[Razzbuten]

First off,

I bought a Treo 600 the day it released. Due to the lies told then about that device I swore I would not buy another Palm device. I was given the 650 as a replacement, and although it had some fixes, I had a bad taste in my mouth.

Once the WinMobile Audiovox/HTC 6600 came out I switched to that platform and was fairly happy with the 6600, 6700, and 6800 for sometime. All in all each had its minor issue but they were solid for the most part.

I left Sprint and got an iPhone and had that for a short while. I was not that impressed (it was the 3G version about a week after release). I ended up back with Sprint and on my old 6800. Work gave me another iphone which had a new firmware and had some features I though the first lacked and I was happy with the phone but I hated 2 devices.

I was eligible for an upgrade and got the pre ditching my 6800 and I seriously like it better than the iphone I have from work. HOWEVER, the lack of sync software has me pretty damned close to ditching this thing and going for ANY device I can sync with my PC.

I lost my contacts, and Palm Support is a #$%^&* joke with regards to fixing it. How on earth can Palm release a smartphone without some form of sync software? Itunes sucks ***, but at least it works.

I read the threads here on how to pull contacts into a CSV, and I laugh at the fact that such threads have to exist. How can Palm expect anyone to take this device serious with such a HUGE flaw?

Cliffnotes for the Lazy: Lost my contacts, Palm shows serious incompetence with their lack of sync software.

[ananimus]

They transferred my contacts from my Mogul to my new Palm Profile last week at Best Buy. Sure they do that at Sprint too. (If all you want is to migrate.) Bring your phones in and ask.

Otherwise, there's tinkering with GMail that can be done for free which provides more solid backup than Palm's has of late. Or you can purchase a full blown Pre sync app, and there are more than one.

Having just come from the same train of phones as you, I'm surprised at your anguish. I tweaked the ROMs on my old PPCs to make myself happy and it was a pain. The tireless community here offers one-click tweaking once set up with PreWare for the majority of power user complaints, and the underpinnings are far more enjoyable than WinMo, IMHO.

[carlos83]

I agree with you, that the phone should have had some type of software for syncing. I have searched the forums for ways to back up my contacts and the programs didn't work out for me, so I just e-mailed them all to my Gmail account and email a new contact immediately after I store the number in my phone. But I have come to the realization that this phone and OS had a rushed release, I mean come on it didn't have a alarm clock until a couple of days before it's release. I love the OS/UI and the form factor or the phone but as many has stated before the build quality could be a lil' better. Im going to stick it out with Palm though just because I love the OS/UI so much and Im pretty sure by the time I switch the phone will be were many of us wants it. Good Luck in finding a phone that works for you!! Hopefully the next rumored update will solve this problem for us!!

[Laelipoo]

You knew going in that there would be no desktop syncing. Everyone knew since March. To get the phone and then complain about something like this is silly. If you wanted something that came with a desktop client, you should have gotten a Blackberry. Sprint has those. Android and WebOS phones are made to sync with the cloud--just like the Sidekicks and Cliqs and G1s, etc.

And yes, sometimes there can be data loss--it happens. The world isn't perfect. and neither are software developers. It's just as easy for a Windows update to eat your entire hard drive. Thus, have copies in more than one spot.

Again, if having a hard copy is important to you--and I'll be honest, I make two of them once a week--then buy a program to do it. The Missing Sync has options, and so does Google and WebOS Quick Install. If this was such a deal breaker for you in the first place, then why get the phone?

[cardfan]

You knew going in that there would be no desktop syncing. Everyone knew since March. To get the phone and then complain about something like this is silly. If you wanted something that came with a desktop client, you should have gotten a Blackberry. Sprint has those. Android and WebOS phones are made to sync with the cloud--just like the Sidekicks and Cliqs and G1s, etc.

And yes, sometimes there can be data loss--it happens. The world isn't perfect. and neither are software developers. It's just as easy for a Windows update to eat your entire hard drive. Thus, have copies in more than one spot.

