new desire HD/android user - Desire HD General

i'm about to get my new desire HD from orange tomorrow and i thought i better ask for a little advice.
as i'm upgrading from a touch HD the android experience is totally new to me, so i was hoping for a few hints and tips as to how to get the best from my new phone and what apps are going to be most interesting.
cheers

I've recently done the same (moved from a Touch Pro2). Main differences over WM you will find....
* Improved stability
* Improved responsiveness and speed
* Android app market makes obtaining apps and wider range of apps much better
* Overall a much more pleasant experience to use
* Battery life will be worse, but you can tune the device to improve this a lot
* Integration with Microsoft products is not so great although does support multiple Exchange profiles

An HD2 immigrant here
First of all you need to get used to the different logic of the system. You probably had HTC Sense on ur touchHD and when you see that the Sence in DHD is similar it's a bit leading.
The hardest for me was getting used to the fact that the "All apps" button is not "Start" and just brings u to everything that's installed ( no rearangements, no folders, no renaming )
Then comes the battery life. DaveTME was right that it sucks, but thats (IMO) only do to the fact that by default, every service u have installed is syncing all the time. If u tweak ur sync settings a bit u should get close to what u had in THD.
For further references you may want to check this out -> http://androinica.com/category/androidguide/
good luck and welcome

ta for the reading matter guys
at the mo i just sync my phone with outlook on my PC to get its contacts, notes etc.
does android do this out of the box?? i'm assuming i need a PC client, but do i need an app??

sning said:
ta for the reading matter guys
at the mo i just sync my phone with outlook on my PC to get its contacts, notes etc.
does android do this out of the box?? i'm assuming i need a PC client, but do i need an app??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I checked into before I made the jump from Nokia, where the Ovi Suite (PC Suite) would sync with Outlook. The HTC Sync SW supposedly does this but I had problems when I got the phone and, if you search about a bit, you'll find others have too.
What I did was to install HTC Sync anyway but also to install MyPhoneExplorer (... http://www.fjsoft.at/en/ ...). This installs on the PC and, as you surmised, on the phone. Works fine for me. I'm using XP Pro + Outlook 2000 (yeah, I know, behind the times but hey .... it all works!). MPE also has a forum where the developer is pretty responsive to issues.
I also sunc the calendars but use Gemini Calendar on the HD (search and ye shall find ... ). Much better than stock.
HTH.
Oh, and remember that Android is Google, which means they intend you to sync through the *cloud* and not to your PC. Especially with Microsoft's products, which is why you need to go 3rd party. When you get your DHD, before you do anything else, go into the menus and put everything on manual sync until you know what's happening. Or you'll end up with Facebook, Google and Uncle Tom Cobbly's contacts all on your phone ...
Download the manual from here .... http://www.htc.com/www/userguide.aspx?p_id=324 ...
Dave

sning said:
i'm about to get my new desire HD from orange tomorrow and i thought i better ask for a little advice.
as i'm upgrading from a touch HD the android experience is totally new to me, so i was hoping for a few hints and tips as to how to get the best from my new phone and what apps are going to be most interesting.
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same, i got my dhd yesterday. I'd say you'll love. explore for yourself you'll enjoy it very much but to start off i suggest angry birds, google googles, and set up facebook etc etc.

is there anyways to see your folders in sd card on android like file explorer on wm?

Gurps777 said:
is there anyways to see your folders in sd card on android like file explorer on wm?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OiFilemanager or AndExplorer should both do the job

another quick question, and i know this will sound totally dumb, but i have to ask.
do i NEED an google account to use this thing properly??
i dont use facebook or twitter or any other social media, so i'm happy to sync with outlook as its got all my contacts in up to date, and to be honest i'd rather not give google any more of my personal details thani have to!

Yes you need a google account. Aslo you can import your contacts into your google account and sync it to your phone.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

You do need a google account, but to be honest that is a good thing, the integration with Googles services is so tight. It provides the best email experience by a LONG way in my opinion, and the cloud features are fantastic.
Since switching to android i have also switched to a more "cloud" centric workspace, all my work is backed up to a cloud (2 actually!) and i keep copies of everything i need online aswell as on my PC so i can access it anywhere.
Its a shame you dont want to "submit" to google if you know what i mean, gmail is so, so slick.
*Spooky voice* It is the futuuuure!
I hope you enjoy your switch to android, i know i did!
J

unfortunatly i have an inherant distrust of "the cloud"
while i can see its benefits, i dont trust other people with my data, there's already been too many breaches, leaks, and lost data in the cloud for my liking

sning said:
unfortunatly i have an inherant distrust of "the cloud"
while i can see its benefits, i dont trust other people with my data, there's already been too many breaches, leaks, and lost data in the cloud for my liking
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you on this one! You do have to set-up a Google email account BUT mine is just forwarded to my *real* email address so never use it for anything. I *assume* you may need it to buy apps. from the market but I've only downloaded free ones so far. Oh, it's *compulsory* to download Angry Birds, BTW, free on Android ...
Dave

How can sync my Outlook infos with Google Calendar and Contacts?

