Syncing smarter...?

Just switched over to a BB after using Windows Mobile devices for about 5 years. The OS is pretty strait forward and though it's new, I am getting the hang of it and don't really have any problems so far.

My issue is with synchronizing. Is this really as good as it gets? I switched to a BB for a few reasons, but I did so feeling comfortable due to the reputation of the devices as professional and powerful. I utilize both a desktop at home and a working laptop and have consistently sync'd my WM phone with the two machines with very little issue or attention. I think I took for granted how seamlessly the transactions occurred.

My first issue: Contacts. I have a lot of contacts in Outlook on my desktop that I do not want sync'd up to my handheld. They simply aren't contacts I use more than twice a year, but I need them somewhere when the time comes and that's why they are on the desktop. I don't want to scroll through them all each and every time I use any communication feature on my phone.

My second issue: Calender. I have items on my Outlook calendars that predate my acquiring of the BB, but I have no need for them on my device. DM is insistent that I either have all appointments on my device and desktop, or none on either. I think it's clear that the role of the desktop is more of an archival type machine and the PDA should be much more of a quick resource with viable, current information for me.

I guess the heart of the issue is that ActiveSync, as microsofted as it is, is 10x smarter than DM. I would do an initial sync with the desktop, everything ever would get dumped to the WM phone. I could then delete what was irrelevant from the handheld, and on any subsequent sync, ActiveSync was smart enough to know that I didn't want that contact synced up any more. There is room for conflict resolution rules in ActiveSync, but by and large it is mitigated with the most intelligent method of conflict resolution that is simply unavailable in desktop manager: Most recently changed wins. I might add an appointment on my laptop, desktop or handheld. Why do I have to know that any one is always going to be more correct, check the date it was modified and determine which is more accurate. Very common sense I believe.

Is there any way to sync a BB in this manner? I am constantly berated by DM to perform 208 deletions here and 127 additions there, and I cannot simply reject a few at a time, but the entire batch at once. This is very frustrating and if I can't resolve it, I'm afraid that syncing my devices daily is going to go from simple to prohibitive and will have to switch back to a WM device.

I hear you. I don't mind having everything sync but why do I get all these deletions and additions every time I sync? Even when I only sync with my work pc and there wasn't even a change. I do remember having a few issues with ActiveSync but it only lasted during the first few syncs after that it always sync'd no matter where it was originally input. I hope someone has an answer. I would even think about getting a 3rd party sync application.