Again, if having a hard copy is important to you--and I'll be honest, I make two of them once a week--then buy a program to do it. The Missing Sync has options, and so does Google and WebOS Quick Install. If this was such a deal breaker for you in the first place, then why get the phone?

Sorry, this is on Palm for making the claim it can store your important info such as contacts in their palm profile. Obviously, they can't and shouldn't even try to..

[cgardnervt]

This is why I use google for my contacts. It seems to sync good. I have replaced my phone one time about a month after release and they synced fine then. I have not done it any other time. Im sure things can change. I have heard some bad things about googles palm profile sync.

[Laelipoo]

Sorry, this is on Palm for making the claim it can store your important info such as contacts in their palm profile. Obviously, they can't and shouldn't even try to..

I've had to doctor two phones five times, and have never had an issue with my contacts. So yes, some people have issues. Does that mean they're 'completely inept'? No. It means that **** happens. You're just one of the unlucky ones. You should never, ever rely on just one backup of anything. Ever.

[cardfan]

They transferred my contacts from my Mogul to my new Palm Profile last week at Best Buy. Sure they do that at Sprint too. (If all you want is to migrate.) Bring your phones in and ask.

Otherwise, there's tinkering with GMail that can be done for free which provides more solid backup than Palm's has of late. Or you can purchase a full blown Pre sync app, and there are more than one.

Having just come from the same train of phones as you, I'm surprised at your anguish. I tweaked the ROMs on my old PPCs to make myself happy and it was a pain. .

Here's something else that's wrong. Folks at BB or Sprint transfer contacts from a WM (or whatever) device to a new Pre and associate them with Palm Profile?

Sprint would call that part of the Ready Now experience.

I call it a bag of hurt waiting to happen. Yep, you're ready now alright. Ready to depend on palm profile with no easy way to sync those somewhere else.

It's really just a badly implemented process. Are these reps even asking how do you sync your contacts? Where are they stored? Use exchange? Do they have a google or yahoo account and if not, explain why'd they want one?

But some blame should fall to the user. C'mon, you had a Mogul? I've seen others with prior smartphones as well griping of losing contacts as well. Didn't you sync with a computer, exchange, or cloud such as gmail before? Why would you let an ***** rep move contacts from previous phone when all that should be needed is to put your account on it and pull from exchange, gmail or yahoo, or wait to get to your PC and use a 3rd party chapura app?

This is a problem for Palm though. Palm needs to simply the process of putting contacts on. Palm profile should be changed to not include contacts at all. Noone else takes this risk, why should Palm? It's reinventing the wheel anyways. Exchange/outlook or clouds such as yahoo or google should be used and be the default method for Palm & Sprint in setting up these phones.

If you're using synergy or a 3rd party app to sync, and why wouldn't you, then you shouldn't be losing contacts.

[cardfan]

I've had to doctor two phones five times, and have never had an issue with my contacts. So yes, some people have issues. Does that mean they're 'completely inept'? No. It means that **** happens. You're just one of the unlucky ones. You should never, ever rely on just one backup of anything. Ever.

I've never lost a contact. It's all in outlook/exchange and gmail for me.

Why would i have contacts on my phone that aren't synced somewhere else to be used such as on windows or a Mac? It's the whole point of owning a smartphone.

I could stomp on my phone right now and not be worried about it. It's an iphone but it's backed up in itunes, and contacts and other PIMs are on the cloud and computer.

I could stomp my wife's Pre right now and she'd be fine as well except for losing text history, call logs, that sort of thing. No worries with contacts or calendar. It's on google and her laptop (outlook).

[cgardnervt]

You can just hav Sprint or BB give you the file with your contacts. Thats what I did. I then just imported them into my google account. This was a day or so after realese due to them being busy :P. Cloud backup is not a way to go. I back up my own contacts every now and then.

[nicksand007]

Always remember that the only tolerable comments on this forum are those that show unquestioned devotion to Palm, no matter how screwed your own particular problems are.

