Dear Brian
I have just upgraded to a Treo 650 from a Treo 600 mostly for the Bluetooth technology. I have used ACT! on my PC and ACT! for Palm on my Treo for a number of years and, like you, I am deeply disappointed that I can't get ACT! for Palm on my 650. So, I have read some of your blogs related to this and see that you use Agendus PRO. I am just wondering if you are willing to offer any advice about all this. If I have to dump ACT! altogether; BOTH on my PC and the 650, then that would be OK if I had my overall needs met. I am sure there are fixes out there on the way, so, if you know of any please let me know.
As you know, one of the best features of ACT! is how it links Contacts with the Calendar. You can easily see on the Calendar WHO you are scheduled with and go to that contact with one tap (you can also see this for the past as well). Also, in the contact view, you can see what you have scheduled with a person in the future and what you HAD scheduled. I am mentioning this because this strong CONTACT / CALENDAR link is what is most important to me when I compare other workable options for my 650. By the way, I have not done much research YET on options. Of course I do not want to spend a bunch of money on new programs just to get that strong link. OUTLOOK doesn't link well in this regard as I understand. I just downloaded Agendus PRO to try and I don't know if it will do what I want. I'd at least like to keep ACT! on my PC if possible and find a cheap (under $50) program for my Treo to keep that link. By the way, my ACT! is Version 6, NOT the new 2005.
So, what do you think or know?
Do you think Agendus will do what I need? I don't think it will link my contacts and events in ACT 6, do you?
Also, I used a dialer program called TAKEphONE on my 600 (you have probably heard of this). I loved it. It was cheap and I am exploring if it or a newer version will work on the 650.
I saw that green paper reinforcer machine that looks like a weird stapler and I know what PA means. Funny. I learned that when I was in the CPA business. Must be an accounting thing.
Appreciate any help greatly!!
Out of Sync in Texas
My response:
Dear Out of Sync in Texas.
Hope you’re doing well. Here are my thoughts on ACT! and the Treo 650:
I like Agendus, but it isn’t a perfect solution for the synchronization. I ended up buying Companionlink sync software because ACT! 2005’s link didn’t work with Palm OS 5.4 (what the Treo has). I’m not sure if ACT! 6 can be made to synchronize with Palm OS 5.4 – I’ll leave that one to the ACT support databases. I think Agendus is an outstanding PDA program, but I’m still not thrilled with it – the ACT! for Palm sync was native, and it seems like any other synchronization I do with my ACT! database is just kind of a “half-way” sync – it gets the data there, but it’s just a band aid, and appointments end up in weird places like the to-do list instead of in the calendar.
I’m currently (tonight) installing Beyond Contacts from Dataviz on my PDA. They advertise native synchronization with Outlook, and I am seriously considering migrating my whole ACT! database over to something based on Outlook 2003 – I’m a MS Registered Member, and have a subscription that gets me MS CRM, and am also a Quickbooks PAP member, and have also toyed around with the QB Client Manager. I would probably use the latter if I was in tax practice only, as it seems to link very well with Lacerte and Proseries, but the MS CRM or something centered around Outlook is where I’m probably going for now. I’ll blog about where I land once I finally get things wrapped up.
A few tips to throw your way re: Agendus:
1. There is a place in the Palm program (Agendus) where you specify the record format you want the records stored in on the PDA – make sure this is set to ACT!. This seemed to help the processing of the records initiated on the Palm and synced into ACT!
2. The program is great, but the sync isn’t native – so you need to watch which fields you synchronize with Agendus. As I recall from setting my device up, the support for custom fields wasn’t great – but this was a while back.
3. Make sure you’re purchasing the Palm program, and not the Palm/PC combo package. They have an ACT! substitute on the PC which is not needed if you’re just synchronizing with the Palm Agendus and ACT! – so don’t buy it if you don’t need it.
4. They have some icon files you can use for appointments and stuff.
5. Their Agendus Mail SSL edition works great with my Hushmail account and makes me feel better about doing e-mail on the PDA. The support for attachments and HTML e-mail is just good – not great, so if you don’t have to have the SSL e-mail, I would stick with VersaMail. It’s not an extra $50 like Agendus Mail, and it seems to do almost as good of a job.
I have been badgering SAGE for a few months about ACT! for Palm, and hope they will make me a beta tester or something for the new version of the product – but last time I called, I got the impression that it was going to be out in early 2006 at the earliest, so I wouldn’t hold my breath or anything. I love the Bluetooth, and have a Bluetooth keyboard as well as a Motorola HS850 headset. They are both awesome. The T650 is the best device I have ever owned, and I really like the design, the interface, and the general utility of the phone. I think you made the right choice.
I almost jumped off the cliff and bought the wifi brick you can buy for the T650 (I think it was $99 at CompUSA this week), but bought the Wacom Grafire tablet instead. Very cool accessory, and if you want a tablet but are too cheap to cough up for one, you might look at it. It seems interesting, and I think it will help me emphasize things in my classes.
I love the paper reinforcer thing from Staples. It keeps my weekly swear-word count to single digits, which is a good thing with a 3 year old in the house. Nothing is as hard to hear as that innocent voice saying a vile word they picked up from me.
Best regards, and I’ll blog on what I discover.
Brian
