[watson31]

Hello Everyone,

I am on the cusp of becoming a brand-new Blackberry User (and I hope convert). I expect delivery of my Z10 tomorrow. This is my first foray into Blackberry after 2 years owning a Galaxy S3. Prior to that I'd been using an 8-year old flip phone and a Palm Zire72. While the Galaxy is nice, I do not want to sync my calendar and notes and to-do lists to the cloud or to Google or to anything else "out there". I want to synchronize between my desktop computer and my hand-held device. Everything I've read about the Z10 leads me to believe that it is closer to what I want than anything else available.

My question is this: I do not have Outlook on my PC. Can I sync the Z10 to the Palm Desktop calendar?? If not, is there some other desktop calendar (not a web based calendar) to which I can sync the Z10?? I'd be happy buying the calendar software if I have to. Preferably not paying Microsoft Outlook prices. But I do not want anything web-based. What options do I have????

Thanks,
watson31

[diegonei]

Sheesh, web-based sync is where BB10 excels... Most people go for the Outlook+Link combo, but from what I hear, it not always goes well (though when it does, you're all set).

I'm not sure there are any other options but MS Outlook though I'll keep my eye open and come back to report on any news.

Hope you enjoy your Z10!

[watson31]

The main appeal for me about the Z10 was the ability to sync w/a USB versus wirelessly. Call me a Luddite, I don't care. I am not going to drink the cloudy kool-aid. The other big thing in my opinion is that BB comes with the calendar and to-do lists and tasks all "built in". I've spent 2 years looking at apps for the Galaxy. And (1) none of them impressed me and (2) nothing is all inclusive. I absolutely LOVED the Palm OS and how easy it was jumping from one function to the next. I can't stand the clutter and disconnectedness of all the random apps on the S3. And I just do not want to sync my life to Google.

Companionlink looks like a great option to connect the BB to my Palm desktop. I was just wondering if there's some calendar out there that will go "direct" to the Z10 that would be awesome.

[diegonei]

Why is it I am getting strong vibes you bought a Z10 (a BlackBerry 10 device) based on BBOS (the phased out OS) info?...

Because honestly, cloud is what BlackBerry 10 does best. It is a much better solution to have your stuff sync to a cloud service than manually sync via cable (case: you sync every saturday. If you forget to sync and backup and the phone is stolen on a Thursday, you lose all changes/new info PERIOD. Cloud sync happens as you go, so you could go to the cloud and recover your data). Honestly, no cool aid here.

BlackBerry 10 wasn't really thought with that usage in mind (hence issues syncing with MS Outlook).

But hey, like I said, if I happen to stumble across something, I'll let you know.

Posted via CB10

[PHughes]

The main appeal for me about the Z10 was the ability to sync w/a USB versus wirelessly. Call me a Luddite, I don't care. I am not going to drink the cloudy kool-aid. The other big thing in my opinion is that BB comes with the calendar and to-do lists and tasks all "built in". I've spent 2 years looking at apps for the Galaxy. And (1) none of them impressed me and (2) nothing is all inclusive. I absolutely LOVED the Palm OS and how easy it was jumping from one function to the next. I can't stand the clutter and disconnectedness of all the random apps on the S3. And I just do not want to sync my life to Google.

Companionlink looks like a great option to connect the BB to my Palm desktop. I was just wondering if there's some calendar out there that will go "direct" to the Z10 that would be awesome.

Amen. I sync mine to the calendar on my Mac via USB. If the OP sticks with the Android phone you can get a third party sync program that will allow you to sync via USB. Missing Sync is one.

To transfer your Blackberry calendar to the Palm Desktop, you may be able to use PIM Backup and Restore to save the calendar to an .ics file. I believe the Palm Desktop calendar can import an .ics file.

[wxmancanada]

Spent two years looking at Galaxy phones, wants to emulate Palm OS features, bought a BlackBerry.

Interesting.

[FF22]

You can sync with Outlook - both Calendar and Contacts although I'm not familiar with which version these days. It does sync with my OLDER Outlook version.

[diegonei]

You can sync with Outlook - both Calendar and Contacts although I'm not familiar with which version these days. It does sync with my OLDER Outlook version.

MS Outlook! Or half the forums will think you mean Outlook.com! Or vice versa! lol

Last I checked was MS outlook 2010. But the OP doesn't want to use MS Outlook at all...

Spent two years looking at Galaxy phones, wants to emulate Palm OS features, bought a BlackBerry.

Interesting.

I'm not the only one getting the wrong vibe here? Good to know...

[PHughes]

Spent two years looking at Galaxy phones, wants to emulate Palm OS features, bought a BlackBerry.

Interesting.