Some people think that negative feedback and criticisms are crucial for a company aspiring to compete with giants like Google and Apple, this way they can tweek and tune their products to be higher quality. This is false. In actuality, showing constant praise and affection for Palm/Pre/WebOS is the way to go. And of course, the complete flaming/lynching of anyone complaining in the slightest of any problems they might have, regardless how severe is the golden rule.

Hope this helps you adjust to life on the Pre Central forum.

[Gator352]

I have to agree with the OP. I love the Pre. This thing has so much potential that it isn't funny. BUT having no real way to back up your contacts/calendar without pulling teeth is unacceptable. Yes I do have everything backed up in other locations.

Here's my problem. After the 1.3.1 update, my photodialer worked, but it made all my contact pictures like as if they were in a bubble. So I uninstalled the app, went and deleted all the pics out of the photodialer folder, and reinstalled the app to no avail. All contact pics looked horrible, even after multiple installs. So I said what the heck, I'll doctor it up like new and start over since everything is on google (calendar/contacts) which should make it easy for me. Well that was yesterday morning. It won't sync to nothing. Even after multiple webOSdoctor wipes. After every wipe, my gmail account is there, but won't sign in and sync. I must say that this "cloud" crap they put on a pedestal is for the birds and PALM needs a real sync app for the PC for cases like mine. With that said, I love my Pre, but if I have to do this again (manually put in my stuff) I'm gone.

[themirthfulswami]

Always remember that the only tolerable comments on this forum are those that show unquestioned devotion to Palm, no matter how screwed your own particular problems are.

Ah how I love sarcasm with my morning coffee.

Fact of the matter is, if you have feedback to give, Palm provides an avenue for you to do that and these forums are not it. From a quick search of this very forum, you can easily find several threads relating to the lost contacts issue. It's known, Palm has admitted it, and some people here have offered workarounds for the issue. Whining and stomping your feet about ditching your Pre because of it serves no purpose other than self-gratification at the expense of the people frequenting this forum. Nobody here can magically fix the contacts problem, only Palm can.

So, realistically, the options are :

1. Pony up the cash for a new phone and hope you wind up liking it.
2. Wait for Palm to put out an official fix and perhaps be able to restore a backup.
3. Utilize one of the workarounds posted in other threads on this forum.

That's as much as anyone here can do for you. The choice is now yours.

[Gator352]

You can just hav Sprint or BB give you the file with your contacts. Thats what I did. I then just imported them into my google account. This was a day or so after realese due to them being busy :P. Cloud backup is not a way to go. I back up my own contacts every now and then.

You are so correct. I have all my contacts backed up to MSO. It's just that they tout this "cloud" crap as being the best thing since sliced bread and so far, it has done nothing for me. We shouldn't have to use 3rd party apps to sync our Pre's...heck I even had a ****** of a time getting it to sync to media monkey. It's just that PALM needs to have it's own Pre to PC sync app instead of relying on other vendors to do it for them.

[bezoris]

I don't have hundreds of contacts and am perfectly happy in the cloud, but it does seem like an oversight not to include desktop synch out of the box, at least to provide an easy upgrade path for their current customer base. As a longtime PDA innovator Palm knew that they had many loyal customers with many years' worth of data on the desktop...

But, as others mentioned, there have been several third-party solutions out for some time now. I certainly wouldn't be ditching an otherwise excellent device when fixes do exist (I also haven't had any device or data issues either - so I might be a bit biased).

[cardfan]

You are so correct. I have all my contacts backed up to MSO. It's just that they tout this "cloud" crap as being the best thing since sliced bread and so far, it has done nothing for me. We shouldn't have to use 3rd party apps to sync our Pre's...heck I even had a ****** of a time getting it to sync to media monkey. It's just that PALM needs to have it's own Pre to PC sync app instead of relying on other vendors to do it for us.

+1. Should be an option anyways. Can't be wifi only sync because the Pixi doesn't have wifi. Need to be able to plug in Pre and sync to outlook at the very least. A fullbackup of Pre would be even better.

