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When I used PalmOS, I used DateBk3/4 from Pimlico Software. The author has kept up with the times and has a feature-rich product for Android: http://www.pimlicosoftware.com...

Although they'd probably have been better off donating a few million to http://www.gorilla-haven.org/ to get Pimlico's DateBk6 (http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/). I'm still amazed at how relatively crappy the calendar and address book apps are on Blackberries 10 years after people figured it out properly on the Palm, and I don't think I've ever heard of anyone being truly happy with address books on any of the big smartphones.

Bottom line, the Palm OS organizer apps are far superior, IMHO. Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks are clean, fast and very, very useful.

Indeed... though, if you really want to see what a Palm-based calendaring app can do, check out DateBk5. It blows Palm's calendaring application clean out of the water.

You're second wish is at least partially met by DateBk. It has the added advantage of a linux desktop app that uses the DateBk extensions, J-Pilot

The palm pilot is absolute gold when it comes to time management. I'd especially recommend buying Datebk5, as it lets you choose different colors/icons for different categories of todo's. It also lets you put the todo's in the date book, showing up on the day they're supposed to be done, or a few days earlier if you prefer. The best choice for the power user, IMHO.

DateBk5 by Pimlico Software is exactly what you are looking for and I cannot recommend it enough.

DateBk5 by Pimlico Software is exactly what you are looking for and I cannot recommend it enough.

If you're willing to spend money, Agendus is a nice solution. Very contact orientated and takes care of the Palm side. There also Agendus for Windows which has the corrosponding functionality on the desktop. It's well worth the money if you're into these sort of things.

Someone else mentioned DateBk5, which is more task orientated.

If you just want desktop access to multiple addresses, try the latest version of Palm Desktop. But this won't solve the handheld-side problem...

Finally, why not Outlook? Yes, it costs money, and yeah, it's bollocks for e-mail, but if you install and ignore it makes a handle 'universal sync point'.

For the To-Do list, you might check out Bonsai. It's actually an outliner, but you can set outline items as to-dos and have it create those and maintain the links (caveat: I haven't used that feature). The OS5 Tasks (replaces To-Do) application is also an improvement over previous versions, but nothing revolutionary.

As far as addresses go, the OS5 Contacts application does allow multiple addresses - if you're using a T3 at least, when you're editing a contact you'll see a (+) button at the bottom of the screen - tapping that lets you add additional address areas up to a total of 3. The main thing I'd like to see added is a way to have both "public" (will be beamed/sent) and "private" (won't be beamed/sent) notes on contacts - that way I could keep my personal notes on clients (e.g. "X's wife used to work with mom. X's M-I-L is in poor health (6/2004)." and still be able to beam that contact to other folks without sending that information along as well.

http://john.redmood.com/organizers.html
http://www.ypsolog.com/docs/comp/other/pim.html
http://www.ms.lt/ms/projects/toolkinds/organize.ht ml

The odds are good that you'll find something that works.

I personally use Ecco Pro, Shadow Palm and DateBk5.

But then again, I'm a zealot.

Simple example: there is a feature in the DateBk5 app for Palm called 'TapAndHold' which does exactly that, and I'm fairly sure that wasn't just in the latest version (plug: I'm trialling it at the moment - it IMO very good).

Hey! That means the Gorilla project (funded by the registrations) could go for some dosh from M$ - now THAT would be a fun use of money.

Keep 'em comin' ;-)

As you can see in this Outlook task entry, everything looks kosher. That hash in the Note field is for DateBk5's icons.

When I sync to Yahoo!'s Calendar, I see something that looks like this. Opening the Tasks form, I see this output. No titles for any tasks.

Let's focus in on the 9/18 task. Opening that one, shows this form, where you can see the Note field is in the Title field of the Task. That's a problem. It showed an empty title in the main Tasks screen, but now shows the Note field instead of the Title.

It works fine in Outlook. It works fine in J-Pilot. Why does Yahoo!'s Calendar screw it up? (I await the reply from their maintainer).

If they had an API that was public, I could write a conduit to sync directly to it, from Linux. Judging by the fact that Intellisync is a Pumasoft product, and Pumasoft holds many patents on SyncML technologies (some of which have recently been rejected by the USPTO), I can assume that this is SyncML + authentication.

I'd rather write the conduit using a documented API, than a sniffer, however.

So you see, all is not as easy as it seems.

The Sharp Zaurus line is appealing, but the last I heard there was no syncing solution at all for the Mac, even from 3rd party's.

Even if there was a Mac syncing solution for the Zaurus, I'd strongly recommend that you take a good, hard look at the Zaurus PIM apps before making a decision.