Get a gmail account, best out there. Just don't save your contacts to gmail. I got hacked from China and everyone on my email list got a virus infested email. Lucky I found out very quickly and told everyone before any damage was done.
As to sync. I just use HTC Sync downloaded from HTC web site. Works a treat
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Oh by the way has Orange messed up the OS like they did with the touch hd? (made mine useless)
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Related

[Q] Outlook synchronization on Streak with Froyo

Hi, I bought my streak yesterday. It came pre-loaded with Android 1.6, which immediately upon switching on the device, got updated to Android 2.2.
My concern is that I am NOT ABLE TO SYNCHRONIZE my MICROSOFT OUTLOOK 2010 data like CONTACTS, TASKS, CALENDAR and MAILs to my STREAK.
Its my first android device. And for last 5 years I have been using (handheld devices/PDA's) with WINDOWS MOBILE OS with latest being HD2, and all these years, I have been very very comfortably using Activesync, to synchronize all this.
I must also mention that I have tried to do a lot of search on XDA and google, with suggestions like using third party applications, but none of them are practically working.
I am a business user and my work necessitates me to have all this outlook data (including mails) to be with me (on my handheld device) always. In fact I was delighted to read claims on XDA "There is NOTHING that an android device can not do which a winmo device can do...". But then ,this is what is the LEAST that I want to my STREAK to perform... or else I might have to return this and buy HD7!!!
Any suggestions???
VCOrganizer does it all, it sync also outlook notes and is compatible with office 2010 .
00roberto00 said:
VCOrganizer does it all, it sync also outlook notes and is compatible with office 2010 .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks 00roberto00, Let me try thsiright away and shall get back to you with feedback
Use the Touchdown app that came on the device. I had no problems synching information needed with outlook.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
00roberto00 said:
VCOrganizer does it all, it sync also outlook notes and is compatible with office 2010 .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While that is the theory, I have had problems with VCOrganizer duplicating my Contacts and corrupting my Outlook data. I don't believe that I am alone in this - look at the comments for this application in the App Market.
The best resource for understanding what applications are available to synchronise between Outlook and Android phones is http://syncdroid.net/ which has a very good chart comparing the features of each.
mhh. i had no probs.
00roberto00 said:
VCOrganizer does it all, it sync also outlook notes and is compatible with office 2010 .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could not get VCorganizer to try and am not ready pay unless I am sure it will really work.
I did try CompanionLink-Dejaoffice and it is disappointing. While CompanionLink is PC based application it needs Dejaoffice simultaneously, which is the device based application. And, well... it does SYNC (only contacts/calendars/tasks and not mails!!! the great disappointment is in teh fact that the contacts which are actually synced are not part of the default contact manager, and hence one can not USE it practically thorugh the dialpad for making calls, and even that incoming calls (of any saved contact) does not get recognized!!!
I am ready to pay any good amount provided I get something as useful as Activesync of Windows mobiles!!!
bennysangel said:
Use the Touchdown app that came on the device. I had no problems synching information needed with outlook.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Bennysangel.
Touchdown is an exchange server client. I mean I am not sure if it will really do the needful as Activesync (desktop Activesync- for Winodws mobiles). i did google to read more about it, but as I read, it is not going to the job... that is SYNCING CONTACTS (in the default contacts managers of froyo), SYNCING MAILS and TASKS/CALENDARS!!!
Bennysangel, can you please guide me on this Touchdown with your experience on it. Thanks again.
anyway u cant sync emails even with VCOrganizer. for email sync u need some exchange client/server.
the first time u sync contacs with VCO it duplicates (its also stated on them FAQs) but after 2nd sync everything goes ok.
before VCO I tried anything else but this was the only app syncing also outlook notes and working with the 64bit office 2010
Ravindra9 said:
I am ready to pay any good amount provided I get something as useful as Activesync of Windows mobiles!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that we are both looking for something that doesn't exist. It is not in Google's interest to make it easy for users to sync an Android phone with a Microsoft product. Google's model is based on people storing their data on their servers (where they can commercially exploit that data), and not locally on their PCs in a format which is proprietary to one of their main competitors (Microsoft).
Don't forget that ActiveSync was a Microsoft product which synchronised between two other Microsoft products (Outlook and WinMo). Perhaps you should consider a WinMo7 phone (and if there was one with a screen as big as the Streak, that's what I would probably buy)?
My personal experience is that many of the solutions which sound as if they will do the job do not live up to their advertising. I have tried a number of them now, and have had all sorts of problems (duplicated entries, corrupt data, removal of Category/Priority/Note information, incorrect date/time, etc).
