Task organization by location/resource and time required - MDA II, XDA II, 2060 General

This topic applies mostly to people who are very mobile or travel a lot. If you're at a desk for most of the day, it probably won't help you much.
This is something that originally came to me while sitting outside a car wash waiting for my car to be done. It took about ten minutes, long enough to make a couple short calls, send a couple of e-mails, or review/approve a short document. Unfortunately, by the time I got done SORTING through the list of tasks to find something that I could do there, with the available resources, in the available time, my car was almost done. I ended up dialing a call just as the attendant had my car ready.
I've generally used categories similar to the ones built into Outlook; Clients, Business, Personal, etc. Those have very limited use, and the utility they do provide is probably not something that helps much.
My solution has been to use categories for a location/resource and the Pocket Informant priority letters to indicate the range of time required to complete the task. For example:
"Call Joe's Pizza to see if they have anchovies back in stock"
Category: Call
Letter: A
So this tells me the task is something that I can do any time I have access to a phone and have 5 minutes to kill. I've arranged the letters in this way:
A: 5 minutes or less
B: 5-15 minutes
C: 15-60 minutes
D: More than an hour
My categories are:
Anywhere (can be done anywhere without other resources, IE, on a plane)
Assigned tasks (things I've assigned to others, don't need to act upon)
Calls (anywhere I have phone access)
Home (something I can only do at home, like "marinate steaks for BBQ")
Low priority (things I don't want to forget, but have a "whenever" priority)
Office work (things that generally require being in the office)
Research (things I can do with my laptop and an internet connection)
I also have various client-name categories. These are things I can only do when I'm on-site at a client's office. Other client work which I can do off-site goes into one of the above categories.
I think I need to further refine the "research" category since I have a Phone Edition device, and have limited internet access anywhere I go. This means I could be working on simple research or basic client support tasks via Terminal Services. Maybe I should have a "laptop" category and an "internet" category...? I'll take creative ideas here.
Sometimes an item falls into two categories, and it can get complex here. A task could REQUIRE two categores, or could be POSSIBLE in either one of the two. I've generally standardized on the latter, since typically for me that's much more likely. For example, if I'm at home or the office I can assume I have full internet access and my laptop. On the other hand, many tasks could be done either at a client's office or in my own office.
I'd love to further refine this and brainstorm with other mobile task-oriented people. Tell me what you think.

Related

Business people out there?

