Is a Droid in my future?

[Dr_H]

My contract runs out next month and I am going to get a new phone when I renew. I am currently using a Win Mobile phone and want to make sure I don't loose important (to me) functionality.

My e-mail is on a company IMAP server. I use Exchange as my client and use the contacts (3000+) and calendar heavily. I am sure these are the easy things.

Other functions important to my work:
- I have a password keeper that syncs with my desktop.
- I have a time keeper that syncs with my desktop.
- I sync with some folders on my desktop that contain hundreds of documents. (pdf manuals, text & word docs, pictures of component and connector pinouts, and other general reference material)
- I sync a bunch if Internet favorites.
- A financial calculator/amortization app that syncs with my desktop.
- Some in house written IP apps for configuring network devices. (These will have to be rewritten. I am a hardware/software developer and looking at the Droid as a potential new market.)

There are a few other things like some games, some Bible software etc...

Obviously I am going to have to change some stuff. I went through the same thing when I went from my Palm OS phone the WM.

I see a lot about cool weather apps, things that make fart sounds, but not much about syncing with a PC. Right now when I am going to a customer I just grab the manuals (PDF) off the server and drop them in my desktop folder. 10 seconds later they are on my phone. When I get back my time and materials info from my time keeper is on my desktop and I just cut and paste into my work log so the customer gets billed.

I just want to keep that painless functionality.

Is there any hope?

 

[MarcMaiden]

Which service provider do you have currently?

first off i think its more important to establish what do you want more:

Reliable coverage, or a phone that does it all?

I find the nexus one to be a bit more business man geared out of the box, but im pretty certain there are many apps for the droid that does everything you ask for.

If you can be patient though, i would also suggest you try out the palm pre. the newest one is coming out for verizon, and i believe (no offense) it has a more seamless experience, and will definitely do all the things you want it to do. plus, it will be on a more reliable network..well..the most reliable network.

If the palm pre plus is as good as it looked at CES this year, i might switch to the pre for its polished OS, awesome UI, and slick features. However, Android phones like the droid will give you more power, more functionality, and more apps. (and the awesomeness of google)

 

[Dr_H]

My carrier is Sprint and won't change. Not that I love them or anything but it is not a single phone plan and I don't pay for it. Same thing with the phone I can pick what ever I want, so it comes down to the one that works best with my life.
I have seen a couple of document sync apps, but there is no way I am going to pay to put my docs on someones server so I can sync them to my phone because:
- waste of money even if I am not personally paying
- too much trouble
- some docs are proprietary and sensitive
I am not really a big fan of WM, but I need certain functionality.
What I find surprising is that most of these phones I have looked at charge through USB. It seems crazy that no one thought being able to sync some files was a good idea. Am I missing something?

 

[PDXMike]

I have the droid, and I use my phone to take my work with me where ever I go. I don't edit it on my phone, but could using the docs app provided. All pc's I've used see it as a USB drive and not a phone like my windows mobile phone. I've considered rooting simply for wireless tethering which would allow something sort of similiar to what you are describing I think. Or you could upload to google docs? I've also seen doubletwist sync folders fairly well, I bet you could dig around and find some automatic settings.

EDIT: I had a windows mobile phone previously, and find the quick office app that comes with the droid to work better than anything i saw on my winmo phone. Excel, PDF, doc, images, just about everything office I've thrown at it.

 

[Kirys]

I'm not an expert with droid but using unison (or other synch tool) you should be able to sync all your docs with the phone mounting it as an usb drive.
An then you should be able to read/edit them all using a 3rd party app like documents2go (if you came from palm you should know it )
Cannot help fro the other issues though

 

[Dr_H]

If it sees the phone as a USB drive I could work with that. I have a PC Sync app that I use to sync my laptop with the server.

Now I looked at the iPhone and it looks like a USB drive, but you can't see the files from the phone side...

To be clear, if I copied some documents, keep it simple, let's say a text file to an Android phone, I could open/view and edit it on the phone?

 

[dmurdock]

If it sees the phone as a USB drive I could work with that. I have a PC Sync app that I use to sync my laptop with the server.

