Best phone to sync with MS Outlook -- V551 or ??

Looks like I need to replace my Siemens S46 with a new Cingular GSM phone.
Sync with MS Outlook 2003 is critical. I have hundreds of contacts --
almost all of which have an address and multiple phone numbers (home, bus,
fax, mobile, bus2). I add to the address book regularly, too, so I sync
regularly. Sync with Outlook calendar is less important. Reading POP3
e-mail is also CRITICAL, but web surfing is not as important.

The S46 I now have does it all -- and handles both GSM and TDMA. E-mail is
through the browser side, but is good. Best of all, it syncs with Outlook
right out of the box. Didn't have to buy software and only bought cable
because I didn't want to do it via IR. Don't care about color, camera,
music or ringtones. This is a BUSINESS phone, so reception, call quality
and e-mail are critical.

I'm considering the Motorola V551, but I've heard that it isn't capable of
multiple numbers for a single contact -- or at least can't sync such. Also,
I don't know if it stores addresses, e-mail, etc. in the contact manager,
too. I'd consider one of the PDA(-esque) phones, but it looks like they all
require a "Blackberry plan" that is expensive. The Moto MPX220 looked
IDEAL, but I understand it was recalled for voice issues.

Any experience with the Moto V551? What about the BlackBerry 7100g or Treo
650? While the Treo is spendy, the Siemens SX66 is too expensive (buy
awfully enticing).

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› See More: Best phone to sync with MS Outlook -- V551 or ??

[ a m z ] <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm considering the Motorola V551, but I've heard that it isn't capable of
> multiple numbers for a single contact -- or at least can't sync such. Also,

I don't think any phones sync additional information in the SIM. I've even
seen long names get truncated.

Sync between my V551 _phone_, not SIM, and Outlook 2003 seems okay.
The same name appears multiple times, one for each type of entry.
This is masked by electing to only display the primary contact type in the
top level of the phone directory. Once you select one of those, you can
scroll through the others for the same name.

I use a DLink Bluetooth adapter and Mobile Phone Tools.
The cable for the V551 is not standard USB. It is Motorola specific.

--
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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

[ a m z ] wrote:

> Looks like I need to replace my Siemens S46 with a new Cingular GSM
> phone. Sync with MS Outlook 2003 is critical. I have hundreds of
> contacts -- almost all of which have an address and multiple phone
> numbers (home, bus, fax, mobile, bus2). I add to the address book
> regularly, too, so I sync regularly. Sync with Outlook calendar is
> less important. Reading POP3 e-mail is also CRITICAL, but web
> surfing is not as important.

OK. I just got a V551 and love it. I also have a Palm Tungsten T5.
Almost all my calendar stuff was on the pda, all my phone numbers on
the phone. Using PalmDesktop & the Outlook conduits, my calendar
imported into Outlook 2003 without a hitch. Using Mobile Phone Tools,
my phone list imported into Outlook with no problems, multiple phone
numbers for the same name entered as multiple phone numbers for the
same entry. And these synched perfectly into my Palm. I would assume
importing from Outlook would work equally as well.

On the V551, standard view of the address book is one number per name.
So, if Harry Jones has 3 phone numbers, he'll display 3 times, each
with a different phone number. This can be changed on the phone so
that each name displays only once with the phone number you've selected
as the primary number. You can then cycle through Harry's phone
numbers using the right & left arrows to get to the one you want to
dial.

The V551 does handle email addresses & pictures for phonebook entries,
but not regular addresses.

Now, for the "fun". For some reason, MPT has time problems with all
kinds of calendar events ... about 4 hours worth of problems. I ended
up manually fixing most of them & replacing some of the recurring
entries. Opening the calendar feature of MPT the next day, the phone
entries were read as off by 4 hours (coincidentally, exactly the
difference between EDT & GMT?). The holidays & holy days all imported
as being 1 day starting at 7 AM, not as being all day on the day they
occur. Jewish holidays (which usually begin at 6 PM or sundown,
depending on how strictly they're observed) also import into the phone
as starting at 7 AM.

> Any experience with the Moto V551? What about the BlackBerry 7100g
> or Treo 650? While the Treo is spendy, the Siemens SX66 is too
> expensive (buy awfully enticing).

