confused about syncing and data cables

Hi all!

After several years with a Motorola V60t, I've taken the plunge and
moved on to a GSM phone, the Motorola V330. Decision's already made,
so if anyone really doesn't like this phone, please don't tell me
about it. I'll figure out whether or not I like it soon enough.

I have Truesync installed and working with my old phone. Specifically,
Truesync claims to be version 3.1.49.1. The "update" option for
Truesync has never worked for me, but I've used Truesync to keep my
handspring visor, palm desktop, and v60 all happily more-or-less in
sync.

I'd like to have that same capability with my new phone, but I admit
to some confusion. Do I need a newer version of Truesync, or just a
data cable with drivers? Will Truesync recognize my phone over
bluetooth if I get a bluetooth dongle, and if so, where would I get
the drivers? Is Truesync supported at all anymore, and if so, how
would I get to tech support? Are there other options, or is Truesync
it? Yes, Palm Desktop is ancient, but I'd rather not run Outlook, and
I'm using a Windows box.

Thanks in advance for any info.

--
monique

---

› See More: confused about syncing and data cables

The Truesync software is now considered obsolete and was replaced by the
Mobile phonetools software.

"Monique Y. Mudama" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi all!
>
> After several years with a Motorola V60t, I've taken the plunge and
> moved on to a GSM phone, the Motorola V330. Decision's already made,
> so if anyone really doesn't like this phone, please don't tell me
> about it. I'll figure out whether or not I like it soon enough.
>
> I have Truesync installed and working with my old phone. Specifically,
> Truesync claims to be version 3.1.49.1. The "update" option for
> Truesync has never worked for me, but I've used Truesync to keep my
> handspring visor, palm desktop, and v60 all happily more-or-less in
> sync.
>
> I'd like to have that same capability with my new phone, but I admit
> to some confusion. Do I need a newer version of Truesync, or just a
> data cable with drivers? Will Truesync recognize my phone over
> bluetooth if I get a bluetooth dongle, and if so, where would I get
> the drivers? Is Truesync supported at all anymore, and if so, how
> would I get to tech support? Are there other options, or is Truesync
> it? Yes, Palm Desktop is ancient, but I'd rather not run Outlook, and
> I'm using a Windows box.
>
> Thanks in advance for any info.
>
> --
> monique

On 2005-07-02, Destrux penned:
> The Truesync software is now considered obsolete and was replaced by
> the Mobile phonetools software.

If I read the product description right, though, it supports only
outlook, outlook express, ms exchange, and lotus notes. I distinctly
remember nuking outlook express from my system. It's not exactly
known for being secure and bug-free.

*sigh*

I see no mention of syncing with my PDA, either.

Ah, well. Thanks. Looks like for my purposes at least, it's a major
step backwards from Truesync.

--
monique

I am/will be in a similar situation. Albeit I updated my Palm software
and it left Truesync unable to work with my old V60 (GSM).

The only software available (to my knowledge) that syncs with the Palm
database is from DataPilot

http://datapilot.com/

Your old cable that worked with you V60 should be compatible with the
V330, but I have not personally verified that it works with
DataPilot.... but I believe it should...

You can buy/download it online...

If you do, could you please post or send me an email about how you feel
it works with the V330?

Thanks, SFB

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
> On 2005-07-02, Destrux penned:
>
>>The Truesync software is now considered obsolete and was replaced by
>>the Mobile phonetools software.
>
>
> If I read the product description right, though, it supports only
> outlook, outlook express, ms exchange, and lotus notes. I distinctly
> remember nuking outlook express from my system. It's not exactly
> known for being secure and bug-free.
>
> *sigh*
>
> I see no mention of syncing with my PDA, either.
>
> Ah, well. Thanks. Looks like for my purposes at least, it's a major
> step backwards from Truesync.
>

On 2005-07-02, SFB penned:
> I am/will be in a similar situation. Albeit I updated my Palm
> software and it left Truesync unable to work with my old V60 (GSM).
>
> The only software available (to my knowledge) that syncs with the
> Palm database is from DataPilot
>
> http://datapilot.com/
>
> Your old cable that worked with you V60 should be compatible with
> the V330, but I have not personally verified that it works with
> DataPilot.... but I believe it should...
>
> You can buy/download it online...
>
> If you do, could you please post or send me an email about how you
> feel it works with the V330?
>
> Thanks, SFB

Done ...

I downloaded DataPilot. They recommended that I buy their data
cables, of course, but I was able to use the cable that came with my
TrueSync with no trouble at all. The installer for both software and
drivers went smoothly.

Having played with this for about an hour now (I'll play with it more
later) ...

I have mixed opinions here.

My first comment would be that this is not true synchronization. You
can import numbers from several sources, and you can export them to
Outlook (only. You can import from Palm but not export to it). But
you can't say "make it all fit together and take the latest from
each," as you could with Truesync. That's kinda lame.