The only thing the OP is wanting to do, is sync to his existing calendar without using the cloud. Some people do not want to put our information on the cloud. Palm was very good at PIM functions like contacts and the calendar, and it would sync locally, no cloud needed. Their calendar was very good.

The only Palm feature the OP wants to emulate, is syncing to his calendar without using the cloud. I see no bad vibes here, I see a perfectly good question. The OP also doesn't have Outlook, neither do I, so they want to sync to their existing calendar.

I do not like Outlook either. I never ran it on my PC and I am happy I can use the included calendar app on my Mac, and don't need to use the cloud to sync it.

I will say, that Blackberry was much better at syncing both contacts and the calendar before they created Link.

[diegonei]

The only thing the OP is wanting to do, is sync to his existing calendar without using the cloud. Some people do not want to put our information on the cloud. Palm was very good at PIM functions like contacts and the calendar, and it would sync locally, no cloud needed. Their calendar was very good.

The only Palm feature the OP wants to emulate, is syncing to his calendar without using the cloud. I see no bad vibes here, I see a perfectly good question. The OP also doesn't have Outlook, neither do I, so they want to sync to their existing calendar.

I do not like Outlook either. I never ran it on my PC and I am happy I can use the included calendar app on my Mac, and don't need to use the cloud to sync it.

I will say, that Blackberry was much better at syncing both contacts and the calendar before they created Link.

Read the whole thing again. It's not a case of local sync vs cloud sync. He wants to sync to the PC but he wants to do it without using the tool that would do it (MS Outlook). He also bought a could-heavy device based on the assumption that it was great for offline syn (which BBOS devices actually were). Bad vibes. Missinformation. Furstration. Bad. Vibes.

[wxmancanada]

+1

I could understand not wanting to use the cloud. There's a lot of people like that in today's day and age.

But not wanting to use the right tool to support the alternative? Seems like a make work project.

[cvdburgh]

OP, do I understand correctly that you want USB sync for calendar, but no wireless sync? As far as I can remember, that was only with Outlook as a pre set option in Link.
Syncing with your desktop gives you a sort of backup (although, as pointed out before, it is not fool proof and fully dependent on your discipline in syncing).

An alternative is to only make backups of calendar with BB Link (I think you can be selective in what you want to back up nowadays, much as with BB Desktop Software of BBOS). And then, for your day to day viewing of you calendar on your PC, you use BB Blend, which is f-ing BRILLIANT! Everything stays on your phone that way, you can hook up with USB (or your own wifi network) and that way , you are in complete control.Trust me, Blend is da bombe!

I understand your reticence about entrusting your data to websync/cloud options, and I sympathize. For me, it is practically undoable to manually sync 3 PC's, a laptop and two tablets, so I use EAS with a paid subscription to an Exchange account. With a password manager, I've created very robust passwords, so I can only hope that this solution is more or less secure from 'casual attacks', ie non-governmental snooping.
But: to each his own.

[diegonei]

We did forget to mention Blend, mostly because it doesn't really sync anything.

While it will work brilliantly to give him PM access to the PC, the offline sync issues all still apply...

Link is still a drooling toddler compared to Desktop Manager of old. You can't pick apart what to backup (it only recently allowed to select which apps to backup). Since his contacts are going to be 100% local, I don't foresee restoring issues though.

Posted via CB10

[bobshine]

Office 360 is not that expensive... $7/month and you get a bonus 1TB of only storage.


Posted via CB10

[MobileMadness002]

Hello Everyone,

I am on the cusp of becoming a brand-new Blackberry User (and I hope convert). I expect delivery of my Z10 tomorrow. This is my first foray into Blackberry after 2 years owning a Galaxy S3. Prior to that I'd been using an 8-year old flip phone and a Palm Zire72. While the Galaxy is nice, I do not want to sync my calendar and notes and to-do lists to the cloud or to Google or to anything else "out there". I want to synchronize between my desktop computer and my hand-held device. Everything I've read about the Z10 leads me to believe that it is closer to what I want than anything else available.

My question is this: I do not have Outlook on my PC. Can I sync the Z10 to the Palm Desktop calendar?? If not, is there some other desktop calendar (not a web based calendar) to which I can sync the Z10?? I'd be happy buying the calendar software if I have to. Preferably not paying Microsoft Outlook prices. But I do not want anything web-based. What options do I have????

Thanks,
watson31

Options. Hmmm. According to the BlackBerry manual, the ONLY desktop calendar even mentioned is MS Outlook, so according to your desires, there is no option there. Looks like you are out of options. Great research by the way.

[diegonei]

You can sync with Outlook - both Calendar and Contacts although I'm not familiar with which version these days. It does sync with my OLDER Outlook version.

