Syncing N4 & Outlook

[Muleskinner392]

I ordered my N4 yesterday and hope to receive it by mid-February. This will be my 1st smart phone so I am trying to figure out what I can ahead of time. I use Outlook Small Business 2007 on my laptop (Windows 7-64 bit with Internet Explorer 9) for all my contacts, calendar and Hotmail email access. I have tried Google Chrome and Gmail, however prefer to stay with Outlook and Windows Explorer.

I do have a Gmail account, to which I linked the N4 when I placed my order. I do not have DSL, as it is not available in our area, so my home internet is through an AT&T mobile broadband account, fed through a wifi home network. I have a 5 GB maximum on the broadband and will have a 2 GB maximum on Straight Talk before they start to threaten shutdown.

I really don't want to put anything on the "Cloud" as it would eat up my data limits. What I want to be able to do is get my N4 up on my home wifi (which will not be a problem) and then auto sync my N4 to my Outlook email, contacts and calendar whenever I am at home and on my home network. I'd want the sync to go both ways so that any changes to either one would update to the other.

I?ve read up on setting up the APN for Straight Talk and assume that will also make all my MMS features work. Are there any other settings I need to check?

Also, I?ve read that many have experienced very poor battery life and heat buildup problems. They noticed that their battery drain seemed to be primarily from Google Play while the phone was inactive, however I couldn?t find any talking about stopping the drain. I do know that it takes a few drain/charge cycles to get the battery & gauge broke in and working correctly.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

[greydarrah]

You wont like my answer, so hang in there for others that might tell you what you want to hear.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to stop using outlook the day you get your N4 and migrate everything to gmail. I used Outlook exclusively since the the first day it came out. Leaving it a couple of years ago was my best tech decision to date. Gmail has everything you need...contacts, calendar and email, but it's an instant and painless sync directly to your phone, plus you can also check it from any pc anywhere in the world.

As far as your cell service goes, I found Straight Talk with AT&T terrible. Coverage was fine, but they constantly throttled my data daily (doing nothing at all excessive and getting no where near my 2gb limit). If you have decent tmobile coverage, I highly recommend going that route. I've been completely satisfied and the data speeds are 2 to 3 times what you get from AT&T.

 

[Muleskinner392]

You're right, not what I wanted to hear, but not unexpected either. I can adapt to Gmail and it's calendar, just prefer the way Outlook works. Sure hope I don't have your problems with ST on AT&T as TM does not cover my area.

 

[Hubertsng]

Android is run by Google basically so everything google is integrated into the phone. Like greydarrah said, google does have good things that you can use such as the calendar and it also has gmail and documents and spread sheets. Everything is attached to your account so you can easily get it without having to use much battery. You can also disable sync and only enable it when you need a new document synced on your PC to save battery

 

[kmcochran]

Read this article and set up google sync RIGHT THIS MINUTE: Google 'winter cleaning' is coming, Google Sync and Calendar features are going away | Android Central

I only use Outlook for my calendar and I have it sync with my google calendar. I use Thunderbird for email, so I'm not sure how well google sync works for syncing emails and contacts. I would suggest you import your Outlook contacts into your gmail account so that if anything happens to your phone, you can easily get your contacts back on your phone.

 

[Muleskinner392]

Have any of you tried DeJaOffice? It looks to me like it would do the calendar & contacts (my 2 top choices) perfectly and it's free. DejaOffice Classroom - Android

 

[companionlink]

Reliable N4 to Outlook sync can be done with reputable third-party software. Muleskinner's recommendation of DejaOffice works with the desktop component called CompanionLink to keep Outlook contacts, calendar, notes, tasks, and categories synchronzied between N4 and Outlook 2007.

 

[Muleskinner392]

Reliable N4 to Outlook sync can be done with reputable third-party software. Muleskinner's recommendation of DejaOffice works with the desktop component called CompanionLink to keep Outlook contacts, calendar, notes, tasks, and categories synchronzied between N4 and Outlook 2007.

I haven't had a chance to read it all yet, but I thought DejaOffice would run independantly of CompanionLink to sinc the Contacts & Calendar, including Tasks, with N4. Do I need to purchase CompanionLink and install it on the PC in addition to getting DeJaOffice?

 

[Nonymous666]

I'm a heavy Outlook user and have no problems using the Android email client for syncing my Outlook email (to and from). I also use the stock Calendar app for syncing with my Exchange calendar (and I also sync it with my gmail calendar). And I also sync both my Outlook and Google contacts with Android's People app.

I actually like the stock email app for reading my Outlook email. It renders the messages very closely to how they look on my PC when using actual Outlook. Nicer looking that what I've seen on workmates' iPhones.

