A couple of noobie questions about Android

[MortimerJazz]

Next week the contract for my iPhone runs out and I'm pretty sure I'm going to jump ship for Android. I've got a few questions though that I'd be really grateful if someone could help me out with:

Synching with Outlook: One of the things that I want to be able to do is synch my phone with my work calendar, which is in Outlook. From what I've read, Android seems to be all about your Google Account, so adding/removing/synching stuff from Google Calendar is a piece of cake, but would I also be able to add stuff from Outlook on to my phone calendar? How hard would it be?

Connecting to a Mac: I've got a Macbook at home that I'd be using to copy a load of music/PDFs etc on to my new mobile. Has anyone had any problems with that? I'm assuming it would just be a case of connecting a USB cable to the phone and then dragging files from my desktop on to the new device.

Rooting your phone: What does it mean to 'root' your phone ... and what are the advantages of doing this?

If it helps at all, I'm currently trying to decide between the HTC Desire and the Samsung Galaxy S ... and if anyone has any thoughts about which one of those to go for, then I'm all ears too

Thanks a lot in advance for your help

 

[takeshi]

Synching with Outlook

Good luck with this. I suggest searching on several different Android forum sites as this is discussed quite a bit. However, I don't think I've seen anyone mention any solution that they're totally happy with.

Rooting your phone: What does it mean to 'root' your phone ... and what are the advantages of doing this?

This won't seem helpful but search on this as well. It's a well-beaten dead horse. IMO you shouldn't be rooting if you don't know how to fish.

If it helps at all, I'm currently trying to decide between the HTC Desire and the Samsung Galaxy S ... and if anyone has any thoughts about which one of those to go for, then I'm all ears too

Selecting a smartphone is always about finding whatever it is that suits you best. As is typical with such questions, you've omitted anything about what you need/want so it's impossible to give you any meaningful suggestions. Have you looked at all the other "Which should I get?" threads?

 

[Chroma]

Connecting to a Mac: I've got a Macbook at home that I'd be using to copy a load of music/PDFs etc on to my new mobile. Has anyone had any problems with that? I'm assuming it would just be a case of connecting a USB cable to the phone and then dragging files from my desktop on to the new device.

I sync my N1 with my macbook regularly. If your looking for drag and drop, that works just fine. If you want a very good syncing program, use Missing Sync.

Its a bit pricey, but I've been using it for some time now. It'll sync your android to your itunes music/playlist, documents, folders, pictures. Also you can sync over cable, wifi, or bluetooth with missing sync if your wish.

 

[ewingr]

I have a solution for OUtlook, not ideal, but works for the most part.

You can synch your OUtlook Calendar to Google CAlendar with Google's sync. Go to a Google calendar, click on help, and check out sync topic. May want review some Google help topics on it.

That being said, I have not synched then to an Android device yet, but have been doing it on my current old WinMO device. I'm sure it would be even better on the Android.

Just a quick note on rooting: keeping in mind I don't have Android yet, from what I've read then, rooting is used if you want to modify things that are not allowed as the phone ships. I think that would include doing things such as installing custom ROMS. I think of rooting as gaining what a Unix Admin would call SU Access (super user), with rights to do anything you want, including, brick the phone.

 

[lunatic59]

Next week the contract for my iPhone runs out and I'm pretty sure I'm going to jump ship for Android. I've got a few questions though that I'd be really grateful if someone could help me out with:

Synching with Outlook: One of the things that I want to be able to do is synch my phone with my work calendar, which is in Outlook. From what I've read, Android seems to be all about your Google Account, so adding/removing/synching stuff from Google Calendar is a piece of cake, but would I also be able to add stuff from Outlook on to my phone calendar? How hard would it be?

If you want to/need to continue Outlook Calendar, then look into this Introduction to Google Calendar Sync - Google Calendar Help which will keep your Google Calendar sync'ed with Outlook. If you sync through an exchange server, The latest Android (FroYo 2.2) added Remote Wipe, Exchange server auto setup (no need to know your server settings anymore), and exchange calendar support so you can sync contacts and calendars directly.

Connecting to a Mac: I've got a Macbook at home that I'd be using to copy a load of music/PDFs etc on to my new mobile. Has anyone had any problems with that? I'm assuming it would just be a case of connecting a USB cable to the phone and then dragging files from my desktop on to the new device.

It depends on the level of synchronization you want. If simple file copying is all you want, then it's just like plugging in any other USB storage device.

Rooting your phone: What does it mean to 'root' your phone ... and what are the advantages of doing this?

It means gaining administrative permissions to the entire device. It is usually done to modify part of the OS or load an OS version that wasn't specifically approved for your device. It can also grant access to certain aspects of the hardware that normally wouldn't have been permitted. However, with FroYo, a lot of that is moot.

If it helps at all, I'm currently trying to decide between the HTC Desire and the Samsung Galaxy S ... and if anyone has any thoughts about which one of those to go for, then I'm all ears too

Thanks a lot in advance for your help

The best thing you can do is to get one of them in your hand to see how they feel. I prefer a smallish solidly built phone the isn't too boxy. The main reason I went with the N1. The Desire in HTC's retail version of the N1 with some minor differences and one major one ... the Sense UI. Not sure what overlay Samsung puts on their phones.