MS Outlook! Or half the forums will think you mean Outlook.com! Or vice versa! lol

Office 360 is not that expensive... $7/month and you get a bonus 1TB of only storage.

See F2? People see Outlook and they never get which (desktop or web) we're talking about!

Bob, he does NOT want to use ANY cloud-based services. And it's 365.

[PHughes]

Read the whole thing again. It's not a case of local sync vs cloud sync. He wants to sync to the PC but he wants to do it without using the tool that would do it (MS Outlook). He also bought a could-heavy device based on the assumption that it was great for offline syn (which BBOS devices actually were). Bad vibes. Misinformation. Frustration. Bad. Vibes.

I don't see it that way. I bought the Z10 for exactly the same reason, non-cloud sync, that and I like Blackberry. I too dislike MS Outlook. It has been hacked repeatedly due to its popularity. I do not like the way it works as well, it is bloated and when I used a PC there were better options for the way I worked. I do not want to use it and never did when I primarily used a PC. I d not consider the Z10 or any other Blackberry "cloud-heavy."

I think instead of criticizing the OP, we could actually offer some useful suggestions that may help him achieve his goal. This will only help to promote Blackberry since many others want alternatives.

There is no real reason a calendar that uses standard import/export files cannot be made to sync with a phone that does the same. It is laziness on the part of a phone OS developer to rely on the cloud rather than create a simple direct, local sync option.

Before Link synced with the Mac, I utilized PIM Backup and Restore to save to an .ics file, then imported it into my Mac calendar. I had to create a new calendar and delete the old one on the Mac each time, but in the end it worked and actually didn't take any more time than Link does to sync now.

Years ago, we had many different, and very good PIM programs for the PC that allowed syncing with devices such as the Palm Pilot. Why? Because Palm wrote a program that enables syncing between them. Other companies offering similar devices did the same. Now companies have been relying on the cloud out of simple laziness. This is one reason I have stayed with Blackberry, they have always offered a way to sync locally.

As I said before, there are third party options that offer local sync options for Android. You can also sync a Mac to an iPhone locally as well.

I really don't understand the animosity directed towards a simple request for information. There are others who can benefit from a decent solution to the OP's request.

[companionlink]

watson31,

I'll try to address your direct questions.

...I do not want to sync my calendar and notes and to-do lists to the cloud or to Google or to anything else "out there". I want to synchronize between my desktop computer and my hand-held device.

My question is this: I do not have Outlook on my PC. Can I sync the Z10 to the Palm Desktop calendar??

Yes, you can sync Palm Desktop Calendar to your new Z10 without storing data in anyone's cloud. You can sync using USB cable if that's what you prefer. CompanionLink for Palm Desktop is a product that is designed to do this.

Link: CompanionLink for Palm Desktop and BlackBerry

Here's how CompanionLink works.

1. CompanionLink installs on the PC. You will need BB Desktop Software (free from BB's site) to be installed as well. You won't need to launch BB Desktop every time; you just need to have it installed.
2. Your Z10 will need our DejaOffice for BlackBerry mobile app. It's free from BlackBerry World and serves as an all-in-one PIM on the BlackBerry. It holds Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, and Memos. If you are looking for a mobile PIM that looks/feels/functions like Palm, this is the one because we designed it after Palm's features.
3. CompanionLink and DejaOffice work together every time you sync using USB.

If you have any questions, please PM me or reach out to our support team. We even offer free phone support.

We are fans of both cloud sync and traditional connected (USB) sync. There are pros/cons to both. But our stance is to not take away options (ie - do not eliminate or discount USB sync) in an effort to push everyone to cloud just because that's where the world is moving. Choice is good. To each their own.

I hope this helps.

[PHughes]

watson31,

I'll try to address your direct questions.



Yes, you can sync Palm Desktop Calendar to your new Z10 without storing data in anyone's cloud. You can sync using USB cable if that's what you prefer. CompanionLink for Palm Desktop is a product that is designed to do this.

Link: CompanionLink for Palm Desktop and BlackBerry

Here's how CompanionLink works.

1. CompanionLink installs on the PC. You will need BB Desktop Software (free from BB's site) to be installed as well. You won't need to launch BB Desktop every time; you just need to have it installed.
2. Your Z10 will need our DejaOffice for BlackBerry mobile app. It's free from BlackBerry World and serves as an all-in-one PIM on the BlackBerry. It holds Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, and Memos. If you are looking for a mobile PIM that looks/feels/functions like Palm, this is the one because we designed it after Palm's features.
3. CompanionLink and DejaOffice work together every time you sync using USB.

