JLFitzpatrick
Lurker
Greetings everyone, just signed up to the forum to gain some insight on this question. For nearly 10 years I have been, and still am for the moment, a Blackberry user. I had considered an Android in the past but was always concerned about losing the ability to sync with Outlook which is where everything for my business is kept on a PC Laptop and I now sync via USB except for e-mail. To be fair, that hasn't always been perfect either, but it's been working great with the current BB Desktop Manager.
I am aware of some of the options out there; Companionlink / DejaOffice (recommended on syncdroid.net and currently on Samsung Apps), VCOrganizer Pro, Android-Sync and mobisynapse, among others. What I've found interesting is that the reviews for these apps are all over the place! I would prefer to use just one app but have read some folks use a combination of apps. Paying for something if it works is not an issue since it is for my business, but it needs to work as advertised and that does not seem to always be the case from what I've read.
One thing that is very important to me is the ability to filter contacts by Outlook Category on the device as I do now on the BB. I use an extensive Master Category list which helps me find contacts by project or discipline so without that ability I'd end up with a useless list of 2000+ names while away from my office and I can't afford that loss of functionality, no matter how well the phone does other things. For that reason with the inclusion of their stand alone device apps including contacts, and with some promise of available support, Companionlink / DejaOffice is currently at the top of this list.
The BB is currently up for an upgrade and I am seriously considering a Samsung Galaxy Note II but I need to figure this out ahead of time so I don't lose productivity, which is something Google REALLY should have considered long ago since they could have lured a lot more customers to the Android device much sooner if this functionality was provided natively. As I've always said, Google chose the wrong Smartphone to try and copy. Oh well, I recently learned the new BB10 dropped this function as well so now I'm exploring all other options besides a BB 9900 which would be a marginal upgrade at best.
Any experience or insight with this would be very much appreciated, and help me to decide whether or not to switch to an Android device. Thank you.
I am aware of some of the options out there; Companionlink / DejaOffice (recommended on syncdroid.net and currently on Samsung Apps), VCOrganizer Pro, Android-Sync and mobisynapse, among others. What I've found interesting is that the reviews for these apps are all over the place! I would prefer to use just one app but have read some folks use a combination of apps. Paying for something if it works is not an issue since it is for my business, but it needs to work as advertised and that does not seem to always be the case from what I've read.
One thing that is very important to me is the ability to filter contacts by Outlook Category on the device as I do now on the BB. I use an extensive Master Category list which helps me find contacts by project or discipline so without that ability I'd end up with a useless list of 2000+ names while away from my office and I can't afford that loss of functionality, no matter how well the phone does other things. For that reason with the inclusion of their stand alone device apps including contacts, and with some promise of available support, Companionlink / DejaOffice is currently at the top of this list.
The BB is currently up for an upgrade and I am seriously considering a Samsung Galaxy Note II but I need to figure this out ahead of time so I don't lose productivity, which is something Google REALLY should have considered long ago since they could have lured a lot more customers to the Android device much sooner if this functionality was provided natively. As I've always said, Google chose the wrong Smartphone to try and copy. Oh well, I recently learned the new BB10 dropped this function as well so now I'm exploring all other options besides a BB 9900 which would be a marginal upgrade at best.
Any experience or insight with this would be very much appreciated, and help me to decide whether or not to switch to an Android device. Thank you.
