[X4U] Cell phone/ICAL question

[Norman Cohen]

Dear Ed,

I have a Blackberry 8700. Using the relatively inexpensive Missing  
Sync software, I am able to keep all my data from iCal on my  
Blackberry. If I add any appointments, those get synced back to a  
Blackberry calendar on my computer. PocketMac has a software package  
that RIM (the Blackberry manufacturer) provides for free. My  
experience is that it rarely worked and was more trouble than it was  
worth. I have had a Blackberry for about 3 years. It works great for  
email, fair as a phone, so-so as a web browser. It has been pretty  
reliable. I do plan on getting an iPhone when my contract runs out in  
a few months.

The Blackberry is a bit complex to use. Your history of a stroke may  
make using the fairly small keys challenging.

As far as other phones go, there is, of course, the iPhone which does  
supposedly work pretty well with iCal :)

Depending on your level of disability from the stroke, the iPhone may  
or may not be a good option for you. The predictive typing feature may  
help overcome difficulties with using the touch screen. Since the  
whole display becomes a keyboard or dialing pad, the buttons are  
pretty large and form a decent sized target. One downside to the  
iPhone is that it doesn't have voice activated calling, something that  
may be of help in your situation. If you haven't already, I would  
suggest going to an Apple store if there is one nearby and try it out  
to see if you are able to control it adequately.

Palm Treos also supposedly work with iCal, using Missing Sync  
software. I have to admit that Treos are not getting very good press  
lately. Palm's customer service has gone downhill according to recent  
reports that I've seen.
<http://www.tnl.net/blog/2007/12/27/could-tech-support-undo-palm/>

Hope this helps,

Norm
---
Norman A. Cohen
nacohen at mac.com

"The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave man...only five hundred."
Meredith Willson

On Dec 31, 2007, at 21:14 PM, Ed Gould wrote:

> I live by ICAL. That is to say I keep all my appointments in ICAL.  
> These appointments are doctor type appointments. My memory is bad  
> due to a stroke.
>
> I would like to get a cell phone in the next few months that has a  
> calendar that can sync up with ICAL.
>
> Is there such an animal? I do not trust going into cell phone  
> store(s) and listening (and trusting) Cell phone sales persons.
> I have seen and experienced them in action and just don't trust any  
> of them.
> So I am asking the group which cells phones sync up with ICAL ?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ed
>
> ps: It would be a nice plus to be able to *EASILY* enter  
> appointments on the cell phone and to have that be put into my ICAL  
> when the syncing occurs.
>
> pps: I generally find cell phones difficult to use and get easily  
> frustrated just trying to go through the menuing(sp?) system on cell  
> phones due to stroke issues.
>