I have both a Zaurus and a Palm (a Clie, actually), and the Palm is what I use, because I need a PDA with good PIM apps. After being spoiled by DateBk5 on the Palm, there's no way I could use the Zaurus. And, I'd be willing to pay US$100 for Zaurus PIM apps with equivalent functionality and usability (DateBK5 is soooo incredibly polished).

Here's a basic example: on the Zaurus, create an appointment that's five minutes long, and give it some descriptive text. On my Zaurus, this is displayed this as a completely unusable and unreadable line of pixels. On the Palm, it's just displayed as completely readable text.

(Oh, and don't even get me started on the fact that I have to use a #$%^&*()?%! dialog box to enter text. On the Palm, I just write or type. For the virgins out there, this is the difference between on-screen editing (the Palm) and using dialog boxes for all editing (the Z).)

I've been using my Sony Clie every day for the last 6 months. In the past I've owned 2 palms, a Newton, a cassiopeia, an ipaq, and the clie. The Newton was probably the most useful - except for the size. It's size made it nice to write on, but a pain to carry around (still a beautiful piece of technology though). The Ipaq has a great screen, but runs wince and I can't easily carry it in my pocket. The best organiser I've ever had has been the clie. It's got a nice clear color screen and fits in my pocket. The case is pretty scratched from my keys. It has been a pain getting it to sync with Linux, but it's working now. If you have a device running PalmOS, I'd defintely recommend installing DateBk5.

• Yanoff a GPL'd Palm OS NNTP client, I love reading my newsgroups on the go (I also read them in bed on my m130)
• Datebk 4 an enhanced datebook app, great features!
• OnBoard C a C compiler that creates native applications on the Palm itself! Write code in the memopad or in a Doc file (I use QED on my HS Visor and SrcEdit [find it at the prededing link] on my m130)
• PalmReader I love to read Sci-Fi on my Palm, books are cheap too, browse the link
• Games by Astraware I have bought a few games by Astraware, they put out great products! Favorites are Mahjong and Zap2016!.

There are many many more but you get the idea. I have Pop3 email, Ftp, telnet, WWW browser, wordprocessing, spreadsheet, etc... loaded on my devices.

--
BAS

I know you're probably looking for an OS solution from Palm rather than add-on software, but I think it's worth checking out Pimlico Software's DateBk4(pdf manual here).

I just installed it myself, so I'm not completely aware of all that it can do, but it does integrate the basic apps together, as well as provide a myriad of other functions. I think it takes up about 400k of memory, and there's a 45 day shareware version. To register, it's $25.

One of the more interesting functions it has is a "floating" appointment. You can have it activate in the future or at the current time, and then it stays on your current day's list until you wipe it out. It's sort of like the ToDo function, only more powerful.

I don't think it takes care of the 4k Memo problem, though.

I know you're probably looking for an OS solution from Palm rather than add-on software, but I think it's worth checking out Pimlico Software's DateBk4(pdf manual here).

I just installed it myself, so I'm not completely aware of all that it can do, but it does integrate the basic apps together, as well as provide a myriad of other functions. I think it takes up about 400k of memory, and there's a 45 day shareware version. To register, it's $25.

One of the more interesting functions it has is a "floating" appointment. You can have it activate in the future or at the current time, and then it stays on your current day's list until you wipe it out. It's sort of like the ToDo function, only more powerful.

I don't think it takes care of the 4k Memo problem, though.

1. Hackmaster
Irreplaceable. Get it and pay the guy.

2. DateBk3
My Bread & Butter app. It's a Datebook/Todo replacement with lots of very useful stuff. There's also a DateBk4.

3. Commute
Bus schedules

4. QED
Doc reader/editor

5. OnBoard C
If your're into coding for fun, this is a refreshing experience.

6. TextPlus
Frequency-based word and phrase suggestion in any Plam application

7. PopUp Favorites
8. PopUp Calculator
Extremly useful helper apps. One is to switch tasks, the other is a small yet powerful calulator.

9. Font Hack & Alpha-NX
FontHack allows you to choose your own fonts, selectable for each app you have installed.
Alpha-NX is small but very readable.

10. TapPad
Adds some nice features to your Graffiti area.

a. SpadeLover Spades
b. Rally 1000
Games. Don't miss them

How about adding "hyperlinks" to the OS so that I can insert a link to an address book record into my diary, or to-do list, and vice versa. Now *that* would be cool.

DateBk4 does this. Would be more useful in the OS, admittedly (link diary to an Expense/QMate record, for example).