Touchdown vs. Exchange Activesync

[imperial07]

Soon I will have to start receiving my corporate emails on my Droid X and I have a couple of questions.

Does the built in exchange activesync combine my contacts and calendar with my personal phone contacts and calendar or does it create a new set of contacts and calendar?

Using Touchdown I assume that the case is that all of corporate information will stay completely separate from my personal information, correct?

Basically that is what I am looking for to keep both my work and personal information separate.

Is there another option that I have missed?

Is one more reliable that the other?

Both are push email programs, so I dont have to worry about syncing, correct?

Will I be able to use either of these with just the personal unlimited data plan from Verizon?

I'm sure I will have more questions, but thats all I can really think of right now.

Thanks in advance, sorry for all the stupid questions, really new to android, but love it

 

[takeshi]

Touchdown vs. Exchange Activesync

The subject's a bit misleading as Touchdown supports ActiveSync. It should be something like "Touchdown versus stock Exchange client".

Using Touchdown I assume that the case is that all of corporate information will stay completely separate from my personal information, correct?

Correct. Touchdown has its own internal contacts and calendar.

Is one more reliable that the other?

I doubt it. ActiveSync is ActiveSync. Differences would mostly be in the features. If the stock app doesn't meet your needs you might want to look into other Exchange clients. Touchdown certainly isn't the only option. Moxier and RoadSync are a couple of others. Best thing is to just to try them out for yourself.

Both are push email programs, so I dont have to worry about syncing, correct?

Yes, they both support ActiveSync.

Will I be able to use either of these with just the personal unlimited data plan from Verizon?

Yes. Again they both support ActiveSync so the requirements are the same. You only need the more expensive data plan for devices like a Blackberry on BES.

 

[sic0048]

While the contacts and calendar are separate, they will appear together with the google information. For example, my Exchange clients appear in my contact list - so there is only one program I need to use (contacts) to see every person. It doesn't matter if they are in my google voice, or my exchange contacts.

Same with the calendar. Although the calendars are completely separate, I can use a calendar widget and see all my appointments. Both my google calendar (which I keep personal appts on) and my exchange calendar (which I use for work appts) appear in the widget. Therefore I only have to look at one calendar widget to see what is going on.

Touchdown Exchange is pretty pricey at $20, but it offers a lot more options and features than the built in exchange app (at least on the DroidX). You might want to try it out as the free trial lasts for 30 days. That should give you plenty of time to see if the $ is worth it. I suspect you'll find it is worth the $.

 

[Dmtalon]

You could also do what I do, and not sync company contacts. If you need to email someone vs replying to them, you can use the directory to find them vs. storing them on your phone.

I sync only mail / calendar using stock HTC Mail Client for exchange and gmail app for, you guessed it... gmail.

 

[sic0048]

Good point. All my contacts are clients and I would want them in my phone. So I want to sync them, but I can understand not wanting your company's entire employee list in your phone!

 

[imperial07]

Thanks all for the info, it helps out a lot. Based off what you guys said, it may not be as bad to use the built in active sync as i had thought. Of course if I dont like it I can always try Touchdown after.

Thanks again.