[nanceh]

I have been using a Palm Tungsten/E for years, and have just purchased my first Blackberry - the Bold 9650. I am trying to transfer my calendar, contacts, and memos from my Palm to my new Blackberry, with no luck.

I first tried using Device Switch Wizard, but while synching the calendar data, it hung at record 293 out of 456 during the export. I then purged all records older than a week as suggested in a different thread. It then hung at record 92 out of 122. When I then deleted all repeating events it hung at record 121 out of 122 (progress!). I figured that there was something wrong with my last calendar entry, so I searched for it & deleted it, but now it hangs at record 120 out of 121. It seems to hang at the second to last record no matter what.

I then tried using Outlook (I�m running Outlook 2000). I successfully synched my Palm with Outlook, but when I go to configure the synchronization in BB Desktop Manager, there is no option to select Outlook for synchronization with my BB � the only options are ASCII Import/Export & Yahoo!

Does anyone have any suggestions how to move my data from my Palm to my BB without having to do it manually?

[VFRRDR68]

I'm in the same boat but I can't even get as far as you have.

[stephaniereneecats]

Did you ever figure this out? I want to purchase a blackberry, but have almost 10 years of data on my Palm handheld... I purchased the PalmPre to only be MAJORLY disappointed. The PalmPre doesn't even transfer data from palm handhelds!!!!!!! You have to go through a third party user and be web-based; like through Google. Big let down. So I wondered if you had any luck with the Blackberry?

[MCGozers]

Hi, I've had my BB 9700 for about 8 months, and sorry...no, there is no easy transition. Here are some tips that help keep me sane:

1) BACKUP regularly...the calendar entries are the first ones to get corrupted, if you can restore from yesterday when it worked, you're fine.

2) The corrupt calendar - is probably a recurring one. Delete and recreate a week's worth of entries then use the Device Switch Wizard again. If it still happens, go back and do the same thing for several weeks of recurring entries. The first time you clear this out is a pain, but it usually doesn't happen again.

3) You'll never be able to use the Synchronize tool with Palm. BB Desktop doesn't support it for syncing. Always make changes to your desktop Palm app, then sue the Device Switch Wizard. If you have to add things to your BB when away (memos, calendar, new contact, whatever) - send it in an email to yourself and update the Palm Desktop before using the Device Switch Wizard.

I can't speak for Outlook, I only use the Palm Desktop and the BB. Hope this helps.

[Omnitech]

I had a heck of a time migrating from a Treo to a BB. The Desktop Manager is very flawed in this regard - it claims to support pulling data from Palm Desktop but it is disastrously buggy.

For example, the documentation states very limited versions of Palm Desktop that it is compatible with, and they are NOT the latest versions - the versions they claim to be compatible with are at least 3-5 years old. (despite what might seem like minor differences between the version numbers they support and one that you might have installed - there are very idiosyncratic differences between those minor version numbers of Palm Desktop and DM will not work with versions not in their list.)

Now there are other sync solutions on the market that claim to do various things with a PalmOS <--> BB sync, but most of those are buggy as well.

Case in point: telephone/email fields. PalmOS has about 5 of what you might call "multi-modal" telephone/email fields. Each field can be customized to contain any one of 8 different "data types": Work, Home, Mobile, Pager, Fax, Main, Other, Email - in any order. If you want to enter 5 mobile numbers in a single PalmOS contact, no problem.

Problem is, the BB can't do that. Depending on which OS you have, the fields are statically-mapped, ie on my OS 5 device, there are 2 home phone fields, 2 mobile phone fields, etc. You can not have any more than the fixed number of fields for a certain type.

If you try to use "Device Switch Wizard" to transfer a Palm Desktop contact database where some contacts contain, say, 4 work phone fields, DSW will silently truncate and not copy those fields to the BB - without letting you know!

Let me tell you, it was "really cool" discovering on my own that big chunks of my contact data were just "mysteriously missing" after trusting the "Device Switch Wizard" to do what it is advertised to do. (Even after having to run through hoops to even use it, because it didn't support the version of Palm Desktop I was using. I had to install an older version of Palm Desktop on a different computer, customize a one-time sync to "copy all from device to Palm Desktop", and then install DM on that PC in order to even begin to use the Device Switch Wizard.)

