Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc UPDATE - Kies is useless

[fanofdmb84]

I'm currently a crApple user. We are looking to upgrade to Android phones in the next couple of weeks. I have an Android tablet (Asus Transformer) but I primarily use it to read e-books and not much else.

Because I run my business with my smartphone, I'd like to know some (hopefully) basic information before taking the plunge.

1. I'm currently running Outlook 2010 on my PC, which I sync with my iPhone daily to keep my appointments and contacts up to date on my PC and phone at all times. Will I be able to continue doing this with an Android phone (looking at the Note II). This function is hugely important - it needs to be simple and preferably not dependent upon countless third-party apps. I'm willing to use a different desktop calendar application (if one exists) if need-be. I don't need mail to sync, JUST calendar and contacts.

2. It's not horribly important, but can I sync music from iTunes to the Note II in some similar fashion that I do with my iPhone?

 

[sniffs]

Re: Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc

Are you syncing OTA or by plugging your iPhone in and syncing with iTunes(iTunes syncs with Outlook to get your Calendar/Contacts, etc)

2. Samsung phones have an app called Kies, which I believe is their version of a media syncing. I THINK it syncs iTunes data, not 100% sure though.

 

[Gamer_Radar]

Re: Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc

1. Im actually not sure of this. Im pretty sure you can using Microsoft Exchange. I however would recommend maybe, using Google's services? I know some will yell saying not to. But i'd give a whirl, I use it all the time. no need for a dedicated desktop application, it sync's all the timeand is accessable and backed up on Googles Servers. (google.com/calendar) you can even collaborate with your co-workers, have personal calendars, and if you want invite other's to events (it can send them an email)... We use it at my EMS Company and for my Gaming Community that has like 50 admin's... And yes, with a google account, your contacts can be saved into the cloud (by default i believe, pends on where you save them), which is accessable at https://www.google.com/contacts ...

As for your email im sorry, don't really know that question, I stray away from Dedicated desktop aplications by using GMail and Yahoo mail as my backbone's.. Where they sync up. (yes, my own personal domains are there too, example myemail@mywebsite.net is actually on gmail)

2. Last time i used iTunes + Android, it didnt work well.. I had to drag and drop onto the phone, or find a third party..
I instead use Google Play Music, just download a plugin onto your computer, it automatically adds it the cloud, you can make playlist's and what not at play.google.com/music.. Then sync to your phone (WIRELESSLY) and just choose what you want to stick on your phone.. If you want you can delete them from your phone but still access them using the cloud.. Saves space on the phone, and incase your computer crashes.

Hope this helped .. Sorry if it confused you a bit or didnt help

 

[fanofdmb84]

Re: Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc

Are you syncing OTA or by plugging your iPhone in and syncing with iTunes(iTunes syncs with Outlook to get your Calendar/Contacts, etc)

I plug it in via USB and sync through iTunes - the "cloud" sync has never worked well and only leads to many wasted hours. I'd be perfectly happy plugging in the new phone to do the same.

 

[fanofdmb84]

Re: Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc

1. I'm actually not sure of this. I'm pretty sure you can using Microsoft Exchange. I however would recommend maybe, using Google's services?

If I'm understanding you correctly, you are suggesting switching to Google-based calendar. I've looked into this, however at the time, the functionality that I require just wasn't there. Outlook, as much as I don't care for it, has far more functionality (specialized repeating events, categories, and lots of little customizations that I use frequently) that I just haven't seen in the Google calendar.

My contacts are synced with google right now, however it is a process that I have to do manually and is too much of a PITA for me to do on a regular basis. With the system I have now, I literally set it up once, then plug my phone in and it is all automated after that - takes about 90 seconds, and then I'm on my way again.

 

[sniffs]

Re: Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc

I plug it in via USB and sync through iTunes - the "cloud" sync has never worked well and only leads to many wasted hours. I'd be perfectly happy plugging in the new phone to do the same.

Should be very easy. Export your contact and calendar data to Google Contacts/Calendars, get Android phone and sign in and viola. As for the other, look into Kies.

 

[fanofdmb84]

Re: Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc

Thanks for the Kies reference - after looking at that I think it will do EXACTLY what I need it to!

 

[DrSavant]

Re: Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc

There is absolutely no reason to move from Outlook to a Google account, if the account in your Outlook is on an Exchange server - syncs just perfectly with the Note 2, OTA.

If its not an Exchange account, Kies will do the trick with a USB cable.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Gamer_Radar]

Re: Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc

If I'm understanding you correctly, you are suggesting switching to Google-based calendar. I've looked into this, however at the time, the functionality that I require just wasn't there. Outlook, as much as I don't care for it, has far more functionality (specialized repeating events, categories, and lots of little customizations that I use frequently) that I just haven't seen in the Google calendar.

