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art_director · Nov 14, 2002, 09:15 AM

I just got a PocketPC phone and am thinking about buying PocketMac Pro. My only reservation is that users on the PocketMac forum are calling it a waste o' cash. Of course, that's where all the whiny people go to get the jabs in. So I came here to try and get some feedback, good or bad, from PocketMac users. I'm wondering how the app works in both OS 9 and OS X, how support has been and if you think this route is preferable to syncing via Virtual PC.

Thanks for any and all feedback.

klinux · Nov 14, 2002, 01:40 PM

I am a veteran on PocketPC sites and on there, the users reviews are not that hot either.

art_director · Nov 14, 2002, 01:47 PM

Thanks Klinux.

Do you sync a Pocket PC with a Mac? If so, do you do it in Virtual PC?

torifile · Nov 14, 2002, 02:03 PM

Originally posted by art_director:
Thanks Klinux.

Do you sync a Pocket PC with a Mac? If so, do you do it in Virtual PC?

I'm not klinux, but I do sync my PPC with my Mac through VPC. It works reasonably well. I thought about getting pocketmac, but it doesn't work with jag and I've already got VPC. It works fine as a backup system.

art_director · Nov 14, 2002, 02:16 PM

Thanks torifile.

Are you able to load apps, screen savers and such via VP?

torifile · Nov 14, 2002, 07:08 PM

Originally posted by art_director:
Thanks torifile.

Are you able to load apps, screen savers and such via VP?

Oh yeah. Everything works great. I can even sync over airport without a problem. It's a piece of cake once you get it working.

art_director · Nov 14, 2002, 07:13 PM

Sounds like it might be the thing for me. Thanks.

alex_kac · Nov 14, 2002, 08:31 PM

Let me say - I think that the original Pocket Mac kind of sucked. It worked, but was very kludgey and clunky.

That said, the new one in beta right now - 2.0 is rewritten in Cocoa and acts like a full ActiveSync client. It doesn't require any PPC side software and seems to work MUCH better.

Its basically a completely rewritten app.

Let me also add, I'm the developer of Pocket Informant - (http://www.pocketinformant.com/) - which is one of the hottest selling software packages for the Pocket PC. We sold 26,000 copies in August and September together - for example. I have a fairly good relationship with the developer of Pocket Mac, so of course - take my comments with the bias that it works great for me and I really like it.

torifile · Nov 14, 2002, 08:37 PM

Originally posted by alex_kac:
Let me say - I think that the original Pocket Mac kind of sucked. It worked, but was very kludgey and clunky.

That said, the new one in beta right now - 2.0 is rewritten in Cocoa and acts like a full ActiveSync client. It doesn't require any PPC side software and seems to work MUCH better.

Its basically a completely rewritten app.

Let me also add, I'm the developer of Pocket Informant - (http://www.pocketinformant.com/) - which is one of the hottest selling software packages for the Pocket PC. We sold 26,000 copies in August and September together - for example. I have a fairly good relationship with the developer of Pocket Mac, so of course - take my comments with the bias that it works great for me and I really like it.

Sweet! I use and LOVE PocketInformant. Good to see that pocketmac is coming along nicely. Does it have iCal support?

-t

ps- any hopes that pocketinformant will be sped up for the xscale?

alex_kac · Nov 14, 2002, 08:42 PM

Originally posted by torifile:

Sweet! I use and LOVE PocketInformant. Good to see that pocketmac is coming along nicely. Does it have iCal support?

-t

ps- any hopes that pocketinformant will be sped up for the xscale?

It does have iCal support. As for PI, right now I'm not aware of ANY Xscale compiler for our type of use - only video libs. However, you should seem some performance increases over the next few months for other reasons.

Oh, and Pocket Mac will come with a trial of Pocket Informant as part of the package

art_director · Nov 18, 2002, 10:14 AM

Originally posted by alex_kac:

Oh, and Pocket Mac will come with a trial of Pocket Informant as part of the package

I've been e-mailing the Pocket Mac folks and have found their response times to be slow if they respond at all. Being that I've been asking for information and clarification on their product I'd say their customer service is horrible. I doubt it will improve if I buy their app. With all the bad consumer reviews I've read I think I'll pass on purchasing the app.

If I were the developer of Pocket Informant I would avoid Pocket Mac. They don't give a rip about their customers. You could be viewed as guilty by association. Just one consumer's opinion.

alex_kac · Nov 18, 2002, 02:50 PM

Well I am sorry to hear that. I think the problem is that the guy behind Pocket Mac is a developer - hard core. He's not a marketing guy. And so he can produce good stuff, but not handle the business side well. Its an all too common refrain.

I can get him on IM any time I want, so there is that.

I would hope that sound minded people would understand we are two different businesses. We get praised for our customer service - so I think as long as we do well, any of his foibles should not be associated with us. But I know that doesn't always happen - even with sound minded people.

art_director · Nov 18, 2002, 03:17 PM

A common advertising belief is that nothing will kill a poor product faster than good advertising. If what the message boards say is true Pocket Mac isn't ready for prime time.

torifile · Nov 18, 2002, 09:53 PM

Originally posted by alex_kac:
Well I am sorry to hear that. I think the problem is that the guy behind Pocket Mac is a developer - hard core. He's not a marketing guy. And so he can produce good stuff, but not handle the business side well. Its an all too common refrain.

I can get him on IM any time I want, so there is that.

I would hope that sound minded people would understand we are two different businesses. We get praised for our customer service - so I think as long as we do well, any of his foibles should not be associated with us. But I know that doesn't always happen - even with sound minded people.

I've gotta say that the PI is the best app out there for PPC PIM stuff right now. I've got 2 complaints: speed on my tosh e740 and the way it handles linking (agenda fusion does it better). The market they are looking at with pocket mac is relatively small at this point anyway. If pocketmac can make it big and PI can get the speed issue worked out (since most new PPC's will have the XScale), they're looking at a big market. Even without it, PI is really the only option for many users at this point, anyway.

Now, when are we going to be able to get journals synced to a notes application???