See above. I've also heard good things about the Treo 650, but the
reviews on phonescoop seem to be either the user loves it or hates it.
I have gotten the Tungsten T5 & the V551 connected to each other via
bluetooth so that the Palm can act as a dialer for the phone or make an
internet connection through the phone, I like the combo. If one "goes
south" on me, I haven't lost everything. And, since the T5 can use up
to a 2 gig SD card, I'd think you could handle plenty of email, that
way. :-)

Bill K

[email protected] wrote:

> Sync between my V551 phone, not SIM, and Outlook 2003 seems okay.
>
> I use a DLink Bluetooth adapter and Mobile Phone Tools.
> The cable for the V551 is not standard USB. It is Motorola specific.

Have you tried synching the calendar? See my reply to a m z. I get
all kinds of wierdness on event times. The difference seems to be the
4 hours between EDT (my time zone) & GMT. Outlook displays the times
properly, but they import into MPT as 4 hours earlier. And holidays
all import as "custom - 1 day", but beginning at 7 AM, rather than all
day. Which is really interesting for Jewish holidays, which begin at
sundown (or 6 PM for some of the less orthodox). I'm not sure if the
problem comes from Outlook's way of exporting or MPT's way of
importing. But I'd assume bvrp has some fixing to do.

I know there are other programs (MobileEdit, FutureDial & at least one
other). But, since I already have the bluetooth adaptor & have both
the phone & the pda talking to the computer, as well as each other, I
really don't want to shell out more for another program (that may or
may not have the same or a different set of problems), plus a
proprietary usb cable for the phone. :-(

Bill K

Bill Kraski <[email protected]> wrote:
> Have you tried synching the calendar? See my reply to a m z. I get

My event times are nearly correct. The phone chimes for an event a minute
or two before Outlook pops up the notification.

> problem comes from Outlook's way of exporting or MPT's way of
> importing. But I'd assume bvrp has some fixing to do.

I don't know. It works for me. WinXP-SP2. My Windows TimeZone is set
correctly.

The only oddity that I've noticed is that "recurring appointments", like my
Tuesday morning conference call, isn't a recurring appointment in the
phone, it is just four or five individual events into the future.

--
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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

[email protected] wrote:

> My event times are nearly correct. The phone chimes for an event a minute
> or two before Outlook pops up the notification.

Interesting. I went to bvrp's forums & found a bvrp suggested "fix" for the
timezone/daylight savings time thing. You're supposed to get to time
settings via right clicking the taskbar clock. Then turn off automatic
adjust for DST, then repeat the process to turn it back on. Then repeat
the process for the same settings in Outlook. Which still imports events 4
hours early, but holidays now start at 8 AM instead of 7 AM. ;-) This is
on XP Home with SP2 & any newer updates, plus the Office SP1, plus other
updates.

> The only oddity that I've noticed is that "recurring appointments", like
> my Tuesday morning conference call, isn't a recurring appointment in the
> phone, it is just four or five individual events into the future.

I could live with that, if everything imported reasonably close to what
they're supposed to be.

I guess my next step is to uninstall MPT, reinstall the original, do
LiveUpdate again & restart the whole process. :-(

At least I've got all 3 points on my bluetooth connections talking to each
other.

Bill K

Don't overlook the Audiovox SMT5600. For just $6.99/month they host a domain
and Exchange Server through which I route all my pop email, and then synch
to my SMT5600 and laptop. Since I am a solo consultant, I do not have the
usual IT infrastructure behind me, but that proved not a problem with a
hosted Exchange Server. If I send a message from my phone, it shows up in
the sent folder on my laptop, if I delete an email it shows up in the delete
folder on my laptop. Not a problem with calendar, tasks and contacts. I
don't even bother syching with a cable, IR or bluetooth. It all occurs
seamlessly over GPRS (sync setting is when there is new email).
Alan

"exjd" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Don't overlook the Audiovox SMT5600. For just $6.99/month they host a
domain
> and Exchange Server through which I route all my pop email, and then synch
> to my SMT5600 and laptop. Since I am a solo consultant, I do not have the
> usual IT infrastructure behind me, but that proved not a problem with a
> hosted Exchange Server. If I send a message from my phone, it shows up in
> the sent folder on my laptop, if I delete an email it shows up in the
delete
> folder on my laptop. Not a problem with calendar, tasks and contacts. I
> don't even bother syching with a cable, IR or bluetooth. It all occurs
> seamlessly over GPRS (sync setting is when there is new email).