Though there are several ways to get that Outlook info on the Pre. Google sync, set up exchange, use chapura or other, etc. But Palm can't honestly expect their target market to know this stuff well enough to do or want to do.

[Gator352]

I don't have hundreds of contacts and am perfectly happy in the cloud, but it does seem like an oversight not to include desktop synch out of the box, at least to provide an easy upgrade path for their current customer base. As a longtime PDA innovator Palm knew that they had many loyal customers with many years' worth of data on the desktop...

But, as others mentioned, there have been several third-party solutions out for some time now. I certainly wouldn't be ditching an otherwise excellent device when fixes do exist (I also haven't had any device or data issues either - so I might be a bit biased).

I never had data issues either till now. My Pre worked flawlessly till the 1.3.1 update that seemed to crash my photodialer. I understand that there is 3rd party solutions for backups but they tout "google" or "cloud" (which really is a joke to me) as being your one stop shop for everything...and it's not. To be honest, why should I have to pay to sync my contacts to my phone when they tout the "cloud" is free?

[Gator352]

daskoo... Laughter is good!

lol, it is. I'm not leaving the PALM masters yet. I'm just ticked that my phone won't do what they so blatantly advertise it to do. I mean I had no problems till 1.3.1 but in all honesty, I should be able to re-do my my Pre, turn it on, sync to google, and retrieve my contacts/calendar without any hassle. I didn't lose anything but come on, this is ridiculous. Starting to remind me of my Touch Pro with all it's problems.

[nicksand007]

Ah how I love sarcasm with my morning coffee.

Fact of the matter is, if you have feedback to give, Palm provides an avenue for you to do that and these forums are not it. From a quick search of this very forum, you can easily find several threads relating to the lost contacts issue. It's known, Palm has admitted it, and some people here have offered workarounds for the issue. Whining and stomping your feet about ditching your Pre because of it serves no purpose other than self-gratification at the expense of the people frequenting this forum. Nobody here can magically fix the contacts problem, only Palm can.

So, realistically, the options are :

1. Pony up the cash for a new phone and hope you wind up liking it.
2. Wait for Palm to put out an official fix and perhaps be able to restore a backup.
3. Utilize one of the workarounds posted in other threads on this forum.

That's as much as anyone here can do for you. The choice is now yours.

While I do agree with you that contacting Palm is the best choice in most instances. My problem here, is that if anybody complains at all about the Pre or anything having to do with Palm...it gets met with about half a dozen responses vilifying the poster, like its their fault they have a faulty phone.

This board shouldnt just be a soapbox for those who are 100% satisfied with their Pre. If people makes posts like "lol omgzers I-Phone is super better" than of course I see the value of a ******-standoff.

But if someone is expressing their displeasure, and its a situation that warrants a customer to be ****ed...it shouldnt be treated as if the poster is insulting your mother or child. Granted, some people here are helpfull, and will actually research stuff themselves to give people a response that can possibly fix problems. Thats what these boards should be about...not just <3 for Palm.

Sorry for ranting. Im done, lol.

[RunningWithScissors]

ome people think that negative feedback and criticisms are crucial for a company aspiring to compete with giants like Google and Apple, this way they can tweek and tune their products to be higher quality. This is false. In actuality, showing constant praise and affection for Palm/Pre/WebOS is the way to go. And of course, the complete flaming/lynching of anyone complaining in the slightest of any problems they might have, regardless how severe is the golden rule.

Hope this helps you adjust to life on the Pre Central forum.

Fact of the matter is, if you have feedback to give, Palm provides an avenue for you to do that and these forums are not it. From a quick search of this very forum,

Off topic...sort of: Sarcasm aside, what is the purpose of this forum? Seriously, where is the mission statement that says this forum is for xyz. I have yet to see where the forums are exclusively for praising the pre or exclusively basing the pre. It's a forum about the pre so you are going to get the good, the bad and the ugly...it's the nature of the beast that forums are.