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How To Former Palm Users Transition to Droid Guide

Not sure whether Pimlico intends to do a port to Android, although their product Pimlical purports to support "multiple platforms" via a web interface driven by Google calendar (as so very many products hoping to mimic Garnet's utility have).

Splashdata, which acquired iambic, is also allegedly working on a port of Agendus (which would be a Godsend for me....I've used Agendus since it was Action Names and running on my Palm III.) I haven't even heard of an alpha release yet, though, so that's probably far away.

Harold
 
Anyone catch the news that Access has made Grafitti (the better version 1!) available for free on the Android Marketplace?

You have to activate it in "settings --> language and keyboards" but you can have your old silkscreen area and Graffiti back if you don't want to deal with the virtual keyboard.

It's actually kinda fun to run through it's paces, but I think I'll stick with Swiftkey Beta for now --- it's ability to predict the current (and next!) word make it highly preferrable, even to Swipe.

Harold
 
OK - after trying ALL of the other programs out there, Evernote, Note Everything, etc. and finding that they work great if you want to be able to sync with the internet (I think that's what they call cloud syncing?) - but I wanted a program that I could open on my desktop, add/edit/delete the memos there, and then sync that with my phone, either directly with a USB cable or through wifi. The most important thing to me was that I can actually open up each memo/note and read it, change it etc. ON my computer. B-FOlders is THE program for that - the only one I could find that solved that problem. It has a password protection feature too - not as great as the Palm desktop by Access because there you could make private any notes you didn't want to be seen, so I could have 100 visible notes, and lots of other memos hidden away. I don't think this has that feature, but it's the closest I've come to the Palm desktop Manager (which I miss TERRIBLY). It still is THE best thing out there - but as I said, this is a close second. This is only my second day using it - I will give it the full 30 day trial and then check back in here and let you all know. Thank you to those people who suggested it. It costs $29.99 to buy, but it would be worth it because none of the other programs seem to offer the computer editing abilities.
 
Would really like to give B-Folders a spin, but it refuses to synchronize with my HTC Droid Incredible. Any suggestions/workarounds?

H.
 
Nevermind, still had software firewall up on system from before I integrated my system into new firm with hardware firewall. Now can put it through its paces.

H
 
Hello fellow android users,

I finally retired my Treo 755P but not without mourning. I am using the EVO and using a Macbook. My problem is how do a sync with my CPU? HTC is not compatible with Mac. I have read many posts but have not found anything yet.
I loved the ease of the Palm system and compatibility on all platforms. Like many others, I have many memos and tasks that I would like to transfer over. I was using Palm Desktop and was happy with it, it did the job. I am not as tech savvy as many of the people on here, can someone please help me on what is the best method when having a Macbook.
Also, it doesn't seem that there is an all powerful program that can handle all the things that my Treo did (task, memo, calender, to-do). I already miss the ease of Palm's core items. This is my first of many posts, thank you in advance.
 
CompanionLink is a terror and nightmare! It just jumbled up all 1300 of my contacts! Took phone numbers from one person and put them on another person's record, email addresses from relatives put on coworkers records, how could that possibly happen! Stay away from CompanionLink!!! I am NOT an employee of some other app developer. I am a user (HTC Evo 4G). I've been syncing Palm devices since 1997, have migrated to Outlook from Palm Desktop and like to think I kind of know what I'm doing. Companion Link clearly does NOT know what they are doing. When I called them for help, their unfriendly receptionist told me quitting time is 4PM so too bad for me.
 
I have been a Palm OS user for years and had trouble finding a calendar and to do list app on Android that were comparable to Palm's amazing organizing software. I paid for several productivity apps, none of which were quite enough for me. Luckily, I found these free apps that have worked for me.
Astrid (with it's newest updates) is the closest app to Palm's Task List. It has repeating tasks, categories/tags, specific filters, and a few other features former palm users may be used to using. The sorting and filtering functions aren't quite as easy to read as palm and don't work with the widget but the developer replied to my email that they are working to beef this up. I also opened a free rememberthemilk.com account and linked Astrid to it. Rememberthemilk.com is more functional (to me) than the other accounts you can link to Astrid.
I prefer to have shortcuts on my phone desktop. I have a shortcut for sorting by date, and a couple for my frequently used categories/tags. In the main screen that lists all of your sorting and tags lists, simply long press whatever you want to create a shortcut to the desktop.
As for a good calendar app, I would go with Jorte. With it's recent updates, it allows you to have more customized events, like repeating events (which is surprisingly hard to find). You cannot color code events like you could with Palm. However, the many different widget options allow you to pick a widget that will show the event name so you can still do a quick glance at your calendar to know what's coming up without having to click on each day (like you would have to do in the native calendar apps). It can also sync with Google calendar.
As an OCD organizer, I instantly fell in love with Palm's productivity apps. They are easy to use and easy to tailor to your specific needs. While Astrid and Jorte aren't quite as great as Palm, they are the best substitutes out there for Android. Plus, they are free and the developers are quick to respond to questions and suggestions.
 