As I have mentioned before, there is an extremely comprehensive list of the synchronisation solutions which are available at the Syncdroid web site. and if you do find any which are not listed there, please let the web master know, as he will add them.
Philip said:
I think that we are both looking for something that doesn't exist. It is not in Google's interest to make it easy for users to sync an Android phone with a Microsoft product. Google's model is based on people storing their data on their servers (where they can commercially exploit that data), and not locally on their PCs in a format which is proprietary to one of their main competitors (Microsoft).
Don't forget that ActiveSync was a Microsoft product which synchronised between two other Microsoft products (Outlook and WinMo). Perhaps you should consider a WinMo7 phone (and if there was one with a screen as big as the Streak, that's what I would probably buy)?
My personal experience is that many of the solutions which sound as if they will do the job do not live up to their advertising. I have tried a number of them now, and have had all sorts of problems (duplicated entries, corrupt data, removal of Category/Priority/Note information, incorrect date/time, etc).
As I have mentioned before, there is an extremely comprehensive list of the synchronisation solutions which are available at the Syncdroid web site. and if you do find any which are not listed there, please let the web master know, as he will add them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Philip, you are very precisely hitting the nail in the head!!!
The only reason I got attracted to buy this STREAK is due to its huge screen size- which genuinely gives the pleasure of a mobile phone cum tablet!!! I agree with you that I should prefer to buy a Windows Phone device however there is unfortunately NO other device with 5 inch screen, the nearest being HTC HD7. I am seriously considering giving up this Streak and buy HD7 now.
And for that matter, it would be a welcome if there could be some chef who could cook a WINDOWS MOBILE ROM (be it 6.5.x also if not windows phoen 7 OS ROM!!!) that I can flash on STREAK
Ravindra9 said:
Hi, I bought my streak yesterday. It came pre-loaded with Android 1.6, which immediately upon switching on the device, got updated to Android 2.2.
My concern is that I am NOT ABLE TO SYNCHRONIZE my MICROSOFT OUTLOOK 2010 data like CONTACTS, TASKS, CALENDAR and MAILs to my STREAK.
Its my first android device. And for last 5 years I have been using (handheld devices/PDA's) with WINDOWS MOBILE OS with latest being HD2, and all these years, I have been very very comfortably using Activesync, to synchronize all this.
I must also mention that I have tried to do a lot of search on XDA and google, with suggestions like using third party applications, but none of them are practically working.
I am a business user and my work necessitates me to have all this outlook data (including mails) to be with me (on my handheld device) always. In fact I was delighted to read claims on XDA "There is NOTHING that an android device can not do which a winmo device can do...". But then ,this is what is the LEAST that I want to my STREAK to perform... or else I might have to return this and buy HD7!!!
Any suggestions???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
The Dell PC Suite syncs contacts, calendar, tasks & notes with Outlook. have you tried that?
http://support.dell.com/support/top...71813763D71D397E040AC0A65E96FA0&isLegacy=true
Insane Devil said:
Hi,
The Dell PC Suite syncs contacts, calendar, tasks & notes with Outlook. have you tried that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't work with 2.2, only with 2.1 sadly.
See this page on syncdroid.net.
Philip said:
Doesn't work with 2.2, only with 2.1 sadly.
See this page on syncdroid.net.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes mate thats correct tried it a couple of weeks ago .
But when a was reading this thread i thought i would just have a look at dells page to see if its been updated,
Anyway downloaded the latest version installed it coupled up my baby and all was fine synced music, pics, outlook contacts and the rest, so it seems to be OK now .
Give it a try
lufc said:
Anyway downloaded the latest version installed it coupled up my baby and all was fine synced music, pics, outlook contacts and the rest, so it seems to be OK now .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I'm confused.
Are you referring to the Nero software that Dell are using with FroYo, rather than the discontinued Dell PC Suite? If so, I understood that it only syncs Contacts from Microsoft Outlook (not least because Dell have removed the Task and Notes applications from 2.2 that they had provided with 2.1).
When you say "all the rest", do you mean that it syncs Calendar, Tasks and Notes from Outlook? If so, what applications does it use on the phone to access Tasks and Notes?
Philip said:
Now I'm confused.
Are you referring to the Nero software that Dell are using with FroYo, rather than the discontinued Dell PC Suite? If so, I understood that it only syncs Contacts from Microsoft Outlook (not least because Dell have removed the Task and Notes applications from 2.2 that they had provided with 2.1).
When you say "all the rest", do you mean that it syncs Calendar, Tasks and Notes from Outlook? If so, what applications does it use on the phone to access Tasks and Notes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right on that score philip just contacts, sorry for the confusion

any MacOSX + Desire HD user?

