[uscpsycho]

I'm a looooong time Treo user. The one thing that has kept me using the Treo all these years is Seven software (previously called Sprint Business Connect and currently has a different name).

This software has a desktop connector that allows me to wirelessly sync email between my Treo and my desktop Outlook in real time. In my case I need to sync with Outlook after it's done a fair share of email filtering so syncing my phone directly with raw email on the server is not useful to me. I do not have Exchange.

Seems like you can wirelessly sync everything under the sun to the Pre except email.

My Treo is dying, falling apart, screen is failing, keys aren't responding. I used to love my Treo, then it was a love-hate relationship, now I loathe this POS phone. But I'm squeezing every ounce of life I can get out of it because I need to sync email between my phone and my desktop in real time.

Maybe there is a way to sync Outlook mail with Gmail or MSN in real time and then sync the Pre to Gmail/MSN?

Is there any way to get email from my desktop Outlook to the Pre in real time? HELP!

Much thanks to anyone who can help me solve this!

[MLJones8]

Yes, you can import just about any e-mail account into a gmail account.

Searching may bring up a better way than this but here is one way.

Edit: I don't use any apps to import my mail into gmail... I just go through via gmails settings; however I also don't use Microsoft Outlook (the app) so perhaps the above way is best suited for you.

[uscpsycho]

Yes, you can import just about any e-mail account into a gmail account.

Searching may bring up a better way than this but here is one way.

Edit: I don't use any apps to import my mail into gmail... I just go through via gmails settings; however I also don't use Microsoft Outlook so perhaps the above way is best suited for you.

As far as I can tell this is a way to import your Outlook Exchange data (I don't have Exchange) into Gmail then use Outlook's interface to access your data in Gmail. Thsi isn't a way to sync Outlook data down to Gmail in realtime.

If I were to use Gmail as a conduit I would need Outlook to download and filter all my email as usual. Then a second program to keep a gmail account mirrored to my Outlook email. Then keep my phone synced with gmail. I also need to make sure that any email I send from my phone is copied back to the Sent mail folder in Outlook.

I can do all of this with my Treo using the Seven software. But I know of no other phone, even Blackberry, that would allow me to do this. Maybe there is a Pre homebrew application for this?

[Tyndall]

Heh, maybe your best bet is another Treo in the meantime.......at least until the App Store goes "Live"......I say this only because your situation is not the mainstream.....seems a niche application is what you need now.

[uscpsycho]

On second thought, maybe there is hope here if I can transfer my data from Outlook .PST to Gmail using this Google Apps Sync. Sounds like this may be possible from reading the FAQ.

If I'm able to transfer everything (and there is a lot) from Outlook to Gmail will I be able to keep using Outlook email rules to filter my email within Outlook and then have it reflected back at Gmail in realtime? I think this may be possible... If so then that may be the solution I've been looking for!

Anyone know if this will work for me? Upon further review I am hopeful!

[MLJones8]

As far as I can tell this is a way to import your Outlook Exchange data (I don't have Exchange) into Gmail then use Outlook's interface to access your data in Gmail. Thsi isn't a way to sync Outlook data down to Gmail in realtime.

If I were to use Gmail as a conduit I would need Outlook to download and filter all my email as usual. Then a second program to keep a gmail account mirrored to my Outlook email. Then keep my phone synced with gmail. I also need to make sure that any email I send from my phone is copied back to the Sent mail folder in Outlook.

I can do all of this with my Treo using the Seven software. But I know of no other phone, even Blackberry, that would allow me to do this. Maybe there is a Pre homebrew application for this?

Through the Gmail Settings you can add any account and send via any account (giving you know the servers and settings).

Going the other way, is something I'm not familiar with.

Do you know the server settings? What is preventing you from just putting a second e-mail account on the Pre?

Edit: Perhaps you don't have a Pre yet? If that is the case then download the SDK and and try to setup your e-mail account on the emulator. I have no problem with multiple accounts on the Pre (Two are Outlook EAS accounts). Which do sync e-mails/contacts/calendar events in real time.

[uscpsycho]

Through the Gmail Settings you can add any account and send via any account (giving you know the servers and settings).