If you have any questions, please PM me or reach out to our support team. We even offer free phone support.

We are fans of both cloud sync and traditional connected (USB) sync. There are pros/cons to both. But our stance is to not take away options (ie - do not eliminate or discount USB sync) in an effort to push everyone to cloud just because that's where the world is moving. Choice is good. To each their own.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the info!

[diegonei]

NOTICE: The important part is in red, italic and bold. The rest can be skipped.

II do not consider the Z10 or any other Blackberry "cloud-heavy."

Well, it is, you consider it or not.

I think instead of criticizing the OP, we could actually offer some useful suggestions that may help him achieve his goal. This will only help to promote Blackberry since many others want alternatives.

No one is criticizing, on the contrary, we're deeply concerned he may end up disappointed because he based his expectation on misleading (older BB devices) information.

There is no real reason a calendar that uses standard import/export files cannot be made to sync with a phone that does the same. It is laziness on the part of a phone OS developer to rely on the cloud rather than create a simple direct, local sync option.

All that said and done, can you point to a solution? Easy to cast blame. Not so much to solve a problem.

Before Link synced with the Mac, I utilized PIM Backup and Restore to save to an .ics file, then imported it into my Mac calendar. I had to create a new calendar and delete the old one on the Mac each time, but in the end it worked and actually didn't take any more time than Link does to sync now.

Now you COULD have opened with "Hey OP, Before Link synced with the Mac, I utilized PIM Backup and Restore to save to an .ics file, then imported it into my Mac calendar. I had to create a new calendar and delete the old one on the Mac each time, but in the end it worked and actually didn't take any more time than Link does to sync now, see if this works for you". This actually sounds like something he could do.

I really don't understand the animosity directed towards a simple request for information. There are others who can benefit from a decent solution to the OP's request.

No one here is antagonising the OP. We may not agree on doing manual, local, offline backups and how those are less efficient that instant, cloud backups. That's all.

So DO read it all again without defending the local backup point of view and you'll probably notice there was no need for me to have replied to this post in the first place.

[PHughes]

NOTICE: The important part is in red, italic and bold. The rest can be skipped.





Now you COULD have opened with "Hey OP, Before Link synced with the Mac, I utilized PIM Backup and Restore to save to an .ics file, then imported it into my Mac calendar. I had to create a new calendar and delete the old one on the Mac each time, but in the end it worked and actually didn't take any more time than Link does to sync now, see if this works for you". This actually sounds like something he could do.[/B][/I][/COLOR]


.

Possibly you missed my first post, I believe it was the third reply to this thread, right under your second post, where I gave the advice regarding PIM Backup and Restore and .ics files initially. Maybe you missed that. I simply reiterated it in the post you quoted. Had you have done that you might not have gotten so worked up that you felt the need to post angrily with added color for emphasis.

Here is a quote from that post, "To transfer your Blackberry calendar to the Palm Desktop, you may be able to use PIM Backup and Restore to save the calendar to an .ics file. I believe the Palm Desktop calendar can import an .ics file."

Thanks and have a good day.

[watson31]

I appreciate everyone's replies. I don't even mind very much someone who wants to tell me I made a bad decision, or that I'm misguided or just flat-out wrong to want to do what I want to do. I realize that being able to customize one's phone with whatever apps you may want is an awesome thing. And the software developers try to appeal to the majority. These days most folks are OK using "the cloud". I also don't have a Facebook page or a Twitter account. I just don't see the appeal to living one's life online. I'm not putting it down, it's just not my thing.

I felt that I'd done sufficient research about the Z10 prior to buying it. But I clearly did not. Blackberry Link is nice, and I am able to sync to my PC via USB and totally avoid the cloud. But I really don't like the look & feel of Outlook. I've used it at my job for the past 12 years. But I wouldn't want it to be the calendar/task-manager I use in my personal life. There plenty of really cool looking sportscars out there, but I wouldn't buy one because I'm more a truck-guy. I've got nothing against sportscars or the people who own them, they just aren't for me.

That said, all my research keeps bringing me back to CompanionLink. It does appear to be the only option out there that's going to do exactly what I want.

Perhaps if/when I take the plunge with CompanionLink I'll report back here w/a review since it does sound like there are other folks who might be interested in a similar option.

Thanks again to everybody who replied.

[dpgo]

I also don't like the cloud, only standalone apps and usb and I could achieve the platform migration.

In the past I managed to move from "PalmOS+Agendus Pre" to "Android+DejaOffice" and more recently from "Android+DejaOffice" to "BB10+DejaOffice".

Although "Agendus Pre" was a perfect software, I don't miss anything in DejaOffice as an standalone app, but for a more professional usage Companion link can be just perfect.