I was wondering if the general support of DHD under MacOSX, and the practically of it.
Say like I want to sync my iTune songs, iCal event and, Address book with my HTC, will that be a lot of hazzle?
Also, by any chance there are users made their transition from iphone to android? I want to know hows the Contacts management with android compare to the iphone OS?
I am the kind of user that does a lot of texting, emails, has overly crowded schedule on my calendar and take pictures frequently. I was hoping any similar user can share with experience using the DHD, as I am still in deciding if I should get one.
Thanks
just use "Missing Sync for Android"
mymagicmyhero said:
just use "Missing Sync for Android"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked it out before, it seems it has a really poor rating. It is that bad?
Nope I'm very happy with this program. It can make transferring contacts very easy. The contacts are transferring with the picture and all the info. You can also sync calendars and many more things.
Its easy to operate with.
Many thanks for your reply.
I do have another question while on the subject, I assume most of the developer tools here, like S-OFF, radio tool, CWM, CustomROM, etc, are all made for windows platform?
franklin20uk said:
Many thanks for your reply.
I do have another question while on the subject, I assume most of the developer tools here, like S-OFF, radio tool, CWM, CustomROM, etc, are all made for windows platform?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unfortunately yes, they are.
Instead of missing sync I suggest Doubletwist for OS X. It's like iTunes for Android. It even syncs itunes playlists.
Just export your contacts to vCard, then import them in google contacts! about iCal just configure to use google calendar, for iTunes Double Twist
Cheers mate
gunnyman said:
Instead of missing sync I suggest Doubletwist for OS X. It's like iTunes for Android. It even syncs itunes playlists.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1.
I own a DHD and an iMac, I use DoubleTwist to sync music.
My address book and iCal are synced with Google Contacts/Calendar and the DHD is synced with my google account.
All the Rooting tools sadly are only for Windows but you can simply use some adb commands for the rooting process.
Amit.W said:
+1.
I own a DHD and an iMac, I use DoubleTwist to sync music.
My address book and iCal are synced with Google Contacts/Calendar and the DHD is synced with my google account.
All the Rooting tools sadly are only for Windows but you can simply use some adb commands for the rooting process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the Google Contacts and Calender synced over the air (wifi/3d) with your android?
I wonder if it is possible to sync my hotmail contacts to the google contacts as well?
Yes, very interesting thread. I am using iPhone 4 now and am considering changing to DHD. I have couple of questions too (especially to those who converted from iP to DHD):
1. Is the phone app and signal better than in iP?
2. Is battery life the same (basically one day) as in iP?
3. From the reviews on UTube I am sensing that navigation/maps are inferior versus the Google Maps for iP. Is it true?
4. Is the system search instant as in iP? How about writing sms or email - when you start typing in the address line, are names appearing instantly?
Thanks in advance!
franklin20uk said:
Many thanks for your reply.
I do have another question while on the subject, I assume most of the developer tools here, like S-OFF, radio tool, CWM, CustomROM, etc, are all made for windows platform?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but a lot of developers , Cyanogen for one, actually use non windows OSes. So there are manual methods of doing S-OFF and root quite easily, also there are cross platform tools such as QtADB which allow you to manage ADB if your not comfortable with CLI
Well for me I had problems with double twist regarding the meta tags. Do all the editing with another program manually.
For copying mp3 files and photos I use my partition, but for roms and basically all other stuff I use my win 7 boot camp partition.
So I can use all the windows exe files and also don't have to eject the drive after copying some new stuff on my sd card
Swyped from my Desire HD using Tapatalk
Amator72 said:
Yes, very interesting thread. I am using iPhone 4 now and am considering changing to DHD. I have couple of questions too (especially to those who converted from iP to DHD):
1. Is the phone app and signal better than in iP?
2. Is battery life the same (basically one day) as in iP?
3. From the reviews on UTube I am sensing that navigation/maps are inferior versus the Google Maps for iP. Is it true?
4. Is the system search instant as in iP? How about writing sms or email - when you start typing in the address line, are names appearing instantly?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if I am right, but reception strength mostly is down to how good your phone network is. Regardless the little incident of the iphone "death grip"
Also, I think we simply cant generalize the battery life of a smartphone base on a few individual cases, because there is so many different things you can do on your smartphone, therefore too many factors to take into account. That being said, I think generally any smartphone that can last a little more then a day is good enough for me, especially when you are around a computer a lot like me. Your phone will hardly die since you are always in the proximity of a charger.
For the Google Maps and GPS function, I would be quite surprise if Google Maps in Android isn't implemented better iPhone. I mean come on, isn't google maps and android made by the same company????
From my observation, I think the Google Search in android is a little better then the standard search in iphone, I could be wrong thou, I would be interested to hear from users with first hand experiences.
Amator72 said:
Yes, very interesting thread. I am using iPhone 4 now and am considering changing to DHD. I have couple of questions too (especially to those who converted from iP to DHD):
1. Is the phone app and signal better than in iP?
2. Is battery life the same (basically one day) as in iP?
3. From the reviews on UTube I am sensing that navigation/maps are inferior versus the Google Maps for iP. Is it true?
4. Is the system search instant as in iP? How about writing sms or email - when you start typing in the address line, are names appearing instantly?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used a I4 for 6 month and now I'm a happy user of a DHD.
1. The signal problem depend on the carrier. I haven't any problem with I4 and it's the same with the DHD.
2. On the beginning, the baterry life is not great but it becomes good after 1 week (1 day but with the I4, I was on 2 day).
3. I used Navigon on I4 and I use the same navigation app on the DHD. The app start more slowly as on the I4 but there is no problem.
4. I doesn't use a lot the search instant. I have no problem with SMS or e-mail writing and the names appear quickly.
Synchronisation with my Mac.
Calendar and Contact : Synchronisation Mac <-> Google <-> DHD. I have before MobileMe. I imported all in Google and activated the synchronisation without any problem.
Itunes, photos, videos, podcast : Salling Media Sync sold on the Mac Store, this sinchronisation is done via USB (faster synchronisation). I have no problem with DHD and the song bought on Itunes. A lot of format are included by HTC.
Thanks a lot! I am starting to consider to wait for the alleged Desire HD2. Is it going to be launched this year indeed? If they launch it that fast this must mean they would be going for fast fixes ver the first version.
faggi said:
Calendar and Contact : Synchronisation Mac <-> Google <-> DHD. I have before MobileMe. I imported all in Google and activated the synchronisation without any problem.
Itunes, photos, videos, podcast : Salling Media Sync sold on the Mac Store, this sinchronisation is done via USB (faster synchronisation). I have no problem with DHD and the song bought on Itunes. A lot of format are included by HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a question regarding syncing iCal to Google Calender. It seems then after I added Google Calender to my iCal, all the future events that I add under "Google Calender" will be synced both ways.
However, all my old events previously added in my Home calender still stays offline. Is there a way to solve this? I can't even more my home calenders to Google Cal.
Please help
franklin20uk said:
I have a question regarding syncing iCal to Google Calender. It seems then after I added Google Calender to my iCal, all the future events that I add under "Google Calender" will be synced both ways.
However, all my old events previously added in my Home calender still stays offline. Is there a way to solve this? I can't even more my home calenders to Google Cal.
Please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before the synchronisation of ICal with google, I imported all my events im Google (do an export of the events on your desktop and after go to google to import it, by this way, you will have a backup of your events). And after that I have done the synchronisation with ICal. When all Events are in ICal, I deleted the old calendar to delete the double events.
Amator72 said:
Yes, very interesting thread. I am using iPhone 4 now and am considering changing to DHD. I have couple of questions too (especially to those who converted from iP to DHD):
1. Is the phone app and signal better than in iP?
2. Is battery life the same (basically one day) as in iP?
3. From the reviews on UTube I am sensing that navigation/maps are inferior versus the Google Maps for iP. Is it true?
4. Is the system search instant as in iP? How about writing sms or email - when you start typing in the address line, are names appearing instantly?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Not noticed a difference between the two
2. Owning both, DHD is definitely worse but you can make it a lot better with a heck of a lot of tweaking so if that float your boat then it could be the same again.
3. No way, DHD wins in this area.
4. Yes, both in address line but also in the universal search like with Spotlight
Calendar as faggi highlighted, do an export from iCal first and then import in Google Calendars and then you can subscribe to it in iCal and it will sync with cloud and phone. However please be aware that if you have multiple calendars it looks rather clumsy in iCal when using Google compared to MobileMe
Contacts synching via Google contacts work well. However for some stupid reason, which as far as I have been able to found out has existed for years now, Google has a habit of compressing photos that you assign to contacts. A real bad thumbs down that is. Then also if you have people with double barreled names, pre/post fix titles Google gets its knickers in a twist also. It tries to be too clever in how it tries to understand where the space is and which part of the name goes well. This was perfect in MobileMe and Google is just messing it up, I've had to change my own name to get it to work.
Music/Video/Photos - Doubletwist is your friend, it works well together with iTunes. Just be aware, yet again Google has half heartedly implemented a standard and for whatever daft reason it doesn't recognise compilation albums using the correct MP3 metadata tags so those albums are really mixed up on the device.
Just don't expect the level of integration like on iOS/OSX/iTunes where if you were watching a movie on say your AppleTV and paused it and then continue on your phone it would be exactly there where you left. Android is rather dumb that way.
But otherwise it is an ok phone.
For the radio flash etc had to open Windows but my Windows 7 image in VMWare did it all perfectly fine. For the rest once you install the sdk in OSX you can do anything via the tools in there.
btw, is there a way to unlock the phone using a Mac, or I have to do it thru windows?
thanks