Hello, thanks for your detailed instructions regarding transfering data from Palm to Droid. One question, at the moment, I don't have Outlook on my computer. I have the email program Outlook Express but I don't think this will work. Is there anything else I could use instead of Outlook or do I just have to bite the bullet and buy it?

Thanks for the help.
 
@danp10 - have you found a solution? I am trying to transfer 2500+ contacts from Palm into something on my mac that can be synched to my new Samsung/Droid (and managed from the mac desktop). I was just about to try Companion Link, thanks for saving me the trouble...
 
I'm a newbie to this forum who just wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. I am a Palm user since the IIIe and will pick up my back-ordered Droid X tomorrow. I have been stressing over how to migrate 10+ years of contacts, calendar entries, tasks, and notes to a new system. If anyone has any last-minute hints since the last few posts, I'd sure appreciate them. TIA.
 
Hi there. Thanks to everyone for validating my feelings about my Droid X. I have been a Palm user for over a decade and this transition has been really difficult. The most frustrating part for me is a sophisticated task list. I've been floundering for the past two weeks and have tried just about every app there is. I find it hard to believe that something so simple hasn't been made. I'm losing hope and growing anxious by the day as I flounder. . .
 
CompanionLink worked great for migrating 11 years of Palm Desktop calendar entries to Google Calendar and my new Droid X. I cannot recommend it enough! One word of warning: you need to have the version 2.0 of Microsoft Dot Net Framework. If you have version 3.5 or 4.0, you will need to uninstall these and install version 2.0 (if you don't have it). This is an issue with Microsoft, not CompanionLink. CompanionLink also migrated my tasks to the calendar in a workable, if not graceful, fashion.

CompanionLink migrated 700 address book entries to the Contacts in my Gmail account fairly well. (The only problem was anyone with a birthday before 1970 was give 1970 as a default--I've got lots of new 40-year-old friends!) Unfortunately, the transition from Gmail to my Droid X was horrible. Some people are first name then last, others in reverse--some people have different entries each way. My Palm categories (person, business, etc) were carried over to Gmail but weren't set up in 'Groups' on the Droid. And I have no idea what to make of the linked stuff. Why would I care or want someone to be linked to 5 other things? Is there an easy way to delete all of the contacts on my Droid and try to resync with Google contacts?
 
CompanionLink worked great for migrating 11 years of Palm Desktop calendar entries to Google Calendar and my new Droid X. I cannot recommend it enough! One word of warning: you need to have the version 2.0 of Microsoft Dot Net Framework. If you have version 3.5 or 4.0, you will need to uninstall these and install version 2.0 (if you don't have it). This is an issue with Microsoft, not CompanionLink. CompanionLink also migrated my tasks to the calendar in a workable, if not graceful, fashion.

CompanionLink migrated 700 address book entries to the Contacts in my Gmail account fairly well. (The only problem was anyone with a birthday before 1970 was give 1970 as a default--I've got lots of new 40-year-old friends!) Unfortunately, the transition from Gmail to my Droid X was horrible. Some people are first name then last, others in reverse--some people have different entries each way. My Palm categories (person, business, etc) were carried over to Gmail but weren't set up in 'Groups' on the Droid. And I have no idea what to make of the linked stuff. Why would I care or want someone to be linked to 5 other things? Is there an easy way to delete all of the contacts on my Droid and try to resync with Google contacts?
 
Hi, just moved to droid, but cannot find any app to match the search capabilities of the palmOS.
Is aurora still available? I cannot find it on the marketplace.
 
Well after typing extensive entry after registering it ended upon submission that I was NOT logged in. Bummer lost it all.
I don't have the time to do it all so this will short.

