I love tech stuff, and I love it when I can find a savvy way to perform a task simpler. After weeks of scouring the Internet, I feel like I owe a contribution to all those who helped me get my data organized. I've tested and played around with a ton of different ways to sync, push, import, export my data so every database that I manage is identical.
HERE ARE MY FINAL RESULTS!
SYNC DESKTOP CONTACTS WITH IPHONE
SYNC DESKTOP CALENDAR WITH IPHONE
Thunderbird (with Lightning) with Gcaldameon <-SCHEDULED SYNC>
Gmail <-PUSH-> Nuevasync <-PUSH->iPhone
DESKTOP EMAIL SYNC WITH IPHONE
Gmail <-PUSH-> Nuevasync <-PUSH->iPhone
DESKTOP EMAIL SYNC WITH IPHONE
SHARING CALENDAR AND CONTACTS
Below is a review of my hours of research to get everything working properly.
:: Gmail ::
All I can say is get an account. Google is one of the top technology & software companies on the internet. They're constantly making their online E-mail, Calendaring & Contact easier to use and compatible with the desktop/phone client software that you run. I hesitated for a LONG time to get a g-mail account because of my ingrained dial-up mindset. I'm better now, and I just want to say that G-mail is fer-rizzle.
Setup: Main thing that I did was create an account, set up several calendars, turned on IMAP under settings, and everything else was pretty basic.
Pros: Your data is accessable everywhere you have internet. Easy to use. Accounts are free. Everyone has one. Lot's of plug-in-ability. It's just pretty. Google probably won't crash like your ancient computer will - probably.
Cons: You have to have internet to access Gmail. Calendar opens in a new window. (I'm used to Outlook, what can I say). I sent out 1000 e-mails to friends to get them in my "Suggested" list. Apparently, it won't add them to the list if you BCC them.
Phone Backup: N/A (Plug-In ability through 3rd party software)
Desktop/Laptop Sync: N/A (Plug-in ability through 3rd party software)
Desktop/Laptop Sync: N/A (Plug-in ability through 3rd party software)
Website: 5 of 5 (It's my home page!)
Sharing: 5 of 5
Results: I use it, and have my desktop and iPhone connected to it.
:: Mozilla Thunderbird / Lightning ::
I've been a Microsoft junky since Windows 3.1 and din't want to explore the learning curve of a new software. But now I'm a believer. Mozilla's best feature is that it's Open Source. People are constantly building free plug-ins to make their Browser, eMail clients, Calendars & contact lists do what they want to do. I'll post a few comments about a few of their products & plugins and how I set things up.
pros: Plug-in-ability is top notch. fast & clean. does what it should simply & efficiently.
cons: Addressbook opens in a new window. can't directly add a new contact while typing an e-mail address. Search only searches name or e-mail address. What't the differience btw lightning & sunbird again?
Plugins:
Zimbra is a great plugin for Mozilla Thunderbird. It syncs your contacts directly to Gmail. It doesn't offer Gmail push contacts or calendar, but its pretty easy to double-click the sync link. The one negative feature: you can't upload ADDRESSES to Gmail cleanly.
Gcaldaemon is serious. It works awesome but is complicated to set up. I have 3 differient calendars that sync between my Gmail account and Lightning Client. Although it does not offer push, you can set the program to regularly sync with Gmail calendars (default is 15 min).
Cons: You cannot sync your contacts with this program. There is a very involved process to get this working. The writers of the tutorials are under the impression that you know how to edit bat & cfg files manually. If you understand and follow all of the directions Gcaldaemon will work amazingly for you, but good luck, and don't miss a step. I especially got stuck when I attempted to import multiple calendars. Here's how you do it.
After you get Gcaldaemon COMPLETELY installed as described on the website.
1) Go to Gcaldaemon config (Start>Programs>Gcaldaemon> Config Editor
2) Click File Editor > NEW >
3) Type in these settings
Google Calendar:
iCal File: C:/Program Files/GCALDaemon/.ics
4) Click "Copy to clipboard"
4a) Run C:\program files\gcaldaemon\bin\standalone-start.bat
5) Open Thunderbird >Calendar> New Calendar (under Calendar right-click) >On the network>iCal (and paste your link).
6) Click next, finsh, whatever, and you're good to go. Manually sync your calendars or let it auto sync at your scheduled interval.
:: mail2web (free, ey!)::
Microsoft Exchange for FREE. What an awesome idea! Mail2web offers a free service for synching your iPhone's data with their server. This is a convenient back-up. Plus, you can use their online mail2web live to send e-mails using your contact data, but unfortunately that's where the free version stops. You don't have the ability sync that data with Outlook without paying the $4.95 per month subscription charge. AND if you have precious contacts stored on your iPhone say Bye-Bye. Setting up a Microsoft Exchange e-mail account takes over and wipes your current contact list and calendar. Tech-support confirmed that there is no way import your contacts using the free service.
So just a note... BACKUP YOUR IPHONE'S CONTACTS BEFORE TESTING THIS FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE. (I also made the mistake of deleting the exchange account and attempting to sync iTunes to restore my Outlook contacts back to my phone. If you attempt to restore using iTunes. Click your device>info>advanced. Check "replace information on this phone", or iTunes will then wipe all your contacts out of Outlook.
pros: free exchange account on your iPhone. Easy to setup. Mail2web actually sends you phone an e-mail link so your iPhone automatically sets up the new Exchange account. Slick! Tech support was speedy. It only took me a couple minutes to get on the phone with Tech support, and they were helpful. (But I had to look up their number on the internet whitepages).
cons: Free version doesn't sync with Outlook. Once I paid for a subscription I had incredible difficulty uploading my contacts. Finally, I gave up. Website was difficult to navigate. To get to the control panel is not available on the home page, and you have multiple logins to navigate the site. HELP tab is labled 'SUPPORT' on internal pages which speaks that company isn't may not be paying attention to the little details. Once I had a free account, it was a maze to attempt to upgrade to a paid subscription account. There is no tech-support phone number listed on the website (I'm impatient, I know.), but you can get their number from Google here. Phone Backup: 5 of 5 Desktop/Laptop Computer Sync: 0 of 5 Website: 3 of 5 Sharing: 0 of 5
Results: Canceled my subscription and didn't end up using it after all.
Results: Canceled my subscription and didn't end up using it after all.
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