Going the other way, is something I'm not familiar with.

Do you know the server settings? What is preventing you from just putting a second e-mail account on the Pre?

Edit: Perhaps you don't have a Pre yet? If that is the case then download the SDK and and try to setup your e-mail account on the emulator. I have no problem with multiple accounts on the Pre (Two are Outlook EAS accounts). Which do sync e-mails/contacts/calendar events in real time.

I'm not following you.

I don't use Exchange which is a prerequisite for EAS. I know I can sync Gmail with any email account. I do a lot of email processing (using rules, filters and third party software) on my desktop. I need this filtered email to be reflected back to my phone or to Gmail in realtime. Syncing Gmail or the Pre with the mail server isn't useful in my situation.

It looks to me like the Google Apps Sync software basically tricks Outlook into using Gmail as an Exchange server. If that is the case then I think this is exactly what I'm looking for, so long as any local filtering that happens on the Desktop is reflected on Gmail. Anyone know?

[MLJones8]

My rules/filters trickle down to my Pre. However I don't have a basic IMAP/POP account to test that on. My accounts are either EAS or IMAP4 (push).

Sorry, I thought this was quick fix but I think I am just now understanding exactly what your looking for.

[ADGrant]

I'm not following you.

I don't use Exchange which is a prerequisite for EAS. I know I can sync Gmail with any email account. I do a lot of email processing (using rules, filters and third party software) on my desktop. I need this filtered email to be reflected back to my phone or to Gmail in realtime. Syncing Gmail or the Pre with the mail server isn't useful in my situation.

It looks to me like the Google Apps Sync software basically tricks Outlook into using Gmail as an Exchange server. If that is the case then I think this is exactly what I'm looking for, so long as any local filtering that happens on the Desktop is reflected on Gmail. Anyone know?

Not sure but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. I used to do filtering on the desktop but Gmail's servers ide filtering works much better for me and its free. I believe that the Apps Sync software requires you to pay.

[Sammyc53]

Hosted Exchange Service.

[wodin]

Heh, maybe your best bet is another Treo in the meantime.......at least until the App Store goes "Live"......I say this only because your situation is not the mainstream.....seems a niche application is what you need now.

Actually this is not a niche application, it is one of the issues keeping the Pre in the "appliance" category instead of being a serious business tool.

If I had a business that had to rely on Google to maintain my critical business data on their servers, and at their whim, I would be looking around for a different solution. If that be a Blackberry, then so be it!

[uscpsycho]

Hosted Exchange Service.

I've been in IT for years but never had to deal with Exchange servers.

Last time I looked into hosted servers they were quite expensive. Can anyone recommend a good company that is also reasonable? If I go with Google Apps it's $50/year which I think is way less than any hosted MS Exchange.

How complicated is it to convert from desktop Outlook to Exchange? And vice versa, should I decide to terminate? Does Outlook still maintain a local PST file when using Exchange?

Sorry, this is going a bit OT but it will probably be helpful to others searching for this info in the future.

[jbg7474]

I've been in IT for years but never had to deal with Exchange servers.

Last time I looked into hosted servers they were quite expensive. Can anyone recommend a good company that is also reasonable? If I go with Google Apps it's $50/year which I think is way less than any hosted MS Exchange.

How complicated is it to convert from desktop Outlook to Exchange? And vice versa, should I decide to terminate? Does Outlook still maintain a local PST file when using Exchange?

Sorry, this is going a bit OT but it will probably be helpful to others searching for this info in the future.

Google apps is a good way to go. You can export from Outlook into .csv and upload that to Google.

If you were to hook up to an exchange server, it would probably build a new mailbox for you. That new mailbox would have a local copy of its data in a .pst file on your machine. If you were ever to terminate, you wouldn't have to lose anything.

The Pre and Exchange work well together. The Pre and Google apps work well together.

[ADGrant]

Actually this is not a niche application, it is one of the issues keeping the Pre in the "appliance" category instead of being a serious business tool.

If I had a business that had to rely on Google to maintain my critical business data on their servers, and at their whim, I would be looking around for a different solution. If that be a Blackberry, then so be it!