I've use Palm since the Palm Pilot 1000 a 128k PDA & various other since. My data is current in both Palm Desktop (5 Star PIM) and Treo 650.

I am interesting in importing Contacts and Memo's into the Android 2.1 phone (HTC Desire) and the info spread among a dozen or so groups.

I don't want to use the Cloud or Googles cloud tools. I hate Outlook as a PIM and don't believe it will handle the groups anyway. But more importantly I don't want my data in Outlook nor do I want its info or mail in my Android phone.

With Palm as a PDA and Smartphone originator in this field I would have expected much better support to import data. BB Curves Desktop does it seamlessly since I tested that 2 years ago. Android phones don't even have a default memo app. Is someone asleep at the switch their?

After reading many forums and thread this one seems the best for info although the ultimate solution appear evasive to most here I've registered to engage in this and other Android topics.

I'll keep reading and looking for viable apps and solutions worthy of downloading.
 
I know this thread is old but some people (like me) find it when looking for info on palm transition. For Calendar I've been trying Public Informant Pub Beta. It has some features missing in others like colors and categories.

Really appreciate all this info as it has me looking at some options I didn't know are out there as I prepare to transfer data.
 
Hey,

Coming from palm, I share the frustration and tried several app.
Evernote is great but require u to pay way too much in my opinion simply to have ur memo on the phone. I've found catch (catch.com) to be a great option, very simple to use and free for more or less the same services as palm memo.
However, the importer didn't work for me, so I copied pasted about 50 memos; took me about 20 min but it's ok I guess.

Cheers
 
I finally converted to an Andriod. I searched these forums and found a way to transfer my contacts and calendar into gmail and transferred notes into Notes Everything, but I am missing a way to backup my applications and data, and I really miss a universal search. The Palm had convenient desktop software that I became dependent on. I've lost my Palm or had it break, etc and needed the backups. What is the best app for that?
And, on the Palm I could search for notes in my contacts and I could search for old calendar entries. I really miss that. Any apps for that? Is there a way to get back my Palm functionality????
Thanks
 
I was a Palm slave since the IIIe. After some growing pains, I love my Droid X. It's 100x better than my last Palm handheld (Centro). For back-up, just rely on Gmail for contacts and calendar. It's so much better than syncing with the Palm; the Gmail cloud back-ups your entries on both handheld and 'desktop' instantly. Tasks are kinda screwed up as they are migrated into the calendar, where they don't really belong. I was able to able to move the handful of 'tasks' that I had without worrying too much about the migration to the calendar.

You selected well with Note Everything, IMHO. Here too you have the ability for instant backup. The NE Gdocs app (free) will 'sync' files between your handheld and Google Docs...in either direction. My only criticism is that I have a password file which I don't want on the cloud. My short-term solution is to move it from handheld to the cloud via NE Gdocs, save it on my desktop, then delete it from the cloud.

As for a universal search command, I haven't found a single tool for the Droid X. However, there seem to be search functions for each major app individually (eg, contacts, calendar, tasks). Despite being previously dependent on a universal search command, other advantages of the Droid X make such criticisms petty.
 
On the search issue, apparently Power Search from X-Phone Software can search everything well. I haven't tried it.

On other stuff, I've just been posting a bunch of comments in a parallel thread. In particular, a post on calendars lists three betas out that are good palm replacements (particularly pocket informant), a post on sync options including a web site with a comprehensive list of options and a recommendation to try the free "my phone explorer, and a post on notebook options including a palm-like option based on simplenote (cloud) + Jade Note (android) + Resophnote (pc).
 
After years using Palm...finally switched to Epic. With the Pre I had already gone through the headache of transferring years of data to Google using Companion Link.

But now..

1. I couldn't get the multiple calendars to sync- only one calendar would?

2. Only the current month's calendar data and going forward would sync....no past data. The Pre had limitations also but I could transfer several months of old data on initial set up.

And in my 2 days of owning the Epic...also noticed

3. Can only have on signature for different email accounts? Palm let you set different signatures.

4. No ability to change font and color?

Before I did anything I updated the phone...so I don't know if either of these were different before the update.

Any suggestions?:confused:
 
Now I see there are several calendar widgets....is there a prevailing best in category? Easiest to sync with Google and retain the different calendars and their different colors.

Thanks for helping exPalm Newbie!
 
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