Hi
I have my HD for already a week and it's amazing!!.
but I decided to buy it because I needed a tool like this for business purposes, by now I'm using it for mail on the go, and of course like a powerful agenda with Pocket Informant, but due my short experience with a pocket PC, I know that there must be much more uses and software that I don't know yet, then I would like to ask for advices about this matter, may be software or even tips to be able to to take more advantages of this incredible phone!
BTW I found this two thread, but are quite short
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=450957&highlight=business
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=436642&highlight=business&page=1
Thanks!!
hi, im not quite sure what you are asking for? but, i use mine for work to. i dont find the need for anything extra than what is already included in M$ mobile office
i use the calendar and outlook which is synced through my organisations exchange server though activesync over the mobile network. in the main i do this manually but also by setting it up to do autosync at intervals.
you can set it to have pushmail too if your companies mail server will allow this
pocket outlook does all that the full pc version does (near as dammit) email, access to my corporate address book, meeting scheduling and invites etc etc
is that what you wanted to know?
OK, here is the "business" oriented sub-set of all my apps:
apMemo 2.3 http://www.apsoftsystems.com/apmemo/index.htm
apMemo allows for alarmed note taking on the go
Ilium Listpro 5.0.0.2016 http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/lp/listpro.htm
Listpro is great - I use this for whole loads of lists on the PC and HD and swop the lists back and forth
Metro 5.71 http://www.nanika.net/Metro/
Metro is useful for business trips (and pleasure)
MxCalculator 2.1 http://www.trancreative.com
NewsGator Go! 2.0.0.25419 http://www.newsgator.com/Individuals...o/Default.aspx
I use a RSS feeder for business news
Pocket Informant 8.51 http://www.webis.net/index.php
RCX Lexipedia 1.2 http://www.revolution.cx/Lexipedia/Lexipedia.htm
Yes, I know this is an old app but it's still there when I need answers and don't want to go online
SBSH PocketBreeze 5.4.15 http://www.sbsh.net/products/windows...c/pocketbreeze
Fantastic today plugin to view my calender (must be used with SecondToday)
SPB Finance 2.7.0 http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/finance/?en
Not really business, but keeps track my my finances
From my thread comment: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3117017&highlight=secondtoday#post3117017
I use keepass for securing those important but (sometimes) easy to forget ID's & passwords:
hi, im not quite sure what you are asking for? but, i use mine for work to. i dont find the need for anything extra than what is already included in M$ mobile office
i use the calendar and outlook which is synced through my organisations exchange server though activesync over the mobile network. in the main i do this manually but also by setting it up to do autosync at intervals.
you can set it to have pushmail too if your companies mail server will allow this
pocket outlook does all that the full pc version does (near as dammit) email, access to my corporate address book, meeting scheduling and invites etc etc
is that what you wanted to know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks, well yes something like that I was looking for, but may be a little more focused in meetings and projects, I'm using list Listpro for this two purposes but I can imagine there are better and specialize software for this.
about meetings I need to lead meeting sometimes, and write down some ideas or comments in each topic on this meetings.
same with projects, I start a project, and I need to write down all the steps of it, and the progress of each one too
thanks Cheesy Dave, there are really useful app there!
thanks audscott
i guess im a caveman when it comes to such business things... i just use ms word to make lists
notepad for basic notes
i find that the ms mobile office suite included does all i need (along with the other software in pocket outlook such as tasks etc)
small tip if you do want to use a different front end like SBSH PocketBreeze or spb pocketplus etc
dont need to run secondtoday type progs which just chew up more memory, just untick manila from the today plugins screen and do away with manila. personally i find it to be just bells and whistles and not much function, uses loads more system resources than other after market apps with nothing more (less in my opinion) on offer
i use spb pocketplus together with spb weather and spb phone suite all sat as my front screen. i can access all my needed software with one touch, make calls with one touch, switch ring profiles with one touch fire up wifi with one touch... in fact 99% of what i need to do with my HD i do with 1 touch using this set of software. the only time i need to use the stylus is for typing (im kak handed using my fingers to type and am pretty fast with the stylus)