Only real gripe I have is that if I get a meeting request from somebody, I can accept or decline it, but the sender always gets notified. There's no way to accept or decline without sending a response back.

Only problem I've had is that my exchange password (well, actually, my domain password) expired once, and after I changed the password at the office, then went into Android and updated the password there, all my Outlook contacts disappeared off the device and would not sync back. But email and calendars were fine. To get contacts to sync again, I had to delete my Exchange account from the device then add it back.

 

[companionlink]

Muleskinner - DejaOffice is an Android app. You can use it without CompanionLink, but it can't sync with Outlook on the desktop without CompanionLink.

 

[badbrad17]

companionlink is the bomb. I preach this to everyone as it was the only software solution I could find that covered all bases. My contacts, calendar and tasks are all synced wirelessly.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[spile1]

MyPhoneExplorer is a mature application with a large support base that makes syncing Android and Outlook easy. I've been using it for years. Oh yes it is free as well

 

[kelseyka]

kmchocran, this is the solution I am looking for syncing Outlook and Google calendar. Since the sync service have been discontinued, do you know if there will be a new way to achieve syncing capability between Outlook and Google Calendar with Google's new protocol ("With the recent launch of CardDAV, Google now offers similar access via IMAP, CalDAV, and CardDAV, making it possible to build a seamless sync experience using open protocols. ")? Thanks!

 

[kelseyka]

Solution to syncing Nexus 4 calendar & email with Outlook! You dont need a 3rd party app or to pay $50 buck for CompanionLink syncing software. My coworker did it for me in about 30 seconds right from the calendar of my phone. Go to settings, click "add account", click "Corporate" and put in your login info to Outlook, do the manual set up and make sure its pointing to the right server. Click next and then BAM! Any changes you make on your google calendar will show up on your Outlook calendar and vice versa. Email will automatically sync up too.

 

[badbrad17]

Solution to syncing Nexus 4 calendar & email with Outlook! You dont need a 3rd party app or to pay $50 buck for CompanionLink syncing software. My coworker did it for me in about 30 seconds right from the calendar of my phone. Go to settings, click "add account", click "Corporate" and put in your login info to Outlook, do the manual set up and make sure its pointing to the right server. Click next and then BAM! Any changes you make on your google calendar will show up on your Outlook calendar and vice versa. Email will automatically sync up too.

You need an exchange server to do this. Works great but not everyone has this option.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[Muleskinner392]

Well I bought the bullet and went with Companionlink and DejaOffice. Great programs that work like a charm. Ask them and they will give you a $10 discount on the price. It will be well worth the $40.

 

[badbrad17]

Well I bought the bullet and went with Companionlink and DejaOffice. Great programs that work like a charm. Ask them and they will give you a $10 discount on the price. It will be well worth the $40.

Good to hear. I've always been happy with it too.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[lilloiac]

Dear friends, all you said about syncing to Outlook is correct.
What append to me using EMAIL N4 default solutions (Email icon on the phone) is that after regular connections to my company exchange server, sometimes inexplicably not synsing email, contact and caledar at all. (impossible connect to server message)
In this case I need to use another application like ExMail find on Play Store to solve temporary the problem that solve sometime itself.
Do you have any solution about it.
Nexus 4 Bought last week in Wien Android 4.2.2

Best Regard
Pasquale Iacobone

 

[Small_law]

This thread caught my eye because I have given up on Outlook entirely. I'm setting up my own office and I decided to use Google apps for business for my email, calendar, contacts, and site. I need MS Office for documents (not my call, just how my industry is), so I figured I would use Outlook as the front end for the Google services. My work computer is a Mac; I just got it and I haven't used a Mac since 1998.

After trying to get Outlook to play nice with Google for an hour, I thought I would give the native Mac clients a shot. Initially, I didn't plan on using them. As soon as I entered my Google account credentials, everything synced up perfectly. After beating my head against a wall with Outlook, it was shocking to see how easily native Mac clients handled it all.

Why is it such a row dealing with Outlook when Apple and Google clients and services mesh together so well? We're in an era of entering account information and things just working, both with Google/Android/Apps and Apple/Mac OS/iOS. My Nexus 4, 10, and iPad all set up easily once I entered credentials. Why does Outlook seem like it's pretty much stayed the same since 2002?

Just to sum it up, once I took the Microsoft product out of the equation, things worked. This was Outlook's last chance with me. Never again.

 

[lilloiac]

Dear Small Law, many thanks for your answer,
What I expected from your answer was a technical answer related to my Terminal as you call. and not a philosophy about how connect different communications platform in the world related to choice of single company.
Anyway my question was related to the fact that my Nexus 4 not communicate with my company server.

Best Regards
Pasquale Iacobone