My contacts are synced with google right now, however it is a process that I have to do manually and is too much of a PITA for me to do on a regular basis. With the system I have now, I literally set it up once, then plug my phone in and it is all automated after that - takes about 90 seconds, and then I'm on my way again.

Eye but youre on a some system... With android it all works flawlessly..
By entering an contact in your phone it will sync without you knowing. Unlike I phones. Only thing is you'd need to login to the web for desk top purposes..

Sent from my HTC One X using AC Forums mobile app

 

[DrSavant]

Re: Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc

Eye but youre on a some system... With android it all works flawlessly..
By entering an contact in your phone it will sync without you knowing. Unlike I phones. Only thing is you'd need to login to the web for desk top purposes..

Sent from my HTC One X using AC Forums mobile app

This is not factually correct - while Android rocks, the iPhone works in exactly the same way with Exchange servers. Android shines only with Gmail, because of a native integration.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Gamer_Radar]

Re: Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc

This is not factually correct - while Android rocks, the iPhone works in exactly the same way with Exchange servers. Android shines only with Gmail, because of a native integration.

Posted via Android Central App

I was refering to the Google Integration..

an iPhone contacts wont sync with Google's Contact. I've tested it when I had the iPhone it never worked. It sync'd perfectly with MobileMe (now iCloud).. But so did my Calendar, and mail (and sync'd awesome with my Mac Mail and Mac applications)

 

[fanofdmb84]

Re: Newbie Questions (business owner coming from Apple) - Outlook, iTunes, etc

So... I got my S4 yesterday. Kies is a bleeping NIGHTMARE. It mucked up my contacts to the point that I deleted all of them out of my gmail and off the phone and had to start all over from Outlook files. That is OK now, however I haven't tried making and syncing any actual changes. I doubt it would work.

The schedule/calendar - well, to put it bluntly, just doesn't work at all. Each time I plug the phone in to sync, it creates NEW, duplicate items in Outlook. Every. Single. Time. Needless to say, I have about a dozen "copies" of ALL of my (3000+) appointments. Not only that, but changes I make on the phone don't move over to Outlook at all or vice versa. So it is essentially creating duplicate backups each time instead of syncing. Complete and utter junk. I'm nearly ready to go back to my iPhone because while it had its hiccups, at least it WORKED.

I don't have an exchange server, so none of those options are viable. Exporting and importing to Google Calendar would be a complete waste of time - I may as well manually change/add/delete each item from each device for as time consuming as that would be.

I'm back to square one and unfortunately I'm SOL for day-to-day necessities until I find some solution.

 

[FishenFool]

You might want to look into DejaOffice for the S4 (free) and Companion Link for the computer (paid after a trial period). Read the setup guides and tutorials at both the DejaOffice and Companion Link websites. As long as you have everything setup properly (pay close attention to field mappings for contacts in Companion Link) it will do what you want.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Pixxal]

Hello all. I am new to Droids and this forum, and just discovered this thread. I recently made the switch from Blackberry to Samsung S4, and have pretty much the exact same configuration as that described by fanofdmb84. After much research decided on DejaOffice, mainly because few of the other sync apps will sync Outlook notes. However, yesterday I discovered a hole I hadn't anticipated and haven't been able to resolve: I cannot accept a calendar invite by email on my device and have it sync to the DejaCalendar. It will sync to the Google calendar though. Any thoughts or ideas? Clearly the Android sync to desktop Outlook is still a work in process....

 

[fanofdmb84]

I wish I could help Pixxal.

I also have Deja Office and Companion Link now, and while it has a lot of features, it does not sync changes well or at all. (New appointments are fine!) Any changes to appointments made in Outlook are removed completely from the phone app. This is a huge inconvenience, but so far it is the most functional sync program for Android I've found

 

[Pixxal]

Hmm, I don't have that problem. I just tested to be sure, creating, deleting and editing calendar entries in both desktop and device with perfect sync each time.

 

[fanofdmb84]

Hmm, I don't have that problem. I just tested to be sure, creating, deleting and editing calendar entries in both desktop and device with perfect sync each time.

Perhaps my issue is unique to repeating events? Most of my appointments repeat daily or weekly. However if I ever change the time of one event without changing the entire series, it is removed completely from the phone.

For example, I have one appointment that repeats M-F at 12:45. If, say, on Tuesday I move that single appointment to 12:30, it is deleted from the phone and no amount of syncing will replace it with the updated time.

I've lost count of the times I've nearly missed appointments because I changed them on my PC but they were deleted on my phone.