service desk to get them to install the necessary software on my laptop for the outlook syncs. Trouble is it looks like I will want to trial at least two third party apps which is a bit of a pain.

Yes, I will let you know!

 

[tominperu]

Bienvenuto,

Just a quick update though I expect this is going to take a while. I'm still using my Centro but struggling to find a means of doing GTD on the Blackberry. It's a bit like moving to a totally new country and having to deal with major culture shock!

I've installed Pocket Informant which is synching with Outlook (tasks and calender). It's task view is like Outlook in that you can ask it to group by category/context and can then expand out the tasks in each category. The view works quite well.

The only problem with it is that my recurrent tasks synced from Outlook are coming up a multiple tasks. Seems like recurrent tasks don't really work in Pocket Informant as you can't hide the non active ones. They will show all the time. Or so it seems. If anyone can tell me how to hide the ones that aren't active I'd really appreciate it.

PI calender is also pretty good as well. At least, as good as the Palm/Keysuite calender on the Palm. Only thing is I want to be able to turn the task list off from appearing in the calender and it may be I can't do that.

I've found out that you can use Evernote on the Blackberry. Evernote has had good reports on this forum and I don't need to sync it with Outlook, as my notes are almost all home related (rather than work).

The browsers great, so much better than the Palm Centro.

Getting the hang of the navigation button gradually. Still miss the stylus but I can see that eventually I will able to input tasks with one hand, which is great if like me you have a wrong baby to carry around in the evening!

 

[bockman]

iPhone with over-the-air syncing

Just thought I'd chime in on this topic. I was first interested in Franklin Covey and made the switch to GTD when David Allen came to do a class here in the DC area. Over the years, my tech gear has included a Handspring Prism, Palm TX, and Treo 650. A few years ago I made the switch to the iPhone so I could avoid having to carry an iPod and a cell phone with me.

The only thing I disliked about the iPhone has been its inability to work natively with tasks. My calendar and my e-mail gets synched over-the-air beautifully.

Recently, however, I came across "TaskTask" for the iOS and it picks up right where I need it to: it will sync my tasks with Outlook over the air. Life is good again.

My two cents. Good luck in your decisions.

Kory...

 

[tominperu]

update

Just an update I suppose mainly for the benefit of Bienvenuto.

My progress on settings up on the Blackberry has been rather slow as I have little time to devote to it.

As far as Task/Action lists I have installed Pocket Informant. It seems to work pretty well. It syncs with tasks on Outlook very well. I use the GTS add in and it still works. The link between project and task is lost on the sync but this is not a big deal for me. At least the projects, tasks and contexts move over without a glytch. The problem is only that actions with future start dates are not hidden. This is a backwards step compared to my Palm set up and that of Outlook itself. Pocket Informant seem to have a Beta out that addresses this so I look forward to using the final version of that.

My main problem with the Blackberry are that all the categories are shared over tasks, notes and contacts which makes it much more cumbersome. This was not the way with my set up on the Palm Centro, where I have separate category lists for each.

There as also a problem in that I am used to using Keysuite on the Palm where I could have two note app and two calender apps. This was great for the work personal split. With the Blackberry I haven't found any other apps that provide me with the same facilty.

So for the moment I am keeping the Blackberry in a draw and still using the Centro. I suspect an Android could have been better for me but it would also have had other downsides.

I will put the time in getting the Blackberry up to fit for purpose when I have finally lost by Centro.

It's great for web browsing and has got some other nice toys but for sheer practicality for GTD it is still way behind the Palm Centro. At least for my way of working.

 

[tominperu]

Just thought I'd put an update on.

Much more happy with the Blackberry now I have got used to it. Still not perfect. Some querky syncing going on at times and still no tasks with future date narks but I am really enjoying the good keyboard, the better web surfing, the better camera and many other features. I'm even getting quite good on the rollerball. Now using ActionPad and NextAction! which are pretty good and sync to Outlook.

I will post a separate thread to summarise better.

Have now discarded the Palm!