My second comment would be that Palm is definitely the redheaded
stepchild. You can't export phone numbers to Palm. You can't import
Palm's calendar at all. Claiming they work with Palm without stating
a caveat ... seems like false advertising to me.

That being said, I'm not too hung up about having my calendar on my
phone; I'm more concerned about the phone numbers. That part seems to
work pretty well. It's all or nothing; it overwrites the phone book
every time. But it knows how many numbers you can store, and you can
specify a number slot to put something on the phone or in SIM. The
interface seems cleaner and less buggy than Truesync was.

It also allows you to use up to eight phones on one license, so if you
have multiple people sharing one computer, that could be nice. Of
course you'd need the right cables, but it's not restricted to one
brand, either.

Eventually I'd like to get a powerbook, and there's apparently a Mac
version of DP ... it's just that with the support of Palm being as
poor as it is on the Windows version, I have to wonder what exactly is
available for the Mac version.


--
monique

Monique, thanks for your detailed review! I always have problems with
the last version of Truesync, especially with the Palm OS upgrade I did.
Seemed to always get two entries... one on the SIM card the other on
the phone... always had to delete one... it was a pain but still a lot
less work than manually putting all those numbers in my phone (over 300)...

Bummer that it won't sync both ways... phone to computer and computer to
phone

As for the calendar, most of the time I still carry my Palm around for
that anyway... if needed. I already have the V60 cable like you so that
will work if I get the V330, but it looks like the V3 Razr, coming out
on TMobile USA on July 11th, has a different connector... thanks
Motorola! I will see what I can find online cable wise for the Razr if
I go that way. It depends on cost ultimately...

Since you can choose to load numbers to the SIM or the phone, maybe you
can load everything in the Palm Desktop database to the SIM, and nothing
to the phone. Then as you add numbers during the day, you can save
those numbers to the PHONE... "maybe" when you sync the next time it
won't touch the phone entries since you are not uploading any to it...
do you understand what I am trying to say?

Well, good luck and please keep me posted as the Razr is till about a
week away...

SFB

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
> On 2005-07-02, SFB penned:
>
>>I am/will be in a similar situation. Albeit I updated my Palm
>>software and it left Truesync unable to work with my old V60 (GSM).
>>
>>The only software available (to my knowledge) that syncs with the
>>Palm database is from DataPilot
>>
>>http://datapilot.com/
>>
>>Your old cable that worked with you V60 should be compatible with
>>the V330, but I have not personally verified that it works with
>>DataPilot.... but I believe it should...
>>
>>You can buy/download it online...
>>
>>If you do, could you please post or send me an email about how you
>>feel it works with the V330?
>>
>>Thanks, SFB
>
>
> Done ...
>
> I downloaded DataPilot. They recommended that I buy their data
> cables, of course, but I was able to use the cable that came with my
> TrueSync with no trouble at all. The installer for both software and
> drivers went smoothly.
>
> Having played with this for about an hour now (I'll play with it more
> later) ...
>
> I have mixed opinions here.
>
> My first comment would be that this is not true synchronization. You
> can import numbers from several sources, and you can export them to
> Outlook (only. You can import from Palm but not export to it). But
> you can't say "make it all fit together and take the latest from
> each," as you could with Truesync. That's kinda lame.
>
> My second comment would be that Palm is definitely the redheaded
> stepchild. You can't export phone numbers to Palm. You can't import
> Palm's calendar at all. Claiming they work with Palm without stating
> a caveat ... seems like false advertising to me.
>
> That being said, I'm not too hung up about having my calendar on my
> phone; I'm more concerned about the phone numbers. That part seems to
> work pretty well. It's all or nothing; it overwrites the phone book
> every time. But it knows how many numbers you can store, and you can
> specify a number slot to put something on the phone or in SIM. The
> interface seems cleaner and less buggy than Truesync was.
>
> It also allows you to use up to eight phones on one license, so if you
> have multiple people sharing one computer, that could be nice. Of
> course you'd need the right cables, but it's not restricted to one
> brand, either.
>
> Eventually I'd like to get a powerbook, and there's apparently a Mac
> version of DP ... it's just that with the support of Palm being as
> poor as it is on the Windows version, I have to wonder what exactly is
> available for the Mac version.
>
>

On 2005-07-03, SFB penned:
>
> As for the calendar, most of the time I still carry my Palm around
> for that anyway... if needed. I already have the V60 cable like you
> so that will work if I get the V330, but it looks like the V3 Razr,
> coming out on TMobile USA on July 11th, has a different connector...
> thanks Motorola! I will see what I can find online cable wise for
> the Razr if I go that way. It depends on cost ultimately...

Seems like I've seen a cable for the Razr somewhere ... don't remember
where, though. I didn't realize it was going to be available on
T-Mobile; ah well. I thought I read, though, that it's not really as
small as it makes itself out to be; slender, yes, but for that all of
the other dimensions are larger.

