Pocket Informant

I remember early on trying different programs just because they were there and I didn't really like the bland look of the regular old Outlook stuff.

I tried Agenda first as I remember and for some reason did not take to it right off the bat. So I tried Pocket Informant and it grabbed me right off, so I bought it.

Now Agenda is selling for $29.95 and Pocket Informant is selling for $19.95 and for the life of me I can't see where there's a $10.00 difference between the two, so $20 versus $30, you decide.

Both are fine products and it comes down to which one hits you right. My advice is to try both programs and just see which one you like the best. You won't go wrong either way you go.

[MiniM3]

PI started out to be a great app, but I'm finding that every version that comes out becomes more and more of a pig. It's now big and a bit slow now...I use to use it in the early days when it was fast.

IMHO.

[andsoitgoes]

Originally posted by rickford@Jan 15 2003, 06:06 PM
Now Agenda is selling for $29.95 and Pocket Informant is selling for $19.95 and for the life of me I can't see where there's a $10.00 difference between the two, so $20 versus $30, you decide.

OOH!! Where are you finding Informant for $19.95?!?!? I must know!! :o

I really must know - I love PI, way more than Agenda. I agree it has gotten pretty slow, but it's such a great program, it's worth it...

PI started out to be a great app, but I'm finding that every version that comes out becomes more and more of a pig. It's now big and a bit slow now...I use to use it in the early days when it was fast.

Well they must have heard you MiniM3. The new version, 3.46, seems to have addressed some of the slow issues. Jumping between windows seems faster and I guess you could also lower the number of calendar days cached to help speed it up.

Anyway, if you haven't kept up with the last few updates, I recommend you take a new look at PI. Seems to be getting better each time.

Well that's my two cents................can I have my change please?

[MiniM3]

Rickford, no, I haven't been keeping up with PI's versions. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that those pims are just too much information at once (the irony). I'm not a heavy salesperson that follows every minute of their time on a PIM. I have found that by using these 2 apps, I can accomplish the same without having all the gui caked on. I run Calendar + 2.5, Battery Pack 2003 and Scarybear QuickTask 2002 on the Today screen. It tells me my appointments in how many days I set it and my to do task right on the front screen. Realistically, that's all I need. The simpler the better. I find that with these heavy duty pims, they just get more confusing then productive.

my 2 cents ;)

[andsoitgoes]

Thanks to a certain someone, I got my copy of PI at a mere $12!!!!

I am ONE happy camper!!! :D

[gracefulbee]

When I first received my Axim, I tried both Agenda Fusion and Pocket Informant. I decided to purchase Pocket Informant. The main reasons are I liked the Pocket Informant screens better. The information displayed was intuitive and the navigation made sense. I really like all the different calendar views. I like the hierarchical task option to create parents and child although this does not sync well to Outlook. As a result I solely use the Task Manager on my Axim and do not try to sync tasks to Outlook.

But the deciding factor for purchasing Pocket Informant was their website. I like websites with forums. In the forums at Pocket Informant, users share their best practices and ideas. Plus the developer of the application is highly visible at the forums which I thought was really great.

Debbie

Realistically, that's all I need. The simpler the better

I hear you MiniM3. My problem is I do time and material billings, service contract billing, project billings, warranty billings, No charge billings, blah, blah, blah. It gets hard keeping up with all the different things I need to keep track of, thus PI.

However, in using PI I try to keep it simple. I have all of my clients of course in the address book. Then I use the calendar to set appointments, service calls, time on projects and all the other stuff. During these appointments I link the appointment to the client. So I can recall the details later either by looking at the links for that client or by searching the calendar for that reference. Works pretty well actually and not that hard to keep up with. Of course you really have to have a need for this kind of information gathering.

Another thing I like about doing it this way is that I can link a file to the client or project. I have scanned in floor plans of client facilities with details on where our equipment is located to a pdf file. I then link that file to the client and when I need to reference that information, HELLO, its right there at my finger tips and I don't have to go looking for it in My Documents. I can never remember which memory card I put the darn stuff on anyway. :D

Needless to say I use it for other things also, but that's just a sample of some of the things I use PI for. I figured out a long time ago that if you can do everything in one program, it ain't long before you're pretty good at using that one program to do new things. ;)

[commoved]

I started with PI, but got so disatisified that I went looking and found AF. Every time I set an appointment in PI, the calendar update took forever. I like sorting contacts by first name. Again, PI took forever. I didn't like the way all day appointments were done. I never had the feeling it was a solid program -- always felt on the edge of a bug. Why do they need so many updates anyway?

Also, I actually like the way AF is organized a little better. I have one button set to AF, which leaves 3 buttons for other stuff.

BTW, AF is 500K smaller than PI.

I guess that's at least 4 cents worth. ;)

[MiniM3]

I just stopped using all those heavy pims altogether, i find that they bogged down the system too much, the pocketpc's are slow enough, don't need another gui on top of wince..hehe..

Plus, I've come to the conclusion that Calendar + (free) and Scarybear Quicktasks does the job. They are both small and affordable and fast. That's what I wanted.

To each his/her own. I guess if there was one PIM that did it all for everyone this thread would have ended before it got started. :D

My view is try any and all and decide for yourself which works for you. For every fault you find for PI we can find one for AF and Calendar + and so on and on. For every good feature we find for PI we can find can find one for AF and Calendar +.

The neat feature is that we can express what we like and dislike about programs and give folks some personal views about why we decided on the program we use.

[MiniM3]

Originally posted by rickford@Jan 17 2003, 08:50 PM
To each his/her own. I guess if there was one PIM that did it all for everyone this thread would have ended before it got started. :D

My view is try any and all and decide for yourself which works for you. For every fault you find for PI we can find one for AF and Calendar + and so on and on. For every good feature we find for PI we can find can find one for AF and Calendar +.

The neat feature is that we can express what we like and dislike about programs and give folks some personal views about why we decided on the program we use.

Couldn't of said it better....or shorter :)