[Q] Newbie resources?

So I just got my Atrix from ATT, coming from WinMo 6.5 (Tilt2), and am a bit lost.
There used to be guides and such for people upgrading, but I've hopped on the train so late I'm having trouble finding a good one!
So feel free to point me towards better resources or useful threads on here especially from the perspective of WinMo to modern Android.
But for now, first question: what is the best way sync Outlook and my new phone?? I've got Outlook 2010 and have been building an address book in it since my MPx220! I know I could export/import a .csv but am far more interested in actual sync, with contacts and calendar at the minimum. Preferably free, but if not OK (as long as it works). So far I've tried MyPhoneExplorer but it can't see the phone via USB. Trying www.soocial.com now, looks interesting...
Is it ever gonna finish inspecting my 16GB card? Can't find a progress indicator anywhere...
I know it's not helping but just wanted to say that I'm exactly in the same boat with you. I used Windows Mobile since around 2004 (with mpx 220, tilt, and tilt2) and I'm kind of clueless about this whole android thing
Oh and I could not find a way to directly sync my outlook contacts with atrix either. Also, if you go with the .csv route, it does not sync some fields, for example Work2 phone.
fincan said:
Oh and I could not find a way to directly sync my outlook contacts with atrix either. Also, if you go with the .csv route, it does not sync some fields, for example Work2 phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Def. try www.soocial.com It's free (as long as you're less than 250 contacts) and it's *ongoing* Sync like we're used to.
Goofy thing is, Google is said to make a calendar sync (outlook --> google), why don't they have their own for contacts??
Well, so far I'm a touch underwhelmed. Coming from the WinMo world I'm used to many things being customizable, often in the program, if not maybe in the registry or easily swapped out for other software.
I'm noticing a lot of dumb choices and a lot of things that don't give me obvious options.
Let's call it a Universal Inbox but it won't have your Gmail! There's a way around, you setup instead as regular IMAP email and use that app or end up using both email apps... grr! Better 3rd party alternative?
No 'file as' in contacts or ability to customize much of anything about how it looks, what it shows...
Friggin 'security lock timer' setting is disabled when using fingerprint!
Oh, and scanning my SD card *never finished*! After a couple hours (during which I couldn't install anything from the marketplace--though it gave me NO error to let me know why it was ignoring me pressing install!) I yanked the card. Maybe if I clear it out first?
Of course it's much (MUCH) better than my POS Tilt2, but I'm not quite convinced it's worth it, yet.
Your card scanning issue is not normal. IT STINKS! Something from the school of the united nations
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
I came from windows also. Companion Link is the only software to give you a true live sync between outlook and google calender and contacts that I have found. It wasn't free but I don't remember how much. It syncs your desktop outlook to your online google account which is automatically synced to your device.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
For the contacts things you can always setup your gmail account as an exchange account in outlook and sync it that way, but then again it would be the same as syncing with gmail itself.
As for an outlook sync that isn't third party, there is no way to do it other than having an exchange account.
I found and downloaded a program called My Phone Explorer, it says it can sync outlook contacts & calendars if you install it's companion software to your PC. I did not have a chance to try it out yet, I'll update this thread once I try it.
Also, did you guys find out how to set custom ring tones? Like copying wav, mp3, ogg etc. files from my old phone to this and make them show up on the ringtone selections?
sdlopez83 said:
Your card scanning issue is not normal. IT STINKS! Something from the school of the united nations
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It had been in my Tilt 2 and had about 10gig of various files, some WM6.5 stuff (.cabs, apps, etc) and media. I formatted it and put back in the phone (couldn't do anything with it while it was scanning) and it was fine.
Marketplace didn't actually do anything when I hit install until the card was happy.
So far I'm pretty impressed with Android but not so much with this phone. The combination of not-latest OS with updates being locked to ATT/Moto's discretion worries me as the Tilt2 I'm coming from was absolutely crippled by the crap ATT OS version available (though at least it wasn't impossible to flash it!).
My other big problem is that while this phone is supposedly lightning fast, but how does that make any difference in actual use, since this dual-core CPU and nVidia chipset are a small part of a big and diverse market, for which the Nexus S and all the similar Samsungs set the baseline? Example, I noticed I can't play at decent framerate a 720p h.264 media file (.torrent downloaded Top Gear, 1.5GB on class 6 microSD), even in QQview--which can't seem to access the SD card directly (it only sees the ~11GB internal which is called SDcard), by the way. So what good does this extra speed do if there are no apps to take advantage of it? And how many others are going to have troubles accessing my new 32GB microSD because they only see the internal?
I'm also fairly annoyed by the lack of customization in the settings. At worst every damn thing in WinMo was customizable via registry. I usually find a setting each day in Android which I should have easy control over but don't. Example: notifications being the same volume for texts/emails as BS systems sounds I haven't figured any way to turn off... again a missing setting that's almost there: I noticed within text messaging and email I can set specific sounds (including silent) but for the overall system one there's no silent option (which would be overridden by the selected ones above)... Maybe there's some apps that do some of what I want, but having to pay or sideload are both kinda foreign concepts to me, especially for small system hacks!
But on the other hand it's very responsive, does seem to play 720p Xvid torrent downloads OK (though I haven't watched one all the way through), and the voice features are great.
One other annoyance is that while BT links to my car automagically it doesn't link to my Panasonic handsets at home unless I turn BT off and back on for some reason...
So given how much I paid (premiere, non-contract) I'm leaning towards return. Wish the damn ATT-bands Nexus S was out!!
but, more importantly did you get the critic references?

