AT&T Note3 Gmail sync issue

[OzarkArkie]

HI, my first post here. I apologize if I've done it wrong. I switched from iPhone 4 in December to the note 3. Everyone told me I would regret switching. I love the Note 3 and am so glad I made the switch. Mine updated yesterday to KitKat 4.4.2. So far I like the changes that I've figured out. I read that there was supposed to be an improved battery performance, since getting my Note 3, today has been probably the worst battery performance; before I knew it i was down to 45% and hadn't done anything hardly at all. when getting the Note 3 I setup a new gmail account hoping I could sync my note 3 contacts and Calendar to this new gmail account. I have gone into account settings to make sure everything is selected to accomplish these two things to sync. So far no luck! My note 3 says my contacts are backing up to my AT&T account, I have no idea where they are in my AT&T account. I guess I understand better now about Apple's Echo system having these sync problems with gmail. I think I have read everything in the forums about Samsung Kies program. I have stayed away from Kies because of the reviews I read on the net before joining Android Central. I downloaded Kies 3 for Windows this week, it didn't strike me as real user friendly;as far as the calendar sync goes it looks to be geared towards using Outlook. So, what if your not an outlook user? When making calendar entries on my Note 3 I keep getting this message "Google calendar cannot sync with Samsung Kies, use my calendar to sync with Kies"; in looking at Kies 3 I'm not seeing this option to sync with my calendar as the message keeps saying. What I'm most uncomfortable with is this gmail sync issue and not backing up my Note 3 and having the satisfaction of knowing i can do a restore if necessary. I have seen the question asked many times is their a good alternative to Kies, but not really a good alternative answer. I see Wondershare sells a backup program, but I'm wanting more than that.

I would greatly appreciate your input and comments!

Thank you,

JT