The Sync Solution that I Like
I’m increasingly switching between my Mac and PC these days, and I like to keep everything in sync. I think I’ve come up with a pretty good solution, so I’m writing it down in case I do what I did yesterday (spent about six hours trying to get something pointless to work).
For files, it’s simple. I use unison to keep 4GB of database between my Mac and PC in sync. On my PC, I keep the synced files in a TrueCrypt repository that’s compressed with NTFS compression. If you use TrueCrypt with unison, make sure you format the TrueCrypt volume as NTFS–when I tried FAT32, unison couldn’t do fast checks.
For personal data, my Nokia 3650 is the sync point, even though I’m using a Pocket PC as my phone right now. I use iSync on the
Mac, and PC Suite for Nokia 3650 on the PC. I tried Missing Sync and PocketMac (with the idea that I could use my Pocket PC as the bridge between the Mac and the PC), in fact I’ve tried them many times, but something always goes
wrong. With the latest Missing Sync , it was a bonanza this weekend:
- One complete lockup of Mac OS X
- Uncountable times where Missing Sync wouldn’t even see the Pocket PC
- Duplicate events in my calendar
- Every event in the holiday calendar shifting by one day
I also tried the latest Pocket Mac Lite, but it wouldn’t recognize the Pocket PC. I love screwing around with computers and handhelds, but sometimes there’s something that I wish would just work.
So now, I use Outlook mainly as a backup of my calendars and contacts on my PC, do most of my data entry and maintenance on the Pocket PC, and occasionally sync the PC and Mac by way of the Nokia.
To think, this all started because I was reading the galley proofs of Retro Gaming Hacks and realized what I really needed in my pocket is a phone that can emulate an Atari 800!
April 8th, 2006 at 4:59 am
Brian, I feel your pain. My dream of getting these MS devices to talk to Mac OS X is still well, a dream. I’ve tried
- MissingSync. At first it didn’t install correctly; talked to their tech support, successfully installed it and guess what, it doesn’t recognize my PocketPC iPAQ. Finally emailed my utter disappointment to Support and after some “diplomatic” email, got my refund (I paid using Credit Card).
- PocketMac. Installed flawlessly, couldn’t reliably detect my PocketPC iPAQ. Not even close to 50% of the time. Had to dock/undock the iPAQ hoping the USB somehow detects it. After it detects, it sometimes hang my OS X (and one would think OS X is uncrashable, right?!) Finally gave up.
RIght now Apple iSync is happily syncing (reliably 100% of the time) with iPod (I know we would expect Apple products to talk to one another), and also with Sony Ericsson mobile phone (ah ha, non-Apple product here).
Bottom line, I would pay money for any company shipping 100% reliable product for syncing my HP iPAQ with OS X. I’ll even pay premium if it works with iSync somehow so I don’t have to run 2 different programs just to sync devices — we’re supposed to be in the digital convergence age, right?. Any developers out there listening?