Some syncing questions

[philnolan3d]

While I wait for my Droid X to arrive on Wednesday I have a couple questions. Coming from an iPhone I of course used itunes to sync everything. I'm glad to get rid of that, but wonder how to sync now. When the Droid connects is it just like an external rive and I drop MP3's in?

I know Windows Media Player has a sync option, does that work?

How about syncing my contacts with Windows and Thunderbird? It was very convenient that the iPhone did that, I don't put any contacts in GMail. Even though they do host my email I still use Thunderbird with a non GMail email address so there's no reason for me to put my contacts online.

I doubt there's any chance of it syncing my calender with Thunderbird, iPhone didn't do that either.

 

[mwhartman]

I was a former iPhone user. I have a Droid 1 and I use a Mac. I've added my experiences below. Hope they are helpful

While I wait for my Droid X to arrive on Wednesday I have a couple questions. Coming from an iPhone I of course used itunes to sync everything. I'm glad to get rid of that, but wonder how to sync now. When the Droid connects is it just like an external rive and I drop MP3's in?

Yes when you connect (mount) your X to your computer it will be an external device. Prior to moving my music, I created playlist in iTunes. Once connected(mounted) I created a folder on my SD card named music, did a click, drag, and drop. For any song or group of songs that I had not added to a playlist, I did a single or group move. There is a app/tool called Double Twist that many have used.

I know Windows Media Player has a sync option, does that work?

How about syncing my contacts with Windows and Thunderbird?
I imported my contacts from my Exchange account without any difficulty. Once you add you email settings sync and it should move to your phone. I do not recall how but at one point I was able to import all of my contacts from my Mac's vfc.
It was very convenient that the iPhone did that, I don't put any contacts in GMail. Even though they do host my email I still use Thunderbird with a non GMail email address so there's no reason for me to put my contacts online.
I do not want to sway you but Gmail syncs your contacts very easily. This may be something for you to consider especially if you root or change devices (phones). Anytime you do a factory reset and data wipe you need to reenter your account which, if there, will automatically reload onto your phone.


I doubt there's any chance of it syncing my calender with Thunderbird, iPhone didn't do that either.

I was able to sync my Exchange calendar. The only issue I'm not able to accept or decline meetings.

Mike

 

[philnolan3d]

Thanks I don't use Exchange. Not even exactly sure what it is, I just understand some businesses use it. Good to know about the MP3s though, thanks.

 

[mwhartman]

Exchange is an email protocol from Micorsoft. I used Thunderbird and still have it on my iMac. I'm hopeful that you will be able to sync the contacts. If you have issues post and you will get feedback.

Mike

 

[harrellj]

Actually.. Exchange is the mail server from Microsoft, typically paired with Outlook. For the Lotus Notes people, Exchange is like Domino.

It is also entirely possible to have contacts and calendar from Thunderbird in sync with the phone. The trick is to get the extensions that'll sync them to your Google account (use the phone account) and let the phone do its thing at that point. (I have Thunderbird in sync with calendar and contacts on phone as well as email and have a vista gadget on another computer that also displays the calendar too).

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[tehpriest]

I used the Mozilla suit when my Office and Outlook work licence expired and if I remember correct there is a plugin for Thunderbird to sync with Gmail this gave me the ability a bit like a Blackberry or Companionlink, that is to sync calendar and contacts between the two from wherever I was. I never went into the Gmail account itself as it was all on the phone or Thunderbird on the PC.

 

[davewave918]

good luck with your new x, hope you like it.

regarding music sync: i have not used any 3rd party apps to sync music rather i just copy mp3 files from my source (usually a removable storage device) to the droid, which once the storage has been mounted, will act like a removable storage device. get a few memory cards and you should be able to keep busy for a while. as an aside i find the music player that comes with the droid to be sub-par at best, although using it for playback via headphones and speakers is adequate and generally works well.

regarding contacts sync: so from what i am reading you store your current contact list in thunderbird correct? i just wanted to confirm that and also i have very little knowledge myself of this app, but if you can export the contacts then there should always be a way to import them. then next question is what did you want to import them into? well you need to use the droid to figure that out. as far as a true sync of contacts...well lets see search function "sync contacts"

 

[philnolan3d]

Thanks for the info, I'll look for those plugins. Thunderbird uses Windows Contacts, on Vista and probably Win7 you can find these in C:\users\[username]\Contacts\ Each person gets their own file that is their name and a .contact extension. like this:

iTunes will also read these so that's how it synced my iphone.