Help Bionic & Outlook Contacts

[dlcpa]

I am coming from a BB Storm 2 and I am interested in the Motorola Bionic, because of size, speed and I think I can use my ThinkOutside the Box keyboard with it.

One of my concerns is how many Outlook fields will sync w/ the Bionic and it's latest version of its OS. Blackberry was Ok but of course not as good as the Windows Mobile sync that I got with my Dell Axim. Does anyone know what the sync fields are?

The other contacts issue happened when I returned my Storm 2 to get the first Droid that came out 2 weeks later. I insisted to the salesperson at Verizon that I did not want all my contacts synced with Google anything and he said no problem. The sync took a long time as I have 3,800 contacts and some pretty extensive information in the notes area of many.

When I got home that night, I went to my gmail account and absolutely everything was online including some very personal financial information. I was furious! I deleted every contact on gmail, went back to Verizon and demanded the Storm 2 back at no cost.

I don't want that to happen again. How can I make sure that if I buy the Bionic, it won't?

dlcpa

 

[sdtag]

This phone will not sync any Outlook anything out of the box. I was a little disappointed.
Then I found Companionlink for the work PC and Deja Office for the Droid.
Companionlink is 50.00 but you can ask them for a discount and they'll give you a code for 10 bucks off. I haven't actually bought it yet as I am still in the 14 day free trial period.
I sync using a USB cable. No cloud.
It works flawlessly so far.
4 email accounts get pushed, more or less, and I sync Outlook calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes with the USB cable. I am very happy with this phone, it rocks!
I also bought the laptop dock, or whatever they call it. It's a little pricey but very cool, very thin. It makes typing on the phone as if you were on a laptop.
I highly recommend this combination. Go for it, you won't be sorry.

PS get the extended battery and a car charger.

 

[Thom]

I insisted to the salesperson at Verizon that I did not want all my contacts synced with Google anything and he said no problem. The sync took a long time as I have 3,800 contacts and some pretty extensive information in the notes area of many.

When I got home that night, I went to my gmail account and absolutely everything was online including some very personal financial information.

I use Google to sync and my contacts that don't change that often. I sync once a week. It would be nice if it was autmatic. It isn't. I have to export the contacts to a file and manually import them into Gmail.

I have heard good reports about Deja Office from others. That is a possible solution when the contacts change a lot.

I believe that the only distinction in the choice is how many changes happen and how frequently.

What caught my attention in your message was something I thought I should go out of my way to mention to you ... you say you have a lot of personal finacanil information on your phone. I feel it necessary to point out that it is not a secure environment. Your phone could be lost or stolen. A nasty person might create an App that you install that searchs through all your files looking for good stuff to steal.

So ... what I am suggesting to you is the inverse of twhat you were describing. Use Google to do the updates. If there is anything you would not trust to that environement I suggest you should not put it on youre phone.

(My sensative data is on a secure worksation behing a strong firewall.)

... Thom

 

[dlcpa]

This phone will not sync any Outlook anything out of the box. I was a little disappointed.
Then I found Companionlink for the work PC and Deja Office for the Droid.
Companionlink is 50.00 but you can ask them for a discount and they'll give you a code for 10 bucks off. I haven't actually bought it yet as I am still in the 14 day free trial period.
I sync using a USB cable. No cloud.
It works flawlessly so far.
4 email accounts get pushed, more or less, and I sync Outlook calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes with the USB cable. I am very happy with this phone, it rocks!
I also bought the laptop dock, or whatever they call it. It's a little pricey but very cool, very thin. It makes typing on the phone as if you were on a laptop.
I highly recommend this combination. Go for it, you won't be sorry.

PS get the extended battery and a car charger.

Thanks so much for your honesty. It seems like there is no easy way to sync contacts and all the Outlook data without Google. Yes it can be done but it doesn'tlook too easy. Syncing contacts when it is difficult leads to trouble and sometimes double or triple the contacts. I wish MS developed a decent phone or a decent WinMo because that sync with my Dell and WinMo was effortless and complete. With 100s of millions of Office Suites out there, one would think having that sync would be a #1 priority for all phone and OSs.

I saw the Bionic last night and liked it very much. I hope I can find a way to do this otherwise I'll just wait. Thanks again

dlcpa

 

[dlcpa]

I use Google to sync and my contacts that don't change that often. I sync once a week. It would be nice if it was autmatic. It isn't. I have to export the contacts to a file and manually import them into Gmail.

I have heard good reports about Deja Office from others. That is a possible solution when the contacts change a lot.

I believe that the only distinction in the choice is how many changes happen and how frequently.

