Droid 2 and Droid X Exchange sync questions

[mofohead]

I have been without a smartphone for the past year. I'm getting ready to make a purchase within the next few days. I've been reading all sorts of forums but have yet to find a post that specifically answers the questions I have in regards to Exchange activesync.

I have configured many smartphones for my clients. Many android phones as well. My last smart phone was a WinMo 6.0 and it sync'd perfectly with Exchange. A good portion of the android phones that I've dealt with in the past year have their quirks.

Here is what I need. I need to by able to activesync with Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010. More specifically I need my calendar to sync and my entire mailbox. Not just the inbox but all sub-folders in my inbox, my contacts, my tasks, my notes, and any additional folders that I have created in Outlook. I need absolutely everything in Outlook to sync with my phone via the Exchange Activesync.

The reason why I have these concerns is because I've had clients of mine get android phones that sync mail and calendar but would not bring over contacts. I just had one on this past friday (LG Ally) that would not sync her corporate calendar and she had to take it back.

I've been looking at the Droid 2 and the Droid X but I want to make sure I'm not going to run into any of these issues before I make the purchase. Unfortunately I have not had any of my clients purchase the Droid 2 or X so I don't know if these capabilities are working with these phones or not. I would really like to hear from some users that are using these phones in the corporate environment and can speak first hand on whether or not these functions are working properly on these phones.

I really don't want to wait but if these functions are not working flawlessly on either of these phones I may just have to wait for a WinPhone7. And more specifically, when I say work flawlessly I mean out of the box without the need of some third party application to handle authentication to my Exchange box. I'm looking for out of the box native support for full Exchange sync.

Any input would be much appreciated.

 

[Backnblack]

Get Touchdown...Problem Solved.

 

[mofohead]

Isn't touchdown a purchased program?

 

[Backnblack]

Isn't touchdown a purchased program?

Yes....X users get it for Free.

Whats the difference if its a paid app? it works 100%

 

[mofohead]

The difference is that WinMo just works out of the box without purchasing third apps to make the phone do what its supposed to do.

 

[Backnblack]

The difference is that WinMo just works out of the box without purchasing third apps to make the phone do what its supposed to do.

Then I suggest sticking with what works for you.
Activesync on the Droid has always been buggy.

 

[mofohead]

What exactly does touchdown do? And do I understand correctly that it's free for X but for droid 2 it does cost?

 

[mofohead]

I guess what I'm wanting to know is, is touchdown a replacement email application or is it simply a conduit to handle the authentication for mail sync?

 

[mofohead]

Doesn't anyone have any other input on this? No first hand experience with Exchange 2007/2010 active sync???

 

[jpeake]

Doesn't anyone have any other input on this? No first hand experience with Exchange 2007/2010 active sync???

I have tried the Droid X and HTC Incredible with 2.2. Both returned because ActiveSync sucks.

WinMo 7 is coming out in October. If you can wait a month or so, it may be well worth it.

My biggest complaint with the latest demo (Incredible with 2.2) is that meeting invites do not display any of the meeting details (like when and where the meeting is). You can accept the meeting and them go search your calendar to find the details. I tried TouchDown like other suggested and it's the same problem. Also tried RoadSync, and the plain 2.2 email app (HTC replaces is with their own flavor)

At this point, Droid Does Not work for businesses on Exchange 2007/2010 ( we are 2007 with Outlook 2010)

 

[mofohead]

Thanks a bunch! This helps me out a lot. I really like all the features of the newer droid phones but wasn't sure how well they meshed with Exchange. Looks like I may need to wait another month or so.

 

[takeshi]

Any input would be much appreciated.

Don't assume that you have to use the stock apps. I don't know why so many people seem to do this. IMO it's like complaining that your PC only came with Notepad and Wordpad... If those included apps work for you, great. If not, get out there and do something about it. Expecting something out-of-the-box to do everything you arbitrarily expect it to seems unreasonable to me unless you were directly involved in the product's R&D and had control over its specific development. There's no way to make these things one-size-fits-all and everyone has their special little thing that "should be included".

I guess what I'm wanting to know is, is touchdown a replacement email application or is it simply a conduit to handle the authentication for mail sync?

It's an Exchange client. It supports a few other mail servers as well. Hit Nitrodesk's web site if you want details.

Activesync on the Droid has always been buggy.

FWIW, I've never had issues with ActiveSync (and Touchdown). ActiveSync and the stock email app may be a buggy combo but it's quite a leap to declare ActiveSync buggy IMO.

My biggest complaint with the latest demo (Incredible with 2.2) is that meeting invites do not display any of the meeting details (like when and where the meeting is). You can accept the meeting and them go search your calendar to find the details. I tried TouchDown like other suggested and it's the same problem. Also tried RoadSync, and the plain 2.2 email app (HTC replaces is with their own flavor)

I don't really use meeting requests for my personal Exchange account. However, I just sent a test request and Touchdown had all the details in the request itself. I'm not sure which version of Exchange this account is on as it's hosted but I'll see if I can find out. I doubt it's 2007 or 2010.

 

[jpeake]

Thanks a bunch! This helps me out a lot. I really like all the features of the newer droid phones but wasn't sure how well they meshed with Exchange. Looks like I may need to wait another month or so.

Sound like you are in the same boat as I am. I really want to like Android, and have tried several demo units from my company's Verizon rep. But so far they just don't stack up well against BlackBerry for Exchange use. Will try again in 6 months or so.

If I was a home user, and only cared about gmail, Android is the perfect phone.

 

[mofohead]

Expecting something out-of-the-box to do everything you arbitrarily expect it to seems unreasonable to me unless you were directly involved in the product's R&D and had control over its specific development.

I would debate this comment. I don't find it unreasonable by any means at all. If a phone is advertised as being able to interface with Exchange for corporate email then I would expect it to be able to do that without requiring third party apps. More importantly when terms like activesync and Exchange are thrown around I expect full integration...not just my inbox. Hell, I can do that with any POP internet email account on a basic LG ENV3 with a $10/month limited multimedia data plan. And WinMo has been doing this for years.....out of the box without third party apps.

I don't buy the argument that "it's like complaining that your PC only came with Notepad and Wordpad". It's more like complaining that your PC only came with notepad and wordpad when your PC was advertised as being able to create Office Word documents but in reality it only came with Word Viewer installed.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to be argumentative about this. I'm just trying to understand why some people are so willing to bend over for a $20 app when in my mind this stuff should work out of the box. I agree with jpeake, I really want to like the android phones. I just don't want to get bent over for an app purchase for everything that I think the phone should do based on my experience with WinMo in the past.

By the way, thanks for everyone's input.