Sync with outlook

Ok after running WinMo phones since their inception I have moved to Android
First thing I want to Do with my new S2 is sync with outlook...contacts, notes, tasks etc
What can I use to get all the data accross not just say contacts
Can I use Kies ?
Do a Google for CompanionLink
Thanks but $50 or $130 to sync to outlook seems insane
The latest & greatest and I cant just plug it in & sync
May as well send it back and keep my HD2
Use Samsung Kies. Its free to download from Samsung website.
i came from winmo and found it a real struggle to sync with outlook. you have to get used to everyone ignoring your question and telling you just to sync with google.
try kies - if that doesn't work, look for myphoneexplorer. it's also free, works flawlessly and is the closest thing i can find to activesync ...
I just found this page http://www.syncdroid.net/
Incredible... I have to [email protected]#k around with 40 pieces of software for a solution
The best phone cant even talk to one of the most widely used pieces of software
My very first windows phone at least did contacts flawlessly..I remember purchasing some software to sync notes...BUT that was 8 years ago!!
I've never had any Apple products because I dont like being told which way to do things and now Google seems no better
What a let down
You probably won't like this but there's a solution. For about $10 a month you can use an Exchange hosting service. In addition to all the syncs you're looking for you get true push e-mail and don't have to use any of the Google apps. It's elegant but not free.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Look for Gsyncit I think its called.
Joe
Hi
just look at "MyPhoneExplorer" this is a grate soft and free.
regds
Henri
parianos said:
Hi
just look at "MyPhoneExplorer" this is a grate soft and free.
regds
Henri
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^ doesnt do notes or tasks according to the table on syncdroid.net
exchange active sync works for me. i get all my email on my android
Sorry man, thanks to all these corporations wanting to own your sould they do their best to keep you from being able to move cross platform. A real pia and yeah, people here don't seem to get that many organizations do not want any of their stuff going across third party data harvesting outfits (i.e. gmail) and they are not going to change any time soon. IMO you either deal with the crap workarounds or move on because things have been stagnant on this front from the start, there has been little movement up till now, and no sign of any real improvement in sight.
You don't need "crap workarounds" with Samsung Android phones - they Outlook sync either via USB or WiFi using Kies just fine. And this sync completely bypasses Google.
Its not a feature of Android in general, but something Samsung adds to their customized Android builds.
Nitrodesk
bocsta said:
Ok after running WinMo phones since their inception I have moved to Android
First thing I want to Do with my new S2 is sync with outlook...contacts, notes, tasks etc
What can I use to get all the data accross not just say contacts
Can I use Kies ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my friend, the best tool to manage outlook, is TouchDown from nitrodesk.
I use Gsyncit. I works very well.
Ingvarr said:
You don't need "crap workarounds" with Samsung Android phones - they Outlook sync either via USB or WiFi using Kies just fine. And this sync completely bypasses Google.
Its not a feature of Android in general, but something Samsung adds to their customized Android builds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the same boat...just moved from winmo and thought it would be easy....no it doesn't sync with kies just fine
Try Kies...it's not as intuitive as the almost invisable active sync
I have got my contacts accross although multiple address books look to have not been kept separate
I also havent check that 100% of whats in outlook has come accross as there are multiple fields
Pros coming across from WinMo:
- smooth op system
- havent pulled my battery once yet ..just as well as the cover is made of paper
Negs
- all that battery sucking stuff functions better, is easier to turn on and leave on so the juice dissapears just like before
parianos said:
Hi
just look at "MyPhoneExplorer" this is a grate soft and free.
regds
Henri
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Henri
I was ready to throw my new phone against the wall till I found this.
Sam
Install Google calender sync on your PC, that will sync Outlook to your Gmail account.
Then set your phones calender to sync to that same Gmail account and all will be handled automatically for you.
For free, may I add.
"Local" sync with active sync doesnt require any "sharing" with microsoft in the cloud which is why people dont want to share with google in the cloud
why should you have to get a Gmail account just cos you have a Android phone?

[Q] Convince me to switch to Android!