as i said up there^^^^ i use MS office for all my other bits as i can bang it stright over to my laptop to use the full versions if necessary
i guess its down to what you need, what you like and what you get used to. ive been using this combo of progs for 4 years now so am a bit stuck in the mud so to speak
ill try to do a screen grab of my today page to show you what i mean.... but you might not like it as i am very much in favour of function over form
(ive trialled spb mobile shell and spb diary but again find them unecessary.... why do you need a diary on your today screen when it is one touch away and a hell of a lot more confidential if your diary isnt open for all to see all the time (i work in healthcare so confidentiality is a big requirement! )
business
I have been using pda in my construction business for many years to keep appointments. I tend to forget them and rely on the alarm. I have most of the incoming phone calls redirected to the phone. I use agenda one because you can link contacts to appointements i.e the alarm sounds to tell me to meet Mrs Smith. I click on that and it brings up Mrs Smiths address.
We are trying business contact manager for outlook in the office as a CRM and have tried the pda add in to view them. It just does,t work. I have heard over other software that makes the contacts visible in outlook mobile.
I also use mine mainly for Business (and pleasure), work in an Australasian role with travel in Australia and New Zealand.
Must admit I am VERY impressed with the function and accuracy of WorldCard mobile. Sure beats the manual data entry of B-Card info
A few of the apps I'm using on my HD
SPB Traveller - to manage my flights, accomodation and rental car bookings.
GarminXT - with Australia and New Zealand maps to help me get to the places I need to.
SPB Weather - helps me know what to expect and what to take when I travel.
SPB Time - My travel alarm clock etc.
SPB Wallet - Helps me remember the multitude of logon details for company (and private)
systems access as well as credit cards and so on.
SPB Finance - Tracks my out of office expenses for me.
Pocket Investor - Mobile management of my stocks.
Softmaker Suite - A really great set of applications which provide me FULL edit and formatting alignment for my Word, Excel and Powerpoint files.
Pocket Informant - Replaces the PIM
RESCO Utility pack - Great file management for shifting documents around, deleting etc.
A few other general apps.
HD Tweak
Gsen
Sprite Backup
MSS Convertor
SKTools
SPB Mobile Shell (but using the "ChangeSKIN" application to provide multiple contact photo screens etc. )
SPB Phone Suite
SPB Brain Evolution
Opening multiple files in Excel Mobile
jonajuna said:
i use MS office for all my other bits as i can bang it stright over to my laptop to use the full versions if necessary
i guess its down to what you need, what you like and what you get used to. ive been using this combo of progs for 4 years now so am a bit stuck in the mud so to speak
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi jonajuna, I am a new Touch HD user (and this is my first PDA). Since you use the Office so extensively, could you please help me - how can I open more than one document e.g. in Excel? I often use Excel documents in my work and I constantly need to copy&paste info from one Excel file into another.
Thanks!
I'm also useing mine for business and pleasure. Works well with appointments, addresses, GPS, etc. during business hours.
I've picked up an HTC Touch HD, and I'm a semi-business/pleasure/personal user.
Here are some of the items that I found were useful for me.
As far as the MSDict and MSPhrase apps go, you can find English -> Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Russian, Malaysian, Chinese (trad and simplified), Korean and so on!
Here are the links for the Japanese one since I've been up all night downloading these.
http://htc-touch-hd-t8282.handster.com/product.php?id=3113
http://htc-touch-hd-t8282.handster.com/product.php?id=639
And SPB Traveler is great when it comes on converting common knowledge from overseas such as units, clothing sizes and linguistics as it helps me identify and use the right phrases.
http://htc-touch-hd-t8282.handster.com/product.php?id=439
Also, since I'm both in class and at work, sometimes I'll need a really powerful calculator and the Touch HD does not disappoint with it's capabilities.
http://htc-touch-hd-t8282.handster.com/product.php?id=3627
http://htc-touch-hd-t8282.handster.com/product.php?id=175
There you go, hope this helps.
Hi there,
i´m also one of those guys who using the HTC HD for business.
Maybe the programms i use, would be helpful.
At least it depends on your special needs.
Main focus for me:
Mail -> BBconnect
ToDo list -> MLO ( My Life Organized )
Calender -> Calender Touch
Travelling -> SPB Traveller
If you need further information, just let me know.

