Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

art_director · 05:52 PM

Anyone out there who is tired of the Palm's pathetic OS and wants the functionality of a Pocket PC can now rejoice. Pocket Mac makes it possible to sync a PPC with a Mac, exchange files and manage the device. At $70 it's a little on the spendy side but Pocket Mac is a much better solution than the �ber expensive Virtual PC. They even have a beta that works with Jaguar.

Check them out at www.pocketmac.net.

Did I mention you get a comp trial version of Pocket Informant with the new beta?

Leia Shoots Like a Girl · Nov 20, 2002, 11:19 PM

So you work for them or what?

torifile · Nov 21, 2002, 08:17 AM

Originally posted by art_director:
Anyone out there who is tired of the Palm's pathetic OS and wants the functionality of a Pocket PC can now rejoice. Pocket Mac makes it possible to sync a PPC with a Mac, exchange files and manage the device. At $70 it's a little on the spendy side but Pocket Mac is a much better solution than the �ber expensive Virtual PC. They even have a beta that works with Jaguar.

Check them out at www.pocketmac.com.

Did I mention you get a comp trial version of Pocket Informant with the new beta?

Except that it doesn't work with jaguar yet. No use to many people (at least not yet).

ps - your link is wrong. It should be www.pocketmac.net

Yoda's Erotic Piggyback · Nov 21, 2002, 12:28 PM

Yup, from what I hear it doesn't work well at all.

Back up 15 and punt · Nov 21, 2002, 01:37 PM

I own it and I can tell you one thing. DON'T bother buying it. Its for the most part.....JUNK.

alex_kac · Nov 21, 2002, 02:01 PM

You guys - the original poster is talking about the new Beta 4 that was posted today for Pocket Mac.

Let me tell you - Pocket Mac 1.0 sucked. All the reviews were correct. Back up 15 and punt - I bet you're using the 1.0 product. I totally agree. 1.0 was, to me, an prototype that should never have left the labs. 2.0 is the real deal.

But the new 2.0 Beta 4 really is good. Its a total rewrite in Cocoa and is VERY good. No, I don't work for him. I'm just being open and honest about it.

PocketMac.net won't tell you squat because its not released yet.

Socially Awkward Solo · Nov 21, 2002, 04:48 PM

Does it work with address book or iCal? If not then no use for me.

alex_kac · Nov 21, 2002, 04:55 PM

PocketMac 2.0 does work with iCal and the AB. Beta 4 finally works correctly with them - so far as I can tell

But its only been out today, so we'll see.

art_director · Nov 21, 2002, 05:53 PM

Originally posted by Leia Shoots Like a Girl:
So you work for them or what?

No, I do not work for them. I'm just really excited abut finally being able to use a PPC rather than a Palm.

art_director · Nov 21, 2002, 05:55 PM

Originally posted by torifile:

Except that it doesn't work with jaguar yet. No use to many people (at least not yet).

ps - your link is wrong. It should be www.pocketmac.net

Thanks for pointing out my typo. Got 'er fixed.

Actually, I have my Siemens SX56 syncing with my Mac running Jaguar. The new Pocket Mac beta 4 made it possible.

torifile · Nov 21, 2002, 05:57 PM

Originally posted by art_director:

Thanks for pointing out my typo. Got 'er fixed.

Actually, I have my Siemens SX56 syncing with my Mac running Jaguar. The new Pocket Mac beta 4 made it possible.

And where can I get this beta? I signed up to be on their beta list and I haven't heard a thing. This was over a month ago. Can you email it to me? Or post it some place? I'd really like to try it out.

art_director · Nov 21, 2002, 06:00 PM

Originally posted by alex_kac:
You guys - the original poster is talking about the new Beta 4 that was posted today for Pocket Mac.

Let me tell you - Pocket Mac 1.0 sucked. All the reviews were correct. Back up 15 and punt - I bet you're using the 1.0 product. I totally agree. 1.0 was, to me, an prototype that should never have left the labs. 2.0 is the real deal.

But the new 2.0 Beta 4 really is good. Its a total rewrite in Cocoa and is VERY good. No, I don't work for him. I'm just being open and honest about it.

PocketMac.net won't tell you squat because its not released yet.

Yes, I am talking about beta 4 that came out yesterday. It's great. I had some issues configuring Norton Personal Firewall to allow the connection but once that was worked out I was up and running.

The folks at Pocket Mac were REALLY helpful. I would urge anyone who wants to sync a PPC with a Mac to use this.

torifile · Nov 21, 2002, 06:12 PM

Well, according to this press release it has been link.

