Monday, September 23, 2002
Trans/ACT 1.0 reviewed
Posted by Jason Dunn in "ARTICLE" @ 12:00 PM
Pocket PC Thoughts reader Eric M. Carson took a detailed look at Trans/ACT 1.0, an application that claims to be the "world's first complete ACT! database implementation on the Pocket PC". How well does it work? Let Eric tell you himself <!>
ACT to Go: Trans/ACT 1.0
Trans/ACT 1.0 from pinpoint tools is a one-way (PC to PPC) sync solution that puts a customizable version of ACT! on your PPC2k or PPC2k2 device. The whole reason this is necessary, for those of you that don't use ACT!, is that the desktop software has the ability to store up to 255 fields of information inside each contact, which allows for tracking of nearly unlimited addresses (phone numbers, e-mail, etc), user-defined fields, tracking of history with a contact, and linking of appointments to a specific contact. I tested this software using ACT! 2000 (5.04) and an unmodified iPaq 3870. The database for this test contains exactly 412 contact entries, 57 meetings, and 48 to-dos (as well as about 4 years of notes & history data).
Where to buy
Trans/ACT can be purchased online from Handango for $79.95. (affiliate link)
Setup
Setup is a no-brainer for this software. It installs itself and is ready to use within 5 minutes of downloading (however, being a 16MB download, it may take a while to get to the easy setup.
First Use
Getting your ACT! data over to the PPC device is, quite simply put, a pain. For some reason, the developer chose to make this a two-step process. You first have to click "Export" and then "Send to Pocket PC." After clicking "Export", in my relatively small database, the export process took nearly 2 minutes to complete, which is not completely unbearable, considering the other ACT! sync solutions, but keep reading. Once you have exported the database, you then have to "Send to Pocket PC" which is the most tedious step. Clicking this button does not save the PPC data in your My Documents folder on the desktop computer. Rather, you can only send to the PPC if you are connected via ActiveSync. Not only does this "send" require an additional 3-4 minutes via a Bluetooth or USB connection, it also prevents running this sync process via a schedule so that you always have the most up-to-date data on the PPC. This software really needs a one button sync like CompanionLink has and the ability to run command line so that it can be run on a schedule through Windows.
Figure 1: Screenshot taken from Handango entry
All of that said, the customization on the first use is rather snappy. You can select, as with most other ACT! sync solutions, how many notes/histories to take with you, which group to sync with, and whether to sync the sales/opportunities section of the database. Unfortunately, a major piece missing here is the ability to sync only a certain user's activities or notes/histories. A good number of ACT! users use a group database with multiple users, so getting the whole groups information on your PPC almost renders the activities view unusable.
Additionally, having version 1.0 installed on your ACT! database prevents synchronization with other desktop ACT! users, thus rendering your group use dead. This is a major problem for ACT! users with multiple users, but may not bother the single user. Please note, you also cannot import an e-mail containing ACT! sync data from another user while Trans/ACT is installed, which prevents any outside communication with the desktop version of ACT!).
Contact View on the PPC
The contact view on the PPC is probably the strongest feature for Trans/ACT. It is completely customizable with a drag & drop tool on the desktop computer, which is very simple to use. I never once had a problem with adding my custom fields to the PPC view, and was very pleased with my non-technical mind's ability to create views on the PPC which allowed me to see all of my data. You have the ability to create multiple tabs of views on the PPC, which is very nice and something that has been missing for every other ACT! sync solution I have ever used.
Activities View on the PPC
If you were looking for a reason to avoid Trans/ACT, unfortunately, the calendar/activities view on the PPC is it. All you get it for a calendar view is a spreadsheet that shows appointments only in military time. You also have to scroll over several screens to get all the details of the appointment (unlike the interface in Pocket Informant or Agenda Fusion, where you get most of the important details for a meeting on the first screen, i.e., length of time for the appointment, contact it is linked to, notes for the meeting). Additionally, as mentioned above, if you use a multiple user database in the desktop version of ACT!, you get every user's appointments and activities on the PPC. There is, unfortunately, no customization for this calendar view, not even whether to display in 12 or 24 hour time format. Very disappointing.
Speed/Ease of Use on the PPC
Now the deal breaker. This software is extremely slow to open on the PPC. My database took over 30 seconds to open on the PPC. PocketInformant, on the other hand, loads the same amount of data, including notes/histories, in less than 4 seconds. Screen refresh also seems sluggish as you move between views or tabs.
Buttons on the PPC cannot be re-mapped to functions or views or tabs of Trans/ACT, thus limiting its' ease of use functionality. However, this may be for the better, because of the load time (who wants to hit the contact button and then wait 30 seconds to get a phone number?). Additionally, you cannot beam contacts from within Trans/ACT, although you can export them to Pocket Outlook and then beam from there.
Bottom Line
Trans/ACT is alpha software, at best. It is simply not useable in its' current form due to speed/performance issues, calendar view, tedious 2 click export process, and other issues noted above. It is certainly not, in this reviewer's opinion, worth $79, even for a free upgrade to a two-way sync version. Now, the developer shows promise, since there are several nifty features here, including the customization of contact views and the ability to view the exact data you need to view (perfect for ACT! databases with customized fields and views on the desktop). My advice is to wait until the developer fixes several of the issues above before you pay for this software. A 10 day free trial is available at www.pinpointtools.com (take a look, maybe you'll have different thoughts & opinions than I do).