MyPhone location / finder feature?

Hi,
I'm looking into MS MyPhone for the first time, seems like some good ideas there..
Personally I use ActiveSync with an Exchange Server so I'm not interested in the contacts / calendar / email side of things, but the backing up of txt messages and the provision of a data conduit for files etc is very handy (previously I find myself emailing myself files! ).
I also like the look of the location / phone finder thingy. Very hand for when I can't find my phone, to work out whether I've left it at work or if it's in the house somewhere, or dropped in the street etc. HOWEVER from what I can see this only syncs up once a day. Ideally I'd like this to happen either more often (say hourly?) or on-demand. Otherwise I'm basically waiting up to 24hrs before deciding whether to report my phone as missing or not.
Any ideas?
nb. realise their might be some people that have privacy concerns around this area - I can understand these, however for me this is a useful feature I'd elect to use so all good!
SimonW500 said:
Hi,
I'm looking into MS MyPhone for the first time, seems like some good ideas there..
Personally I use ActiveSync with an Exchange Server so I'm not interested in the contacts / calendar / email side of things, but the backing up of txt messages and the provision of a data conduit for files etc is very handy (previously I find myself emailing myself files! ).
I also like the look of the location / phone finder thingy. Very hand for when I can't find my phone, to work out whether I've left it at work or if it's in the house somewhere, or dropped in the street etc. HOWEVER from what I can see this only syncs up once a day. Ideally I'd like this to happen either more often (say hourly?) or on-demand. Otherwise I'm basically waiting up to 24hrs before deciding whether to report my phone as missing or not.
Any ideas?
nb. realise their might be some people that have privacy concerns around this area - I can understand these, however for me this is a useful feature I'd elect to use so all good!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone finder feature cost $5 per use, so you may not want to use it so much...
Actually, I thought that MyPhone premium features are a one off fee?
I've tried to get it to work on the HD2 but havent been sucessfull. Could you post wether or not it works for you in this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=594032
Thanks
Nagrom Nniuq said:
The phone finder feature cost $5 per use, so you may not want to use it so much...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL - ideally I'd never need to use it at all! - however a handy to have when necessary!