Could someone please email it to me so I can test it out? I'm really looking forward to using iCal and the addressbook instead of outlook if possible. tia.

alex_kac · Nov 21, 2002, 06:28 PM

Here is a portion of the email I received:

Dear Alex Kac,

I know it's been sometime since my last note to you, and I apologize.
We've been so very hard at work, I often don't realize how much time
has elapsed.

The good news, though, is that we now have a BETA 4 release available
for you.

You should see marked improvement from previous betas, and
we hope you'll continue to share any major issues you encounter.

This Beta should address the following issues...

* Unstable connection for some Pocket PCs.
* More reliable sync mechanisms
* Better sync with Entourage Tasks
* Fixes for iCal and Address Book plugin.
* No more security warning for the drivers
* and several other issues you've brought to our attention...

We've also added...

* A diagnostic tool (in the Helpers folder) which will generate system
reports we can use to diagnose what might be wrong if you continue
to experience problems.
* A demo of the new PocketInformant software, which can
be installed completely via your PocketMac/Mac. (This feature
is now available for all Pocket PC vendors to create Mac installs
in this manner, by the way.)

Please try this Beta and let us know your comments. I know
sometimes it must seem like progress is slow, but we are working
hard and want to be as thorough as we can.

I personally feel that this beta is much closer to where we want
to be, and I hope you have a similarly wonderful experience with it.

Back up 15 and punt · Nov 22, 2002, 01:09 AM

Originally posted by alex_kac:
You guys - the original poster is talking about the new Beta 4 that was posted today for Pocket Mac.

Let me tell you - Pocket Mac 1.0 sucked. All the reviews were correct. Back up 15 and punt - I bet you're using the 1.0 product. I totally agree. 1.0 was, to me, an prototype that should never have left the labs. 2.0 is the real deal.

But the new 2.0 Beta 4 really is good. Its a total rewrite in Cocoa and is VERY good. No, I don't work for him. I'm just being open and honest about it.

PocketMac.net won't tell you squat because its not released yet.

Wrong! I'm using Beta 4 and it died the first time I used and froze the second time I tried it. On top of that it managed to duplicate all of my contacts in Entourage address book. I'll try again but I don't hold out much hope for this product.

art_director · Nov 22, 2002, 06:48 AM

Originally posted by Back up 15 and punt:

Wrong! I'm using Beta 4 and it died the first time I used and froze the second time I tried it. On top of that it managed to duplicate all of my contacts in Entourage address book. I'll try again but I don't hold out much hope for this product.

Hmmmmm...works perfectly on my end. Did you uninstall the earlier version(s) prior to installing beta 5? That's what I did and no such issue.

Back up 15 and punt · Nov 22, 2002, 08:16 AM

Originally posted by art_director:

Hmmmmm...works perfectly on my end. Did you uninstall the earlier version(s) prior to installing beta 5? That's what I did and no such issue.

No. Maybe that is something I need to try? Funny that they don't mention that. Thanks for the info.

art_director · Nov 22, 2002, 09:00 AM

Originally posted by Back up 15 and punt:

No. Maybe that is something I need to try? Funny that they don't mention that. Thanks for the info.

I just did it out of habit. Fire up the old beta installer and use the uninstall function. That's how I did it. Good luck.

PocketMac · Nov 22, 2002, 11:20 AM

Hi Punt,

I'm sorry you had trouble with this beta, but I would ask that you contact the beta team if you haven't already done so.

The purpose of the beta is to find problems like the ones you're having and get them fixed up for you. I've personally been answering a lot of the beta team email (though, thankfully, I do have help) and even calling people to get more information, walk them through procedures, etc.

I'd like to extend the same service to you, if you'd like it.

If something's wrong with the code, let's get it fixed. If it's a config issue, let's get it documented.

Thanks

Terence

PocketMac · Nov 22, 2002, 11:22 AM

I'd also like to point out that the current beta is #4.

torifile · Nov 22, 2002, 11:42 AM

Originally posted by PocketMac:
I'd also like to point out that the current beta is #4.

So, are you going to let me have a look at it or at least respond to my emails, or what?

Not to badger, but you'd think that you'd want as many eyeballs looking at this thing as possible.

PocketMac · Nov 22, 2002, 01:16 PM

Hi,

No, I didn't think you were badgering at all -- in fact I'd just replied to your last note right before logging on here.

The beta is for Pro users at the moment, though, I'm afraid. There will be a freely downloadable demo version as soon as we're out of beta though, and I'd be more than happy to share that with you, of course.