My dad needs a new phone. He likes the ability of todays smartphones to be synced all the time but does not want to pay for a data plan. So I'm looking for a solution for him to sync his phone with the computer via USB and have a decent experience to check adresses and calendar on the phone. Email is not important to him as he is stationary on the computer for work. He is not the chatty type of person ;)
I don't think the iPhone is the right thing for him as he does not want iTunes on his computer. Something that could directly sync with Outlook would be perfect.
I would appreciate any input especially with experience snycing the different systems directly with outlook.
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What phone to have Outlook sync without data plan?
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happyschneider's pick
You mean directly sync with Outlook on the desktop? (i.e. not OTA, for which you will obviously need a data plan)
In that case most of e.g. Nokia's candybar phones upwards should be able to sync with Nokia Suite software. Blackberries are also an option since you can do the same thing using their desktop software.
In that case most of e.g. Nokia's candybar phones upwards should be able to sync with Nokia Suite software. Blackberries are also an option since you can do the same thing using their desktop software.
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happyschneider's pick
Windows Phone 7 has seamless Outlook integration. You can synchronize via WiFi both directly via the LAN through Zune to Outlook, or alternatively through Live.
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I personally solve this issue by using SyncML on a feature phone to sync directly with Google Calendar and Google Contacts. I set them both up as "Manual" sync so I only consume data when I do a sync. I do not pay for a data plan and pay the per/MB charge. I only sync on rare occasions and end up paying less than $2 per month in data. I then use a plugin to sync Outlook with Google Calendar and Google Contacts. (Google provides a Cal sync plugin, and I use Soocial for Contact sync). The advantage to this approach is that by using Google's backend as the storage, I can sync anytime anywhere with any device, and I don't loose the data if the computer with outlook dies. I also have Google's iOS Exchange sync setup on my iPod touch so all the data is there as well.
This solution is a tad complicated to setup, and it is hard to find a feature phone that does not require a data plan and has SyncML support. For me, this is a great solution to not have a data plan, but have the main features of a smart phone that I would care about.
This solution is a tad complicated to setup, and it is hard to find a feature phone that does not require a data plan and has SyncML support. For me, this is a great solution to not have a data plan, but have the main features of a smart phone that I would care about.
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I do this with an iPhone. I have no data plan and sync email and calendars over wifi and USB. Not sure about Outlook but I'm sure it's possible.
If he doesn't care about email then is only using Outlook as a calendar?
It might be hard to convince him to switch but something Google Calendar would make this easy.
As far as a phone, it should be possible with any iPhone, Android, Blackberry, smartphone.
Keep in mind most new phones require a contract that includes a data plan. Unless you plan to pay full price for the phone, you might want to consider a used phone.
Even then the carrier might require you to have a data plan when they see a smartphone on their network.
If he doesn't care about email then is only using Outlook as a calendar?
It might be hard to convince him to switch but something Google Calendar would make this easy.
As far as a phone, it should be possible with any iPhone, Android, Blackberry, smartphone.
Keep in mind most new phones require a contract that includes a data plan. Unless you plan to pay full price for the phone, you might want to consider a used phone.
Even then the carrier might require you to have a data plan when they see a smartphone on their network.
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