[Q] WANTED: eMail Rules/filters for poutlook

Hey all.
I have tried Flexmail and found it wanting - I think mine had issues, activesync failed to sync to directory and the rules were quite limited. Still waiting for their support teams to sort out several issues with move and stuff. even if they can get it working I can't see it being good enough in it's control.
So we are back to poutlook and it's limited functionality.
Are there any decent programs out there for message filtering. I get 300+ emails per day and over 150 are total rubbish 50 are newsletters and notifications which I file.
and half a dozen orders buried in this lot that I NEED to deal with immediately.
any suggestion please
Cheers
G
Well - I don't know if this will work for you, but I have all my email come through my Yahoo account. On the server side, I have about 60 rules/filters set up. This way, on my inbox on my phone, I already get them filtered. I have been using Yahoo for years and now-a-days I get a spam email in my inbox about twice a year. If you have not set up a web based account yet, I would actually suggest gmail for the push capabilities. But I don't know how their filters or spam protection work.
Just as an aside, I used to use FlexMail and most of the time when I could not get something working, it was my fault. It is a very powerful application. I finally decided it was too powerful for my needs on my cell and switched to ProfiMail. You might want to check out their rules/filters. I don't use the filters on the phone, so I can't help you there, but it is a pleasure to use.

Cannot reproduce WM functionality

Dear experienced androiders.
I am new to the platform after 4 years on WM and Nokia S60 before that. It may be my naivity, but so far, although I am loving the hardware and big screen browsing on the DHD, I am struggling to reproduce some of the functionality I have used for the past 6 years on WM and S60.
1) Video calling over 3G network (i.e. not fring or similar apps that use data). The cost of video calls is really cheap where I live, and for my elderly mother it is the ideal way to regularly show her the grandchildren. I am gobsmacked that this is not part of Android when it was part of my S60 phone I got 6 years ago, and both WM handsets that followed.
2) Ring once. Rather than constantly switching between meeting and normal modes, I prefer to set my phone to ring once. If in a meeting and I chose to ignore, it is not very irritating to others as it stops after a single ring, while I still hear it at all times if I want to answer. Now again, I imagined this was a stock feature of all OS's, but cannot find on Android.
3) GPS. One of the main reasons I was keen on the DHD was I read a press release about them teaming up with TomTom and Route 66 and that all maps would be free and could be downloaded to the handset and turn-by-turn instructions were available. I am dismayed that the turn-by-turn is a premium service that requires extra cash, but even in the interim while using the 30-day trial, it comes nowhere close to the TomTom software I had on my last three phones. I cannot easily see why the GPS is not locking by looking at the satellites etc, crucial information is missing from the display, all in all just an inferior product.
4) Multitasking. I hate not being able to flip to another application and back again without the application randomly deciding that I am relaunching it. Part of the problem is not having hardware buttons - I used t have an task mananager hooked to one of my hardware keys on WM, and if I wanted to flip back to my home screen to check something, and then back to the app, it was a simple press of the hardware key. I have read that one should not use taskkillers on Android, but find the built in functionality not very intuitive, including the holding down the home button.
5) Cannot get autosync to sync with gmail but not contacts and calendar. I have problems when my calendar entries from my corporate mail are synced to google and all attendees get reinvited, and do not want to sync contacts, as gmail harvests all sorts of contacts I don't want on my phone. But as soon as I allow gmail to autosync the mail, then the other two also sync.
6) Data autodisconnect. I had my WM set up in such a way that as soon as the data connection was idle, the 3G or Edge connection was dropped. I then set up all applications to sync infrequently or only use data when triggered manually, and was able to ensure excellent battery life. I have found toggles to stop data altogether, or juice defender to allow connections at particular times, but cannot find a way to reproduce the autodisconnect functionality. As soon as I enable data connections the phone connects, even if I have set everything not to sync in the background.
I hope that there are ways of accomplishing all of these things. I know one should not pass judgement until one has spent a decent amount of time with a new phone or OS, but I wonder for now if I am alone in mourning the passing of WM6.x?
Thanks for any advice any of you can offer to get my DHD set up to at minimum reproduce previous functionality.
Hi and welcome to Android.
1) Video calling over 3G network (i.e. not fring or similar apps that use data). The cost of video calls is really cheap where I live, and for my elderly mother it is the ideal way to regularly show her the grandchildren. I am gobsmacked that this is not part of Android when it was part of my S60 phone I got 6 years ago, and both WM handsets that followed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The DHD doesn't have a front facing camera so does not support video calling over 3G/H. Some workaround may be possible with custom ROM's using the rear camera.