Businesses typically use MS Exchange often in conjunction with Blackberry Enterprise Server (larger companies particularly). Blackberry is the gold standard for enterprise email & PIM on mobile devices but if you want MS Exchange only, the choices are WinMo, iPhone or Pre. Most companies would probably favor WinMo right now but the Pre would do the job.

[ADGrant]

I've been in IT for years but never had to deal with Exchange servers.

Last time I looked into hosted servers they were quite expensive. Can anyone recommend a good company that is also reasonable? If I go with Google Apps it's $50/year which I think is way less than any hosted MS Exchange.

How complicated is it to convert from desktop Outlook to Exchange? And vice versa, should I decide to terminate? Does Outlook still maintain a local PST file when using Exchange?

Sorry, this is going a bit OT but it will probably be helpful to others searching for this info in the future.

You shouldn't need to use exchange or even Google Apps. Outlook and the Pre can both sync email with a gmail account using standard IMAP which works with any gmail account. Gmail also provides a lot of server based filtering which works better than the standard Outlook filtering IMHO.

[grandebob]

The Desktop Redirector software was a poorly cobbled together response to blackberry's push email capabilities. In my opinion, having to make sure a computer is on with my outlook running at all times is a less then ideal solution. The redirector software was never wildly popular, since people who had to have push mail went to BB, the only game in town at the time, or if they were in love with their palm, sucked up and dealt with the redirector.

Hosted exchange services will let you pay per mailbox, but will very in price depending on how much storage you need. Look at the size of your PST file and judge from there. Remember, you can't just move one mailbox in a domain to a hosted exchange server, you need to move the entire domain.

Google apps hosting is fairly cheap, and depending on who your exchange provider is, just as, if not more reliable.

[mmcnamara43]

I use pocketmirror work flawlessly. It cost me 30 bones but well worth it to me.

[meballard]

Personally I would look at whether you could convert your Outlook filters into Gmail filters. In my experience server-side filters are always cleaner than client-side filters, since server-side filters will be processed before it even hits your Inbox.

Short of that, I believe Outlook can be configured to run it's rules against a IMAP mailbox, in which case Outlook's client side rules can be run in real-time against Gmail storage (or any other IMAP provider), and the Pre can access that same IMAP mailbox. The same is probably true for the paid edition plug-in for Outlook. One note in this situation is that depending on how fast the email hits the Pre vs. Outlook, some email may show up and then disappear on the Pre, creating almost phantom notification, which would be avoided with the server-side rules.

Note that using IMAP you can copy the email from Outlook into Gmail, even without the specific import tools (IMAP allows for uploading messages to the server in addition to downloading).

[uscpsycho]

Thanks for all the assistance guys!

After reading this it sounds like Google Apps Sync might be the way to go. But I have two questions.

1) How do I get the data (including old emails, contacts, folder structure, etc) from Outlook to Google?

2) When using Google Apps Sync will my desktop Outlook continue to use my local PST so that any changes are reflected both on Google's servers and on my computer?

I'm getting excited, for the first time ever I feel like I have an alternative to my Treo! No, I'm not excited I'm GIDDY

Google apps is a good way to go. You can export from Outlook into .csv and upload that to Google.

If you were to hook up to an exchange server, it would probably build a new mailbox for you. That new mailbox would have a local copy of its data in a .pst file on your machine. If you were ever to terminate, you wouldn't have to lose anything.

The Pre and Exchange work well together. The Pre and Google apps work well together.

You can export a PST into a CSV? My PST is several gigabytes, I can't imagine this kind of conversion is going to go smoothly.

I thought with Google Apps you just install the Outlook plugin and then your email is automatically synced. At least that's how they present it.

Is using Google Apps Sync going to require me to convert all my Outlook data and upload it? I see disaster written all over that.

You shouldn't need to use exchange or even Google Apps. Outlook and the Pre can both sync email with a gmail account using standard IMAP which works with any gmail account. Gmail also provides a lot of server based filtering which works better than the standard Outlook filtering IMHO.

