Help Potential Optimus V user with a few questions

[ishmael6]

My wife and I have been with AT&T since before they turned into Cingular (and then of course later changed back to AT&T). Our plan comes to just over $40 per month for plenty of voice minutes. We don't use data (always in wifi spots) and do very little texting so it is a great price that you can't find these days. However, we both received text messages from AT&T the other day advising they are no longer supporting that plan starting May 15th, so we need to switch.

We've been using Windows Mobile since the early days, and have never tried an Android phone. We are very ready to jump ship on Windows by now, but we really rely on Outlook to manage our contacts and calendar (via Activesync, direct connection to the PC, not exchange server or anything). I'm very close to picking up a pair of Optimus V phones for us on the $25 plan each, but I need to clarify how it will work with Outlook.

I know there are a few programs around that can translate between the Gmail calendar and Outlook. Or maybe if the google option works well enough we won't even need Outlook at all anymore. But how would it work with 2 phones? We obviously want the same info to pass on between the phones. So for example if I add a contact to my phone, I need it to make it over to her phone too. Or if she changes an appointment on the calendar, that needs to end up on my phone. I don't care if it does so wirelessly or needs to by connected to the PC via USB.

Can anyone explain how this will work? Either with Outlook or without?

Thanks in advance

 

[Merlin1]

Well i dont not have the optimus v but i do have the intercept. I dont know about other apps but i dont think you can sync 2 phones with the same calander and such unless they are both on the same google account. Do not take my word on this to much though as im not to experinced with android and google accounts.

 

[xbrokdikdogx]

First let me express my concern that Virgin Mobile may not be right for you. You stated that you do not need data and do little texting but your current plan has plenty of minutes. Well the $25 beyond talk plan is the exact opposite. You will get little minutes, 300, and unlimited text and data. There is no Virgin to Virgin free minutes either. So you may be barking up the wrong tree. Virgin has the $40 1200 minute plan with unlimited data and text, but if you need more than 1200 minutes each then perhaps Boost Mobile would be better for you. Their unlimited talk plan is $50, which is $10 less than Virgin's. Also, if you pay your plan on time with boost I believe the price starts going down $5 after like month 6. So after 18 months you are only paying $35 which is as low as it goes. This is a much better deal for heavy talkers.

As for the Optimus, Outlook and Google calendars. The Optimus has activesync, which is the microsoft syncing tech you are used to. I haven't tried it out since I haven't used Outlook since I switched to gmail a long time ago. Syncing google calendars is pretty easy though. The way it would work is you go to the google calendar website and have your wife allow you to see and modify her calendar. Then in your calendar you add her calendar. It's not as complicated as it sounds.

 

[TVCCS]

There's a whole site on this subject with mega info on syncing Android and Outlook here:

Home | syncdroid.net - because Androids need a good Outlook sync

It also looks like you can share a single calendar among multiple GMail users...via the following info:

Share your calendar with specific users - Calendar Help

There are some other threads out there on the Web on this subject as well.

 

[ishmael6]

Thanks for the replies. When I said "plenty of minutes" I only meant to imply that I had a good plan, not some super low minute plan for cheap. It ends up not being relevant anyway because we average about 150 minutes per month each, and rarely go over 200. So the $25 per month plan should be perfect.

So the Optimus does have Activesync already built in? I just read the user manual online and it is very vague about that feature, focusing only on Gmail and exchange. But the way you describe google calendar sounds good as well.... I guess we'll just have to try and and see. The good news is that it should work, and we'll just have to mess around and see what works best.

 

[TVCCS]

Thanks for the replies. When I said "plenty of minutes" I only meant to imply that I had a good plan, not some super low minute plan for cheap. It ends up not being relevant anyway because we average about 150 minutes per month each, and rarely go over 200. So the $25 per month plan should be perfect.

So the Optimus does have Activesync already built in? I just read the user manual online and it is very vague about that feature, focusing only on Gmail and exchange. But the way you describe google calendar sounds good as well.... I guess we'll just have to try and and see. The good news is that it should work, and we'll just have to mess around and see what works best.

It has Google sync built in as long as you enable it...and Exchange ActiveSync.

 

[yuusharo]

I realize this is a non-answer answer, but I really do feel you would be better off if you switched away from Outlook to any of the freely available cloud-sync solutions out there. I love the fact that I've now used three Android devices and an iPhone, and I was able to retrieve every one of my contacts, calendars, and email with a simple login to my Google account every time. I don't have to worry about syncing back with my PC every time I add or change a contact, and when I make an appointment on my calendar, every one of my devices is updated instantly and automatically.

