How to synch, Outlook, Droid X, and Ipad calendars

[grizzer5]

I need some help and in order to ask the question I need to describe what I do now. I like to use Outlook on my PC and sync with Google email, calendar, and contacts. I also synch my Droid and my wife's Ipad with Google. That way our three calendars and contacts are identical. Any change to one is soon reflected on the others. I rarely visit Google.

My hard drive recently crashed and HP sent me a new one. I am in the process of rebuilding the programs. Google has decided not to offer the synch program for calendars and contacts any more, so I can't download it and my PC is isolated from the Droid and Ipad. I suppose they are trying to force me to the Cloud.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to synch the calendar and contacts of all three machines?

Thanks for any thoughts you may have.

 

[grizzer5]

I solved my problem by realizing that I had backed up everything, including downloads. I went to downloads on my new HD and found the program I had downloaded several years ago from Google (the one they no longer offer). So I am back to where I want to be.

However, I am not happy with Google. Neither are VERY many people I found while trying to solve my problem. Their decision to do this is very strange. Outlook.com was one program I investigated as a solution but it is new and not ready to synch with PC, and mobile devices yet. Other third party vendors were not going to work.

I think this validates my suspicion of the cloud. Not only does one have to have Internet access but we are at the mercy of whoever owns the servers. I would recommend that anyone using the cloud keep a copy of everything on their own computer.

 

[clcto]

Other third party vendors were not going to work.

Agreed to not keep data in the cloud. In fact, I don't want to give my contact list to Google at all because they are going to profit from using the data for marketing.

But why aren't 3rd party products going to work? Most of them do more than the old Google Calendar Sync. Like handling categories right, recurring task sync, direct connect to Android, Calendar sharing, Wi-Fi sync and stuff like that.