> Since you can choose to load numbers to the SIM or the phone, maybe
> you can load everything in the Palm Desktop database to the SIM, and
> nothing to the phone. Then as you add numbers during the day, you
> can save those numbers to the PHONE... "maybe" when you sync the
> next time it won't touch the phone entries since you are not
> uploading any to it... do you understand what I am trying to say?

I understand ... for me, syncing probably won't be a big issue. I
almost never store phone numbers to the phone directly; I store them
to my palm or on the computer, then put them on the phone. So
overwriting is fine. Also, you can load both the phone contents and
the palm datebook contents into DP, then copy/paste from one to the
other, so you can do one-offs if you know which one you need.

> Well, good luck and please keep me posted as the Razr is till about
> a week away...

One thing I forgot to mention is that, unlike TrueSync (at least my
version), you don't load a certain category; you load the entire
phonebook. I don't actually want this, so I ended up creating a
second user on the Palm desktop and copying the phone numbers I wanted
to that user. Then I just selected that user's database to load in
DP. More indirection. If you like all of your phone numbers to be
available on your phone, that might not bother you.

--
monique

The razr v3 is a little wider than a v600 - about the same width as the
old StarTAC and easier to hold. It is half the thickness of the v600 and
has no external antenna. As far as the connector goes, yes, do thank
Motorola for finally switching to an industry standard connector instead
of a proprietary one. The phone uses a standard 5 pin mini-USB connector
just like the one used on so many digital cameras and MP3 players. I
already had cables from both my camera and MP3 so didn't have to buy
another. I've been using Motorola phones since the original brick
phone of the 80's and I have to say the v3 is far and away their best
phone yet. I've had mine since November on TMo and it's a terrific
phone.

From:Monique Y. Mudama
[email protected]

> On 2005-07-03, SFB penned:
>>
>> As for the calendar, most of the time I still carry my Palm around
>> for that anyway... if needed. I already have the V60 cable like you
>> so that will work if I get the V330, but it looks like the V3 Razr,
>> coming out on TMobile USA on July 11th, has a different connector...
>> thanks Motorola! I will see what I can find online cable wise for
>> the Razr if I go that way. It depends on cost ultimately...
>
> Seems like I've seen a cable for the Razr somewhere ... don't remember
> where, though. I didn't realize it was going to be available on
> T-Mobile; ah well. I thought I read, though, that it's not really as
> small as it makes itself out to be; slender, yes, but for that all of
> the other dimensions are larger.
>
>> Since you can choose to load numbers to the SIM or the phone, maybe
>> you can load everything in the Palm Desktop database to the SIM, and
>> nothing to the phone. Then as you add numbers during the day, you
>> can save those numbers to the PHONE... "maybe" when you sync the
>> next time it won't touch the phone entries since you are not
>> uploading any to it... do you understand what I am trying to say?
>
> I understand ... for me, syncing probably won't be a big issue. I
> almost never store phone numbers to the phone directly; I store them
> to my palm or on the computer, then put them on the phone. So
> overwriting is fine. Also, you can load both the phone contents and
> the palm datebook contents into DP, then copy/paste from one to the
> other, so you can do one-offs if you know which one you need.
>
>> Well, good luck and please keep me posted as the Razr is till about
>> a week away...
>
> One thing I forgot to mention is that, unlike TrueSync (at least my
> version), you don't load a certain category; you load the entire
> phonebook. I don't actually want this, so I ended up creating a
> second user on the Palm desktop and copying the phone numbers I wanted
> to that user. Then I just selected that user's database to load in
> DP. More indirection. If you like all of your phone numbers to be
> available on your phone, that might not bother you.
>
> --
> monique

Thanks for all your comments! The V330 just went down to $99 with
TMobile so it will depend on the cost of the Razr... you are very
correct it is "thinner" but not "smaller"...

I use Ver. 4.1.4 of the Palm Desktop... and use the last upgrade that
Motorola provided... I've had to split my database in two so that all
the various numbers, home, work, cell etc. could fit. I set it up so
that most went to the phone with the rest going to the SIM.. I believe
the V330 and Razr allow 1000 entries so that won't be a problem anymore.

My V60 would show the TYPE of phone number with little symbols like a
house or a cell phone to differentiate between what each number was for
each contact... this only worked when saved to the phone.

Thanks again for your input and comments....


SFB



>
> One thing I forgot to mention is that, unlike TrueSync (at least my
> version), you don't load a certain category; you load the entire
> phonebook. I don't actually want this, so I ended up creating a
> second user on the Palm desktop and copying the phone numbers I wanted
> to that user. Then I just selected that user's database to load in
> DP. More indirection. If you like all of your phone numbers to be
> available on your phone, that might not bother you.
>