Palm Zire 31 again and Problems!!!

bigguyNew Member

I'm sorry to start this as a new post, but after spending 4.5 hours on this computer trying to work out this problems I'm frazzled.
I used Maximizer, as I stated in another post, since 1997.
I have always loved the product and didn't run into any problems to speak of until I bought this Palm pilot.
I needed the Palm because a laptop was overkill for my requirements.
Anyway, after first installing the Palm software and then the Maxlink I seemed to have a problem where the address book got corrupted.
There was never an option to have the Palm overwrite Max 8 so I downloaded all the information I had into Outlook 2003 until I could figure out what was going on.
Anyway, I didn't find the problem and ended up using Outlook for about the last 2.5 months.
I wanted to go back to Max 8 if possible, but as I say you can't overwrite Max 8 with the Palm or at least that option doesn't seem to be apparent.
So I found an old backup of Max 8 and restored it from back in November. The file seemed OK except for not having the contact information from the last 2.5 months.
I tried to sync the 2 and that didn't go well and the MaxLink Docs recommend that you overwrite the Palm. I did that because I still have all the files in Outlook and can update over time, but my problems see to go on from there.
In Outlook there is a distinct Notes area which syncs with my notes on the Palm
There is Task for Memos and so on. It's very compatible back and forth whether you are downloading from the Palm to Outlook or vice versa.
In Max 8 I don't have any idea where the Notes are going as after overwriting the Palm all the note disappear even though I still have notes for most contacts. Also, I hope it doesn't take all the notes for all the contacts and list them under the Palm notes and it would be a huge file.
The Memos are all gone out of the Palm too and I don't even know for sure what is suppose to go in there, I thought it was the Hotlist.
There is pros and cons to everything and I don't like how "bloated" Outlook is. Maximizer has always been my choice. I also find the backup utility in Max superior to Outlook, but the truth of the matter is integration between Outlook and the Palm seems IMO to be superior to that of Max 8 and the Palm.

Anyone who can share some input on this would be welcomed.

P.S. According to the Users Manual for Max 8 if you want to export data from Outlook for Max 8 they say to export it in the dbase format. Unfortunately, this isn't one of the options in Outlook 2003.

Paul

2/6/058:21 PM

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bigguyNew Member

I would take the lack of response to mean not many use a Palm with their Maximizer?

2/8/0512:41 AM

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irisNew Member

I've used the Palm Pilot since synchronizing with it first became an option with Maximizer. I'll attempt to help you out as best as I know how.

I think the mistake most people make is going out and getting the Palm handheld, installing MaxLink and synchronizing right off the start with Maximizer.

Uninstall MaxLink, both on your computer and the handheld. Hard reset the Palm and establish synchronization with the Palm Desktop software. Once your satisfied that changes made both on the handheld and desktop software are synching install MaxLink. I'm not talking about entering contacts on the Palm Desktop - I'm just talking about basic changes, appts, to-do's, etc.

Configure MaxLink at first just to do address book entries - nothing else. This will cause Maximizer to overwrite your empty Palm handheld and populate the 4th custom field on the handheld with the appropriate system key - linking that record to the record on Maximizer. Don't fool with that key. Test by making some changes on the handheld (phone #) and sync. Check Maximizer that the change took place.

If everything is fine then configure MaxLink to do Appts, Hotlists and memo's if you like. Personally, I don't sync memos as they can easily consumes much memory on the handheld and found that when I did do that it didn't serve much purpose for me.

If the above doesn't work then we'll likely have to go back to step one. BTW, make sure the name of your Maximizer database is not longer than what a category name can be on the handheld.

Iris

2/8/051:53 AM

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bigguyNew Member

Thank you for the response Iris.
Slowly, but surely I am making a little headway.
I now have the appointments and hotlists syncing with the Palm, but am still struggling getting my mind around a couple of concepts here.

1. In Outlook I could set an appointment and then place a note about the appointment details right in with the appointment itself. If I viewed the appointment I could see the little "yellow" note icon and could click it to get more details on that appointment. Now this note field is filled by the customer ID number out of Max 8, I think from customer field 4. I guess this means I can no longer enter appointment details in with the appointment. I should be able to live with this.

2. Another problem I am having is that I have an account base of about 250 accounts and need to have access to the names and their numbers. In Outlook I would copy/paste my Excel spread sheet over into a note in Outlook and then upon Sync that note would show up in Memo. This was not only good for quick reference, but also showed me the next 10 or 12 available account numbers coming up in the event I had to issue one while out in the field. Is there anywhere in Max 8 that you can have a note download itself into the Palm in the form of a Memo or Note? Seems to me the other way that I would have to do this is by manually entering the account number under one of the custom fields in each contact. Currently I have never done this because all the account numbers have been stored in a spread sheet. Maybe now is the time to do that though.

