NOOB with Outlook ?

[djbock]

So looking at getting the Droid Pro for my wife to replace her BB Pearl. Been trying to find a definite answer without success so figured I would ask here.

Don't want to put all that info out on the "cloud" so is there any apps that will allow here to sync, via USB, and utilize her contact, calender, notes and tasks that she has in Outlook 2003?

This will probably be the deal maker/breaker for her so any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dcj64#AC]

I use google sync to keep everything in outlook sync'd with my phone have never had a problem

 

[jpcalhoun]

So looking at getting the Droid Pro for my wife to replace her BB Pearl. Been trying to find a definite answer without success so figured I would ask here.

Don't want to put all that info out on the "cloud" so is there any apps that will allow here to sync, via USB, and utilize her contact, calender, notes and tasks that she has in Outlook 2003?

This will probably be the deal maker/breaker for her so any info would be greatly appreciated.

Well, if you want to sync your outlook data (contacts, task, calendar, notes)directly from your computer to your phone without that information going over the internet...google sync is not the answer. What dcj64 recommends is correct in that google sync will sync contacts etc with your phone very nicely...through a gmail account. The key here is that if you don't have a sync (third party software) between Outlook and gmail, you're out to luck. If you update or add lets say a contact in Outlook, that information will not be sync to your phone unless you also update (sync) the information in your gmail account.

There is only one 3rd party app that I know of which will let you sync you Outlook data to your Pro via USB...it is called CompanionLink. If you go to their website you can find the information you need.

 

[djbock]

Thanks jp, that seems to be exactly what I was looking for.

Now one other question, can or can she not get her Hotmail account to work with a Droid as well. Not as big of an issue since she could just forward all emails but would be nice if she didn't have to.

 

[jpcalhoun]

Thanks jp, that seems to be exactly what I was looking for.

Now one other question, can or can she not get her Hotmail account to work with a Droid as well. Not as big of an issue since she could just forward all emails but would be nice if she didn't have to.

Gee I don't know for sure. I've never used hotmail, but I know there is some issue because I have seen some threads on this subject before. Go to this link for more info: Hotmail for Android - Finally a Good Way - Droid Forum - Verizon Droid & the Motorola Droid Forum

Here are a couple options you have with email on the Pro. You can have gmail "poll" your other email accounts and it will push those emails to your phone. That option is in your gmail account settings (logon to your gmail account via pc). It works very much like BIS if you had a Blackberry previously. The interval that gmail polls your other accounts is dependent upon how active those email accounts are (again, not sure if this works with hotmail). The option I use for my 3 email accounts (other than gmail) is to have those accounts forwarded to my gmail account, which in turn pushes those emails right to my phone...it works fast and it works great. The advantage in this is that you don't have to have your phone initiate a "pull" at certain intervals to get your email from other than gmail accounts. This saves a lot of battery life.

 

[jpcalhoun]

So looking at getting the Droid Pro for my wife to replace her BB Pearl. Been trying to find a definite answer without success so figured I would ask here.

Don't want to put all that info out on the "cloud" so is there any apps that will allow here to sync, via USB, and utilize her contact, calender, notes and tasks that she has in Outlook 2003?

This will probably be the deal maker/breaker for her so any info would be greatly appreciated.

Here is some more information you may find helpful if you get a Pro. (By the way...I was a Blackberry user for years...liked the phones...but the Andorid platform, flexibility, speed, customization and touch screen really out performs the Blackberry in so many ways). The main complaint I see about the Pro from everyday users is battery life. The Pro will not get the same battery life as the Blackberry...here are some recommendations to offset that:

-GET THE EXTENDED BATTERY from Verizon. If they don't have it in the store you can order it from Verizon Online Store.
-Make sure your phone is on CDMA (not global or GSM), turn down you screen brightness to the lowest level you can tolerate, if you have email being fetched set the time interval to as high as you can tolerate (better yet, have those emails forwarded to gmail and let gmail push those emails to you), live wallpaper eats battery life, turn the time the screen is on to 30 sec or 60 sec, turn off WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth until you are actively using them.