2) Ring once. Rather than constantly switching between meeting and normal modes, I prefer to set my phone to ring once. If in a meeting and I chose to ignore, it is not very irritating to others as it stops after a single ring, while I still hear it at all times if I want to answer. Now again, I imagined this was a stock feature of all OS's, but cannot find on Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand this one, having to switch profiles for meetings then switching back becomes a bit of a ball ache. I use an app called Tasker, this allows me to set a profile that reads my calendar and switches to silent when I am in a meeting, it then switches back when the meeting is over. Obviously this requires that all meetings are in my calendar and have start & finish times. I also set it to put my DHD into silent mode if my handset is facing down for 1 minute. As for the ring once only, there may be an app available in the Market.
3) GPS. One of the main reasons I was keen on the DHD was I read a press release about them teaming up with TomTom and Route 66 and that all maps would be free and could be downloaded to the handset and turn-by-turn instructions were available. I am dismayed that the turn-by-turn is a premium service that requires extra cash, but even in the interim while using the 30-day trial, it comes nowhere close to the TomTom software I had on my last three phones. I cannot easily see why the GPS is not locking by looking at the satellites etc, crucial information is missing from the display, all in all just an inferior product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since my first Android handset (HTC Hero) I purchased CoPilot for around £30 off the Market and it works flawlessly, and as its tied to your Google Account whenever you upgrade you can download it again free of charge and it works again. No need to purchase another copy. Other than that Google Navigation provides turn by turn directions, and that's free.
4) Multitasking. I hate not being able to flip to another application and back again without the application randomly deciding that I am relaunching it. Part of the problem is not having hardware buttons - I used t have an task mananager hooked to one of my hardware keys on WM, and if I wanted to flip back to my home screen to check something, and then back to the app, it was a simple press of the hardware key. I have read that one should not use taskkillers on Android, but find the built in functionality not very intuitive, including the holding down the home button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What apps are you using that this occurs? I often switch between XDA, Browser, Gmail, Messaging, Calendar, Market and it picks up where I left off. This is by holding the Home key and selecting the relevant app. You are correct about the task killers, you really don't need to use them.
5) Cannot get autosync to sync with gmail but not contacts and calendar. I have problems when my calendar entries from my corporate mail are synced to google and all attendees get reinvited, and do not want to sync contacts, as gmail harvests all sorts of contacts I don't want on my phone. But as soon as I allow gmail to autosync the mail, then the other two also sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure exactly what you mean in the first sentence. If you wish to sync only Gmail then you need to only allow Gmail. Settings > Accounts & Sync > Tap your Google Account > Deselect everything you don't want.
6) Data autodisconnect. I had my WM set up in such a way that as soon as the data connection was idle, the 3G or Edge connection was dropped. I then set up all applications to sync infrequently or only use data when triggered manually, and was able to ensure excellent battery life. I have found toggles to stop data altogether, or juice defender to allow connections at particular times, but cannot find a way to reproduce the autodisconnect functionality. As soon as I enable data connections the phone connects, even if I have set everything not to sync in the background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again not sure what you mean as you set everything to sync when triggered manually on WM, and when you enable data on Android everything connects and sync's. Isn't that manually triggered? Juice defender has a paid addon Ultimate Juice, this allows you to further refine the criteria at which data is disconnected and enabled. Otherwise I am sure you can create a profile with the Tasker app, it's very versatile and can do practically anything.
Hope this answers a few of your questions.
6) go for juicedefender.
I came from wm just two months ago, and I know your feeling but after a few weeks android to me is like wm 6.5+++ You can do the same things as on wm just a lot better, or different but better. Yes no Tom Tom, but google navigation is better in some ways and lacks in some, but it is free. (try driving on the real photo view.. Fantastic..)
Martinhdk said:
6) go for juicedefender.
I came from wm just two months ago, and I know your feeling but after a few weeks android to me is like wm 6.5+++ You can do the same things as on wm just a lot better, or different but better. Yes no Tom Tom, but google navigation is better in some ways and lacks in some, but it is free. (try driving on the real photo view.. Fantastic..)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you use google navigation in real photo view?
The Jones said:
How do you use google navigation in real photo view?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download street for google maps on the market.
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk
Thanks for the responses
1) Still useful with a rear camera for showing the grandchildren. Apparently galaxy S has this functionality and also gingerbread. Can anyone confirm if it is in the gingerbread roms for DHD on the other forum?
3) No google navigation where I live (South Africa). Co-Pilot tempting, but reviews suggest inferior routing compared to TomTom.
5) cannot find a way of deselecting for autosync, only of manually syncing each one (contacts, calendar, mail) separately
6) Thanks for tasker and juice defender suggestions, still getting to know them
What I should have included in the list is bluetooth activated voice dialing which seems not to work in stock DHD but apparently does in Leedroid, though I have not tried a cooked ROM yet.