3. Is there anyway to copy a document from Maximizer into the Palm???

4. I am also having a problem getting new contacts to download from Max 8 into the Palm. As a test I set up a John Doe. Max 8 automatically issued a ID number to the contact so in theory it show be added into the Palm during the next Hot Sync. It doesn't! I open the details of the contact and confirmed the ID number has been issued, but it still isn't downloading it into the Palm Grrrrrrrrrrr.......

If you can help me with any of this it would be great. You would think the Maximizer people would have found a better way of doing this or at least allowed you the option of integrating the Palm Software with Max 8.

Paul

2/8/051:38 PM

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bigguyNew Member

P.S. Another problem
When I check off the box on a task in the Palm to say that it is done, I Hot Sync, and it doesn't check it off in Max 8.
This software doesn't impress me in the least!

2/8/051:44 PM

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methuenNew Member

1) In Maximizer, you can't enter nearly as many notes in the appt section as you can in Outlook, Goldmine or ACT. Very much a weak point for Max.

2) You can do the same function by copying your info into a 'Journal' entry / note. This will then sync with your Palm, typically at the end of the notes section.

3) you cannot copy a 'Maximizer-only' document into Palm. Actually you can't move a Maximizer document (letter, fax, memo, etc) into any other software.

4)Have you checked out the 'Tools ' Max Link Configuration' settings?

2/9/0512:25 AM

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bigguyNew Member

Thanks again for the response.
Unfortunately, these weaknesses could be the very things to prevent me from using Max 8, disappointing.

It just doesn't make sense to me that so little effort was put into the MaxLink software. Palms or PDA's are becoming a mainstay of so many people like myself.

It seems to me that if I make a journal entry for my accounts and then sync it, all my journal entries are going to download using up a pile of memory I want for something else.

I started using Maximizer back in 1997 and even then they were advertising the ability of using a Palm Pilot with Max. Seems to me they have had a long time to refine the MaxLink product.

No question, Maximizer is a powerful product, but with the MS heading in a direction of making Outlook a competing Contact Manger it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.

Thanks for all the help folks, much appreciated!

2/9/051:39 AM

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irisNew Member

See my answers below. However, some of your questions are answered in the MaxLink user manual and it's quite comprehensive so you'll want to go through that for best performance.

quote:
Originally posted by Bigguy

...I guess this means I can no longer enter appointment details in with the appointment. I should be able to live with this.

Even though the syetm key is recorded here that doesn't prevent you from making a note. It'll sync back to Max.

quote:

Is there anywhere in Max 8 that you can have a note download itself into the Palm in the form of a Memo or Note?

I assume here you're talking about a personal note/memo - not one linked to a specific contact. In that case you would use the Max journal for that.

quote:
Seems to me the other way that I would have to do this is by manually entering the account number under one of the custom fields in each contact. Currently I have never done this because all the account numbers have been stored in a spread sheet. Maybe now is the time to do that though.

I'm not entirely sure what your wanting here - if your trying to store an Excel sheet on your handheld I would use one of the third party apps designed specifically for that. Within Max I would then link to that worksheet - not embedded it.

quote:
3. Is there anyway to copy a document from Maximizer into the Palm???

See answer above - there's utilities for PDF's, Word documents and the list goes on. Just link to it in Max - don't embed.

quote:
4. I am also having a problem getting new contacts to download from Max 8 into the Palm. As a test I set up a John Doe. Max 8 automatically issued a ID number to the contact so in theory it show be added into the Palm during the next Hot Sync. It doesn't! I open the details of the contact and confirmed the ID number has been issued, but it still isn't downloading it into the Palm Grrrrrrrrrrr.......

This sounds like you've not configured MaxLink to sync your whole database. You probably just selected "List". MaxLink should be set to entire database if you want it to sync like this. MaxLink allows you to tell it what you want sync'd - maybe you don't want everything - that's the beauty of it!

IRIS

2/9/052:22 AM

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irisNew Member

quote:
Originally posted by Bigguy:
P.S. Another problem
When I check off the box on a task in the Palm to say that it is done, I Hot Sync, and it doesn't check it off in Max 8.
This software doesn't impress me in the least!

Again, I think this is something that you've set under the Hotlist options. I just checked my Palm and the tasks I did today aren't displaying - so there complete.

Are you refreshing Max after a sync?

2/9/052:29 AM

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methuenNew Member

"It seems to me that if I make a journal entry for my accounts and then sync it, all my journal entries are going to download using up a pile of memory I want for something else."

I have 5000+ contacts & synce the past 12 months worth of notes & journal entries. On my Tungsten E, it takes up approx 800Kb of memory.

Concerns re: Maximizer using lot of Palm memory is really a non-concern.

That being said, Maximizers way of synching is definetely sub-par compared to the competition.

2/9/052:47 PM

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