<p>Has anyone else dealt with this issue? I have a very old Palm Pilot that I finally have to give up because I upgraded my computer, and Palm doesn’t providing software to synch with the computer operating system I have now.(Vista) I need to put my address book (including snail mail addresses, and some notes attached to individual contacts) and my calendar in something new.</p>
<p>Seems silly to carry a cell phone and a PDA, and I am due for a cell phone upgrade from Verizon anyway. So I went to see them today to see if I could get a phone that could: (1) store contact/address and calendar info, and (2) synch that somehow with my PC so I have access to it on the PC. I don’t want to pay for a data package, I have a voice family package now I am happy with (I don’t text, send video, need internet access from my phone, etc.). I am happy to use a USB port or some other cable mechanism to synch the two up. I know I will likely have to rekey all this data in once somewhere (on the PC or into the cell, as it likely won’t copy out of Palm’s proprietary software), and I am okay with that.</p>
<p>I could NOT get a straight answer from the Verizon store guys or their online help today on what phone might have these capabilities and not require the data upgrade. I got a lot of conflicting advice, and Google searches didn’t help clarify. Anyone out here have any suggestions? I would prefer to stay with Verizon, as D just got a new phone and that extended our contract out to almost 2 more years. Thanks!</p>
<p>Good luck. I use the email and data features all of the time for work so I have not actually tried this. But I have had several of these phones so I just looked through the ordering and set up guides.</p>
<p>I am also not that technical. I hired “a guy” (all of us non-techies gotta have “a guy” ) to help me. But I changed from Palm to Blackberry and was definitely able to move all of my data (contacts, calendar, notes, tasks…) through my computer to my new PDA.</p>
<p>I would think that, once you choose your new platform, you can get tech support to help you if need be. After all, these companies definitely want people to switch to their technology from others, and so typically have instructions - in manual or online - on how to import data from your prior system to your new one.</p>
<p>I didn’t think I needed data either. But I went with it and it was the best $20 a month I ever spent. Now I have a phone with a $30 a month data plan and it is still a steal. It is a time saver, and saves me way more than $30 a month. I have never paid for an application, and love my apps. I didn’t need texting, but with two teens I needed a family unlimited texting plan for $30 total for them, and since it covers four phones, now I use it as well. Once you go data, you will never go back.</p>
<p>IDK, sunny. I had the data plan and really enjoyed it. It felt almost like magic :). I could deal with something no matter where I was, search for something while passenger in a car… But when I went out of the country I turned it off, because it is all roaming and would be very expensive… especially to get emails etc. I don’t even care about.</p>
<p>I’ve been back for two months and haven’t turned it back on yet. Just don’t think it’s worth it. So I guess it depends on how and why someone uses that feature.</p>
<p>We’ve just been through the search, and also with Verizon. If you get ANY smart-phone type device- Palm anything(including the Centro) or Blackberry device, even the new Storm, which I love- you MUST pay for the extra $30/month data plan. For the OP, take a look at their LG Dare. I have one and do exactly what you are wanting to use it for. LOVE the phone- and this was after going through a 7 month odyssey of misery, trying almost every higher-end phone they had! This one’s a keeper!</p>
<p>^^ True that, I think. But after having the data plan for quite a while, there was no problem when I cancelled it due to travelling. And they certainly have not come after me insisting I reinstate.</p>
<p>Mezzo’sMama, On line you have an option of taking the $0 data plan instead of one of the $25 or $30 plans. You just pay by KB if you use it. I moved an order through to almost the end to see the option. So I think maybe the stores are not offering it so they can sell something. Or if you are going through a retailer maybe it was not an option.</p>
<p>I have heard that while you may be able to get out of the data plan temporarily, the next time you make any kind of change to your phone or service they catch it and reinstate it… and then you are stuck with it. For me, $360 a year extra is not worth it for mobile web/e-mail service.</p>
<p>I will look at the LG Dare and Palm Centro, thanks. A Verizon rep online also recommended the following:</p>
<p>enV Touch
enV 3
Motorola Rival</p>
<p>D1 has an enV 2, and I asked her to show me the address book today. It only has phone and e-mail info, no place for a “snail mail” address. So I think I need to be careful about that…</p>
<p>I am little confused about the KB charges. I want to make sure I can synch with my computer (but via cable is fine) without a charge. I really just want to have the data features turned off so I don’t use them by accident (but still want to synch with the computer).</p>
<p>I have a Palm Centro, and I use it just like the OP wants to use it (I think).</p>
<p>I use a USB cable to synch the Centro with my PC (Vista operating system). I do not have a data plan anymore. I had one for a month only (there was a rebate with Verizon that req’d a data plan…got the rebate, cancelled the data plan). </p>
<p>My phone can do everything it could do with the data plan, but now if I access the Internet, I pay by the KB. Frankly, I could never really get the hangof web surfing on my tiny screen, so I don’t miss it one bit.</p>
<p>The salesman will try to tell you that “all features of your phone will not work without a data plan”. Well, if your are only interested in using the phone part and the PDA part, not having a data plan is just fine for the Centro.</p>
<p>OP–my Centro replaced an old Palm Pilot. The Centro feels very much like my old Palm. I couldn’t get the old one to synch with the new one, so I had to enter most of my “contacts” from scratch. It was annoying, but I did use the opportunity to weed out old contacts.</p>
<p>Yes, I have no idea who a few of the contacts in my Palm are I figured I would have to re-enter (one reason I’d like to synch with the PC is that I figure it is much easier to enter the data there than on a phone, even one well suited to texting!). I will look into the Centro, thanks. Although I assume the new Palm Pre probably also may do the trick…</p>
<p>Just did it - went from phone and palm to blackberry. One of the things I found very useful about the palm was the way it would categorize everything - but neither the folks at the stores or the techies for the phone companies (was talking to both verizon and att) knew anything about anything. Finally spoke with the blackberry techies and they were very helpful. Got the phone, dumped the palm info into outlook on my pc, synced the new phone with outlook and everything works great. The salespeople suggested that I cancel the data package after the rebate goes through - which I plan to do - having “instant” email is fun, but not worth the $30 extra a month. If I ever need the browser function I’ll pay as I go.</p>
<p>So far so good - and I like the qwerty for texting and entering calendar etc info.</p>
<p>gusaspara, are you on Verizon? Thanks for the tip on dumping from Palm to Outlook, I will see if I can do that. Although my Palm software is pretty ancient, I have had this device for 8 (!!!) years, so it might not work.</p>
<p>I’m with ATT and they made me a very good deal to keep me from going to Verizon (where the rest of my family is on the family plan). I’d be happy to tell you how I got the data over - but I have to go back over the steps. It wasn’t overly complicated, but not completely straightforward either. The only thing I’m still working on is the calendar, but since most of my appts are recurring, re-entering it was not a huge issue. I haven’t yet given up on the transfer tho! The address book transferred fine, except that some of the labels, “business phone”, “home phone” got switched, but I think that was a palm issue - it would do that on the palm desktop or the palm itself sometimes. The notes/memo pad are perfect - that was a huge issue for me and it’s the main reason I chose the blackberry over the others - all of my categories were maintained (as were the ones in the address book).</p>
<p>PS - My Palm software was old too!</p>
<p>PM me if you want me to send you “directions”.</p>
) to help me. But I changed from Palm to Blackberry and was definitely able to move all of my data (contacts, calendar, notes, tasks…) through my computer to my new PDA.</p>