'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
PocketMirror Professional XT 3.1.7
PocketMirror Professional XT 3.1.7
pros and cons
- Unintrusive retains look and feel of Palm OS apps quick synchronisation
- Doesn’t synchronise e-mail can’t create links to contacts from calendar, contacts, tasks and notes
Chapura’s PocketMirror Professional XT 3.1.7 is one of the most effective third-party utilities for synchronising Zire 72, Zire 31, Tungsten T3 and Tungsten E devices with Microsoft Outlook’s Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, and Notes. It’s no good if you’re a Pocket PC user because it doesn’t run on PDAs that run this operating system, and it may not appeal as much as DataViz’s Beyond Contacts if you’d like to retain the look and feel of Outlook on your handheld. But for palm purists who don’t to waste any more memory replacing built-in handheld software, PocketMirror Professional XT allows you to extend on the relatively limited functionality of PocketMirror Standard (supplied with all new Palm OS devices) for not a lot of money.
PocketMirror Professional lets you synchronise the default folders in Microsoft’s Outlook Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Notes with your handheld’s built-in Date Book, Address List, To Do List, and Memo Pad. However, PocketMirror is designed specifically to synchronise with Palm OS software, not Outlook, so there are limitations to the amount of Outlook information that it synchronises.
The latest Palm-based handhelds include Palm OS 5.2.1 and feature updated Personal Information Management (PIM) software, such as new agenda view that shows future appointments and daily tasks and colour-coded calendar options that add viewing flexibility. Contact information has also been made more accommodating, allowing you to include multiple contact addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, as well as Instant Messaging IDs, Web site addresses and birthdays.
PocketMirror Professional XT 3.1.7 supports all these new features, but it still doesn’t synchronise data with Palm OS’ built-in e-mail software (VersaMail) or allow you to view and create links to contacts from calendar, contacts, tasks and notes on your handheld. If you need this functionality, you'll have to opt for the company's slightly more expensive application, KeySuite (£32.52). KeySuite 3.0 extends a Palm OS’s functionality with Outlook (version 2000 or later) by offering alternative applications (KeyDates, KeyContacts, KeyTasks and KeyNotes) to those built into Palm OS, which may or may not appeal to hardened Palm OS users.
PocketMirror Professional XT 3.1.7 is designed to take advantage of the customised personal information management (PIM) applications supplied with PalmOne’s Zire 72, Zire 31, Tungsten T3 and Tungsten E devices (not compatible with any other PalmOne models), which have been extended to include more fields than the PIM software in other Palm OS-powered handhelds. The software also supports high-resolution displays (320x480 pixels), so those with compatible handhelds, such as a Tungsten T3, can take advantage of the additional screen space provided with a portrait view to see more of their Outlook information on a single screen.
Similar to its predecessor, PocketMirror Professional 3.1.6, the new version of the software lets you keep your Outlook information organised by allowing you to store Outlook information in separate folders. PocketMirror Professional XT also allows you to synchronise multiple folders from Outlook’s Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes (including any combination of public folders and subfolders), as well as change Outlook’s default folders to any preferred folders. Those using Outlook with Business Contact Manager (BCM) can now synchronise the Business Contacts folder in BCM with the built-in Contacts application on your handheld.
Perhaps the biggest appeal to PocketMirror Professional XT 3.1.7 is that you don’t even know it’s there. Once installed, you’ll be able to access your day-to-day PIM applications in exactly the same way but with the added benefit of additional information fields. The software also comes with Chapura’s Calendar, a handy utility that lets you organise your calendar by categories. For instance, you can now view work and personal schedules separately, if preferred - a feature not available in Palm OS’s built-in Calendar application.