Is there a good App to SYNC directly with Microsoft Outlook (contacts and calendar)?

[jsh1120]

I think your instincts are correct. If you continue to use Outlook Express be prepared for ongoing integration problems. It's a dying if not dead product. (Not to be confused with Outlook.) And it's increasingly difficult to find products that interface with it well.

I hope it's not dying. I don't really like clouds. Call me anti-establishment. I like the idea that I have my e-mails on my computer and that they won't get lost and they're not on some server. I don't need a fiasco like Sidekick users had to deal with.

Well, I've bee using gmail for five years. My account has about 30,000 saved emails in it. Can find any email I've ever sent or received over that time in seconds. And I'm currently using 20% of my allotted free space on the google servers. Never lost an email. And I can count on one hand the number of times the servers have been down when I needed gmail over 5 years.

I also have Outlook where all of the same email collects. I have multiple archives of old emails because even with improvements over the years, I can only keep about 18 months of emails in a single archive. Search is a pita and inaccurate. And Outlook crashes about once a month requiring an extensive rebuilding of its indexes that takes about half an hour.

But all of that has nothing to do with my original point. If you are using Outlook EXPRESS, you are using a product that Microsoft itself has abandoned. If you don't trust the "cloud," I suggest you find another pc client for your email. If Outlook serves your needs, go for it. Otherwise, you can move to an email client like Thunderbird (from the Mozilla folks) and at least you'll have an email client with a future.

[Chilazr]

I was mistaken. I'm using Outlook 2003, not Express. Does that make a difference? I'm thinking about just using that as my e-mail client to check my gmail, which I just transferred everything to.

Sorry for hijacking this thread, BTW.

[slinky]

Well, I've bee using gmail for five years. My account has about 30,000 saved emails in it. Can find any email I've ever sent or received over that time in seconds. And I'm currently using 20% of my allotted free space on the google servers. Never lost an email. And I can count on one hand the number of times the servers have been down when I needed gmail over 5 years.

I also have Outlook where all of the same email collects. I have multiple archives of old emails because even with improvements over the years, I can only keep about 18 months of emails in a single archive. Search is a pita and inaccurate. And Outlook crashes about once a month requiring an extensive rebuilding of its indexes that takes about half an hour.

But all of that has nothing to do with my original point. If you are using Outlook EXPRESS, you are using a product that Microsoft itself has abandoned. If you don't trust the "cloud," I suggest you find another pc client for your email. If Outlook serves your needs, go for it. Otherwise, you can move to an email client like Thunderbird (from the Mozilla folks) and at least you'll have an email client with a future.

1. If you have to rebuild your PST files once a month due to crashing, something is wrong with your individual install of Outlook or PST file. You need to replace them with a new one.

2. How often have you been able to use your netbook offline to view and respond to your gmail emails? Tools are there for specific reasons.

3. The cloud is more than just an issue of trust, if you con't care to have backups. It's also a matter of wondering what to do should you ever get charged for gmail (and you may very well get charged) and also about the privacy of your data. You can always get rid of your PSTs but, find yourself in a lawsuit, and any data you have will be subpoenaed from Google's servers, which may keep your data for up to 1.5 years later (from what I recall) even after deletion.

It is your call but it's the understanding of what you're getting into which is important.

[tedmeister]

OK, I can't use the Google sync because I am still running Outlook 2002, which Google Sync does not support nor work with. The companionlinkUSB sync works only with a separate office product on the phone - Deja Office Suite - which has to be purchased (after investing in the new Droid X, there are no funds left for software, it is $40 for the version to do PC Outlook sync) and it is unknown how well it will sync. I have 8 years of calendar appointments (many thousands) in my standalone Outlook on my PC, which I like for the simple reason that it seems to handle timezones well and the printouts are also nice. Also I can directly import .ics files when folks email me appointments.

So - unless I just go whole hog into bed with gmail (which I don't really want to do for the reasons outlined in other posts above) and don't mind the cable-sync option (bluetooth would be better though) for a 'manual' synch on my schedule, then what options do I have? I don't auto-fetch email either; since I get over 450 emails a day, having the incredibly inefficient mail client on the phone to have to clear it out is foolish. I only use the phone email when I don't have my laptop with me (often enough) or I have only a few moments to grab mail in between being not connected. I do the vast majority of my work offline, hence the need for sync when I need it. Going to Google for all calendar functions sounds all well and good, but maybe someone can then describe how I can examine and modify appointments when I am offline, sometimes for days at a time? This cloud business doesn't work all that well when you are offline frequently, sometimes for days, and must work offline.

Do I have any options, or am I pretty well out of luck with Android here?

[huskerkate]

If you are a very tied to Outlook/Office for work or life activities, then the DROID (or other Android phone) may not be a very good choice. If you're used to the sort of MS ActiveSync synchronization, you'll be disappointed. The DROID, in particular, really does push you to the Google method of doing things, and syncing your calendar and contacts is possible, but a bit tricky, and there's often an assumption that you'll doing things through Google online as the proxy to your phone.

The info the other posts have is helpful - it give you an idea of where things are currently. But you might want to consider a Windows Mobile phone, since that will allow you to sync much more tightly.

If you want an Android phone, be prepared to work at bit right now at getting the sync the way you want/need it, and be open to compromise on some of your desires in order to get things done.

I couldn't disagree more and I have only just moved over to the Milestone from an E90 I have used for the past three years. Using either the software I mentioned above or, if you have access to a Exchange server then it is even easier with the built in software.

I couldn't disagree more with Dogs, either. I synced my Exchange email, contacts, and calendar on my D1 right out of the box. but I found the stock email to be fairly rudimentary, so I got Touchdown - works phenomenally!! I haven't tried any of the other programs mentioned, so I can't say what's better or worse. but what I do know is that you can get Exchange to sync nicely. I depend HEAVILY on email and calendar, and no complaints at all.

[huskerkate]

sorry, I misunderstood. I overlooked the part about just being Outlook w/o Exchange....

[slinky]

sorry, I misunderstood. I overlooked the part about just being Outlook w/o Exchange....

Exactly. You want to loose your mind before having to deal with this. Unfortunately Google's approach is that you shouldn't be using MS products... but at least it's not prohibitive like another company we know.