ACT to Go: Trans/ACT 1.0
Trans/ACT 1.0 from pinpoint tools is a one-way (PC to PPC) sync solution that puts a customizable version of ACT! on your PPC2k or PPC2k2 device. The whole reason this is necessary, for those of you that don't use ACT!, is that the desktop software has the ability to store up to 255 fields of information inside each contact, which allows for tracking of nearly unlimited addresses (phone numbers, e-mail, etc), user-defined fields, tracking of history with a contact, and linking of appointments to a specific contact. I tested this software using ACT! 2000 (5.04) and an unmodified iPaq 3870. The database for this test contains exactly 412 contact entries, 57 meetings, and 48 to-dos (as well as about 4 years of notes & history data).
Where to buy
Trans/ACT can be purchased online from Handango for $79.95. (affiliate link)
Setup
Setup is a no-brainer for this software. It installs itself and is ready to use within 5 minutes of downloading (however, being a 16MB download, it may take a while to get to the easy setup.
First Use
Getting your ACT! data over to the PPC device is, quite simply put, a pain. For some reason, the developer chose to make this a two-step process. You first have to click "Export" and then "Send to Pocket PC." After clicking "Export", in my relatively small database, the export process took nearly 2 minutes to complete, which is not completely unbearable, considering the other ACT! sync solutions, but keep reading. Once you have exported the database, you then have to "Send to Pocket PC" which is the most tedious step. Clicking this button does not save the PPC data in your My Documents folder on the desktop computer. Rather, you can only send to the PPC if you are connected via ActiveSync. Not only does this "send" require an additional 3-4 minutes via a Bluetooth or USB connection, it also prevents running this sync process via a schedule so that you always have the most up-to-date data on the PPC. This software really needs a one button sync like CompanionLink has and the ability to run command line so that it can be run on a schedule through Windows.
Figure 1: Screenshot taken from Handango entry
All of that said, the customization on the first use is rather snappy. You can select, as with most other ACT! sync solutions, how many notes/histories to take with you, which group to sync with, and whether to sync the sales/opportunities section of the database. Unfortunately, a major piece missing here is the ability to sync only a certain user's activities or notes/histories. A good number of ACT! users use a group database with multiple users, so getting the whole groups information on your PPC almost renders the activities view unusable.
Additionally, having version 1.0 installed on your ACT! database prevents synchronization with other desktop ACT! users, thus rendering your group use dead. This is a major problem for ACT! users with multiple users, but may not bother the single user. Please note, you also cannot import an e-mail containing ACT! sync data from another user while Trans/ACT is installed, which prevents any outside communication with the desktop version of ACT!).
Contact View on the PPC
The contact view on the PPC is probably the strongest feature for Trans/ACT. It is completely customizable with a drag & drop tool on the desktop computer, which is very simple to use. I never once had a problem with adding my custom fields to the PPC view, and was very pleased with my non-technical mind's ability to create views on the PPC which allowed me to see all of my data. You have the ability to create multiple tabs of views on the PPC, which is very nice and something that has been missing for every other ACT! sync solution I have ever used.
Activities View on the PPC
If you were looking for a reason to avoid Trans/ACT, unfortunately, the calendar/activities view on the PPC is it. All you get it for a calendar view is a spreadsheet that shows appointments only in military time. You also have to scroll over several screens to get all the details of the appointment (unlike the interface in Pocket Informant or Agenda Fusion, where you get most of the important details for a meeting on the first screen, i.e., length of time for the appointment, contact it is linked to, notes for the meeting). Additionally, as mentioned above, if you use a multiple user database in the desktop version of ACT!, you get every user's appointments and activities on the PPC. There is, unfortunately, no customization for this calendar view, not even whether to display in 12 or 24 hour time format. Very disappointing.
Speed/Ease of Use on the PPC
Now the deal breaker. This software is extremely slow to open on the PPC. My database took over 30 seconds to open on the PPC. PocketInformant, on the other hand, loads the same amount of data, including notes/histories, in less than 4 seconds. Screen refresh also seems sluggish as you move between views or tabs.
Buttons on the PPC cannot be re-mapped to functions or views or tabs of Trans/ACT, thus limiting its' ease of use functionality. However, this may be for the better, because of the load time (who wants to hit the contact button and then wait 30 seconds to get a phone number?). Additionally, you cannot beam contacts from within Trans/ACT, although you can export them to Pocket Outlook and then beam from there.
Bottom Line
Trans/ACT is alpha software, at best. It is simply not useable in its' current form due to speed/performance issues, calendar view, tedious 2 click export process, and other issues noted above. It is certainly not, in this reviewer's opinion, worth $79, even for a free upgrade to a two-way sync version. Now, the developer shows promise, since there are several nifty features here, including the customization of contact views and the ability to view the exact data you need to view (perfect for ACT! databases with customized fields and views on the desktop). My advice is to wait until the developer fixes several of the issues above before you pay for this software. A 10 day free trial is available at www.pinpointtools.com (take a look, maybe you'll have different thoughts & opinions than I do).
