Features
Synchronization on a Shoestring

-- by Eileen McCooey

You don't have to spend big bucks to get a pocket-sized device with a hook to your Windows PC. For around $150, you can get a simple hand-held organizer that communicates with your desktop system.

Texas Instruments, Casio and Sharp Electronics Corp. offer organizers that allow you to back up data on your desktop. But Texas Instruments' PS-6965Si series also offers data synchronization. The units use a mini-docking station that connects to a standard 9-pin serial port. You can synchronize data with several popular PIMs-including Microsoft Schedule+, Lotus Organizer, ACT and Sidekick-or create a custom specification for importing and exporting data.

I tested the PS-6965Si, and found TI's Windows-based software easy to use. With a few mouse clicks, you specify the organizer model and COM port under the Setup menu, then initiate synchronization under the Link menu. You can also import and export data using the File menu. In my tests with Schedule+ 7.0, data synchronization went smoothly, and TI's Help function explained the process step by step.

TI's personal organizers with data synchronization sell for about $100 to $150. The PS-6965Si ($150) includes a 256KB organizer and the PC Connectivity Kit with docking station and software. The Sharp YO series of organizers costs $70 to $170, plus $89.95 for the PC link. Casio's FA-127 PC link, which works with about a dozen Casio organizers, is about $100.

Copyright © 1997 CMP Media Inc.

(From Windows Magazine, January 1997, page 221.)