[Q] Does email reside on the tablet?

I have been trying to figure out email as it runs on Honeycomb (prior to purchase, but this is an interesting question I hope). What I want to do is ditch my computer running windows Live Mail, where all the emails are saved to my computer, and replace with a slinky new tranformer. I realise that a tablet is mostly an online tool, but it has heaps of memory, and I travel too much and still need to access old emails.
But, I cant seem to locate good information regards how the email app operates. Or how others such as K-9 work. So the question is; Do the emails reside on the tablet, can I place into folders, backup locally etc more or less as I do on my PC?
To my knowledge the stock app stores them as entries in an SQL database. You can backup the whole lot, but probably not individually.
sassafras
Having set up my personal e-mail on my TF I've not been able to setup new folders with the default client, I can't find any option to do this. Also it appears as though a copy of your e-mails is downloaded onto the TF and stays on the server unless you enable the option to delete a message only when you delete it from the Inbox. It'll also only download the first 25 messages the first time round, you'll need to hit the 'load more conversations' button if you want to get more to display.
As for your existing e-mails I'm guessing that they are stored locally on your computer and are no longer available 'in the cloud', is that right? If so that will be a bit tricky to get them transferred over to your TF. If those messages are still in the cloud however you shouldn't run into any problems setting up your account on your TF.
By default POP3 email servers should keep the emails on the server (until it is too old by server's auto-delete definition) and you should be able to download your old emails on your transformer (unless you deleted them from your email app on PC, which will cause it to tell the server to delete it too). There's a reason why I started using Exchange instead of POP3.
So am I alone in wanting offline email, archiving etc? Really the only person desperate to replace notebook with tablet, but needing solid productivity from email?
alhart345 said:
So am I alone in wanting offline email, archiving etc? Really the only person desperate to replace notebook with tablet, but needing solid productivity from email?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you need to archive your emails? If you need to back the lot of them up, you can. Using a root explorer, you can browse to the /data/data folder on the device and copy the email client folders located within (I believe com.android.email and com.google.android.gmail) to whichever storage medium you like.
Unfortunately you cannot back up or copy individual emails.
sassafras
I run a business, when visiting customers, vendors or travelling I am often without internet access or it is too slow to be good for much. But I need to access old emails regularly, and email is the central tool for managing my workload. So I sort my old emails by activity in folders locally on my notebook and often refer in meetings to past actions, prices etc. Pretty typical business/corporate action. I may be asking too much of a tablet at this stage, seems most people use it to augment their PC, not replace.
I think storing much locally goes against how Google and Apple view tablet devices. They view storage as a cloud based resource. So emails and documents are stored on their (or your ISPs) servers and accessed from the mobile device. This ensures that your data is constantly backed up and accessible from any device you have, phone, tablet, netbook, etc.
The downside is that this data is in the cloud so access assumes that you have a connection.
alhart345 said:
I run a business, when visiting customers, vendors or travelling I am often without internet access or it is too slow to be good for much. But I need to access old emails regularly, and email is the central tool for managing my workload. So I sort my old emails by activity in folders locally on my notebook and often refer in meetings to past actions, prices etc. Pretty typical business/corporate action. I may be asking too much of a tablet at this stage, seems most people use it to augment their PC, not replace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect that part of your problem is that you are using your email folders as a "CRM" database, whereas you'd probably be better off if you could actually move to a true CRM solution. This may be easier said than done if the data volumes (i.e. your email "database" is large) but will probably provide a much better solution in the long run.
Regards,
Dave
I haven't used the stock Android email app since Android 2.0 and my OG Droid, but I'm rather sure that the GMail app will only locally store the most recent emails, either by date or by number, not sure which. My personal email only goes up until the 23rd before it has to 'load conversations', which I believe is grabbing them from the network.
There is a degree of offline email with these recent conversations, as I've typed up emails off-network and they send as soon as I hit Wifi (or 3G in the phone's case). But nothing like the Outlook-level of Offline email. There is GMail offline for PC, so it is possible Google will bring it to tabs eventually...who knows.
alhart345 said:
I run a business, when visiting customers, vendors or travelling I am often without internet access or it is too slow to be good for much. But I need to access old emails regularly, and email is the central tool for managing my workload. So I sort my old emails by activity in folders locally on my notebook and often refer in meetings to past actions, prices etc. Pretty typical business/corporate action. I may be asking too much of a tablet at this stage, seems most people use it to augment their PC, not replace.
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I don't use the tablet for work that much, but I understand your situation. eMail is actually a pretty lousy tool for what you're doing. A good practice is to just delete mails as soon as they get to you, get read and the information is used. But, of course, there are times when you will need to keep some of the information a mail came with, but not the email itself. The reason is that email *is not always available*. You either store it on the servers or you store it locally. Being on the servers makes you dependant on an internet connection. Having them locally makes it more prone to database corruption, and simple things such as search, backup and restore are more complex (before I get bashed, I didn't say difficult or impossible, just complex).
I'm used to a Microsoft ecosystem for personal productivity which means that I have outlook and onenote. What I do is:
emails with attachments, where I need to keep the attachment for future reference: I save the attachment and delete the email
emails with information: I drag the email to Onenote and delete the email.
In a PC/Tablet environment there is no reason why you can't do something similar, although it might not be as streamlined as how Microsoft designed their own products.
But, what I picture you being able to use is:
- Mails with attachments - save them to dropbox or get some other PC-Android folder syncing solution. Get rid of the email.
- Mails with information - Save them to evernote or catchnotes and they automatically get synced to your tablet. I think the premium version of Evernote has offline access (i.e. local storage of notes) and Catch does it anyway.
Evernote has a nice feature where you can mail stuff to your evernote account and it will show up.
As you can see it involves that you change a bit how you work and manage information, but if you make this step you can be more productive.
Hi Ferparedes, thanks for the response, took me a while to get back to it. It may be possible to use a notetaker to do this, but I am pondering the steps needed to integrate as you suggest. I take about 100 emails a day, covering say 50 customers and 1-5 new projects per customer, plus ongoing business - folder structure is 3 and 4 deep. I guess, suck it and see is the final result. If working on the TF is so satisfying for everything else, then a way will be found...
Thanks again for the input.
Well, then again it could be that a tablet is not the best tool for your needs, right?
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
alhart345 said:
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
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Windows tablets have been around for ages, no?
alhart345 said:
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
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Windows 8 tablets should appear in spring 2012.
alhart345 said:
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems like the easy solution is to get internet access on the go. Why not just get a 3g hotspot from your provider? Or, if you have an android phone, set up the mobile access point?
if my experience can help...
Avoiding complex configuration setting up a mail server at home, I've the following config:
- the home pc access my accounts (isp, yahoo, gmail) through pop protocol, with accounts configured to leave messages on the server 15 days
- tablet has same accounts configured with imap access
This way all mails are anyway downloaded and backedup on my local pc, while still being accessible from the tablet.
Of course some diligence is required: if erasing a mail from the tablet while having the pc in standby, the mail will never be available on the pc (but I suppose this is not a big deal: mail has been read and judged to be erased).
My 2 cents

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