What is it with PocketMac be it the actual software or their customer support.

I've been using a very old version of PocketMac with my old PowerBook G4 (OSX 10.3.9) to sync to an older version of Entourage (pre-Office 2008). Fine for then, except for the creepy PocketMac Lauren emails.

Then both my 7730 and my Powerbook both gave out (scratch BBRepairshop.com - couldn't change a keyboard even with their "senior" tech). So, shoot, I'm waiting for the (hold thumbs) June 2008 newer version of the iPhone but still need a BB until then. So, I pick up a T-Mo 8700 and, what they hey, splurge on a new MacBook (OSX 10.5) and the new Office (2008).

Well. PocketMac doesn't work with Entourage in 2008?!? What's up with that. The new software has only been about a year in the pipeline and been out for months. Yet, the best PocketMac's so-called "help" pages can tell me that - as of January 2008 - PocketMac doesn't work with Office 2008 (Entourage) but (in the cheery smack that Lauren voice) we're working on it and it should be available in a couple of months. You can't tell me that Microsoft so radically changed the underlying file structure of Entourage that PocketMac needs a complete re-write (indeed, the switch of my "old" Entourage database into Entourage in Office 2008 took less time than to type so far). Come on!

OK, so, I look for a workaround. Let's try this - sync my new Entourage database to Apple's Address Book and iCal. Works (gee two corporate behemoths can work that out but a small nimble software house dedicated to the "lost" Apple folks with BBs can't - go figure). Then, I'm going to have to sync Apple's Address Book and iCal with the 8700 via PocketMac. Should be simple.

Nope.

Two connections and attempted syncs later. I've got less than 1/2 of my Apple Address Book entries in my Blackberry and NO iCal events.

Sync starts, Blackberry indicates connected to computer.

Sync goes and goes and goes - the second of the two, I waited 30 minutes - we're talking about 750 contacts. I can't take THAT long.

Check the log and lo and behold, PocketMac has hung up with the following message
"Checking for mounted blackberry media cards."

In case you're wondering, no I do NOT have any "added" software, photos or anything else I'm trying to add to the BB. Just AddressBook, iCal and Stickies.

Pocketmac. Just sits and sits and sits.

So, shouldn't this be something covered in PocketMac's help? No, why should it. Nothing even cheery from Lauren. Email to PocketMac for help. No response (3 1/2 business days).

Perhaps PocketMac has some cut on the media card market. Perhaps they're just into the 1/2 a loaf is better than none theory - give me half of my contacts and not the rest. Go figure.

Anyone have a fix for this?

And, by the way for those who have been vainly searching for the Apple Address Book field to put a colleague's BB Pin into to have it sync, do the following. In Apple Address Book, create a custom telephone number field and call it PIN. That's it.

Gotta go print out my Address Book and calendar. Where's that "Blackberry is Better than an iPhone" writer?

Have you tried MissingSync?

Does it work (reliably) with Entourage in Office 2008, a BB 8700 and a MacBook with OSX 10.5?

On the abovementioned suggestion, I gave MissingSync for the Blackberry a try and, as a result, Pocketmac is GONE! I guess the old adage "You get what you pay for" is true (although I paid for Pocketmac a long time ago.

Setting up the "sync" between Entourage 2008 took a few tries but I seemed to work it out. Still can't seem to get the Entourage sync of Entourage's Notes to .Mac to work. But, since I'm truly concerned about my calendar and contacts, it is not the biggest concern.

Entourage Contacts and Calendar items sync to Apple's Addressbook and Calendar with no real issues.

In Entourage, I have a handful of entries that contain nothing but a name and a Blackberry PIN. The PIN is contained in "Home Fax" in Entourage and, when Entourage Syncs over to "Home Fax" in Apple Addressbook. When Markspace Syncs Apple Addressbook to my Blackberry, the PIN does NOT transfer. In the Blackberry entry, the name of the entry is there but all fields are blank. In Apple Addressbook, if I change the Name of the field from "Home Fax" to "PIN" and resync, the PIN shows up. Since I have less than a dozen of these entries and BB PINs amoung my colleagues rarely change (they're all switching to ... cough ... iPhones ... cough), it is not a big thing to manually go in and fix this.

Long ago, I abandoned Entourage's calendar in favor of Google's online calendar. As you may know, you can "import" Google calendar entries into iCal using web links. I did that, entering the web link for each of my calendar categories (personal, work, travel, etc.) and they all showed up in iCal. When I sync'ed, all sync'ed over to the Blackberry. In addition, the few Entourage Calendar entries I had also sync'ed over to iCal and MissingSync sync'ed these entries from iCal to the Blackberry.

No other issues spotted so far. Seems to work pretty well. Especially as the temporary fix I need.