After the install issues, I was able to run with the software uneventfully for a few weeks. Overall it has better features than 3.0, but there are a couple of annoying omissions. I liked the ability to create a special mail folder in 3.0 that was the only mail replicated to the Palm handheld. Then one day I got an "Unknown Error" during a HotSync of the calendar, and the process terminated. I searched the knowledgebase, and there was an article suggesting that this can be caused by a corrupt entry in the calendar. It suggested narrowing down the HotSync range to limit the issue to one week and then remove the calendar entries one by one.

I went through this time consuming process and eventually figured out the entry (which looked fine), and things were working again. I put this down to a one off occurrence that could happen to any vendor. Unfortunately, I run into the same problem about once a month, and it's very frustrating. The last time it happened I almost uninstalled the software and was ready to restore 3.0. I was hoping for a patch from Lotus that would at least indicate the Calendar entry that is failing, but there are no patches available. The first I heard of 4.1 was in your article.

The other very annoying feature is related to To Do items. I have these carefully categorized so that I can find things quickly. I kept noticing that the category on most of my To Do items was disappearing. It turns out that EasySync removes any category that is not Business or Personal. I looked in the settings, and category doesn't show as one of the mapped fields that can be replicated. Once again there is a knowledgebase article that acknowledges the problem but offers no indication that a solution will be available.

I'm hopeful that these issues will be addressed in 4.1, but I will be really ticked off if I have to pay for the upgrade. I would like to see Lotus treat this product more seriously by issuing quarterly updates rather than leaving users guessing if there is a new version coming.

Conclusion
I hope you've found this discussion of the current big three synchronization solutions useful, and maybe you even found one that fits your needs. Next month I'll talk about server-based synchronization options, so if you've had any experiences with these types of products (like the XTNDConnect Server from Extended Systems, Workstyle for Lotus Domino from Wireless Knowledge, or Domino Everyplace Enterprise) drop me a line at dvelasco@dominopower.com, I'd love to hear about it. Until then, happy synchronizing!

Colin Neale is a Domino consultant specializing in document management and search solutions and is also an IBM Certified Instructor for Lotus Domino. Colin has also developed the C-Search range of products and can be contacted at cneale@c-search-solutions.com.