Hmmm... Awfully tempting. I'd like to know more about how you have that
set up. I looked at the SMT5600 and really liked it, but couldn't justify
the $100 extra upfront (even with $50 MI rebate) + the extra $15/mo. for
data plan (vs. MEdia Net). That is $280 over a year and could easily be
used toward the Moto Q or the rumored MPX220 Smartphone replacement next
year.

For now, I'm going with a Siemens S66, which has all of the features I
critically need. Maybe wait until WinMobile2005 for a Smartphone or
PDA-esque phone.

Thanks for your reply.

Without a doubt the best phone to sync with outlook is the Treo 650!!! This
phone is so much more than a phone or PDA... TomTom GPS with bluetooth, MP3
player with pTunes, Video, SMS , the list goes on and on!

DrB

<[email protected]> wrote:
> Bill Kraski <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Have you tried synching the calendar? See my reply to a m z. I get
>
> My event times are nearly correct. The phone chimes for an event a minute
> or two before Outlook pops up the notification.
>
> > problem comes from Outlook's way of exporting or MPT's way of
> > importing. But I'd assume bvrp has some fixing to do.
>
> I don't know. It works for me. WinXP-SP2. My Windows TimeZone is set
> correctly.
>
> The only oddity that I've noticed is that "recurring appointments", like
my
> Tuesday morning conference call, isn't a recurring appointment in the
> phone, it is just four or five individual events into the future.

I solved my issue by ordering a Siemens S66 -- which syncs not only the name
and multiple phone numbers, but also the address, additional fields and
calendar from Outlook. If the Siemens ends up not working, I'm going with
the Audio SMT5600 Smartphone.

Hi. I'm searching this newsgroup for the same question as the op. My mpx
220 just broke, so I need a new phone that syncs well with outlook.
I'm looking at the 650. From all the reading I've done today on the Treo
650, I'm still a little confused.
I've been using ActiveSync, since the Mpx 220 was a windows mobile phone.
Do I understand correctly that with a Palm phone, I'll be using a program
"Hotsync", and the phone comes with another program called Outlook Conduit?
This has worked well for you with Outlook? Each contact is listed once on
the phone just like Outlook?
Thanks for your feedback on the phone.

(Mpx 220 got dropped into the ocean, and ahh...err... no, it's not
waterproof! ~~ )
--
Dana

"DrBwell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Without a doubt the best phone to sync with outlook is the Treo 650!!!
> This phone is so much more than a phone or PDA... TomTom GPS with
> bluetooth, MP3 player with pTunes, Video, SMS , the list goes on and on!
>
> DrB
>

Dana wrote:

> I've been using ActiveSync, since the Mpx 220 was a windows mobile phone.
> Do I understand correctly that with a Palm phone, I'll be using a program
> "Hotsync", and the phone comes with another program called Outlook
> Conduit?

I have a Palm Tungsten T5 that I synch with Outlook. Palm pdas use a
software suite called Palm Desktop. Hotsynch is one of the programs in the
suite. Once you've created your account to access the pda from the pc (&
vice versa) & selected what you want to synch, you hit the pda synch button
& click the taskbar hotsynch icon & it's all pretty automatic.

If you intend to synch with Outlook (as you do), you install the Outlook
conduits. They're not really a program, but rather a channel to direct
synching between the Palm & Outlook, instead of between Palm Desktop & the
pda. Since this is controlled by settings in Desktop, you could still
choose to synch with Palm Desktop after the conduits are installed. But
you can't synch with Outlook without installing the conduits.

> This has worked well for you with Outlook? Each contact is listed once on
> the phone just like Outlook?

On the T5, opening the contact list shows name & one phone number. When you
open an individual record, all the rest of the info is there (alternate
phone numbers, addresses, web addresses, email, comments, etc.). I'm sure
the Treo works the same way.

HTH

Bill K