By Bob Draper
As a Palm handheld owner, you have many good reasons for synchronizing with Microsoft Outlook. In most cases, however, it's simply a matter of convenience. You're probably already using it at work or at home, so synchronizing with Outlook makes managing all your personal information just that much simpler. And for most people, the bundled PocketMirror conduit (at http://www.chapura.com) that ships on most Palm installation CDs is more than adequate.
However, if you've been using Outlook for a while and have a great deal of information stored there, getting all that information onto a newly purchased Palm handheld may be a challenge, particularly if you've been taking full advantage of Outlook's extensive features. If you use PocketMirror, you'll most likely have to decide what makes it into your Palm handheld and what stays behind on your PC. That's rarely an easy choice.
Of course, it doesn't have to be that way. If you're dealing with a significant case of Outlook overload, you should take a serious look at Pumatech's Intellisync. To learn more about pricing and availability or to get a trial copy, visit http://www.pumatech.com/Intellisync_Palm_CE.html.
Intellisync is an impressive conduit package that allows you to pack an incredible amount of information from Outlook into your Palm handheld. What's more, this package offers much more than just Outlook synchronization. You can also use Intellisync with a number of other PIMs (Personal Information Managers) and groupware applications, such as Lotus Notes, GroupWise, Schedule+, Sidekick, and many others.
However, this power comes at a price. If you decide to go with Intellisync, you should be prepared to spend a good bit of time configuring the program to match your needs. Still, once you get the program set up just right, it offers an impressive array of options. My friends who use Intellisync swear by the program, and you'd be hard pressed to get them to give it up.
This month I'll be taking a look at what Intellisync has to offer, as well as sharing a few tips to make the transition as easy as possible. However, I won't be discussing Palm/Outlook synchronization in detail. If you're interested in learning more about how your Palm handheld and Microsoft Outlook interact, check out my December 2000 PalmPower article, "Palm Desktop and Microsoft Outlook go head-to-head," at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200012/outlook001.html, as well as my January 2001 PalmPower piece, "A step-by-step guide to configuring PocketMirror and Microsoft Outlook," at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200101/pocketmirror001.html.