Hello my friends. Thank you in advanced for any help/input you give.
Here's my thing.. I am an avid M$er (yes I know, but I get as much good from it as the bad). I'm a professional IT guy, and I run my home network on Enterprise lvl MS Server software and Windows on all PCs.
I have been using WinMo since the days of PPC, so I know the software. I decided to give WP7 a test run (even knowing the limitations) a couple months ago, and still am disappointed. Unfortunately I got stuck with it till now, because just after I installed it my personal Exchange server crashed. It's significant because it holds all of my contact info and schedule (for backup and retrieval when I change roms), so I had to wait till I had time and patience to recover the server and my database, which left me with my only current copy of info on the phone as it couldn't get pushed back to the server to store (I never put my info online so no uploading it wasn't an option for me).
Finally exchanger recovered, its time for me to be rid of this headache of a mobile OS and initially I was going to go back to my favorite HD2 WM6.5.3 rom, but when I finally visited the thread, I came back to realize my fav rom cooker is no longer developing for my device..
So I'm faced with the choices of still using the most current from my fav cooker, finding another WM cooker and get acquainted, or try out Android seriously for a little while at least (I've had it on SD from the beginning, but not definitively explored it).
My main thing is it has to connect to my servers. That's my bread and butter so to speak. I need it to connect to my Exchange and sync seamlessly contact and schedule (main things, but would definitely like as much sync as possible), but never upload my info to Google or anywhere else. So my first proviso is can it do that? (please remember I've never seriously explored Android for this intent), and can you provide info on it?
On remote desktopping and file sharing, like I said I have enterprise lvl servers so my network is high lvl security, can it connect to this kind of network (with certs from my CA)?
Third important thing to me, and one of the big reasons I dislike WP7, the interface. I'm in lust with HTC's sense from WM6.5 roms. Absolutely like it. Is there a way to at least mimic this sense? I've been missing the at-a-glance full screen weather updates soo much too.
Aside from those things, Android on HD2 already has a plus from me for having flash, my favorite IM program (Trillian), and the wifi calling (I live in an area where I don't get service till I'm miles from home).
So with those things in mind, can someone recommend Android to me, and possibly give me as much info as they can on the features that are most important to me? Again, I've played with Android, only a little (American Android currently), and mostly to help clients and friends out.
Thanks again for your help
DemonLoader ;-)
http://www.motorola.com/Support/US-EN/Support-Homepage/Android-Support/Microsoft+Exchange+Email
Thank you PresidentMcCain that is very favorable info. So my question is now, if I set Exchange up as primary email, then add my google account, will it try to sync my exchange contacts with google?
Have you looked at Appbrain website - you can explore all the apps on the market with a good description.
Im new to android (from long standing 6.5 use) and im extremly impressed, using sd method so i can fall back on 6.5 if i need it (), but it wont be long before its ditched.
You can choose specifically what or what not to sync with Google the first time when you boot up the ROM or in the Settings.
Using the "Email" app will not sync with Google servers unless you choose to forward your mail to your Gmail account (duh).
Thanks again. So what about calendar and other info synced with exchange, one note, sharepoint ect?
You can sync your contacts, tasks, messages and calendar from exchange (all of it, or you can choose which sections to sync), and it will never share it with Google for no reason (in fact you would have to explicitly copy the info yourself using import/export methods). It's worth noting that Google accounts themselves actually use exchange so both work similarly.
Sent from my HTC HD2 überphone
Thanks kbm, I didn't know about the site. But that will be very helpful if I switch.
Thanks Atomix86, That puts to rest my questions about connecting and syncing with my exchanger. Very helpful info indeed.
Anyone have any thoughts about the rest?
DemonLoader said:
Thanks kbm, I didn't know about the site. But that will be very helpful if I switch.
Thanks Atomix86, That puts to rest my questions about connecting and syncing with my exchanger. Very helpful info indeed.
Anyone have any thoughts about the rest?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem at all, let me know if you need any more help.
Looking at the link PresidentMcCain posted, I realized the info was for Exchange 2003 and 2007. Will this also help for connecting to Exchange 2010 as well? That is what my exchange server is, and remembering a friend who just got a Mytouch 4g recently was having a problem connecting to Exchange 2010 with the default app.
DemonLoader said:
Looking at the link PresidentMcCain posted, I realized the info was for Exchange 2003 and 2007. Will this also help for connecting to Exchange 2010 as well? That is what my exchange server is, and remembering a friend who just got a Mytouch 4g recently was having a problem connecting to Exchange 2010 with the default app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179050
Maybe this might help. I read it this morning than came across this thread.
i dont know about exchange accounts. So if this is what you needed than its all good.
Thanks czarsuperstar, that app would help with note syncing, but looks like not for connecting to Exchange 2010 in general.
I was on winmo for a while and loved it to be honest but i went to sd android back in January an the google syncs convinced me and not long after i got nand and Ive not once looked back, i went back on winmo about a month ago just to see whats new etc and think i had it on for about 20 miutess before i flashed android straight back so its always worth a shot so id test the sd builds first to get your own opinion and then build on from there
Good luck and enjoy the future....

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