First off, I don't have a gmail account. But even if I did, this doesn't solve the problem. I want my Pre to reflect what's in Outlook. All email processing happens in Outlook (and other installed applications that manipulate my PST). My objective is Desktop Outlook <=> Pre at all times. So anything I do on the Pre is reflected in Outlook and vice versa.

The Desktop Redirector software was a poorly cobbled together response to blackberry's push email capabilities. In my opinion, having to make sure a computer is on with my outlook running at all times is a less then ideal solution. The redirector software was never wildly popular, since people who had to have push mail went to BB, the only game in town at the time, or if they were in love with their palm, sucked up and dealt with the redirector.

Hosted exchange services will let you pay per mailbox, but will very in price depending on how much storage you need. Look at the size of your PST file and judge from there. Remember, you can't just move one mailbox in a domain to a hosted exchange server, you need to move the entire domain.

Google apps hosting is fairly cheap, and depending on who your exchange provider is, just as, if not more reliable.

IMO the desktop redirector was a life saver. I have grown to hate my Palm but I am in love with the desktop redirector. It's the only reason I've but up with my Treo(s) for as long as I have. As soon as I find an alternative I will be ditching my Palm. I don't know why you thought it was poorly cobbled together because I've been dependent on it for years.

I know I have to move the entire domain to use hosted exchange but if I have to pay based on storage, and pay per mailbox then it's going to be too expensive. Especially since there are several domains.

I use pocketmirror work flawlessly. It cost me 30 bones but well worth it to me.

I don't believe pocketmirror allows for real time over-the-air syncing of email.

On the Palm, Beyond Contacts was my favorite application for syncing calendar and contacts with Outlook. It did an incredible job of mimicking the layout and structure of Outlook on the Palm.

Personally I would look at whether you could convert your Outlook filters into Gmail filters. In my experience server-side filters are always cleaner than client-side filters, since server-side filters will be processed before it even hits your Inbox.

Short of that, I believe Outlook can be configured to run it's rules against a IMAP mailbox, in which case Outlook's client side rules can be run in real-time against Gmail storage (or any other IMAP provider), and the Pre can access that same IMAP mailbox. The same is probably true for the paid edition plug-in for Outlook. One note in this situation is that depending on how fast the email hits the Pre vs. Outlook, some email may show up and then disappear on the Pre, creating almost phantom notification, which would be avoided with the server-side rules.

Note that using IMAP you can copy the email from Outlook into Gmail, even without the specific import tools (IMAP allows for uploading messages to the server in addition to downloading).

I think you are assuming I have a gmail account here. I have several email accounts across multiple domains. So I have desktop tools to sort all of this into my various email folders and deal with spam the same way across all domains.

I just don't see how I'm going to be able to replicate all of this on a server. I'm happy with the way I'm doing things now. I just want to keep doing what I'm doing with a different phone, and I want to do this in the easiest/least disruptive manner.

I'm so dependent on the Seven desktop connector to Outlook and their support for the Treo is tenuous so even if I was happy with my Treo it would be a good idea to find an alternative before they pull the rug out from under me.

[ADGrant]

2) When using Google Apps Sync will my desktop Outlook continue to use my local PST so that any changes are reflected both on Google's servers and on my computer?

First off, I don't have a gmail account. But even if I did, this doesn't solve the problem. I want my Pre to reflect what's in Outlook. All email processing happens in Outlook (and other installed applications that manipulate my PST). My objective is Desktop Outlook <=> Pre at all times. So anything I do on the Pre is reflected in Outlook and vice versa.

I think you are assuming I have a gmail account here. I have several email accounts across multiple domains. So I have desktop tools to sort all of this into my various email folders and deal with spam the same way across all domains.

I just don't see how I'm going to be able to replicate all of this on a server. I'm happy with the way I'm doing things now. I just want to keep doing what I'm doing with a different phone, and I want to do this in the easiest/least disruptive manner.

I assume you just want to sync email. If so, you don't need GoogleApps, just a regular gmail or other IMAP account. Your Outlook filters would have to move email to folders under the IMAP account. A much simpler approach would be to have gmail pull in the email from all your other accounts into a gmail and do the filtering and sorting into folders on the gmail server. You can then access the folders on your Pre.