One nice thing is you and your wife can have a separate Google account, which will give you your own set of contacts and calendars. However, you can also share calendars with each other through Google. That way, either one of you can enter in events and reminders, and those changes are updated on the fly to both devices. You can even have reminders emailed to you as well.

I'm not an Outlook user except for work. I realize using cloud services is a major change from what you're used to. Trust me, though, you'll never want to rely on local syncing ever again once you discover the convenience of cloud syncing. Plus, think of it this way - what happens when your PC eventually breaks down?

FYI, there's also an application called "gSyncIt" which will synchronize Outlook with one or more Google accounts. This means that any changes you make to your phone will automatically be sent back to Outlook and vice versa without you ever plugging your phone into it. Not a bad $20 investment if you decide to move to a cloud sync solution, but want to continue to enjoy the familiarity of Outlook.

Oh, and I also have this phone. Its awesome xD. Better than a Droid, given the cost of the phone and the plan with no contract!

 

[ishmael6]

It has Google sync built in as long as you enable it...but not the traditional ActiveSync from MS.

The poster above you (xbrokdikdogx) mentioned it did have Activesync, and I've seen that posted elsewhere too. Can someone actually confirm that they have it on their phone (even if they haven't used it)?

I realize this is a non-answer answer, but I really do feel you would be better off if you switched away from Outlook to any of the freely available cloud-sync solutions out there. I love the fact that I've now used three Android devices and an iPhone, and I was able to retrieve every one of my contacts, calendars, and email with a simple login to my Google account every time. I don't have to worry about syncing back with my PC every time I add or change a contact, and when I make an appointment on my calendar, every one of my devices is updated instantly and automatically.

One nice thing is you and your wife can have a separate Google account, which will give you your own set of contacts and calendars. However, you can also share calendars with each other through Google. That way, either one of you can enter in events and reminders, and those changes are updated on the fly to both devices. You can even have reminders emailed to you as well.

I'm not an Outlook user except for work. I realize using cloud services is a major change from what you're used to. Trust me, though, you'll never want to rely on local syncing ever again once you discover the convenience of cloud syncing. Plus, think of it this way - what happens when your PC eventually breaks down?

FYI, there's also an application called "gSyncIt" which will synchronize Outlook with one or more Google accounts. This means that any changes you make to your phone will automatically be sent back to Outlook and vice versa without you ever plugging your phone into it. Not a bad $20 investment if you decide to move to a cloud sync solution, but want to continue to enjoy the familiarity of Outlook.

Oh, and I also have this phone. Its awesome xD. Better than a Droid, given the cost of the phone and the plan with no contract!

This is sounding more and more like the direction I will go in, thanks.

 

[yuusharo]

The poster above you (xbrokdikdogx) mentioned it did have Activesync, and I've seen that posted elsewhere too. Can someone actually confirm that they have it on their phone (even if they haven't used it)?

This is sounding more and more like the direction I will go in, thanks.

It does have Exchange ActiveSync. So for example, I have it setup to use my work's exchange server so I can get my work email and calendars. I can also set it up with Hotmail, which just started supporting ActiveSync, which also lets me get push email, contacts and calendars. There's also a Yahoo mail client on the market which will give you push email from Yahoo as well.

I don't know of a way to sync Outlook to the phone directly, but that's due to a lack of trying. I pretty much switched to cloud syncing when Google and Microsoft opened up to free ActiveSync to everyone not too long ago.

One thing you could do is setup a free account with Backupify. They're a company that does weekly backups on your accounts for free. That way, if worse comes to worst, you'll still have an automatic backup of your stuff floating somewhere. Don't want all your eggs in one basket!

Plus, Google has their own contacts rollback feature, so if you accidentally delete one or whatever, you can restore back to a previous backup within the last 30 days. So they make this stuff pretty safe and easy to use.

 

[TVCCS]

It does have Exchange ActiveSync. So for example, I have it setup to use my work's exchange server so I can get my work email and calendars. I can also set it up with Hotmail, which just started supporting ActiveSync, which also lets me get push email, contacts and calendars. There's also a Yahoo mail client on the market which will give you push email from Yahoo as well.

I don't know of a way to sync Outlook to the phone directly, but that's due to a lack of trying. I pretty much switched to cloud syncing when Google and Microsoft opened up to free ActiveSync to everyone not too long ago.

One thing you could do is setup a free account with Backupify. They're a company that does weekly backups on your accounts for free. That way, if worse comes to worst, you'll still have an automatic backup of your stuff floating somewhere. Don't want all your eggs in one basket!

Plus, Google has their own contacts rollback feature, so if you accidentally delete one or whatever, you can restore back to a previous backup within the last 30 days. So they make this stuff pretty safe and easy to use.

Sorry...I was thinking of ActiveSync in the context of a Windows-based Pocket PC, etc.