Pilot EasySync for Notes

I've been using the original version of Lotus' EasySync product for Notes for several months now. EasySync for Notes 1.0 (not to be confused with EasySync for Lotus Organizer) allows you to synchronise a Pilot with Notes Calendar, Task, Personal Name and Address Book, and Journal. There is a new version 2.0 out now, which adds the ability to synchronise Notes email with your Pilot, and costs $55 direct from Lotus' web site. I've been happy with it, with no significant problems encountered, and using it against a simple Notes client with no customisations installed.

Installation was straightforward, and synchronisation worked first time. One small tip for any newly installed Pilot conduit is to use the HotSync Manager menu to select a Custom run for the first synchronisation after updating the conduits for a Pilot. To reach this menu, you have to right click on the HotSync icon in the system tray. I always set the custom connection to override the desktop data with the information from my Pilot, because that is going to be the source of a new set of data. Obviously if you are installing on a new Pilot, you should set it to override the data on the Pilot from the desktop.

I know that a lot of PC Pro's readers use Notes, and happily recommend EasySync to them.

Using any PDA with different desktop PIM (Personal Information Manager) software can give quite a different feel to the combined system of PDA and desktop, depending on how well the two units complement each other, and how well the synchronisation software works. Older products support addresses, to do list and calendar only, but newer products are now supporting memos, email, and other document types as well. With both the REX and Pilot used with either the Pilot Desktop or EasySync for Notes, the synchronisation of memo data becomes far more important. I have used memos for everything from reference lists of hotel and airline phone numbers, drafts of this column to shopping lists and employee review notes. As I have gained confidence from more developers supporting memos, I've been able to rely on it for more uses. Not all reference data fits easily into a memo format, however. It is convenient for pasting in the schedule and details of a conference that I'm going to, with all the details gathered from a web site, but it doesn't work so well for a hypertext structured FAQ document, or for a full set of web pages.

Words and design by:
Paul Lynch
Last updated: April 21, 1998