3rd-party apps like CompanionLink and various Chapura products also have severe problems with their contact syncing - I can go into details later if you like.

What I concluded was the best way to go about it is as follows:

1) Use the Palm Desktop's own Microsoft Outlook sync facility to do a one-time, one-way sync to Outlook. (If you are not currently syncing with Outlook, you will have to switch the HotSync Manager to Outlook sync first - this is outlined in the documentation. Bear in mind that it does not support the latest versions of Office - 2010 is definitely not supported, and 2007 is only supported in the very latest versions of Palm Desktop that were released, most of which will not work with DM/Device Switch Wizard.)

2) Take a look at how it brings your contact data into Outlook. It may have placed certain fields into places like "Custom Phone 3" and so on, especially if you have lots of fields in a single contact record with the same type, like "mobile phone".

3) Try to massage the data in Outlook so that you have no more than 2 home phone numbers per contact, 2 mobile phone numbers, etc. This can be made easier by viewing the Outlook contact data in columnar format, you can more easily see which contacts have data in "alternate" fields this way, by scrolling down through the list. If necessary, you may have to "split" a contact if you really need a lot of fields of a certain type in that contact.

4) Configure the Desktop Manager to sync with Outlook, and use the advanced feature to map the Outlook fields into the available BB fields as desired.

5) When you are happy that the fields are mapped properly, do a onetime sync - I think there is an option to "copy all from Outlook" or something, which overwrites the BB data. (If you are copying calendar data, be careful about copying tons of ancient calendar entries, as they can take up a substantial amount of the limited space available on the handheld. You can limit the sync by date in the advanced screen.)

If you want more explicit details I'll have to go back to the copy of DM I setup for Outlook sync and play around with it again, as I'm surely forgetting some of the details.

HTH

[Pete6]

I have not used Outlook 200 in a while but can see no reason why Desktop Manager (DM) would not work with it.

It could just be (this is a guess) that the later versions of DM only work with newer versions of Outlook.

I use DM v4.6 and Outlook 2007 but I used DM 4.6 with Oiytlook 2003 for ages and it worked fine. You can find DM 4.6 here
BlackBerry - BlackBerry Desktop and Device Software Download Sites

What you are trying to do should work. Many have done this in the past.

[mgrunhut]

I also have a Palm Treo and i am buying a Blackberry. So i called Verizon support for the BB. The support technician had his own notes and he told me that recently he spoke to someone and a software was recommended. It was "www.companionlink.com". I called them and they said the info can be transferred. I have not tried it yet. I am planning on buying the BB Torch.
t
Please let me know if this has been of any help. Good luck!

[Omnitech]

I also have a Palm Treo and i am buying a Blackberry. So i called Verizon support for the BB. The support technician had his own notes and he told me that recently he spoke to someone and a software was recommended. It was "www.companionlink.com". I called them and they said the info can be transferred. I have not tried it yet. I am planning on buying the BB Torch.
t
Please let me know if this has been of any help. Good luck!

I installed a trial version of CompanionLink and it DID NOT WORK PROPERLY. It was one of the tools which could not transfer my contact records without truncating or mangling them.

To add to the problem, their support and communications were poor. I gave up on it, as well as the other products I tried, which is what led me to the procedure I detailed earlier in this thread.

[egzbuen]

Just today, I cancelled/closed my other mobile local subscription as I used to carry and use two. It was a BB 9900 and Palm Pixi Plus.

Now that Palm Pixi Plus will be a gonner in terms of use, I have easily transferred all my contacts and calendar data to my BB. This was easy since I just had to sync my Palm with Gmail and then sync Gmail with my 9900.

However, the syncing process does not include memos. I have lots on my Palm so now I need help on how i can transfer them to my BB9900.

The Desktop Manager I think is inapplicable as Palm Pixi Plus uses Web OS and not the old Palm OS. I may be wrong though.

Anyone?

Thanks

[mmcan]

I switched from a Tungsten to BB some time ago but this should still work.
I had been using Intellect by Time and Chaos for a desktop. With the BB I have to use CompanionLink to sync with that. A version is available for Palm Desktop to BB. You can get a trial version which I believe is complete. I've not had any trouble with it YMMV.