What caught my attention in your message was something I thought I should go out of my way to mention to you ... you say you have a lot of personal finacanil information on your phone. I feel it necessary to point out that it is not a secure environment. Your phone could be lost or stolen. A nasty person might create an App that you install that searchs through all your files looking for good stuff to steal.

So ... what I am suggesting to you is the inverse of twhat you were describing. Use Google to do the updates. If there is anything you would not trust to that environement I suggest you should not put it on youre phone.

(My sensative data is on a secure worksation behing a strong firewall.)

... Thom

Thom, I really appreciate your concern and advice. There is something to say for having the convenience of all that info at my fingertips. True, if someone finds my phone, if they can find the financial info that could be a pain but the same can happen if someone steals or finds my wallet.

Wth Google 100s of millions could have access to that data and who knows what can happen in the future with some lunatic blowing up Google security or someone stealing my password. At least if my wallety or my phone is gone, I know it.

Things stored on the phone can't be very easily searched and are often transposed or filled with garbage.

For the same reasons, I don't believe in online storage. If an unscrupulous company buys a legit company, all the data is at risk.

So, as I said in a previous response, I really like the Bionic and I keep saying to myself there must be a droid desktop someplace that can handle the gazillion bytes of MSOffice data. If not, programmers have a huge opportunity here.

There are no more mediocre programs than Excel and Word yet they are the overwhelming leaders in their fields. They have not evolved in a decade but the ease of use and tranferability and their incimbancy make them winners.

Is the problem here that Google doesn't want people to sync without Google?

dlcpa

 

[dlcpa]

This phone will not sync any Outlook anything out of the box. I was a little disappointed.
Then I found Companionlink for the work PC and Deja Office for the Droid.
Companionlink is 50.00 but you can ask them for a discount and they'll give you a code for 10 bucks off. I haven't actually bought it yet as I am still in the 14 day free trial period.
I sync using a USB cable. No cloud.
It works flawlessly so far.
4 email accounts get pushed, more or less, and I sync Outlook calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes with the USB cable. I am very happy with this phone, it rocks!
I also bought the laptop dock, or whatever they call it. It's a little pricey but very cool, very thin. It makes typing on the phone as if you were on a laptop.
I highly recommend this combination. Go for it, you won't be sorry.

PS get the extended battery and a car charger.

I kind of glossed over the Companion Link and Deja Office for the Droid because you never tried it, correct? So you are syncing with Google? Maybe I should check those out. I wonder if anyone has feedback on those two programs, other than the program authors or relatives!

 

[Thom]

Thom, I really appreciate your concern and advice.

Is the problem here that Google doesn't want people to sync without Google?

dlcpa

I'm really happy you didn't take what I said the wrong way. After 20 years supporting classified computing projects for the federal government I am very sensative to the potential hazards.

My suggestion is ... live with the inconvenience and don't put the sensative data on an unprotected deevice. If you choose to ... when you get bitten it will not be a surprise.

As for Google and transfers ... I think the logic is that they do provide a solutiopn and they do support open source and make it easy for companies like Deja Office to provide alternatives.

You get to decide what is important to you and you get to go forward your way ... not mine ... not Googles.

I think the DroidX was a major milestone. I think the Bionic builds on that and is the first real copeditor to go up aganist iPhone.

... Thom

 

[sdtag]

I kind of glossed over the Companion Link and Deja Office for the Droid because you never tried it, correct? So you are syncing with Google? Maybe I should check those out. I wonder if anyone has feedback on those two programs, other than the program authors or relatives!

Yes I use them both and they work very well. No cloud, I use a USB cable. no duplicates. very reliable. The calendar is better than the google calender, it syncs way more fields. I do use google docs for a few files that are not sensitive, inventory spreadsheets, tax tables, etc.

I think Android/Google are competitors with the allmighty MS, that's why they don't sync easily. They want you to convert from MS and exchange to their version. They are trying to take over the world in my humble opinion, but MS is so deeply rooted in the business world I think it would be impossible to topple them.
So far so good I am happy with my setup using Companionlink.
I don't use Exchange, I have 3 pop email accounts and a gmail account on my phone and they all work just fine.
Take it for what it's worth. I have had this phone for a whopping 2 weeks now. just my 2 cents...

 

[larsenracing]

Why does everyone say the bionic doesn't sync well with the Bionic? Mine syncs great. I get emails, contacts, and the calender and didn't install any other software. Just go to settings/accounts and set up the account. I am using the Corporate sync one. My admin many have something on the server for syncing but it works pretty well. Not as well as my Storm 2 did but is manageable. I also use TaskSync for my tasks works well but not absolute. Just miss my Notes from Outlook haven't found an easy way to do this without going through some other middle software.