Now I looked at the iPhone and it looks like a USB drive, but you can't see the files from the phone side...

To be clear, if I copied some documents, keep it simple, let's say a text file to an Android phone, I could open/view and edit it on the phone?

Yep. I use a free app called "Astro File Manager" and it lets you browse the contents of the SD card.

The droid isn't a business phone (not yet anyway). It's a cool phone that can do some business tasks....if your looking for a business phone that can do some cool tasks right now I'd say the Pre or just ride out your current phone till winmobile 7 comes out. The Droid is competing with the Iphone so that's where the focus has gone as far as featureset which is painfully obvious the first time you try to voice dial with your bluetooth headset and find out you can't (you must initate and dial the call from the handset) which for some who need a business phone is a deal breaker.

 

[PDXMike]

Not a business phone?

I'm confused by this...

Yes you could open up a text document, an excel spreadsheet, a pdf ( I get quotes regularly from different companies in pdf form as email attachments. ) And yes you could edit those, except the pdf of course.

I use google calendar to keep track of scheduling and long term projects now, after exporting my calendar from outlook and importing it to google. I bought "pure calendar" and have 1 entire screen of my droid as a listing of my upcoming events.

I have three email accounts on my phone that work with no issues. 1 gmail, and 2 pop email accounts.

I haven't added any "business" related apps, but I haven't had to either. I don't know what people mean when they say "business" phone.

I had used a winmo phone for years, linked with Outlook I didn't think the android would work for me. Once I figured out how to export contacts and the calendar and import it into google's "cloud" I was set.

What kind of "business" do you need to do with your phone? I guess I didn't realize bluetooth = business.

 

[dmurdock]

Not a business phone?

I'm confused by this...

Yes you could open up a text document, an excel spreadsheet, a pdf ( I get quotes regularly from different companies in pdf form as email attachments. ) And yes you could edit those, except the pdf of course.

I use google calendar to keep track of scheduling and long term projects now, after exporting my calendar from outlook and importing it to google. I bought "pure calendar" and have 1 entire screen of my droid as a listing of my upcoming events.

I have three email accounts on my phone that work with no issues. 1 gmail, and 2 pop email accounts.

I haven't added any "business" related apps, but I haven't had to either. I don't know what people mean when they say "business" phone.

I had used a winmo phone for years, linked with Outlook I didn't think the android would work for me. Once I figured out how to export contacts and the calendar and import it into google's "cloud" I was set.

What kind of "business" do you need to do with your phone? I guess I didn't realize bluetooth = business.

All good points. I guess it's all perspective. If you live in a city which mandates hands free in the car and your in the car a lot and you get a lot of business calls then the droid falls short.

The tech involved in smartphones is advancing so fast it may not be fair to consider them "phones" anymore (I don't think it is) as much as mini pc's which happen to be able to make phone calls. For some of us the "phone" part is of primary importance so our focus will be on those features.

 

[PDXMike]

Ok, so hands-free is what you were talking about, on that I have nothing to say. I haven't used a headset regularly for a long time. But I don't drive for work, I typically text most of my friends, and when I'm on the phone its at my ear.

I just started to use the droid to sync a folder on my desktop pc containing all my work files. Similiar in size to your "hundreds of documents." It has worked great for me. You can plug the phone into your pc and all it will do is charge, until you mount it. It does not see it as a mobile device but as a removable drive.

I don't know about the other things, but I'm sure you will find similar options available for the droid. I was really hesitant on switching to a newer phone, they all seemed more like mp3 players with cameras and phones, than a true pda. The droid is a well balanced pda, thats if you want to change the icons, make it pretty and play a bunch of games, it works. If you need to nerd out and hack the main frame to tether, well it can be done. Out of the box, it it kind of blank though, which I liked. People are putting some well designed apps out, but there is also a bunch of crap to dig through. I found most of the apps I use on forums like this one and youtube. Expect to spend about 20 or 30 bucks on apps when you get your phone, its gonna happen. The 24 hour refund is nice if something doesn't work for you.