Outlook Syncing -- or, The Sound of the Dead Horse Being Beaten

[alkaholic]

I switched over to Thunderbird because of this.

You know, I never even thought of that. But are there any syncing solutions for the Droid that eat Thunderbird?

 

[AquaDan88]

I use two 3 plugins to completely sync contacts and calendar wirelessly (through the cloud). Lightning, Google Provider, and Zindus. If you need help setting up, feel free to email or PM me.

 

[slinky]

Putting it mildly, I was shocked to find out that the Droid remains one of the only Smartphones on the planet without a reasonable option to sync Outlook PST data to the phone. Motorola totally dropped the ball.

Option 1: Get an HTC device like the Nexus One. If you don't care for the hardware keyboard (I do) then I've heard HTC has done a decent job with Outlook sync.

Option 2: Try Companion Link software. Downsides are that it is $40-50 and it didn't work for me. I had issues with duplicates, Facebook and more. Others have reported success so I can't tell you.

Option 3: Given above. Remove outlook (which Google would like) and I couldn't think of doing. I rely on Outlook for so many things and it just works well.

There are many of us who feel your pain. I will be avoiding Motorola products next time and doing a lot of research before I care to try again.

 

[alkaholic]

I use two 3 plugins to completely sync contacts and calendar wirelessly (through the cloud).

I was on board until you sailed into the cloud.

 

[AquaDan88]

I use two 3 plugins to completely sync contacts and calendar wirelessly (through the cloud).

I was on board until you sailed into the cloud.

Why? I never have to plug my phone into my computer to sync contacts/calendar/emails. It all automatically updates wirelessly via Google's servers.

 

[alkaholic]

I use two 3 plugins to completely sync contacts and calendar wirelessly (through the cloud).

I was on board until you sailed into the cloud.

Why? I never have to plug my phone into my computer to sync contacts/calendar/emails. It all automatically updates wirelessly via Google's servers.

Uh, read up a bit, it may become clear.

 

[slinky]

I was on board until you sailed into the cloud.

Why? I never have to plug my phone into my computer to sync contacts/calendar/emails. It all automatically updates wirelessly via Google's servers.

Uh, read up a bit, it may become clear.

I feel your pain. I was blown away how Motorola and Google (not sure of their role) didn't support Outlook sync out of the box. I couldn't understand the thinking. Try the demo of Companion Link. If that works, good for you. There is another product (missing sync" or the like) that also promises Droid to Outlook sync.

 

[alkaholic]

Try the demo of Companion Link. If that works, good for you. There is another product (missing sync" or the like) that also promises Droid to Outlook sync.

Like I said, I'm dense enough that I actually purchased both CL and the Missing Sync. Again, the Missing Sync is a complete disappointment to me, no calendar functionality and despite a bunch of trying and lots of input from Tech Support I still haven't actually successfully synced after more than a bunch of trying.

CompanionLink is working, and for anyone still out there suffering, it's the best solution I've discovered so far, but it sucks that it doesn't use the native calendar app.

 

[srothkin]

Google's calendar sync program does a pretty good job of keeping my outlook and google calenders synced (bi-directional and automatic).

Is there anything that will reliably and automatically sync (bi-directional) my outlook contacts with gmail contacts?

 

[Nepherim]

Possibly this will work for you: PSST : USB Syncing - NitroDesk TouchDown | Google Groups

 

[rickaltman]

Outlook --> Droid sync...solved

After days spent reading through these threads (and experiencing the same incredulity as many others here), I am pleased to say that I have found a solution that satisfies me.

The current version of Sync2 allows me to move Calendar and Contact items seamlessly from Outlook to my Droid, via my Google account. The Sync2 desktop app works on a schedule or on demand, honors Contact groups and Calendar alarms, and once sync'd to Google, the items show up on my Droid almost immediately. I actually enjoy better sync performance in two critical areas:

- In either direction, I am assured that items will automatically sync, without my having to plug in or launch anything.

- I can easily send out text messages to defined groups.


Notes are handled by a separate program, and while that doesn't thrill me, I do not need frequent updates of my Notes; I just need them to be on my phone, and CompanionLink takes care of that.

So thanks to Sync2, I am now a happy camper with Outlook and Droid. Now if we could just get icons and text to be bigger...

 

[slinky]

The current version of Sync2 allows me to move Calendar and Contact items seamlessly from Outlook to my Droid, via my Google account. The Sync2 desktop app works on a schedule or on demand, honors Contact groups and Calendar alarms, and once sync'd to Google, the items show up on my Droid almost immediately. I actually enjoy better sync performance in two critical areas.

So unfortunately the solution for Calendar and Contact (not notes and tasks) is once again to provide Google with all of your information into their cloud. Glad it works for you but this reliance is a terrible disappointment. I can't stand all of these cloud based phones and getting rid of simple sync to desktop for people who don't want their data all over the planet.

 

[rickaltman]

I agree that there should be a shorter route and that having to go through Google is not optimum. While my personal philosophy about this is that privacy is overrated, one should not have to subscribe to that belief to find a procedure that works.

 

[Kabilos]

I have found that the Touchdown application has worked perfectly since the day that I installed it. I did the 5 day trial that they offered and by day 4 I was already hooked. It works perfectly and have not had a single problem yet. Nor has it wiped my outlook settings and made me re-enter them.

For $20 bucks which I ended up writting off on the company, this has been a godsend and kept me with my droid.

If anything, try their 5 day trial and see what it does for you. You'll quickly learn that its a very simple application that works.

 

[rickaltman]

Kabilos, can you give us a 50-cent tour here of what Touchdown does and how it does it?