I’m thinking of buying myself a new handheld (I currently
have an old Palm), and also perhaps a new notebook computer
(either a Thinkpad or Apple’s Powerbook). I also want to buy some contact management software. I’m starting to look at alternatives, and I could use some advice.

One thing I’ve long
wanted is to have better integration between my handheld
and my desktop, and in particular in the area of contact
management. My old Palm is fine for keeping a list of addresses
and phone numbers, but it doesn’t go much beyond that. And
the email program I use doesn’t interface with the Palm, so
I have these islands of contact data. You know the story.

So I’m curious. If you do the contact management thing, what are you using?
And if you’re successfully integrating a handheld with some
sort of contact management software and also,
simultaneously, with a good email program, I’d love to know
the details of what you are doing.

I want functionality such as the following:

* When I add someone’s email address to my email software’s
address book, I want that to show up in my handheld. And
vice-versa. What’s more, if I add an email address to my email software’s address book for
someone whose phone number I already have on my handheld, I want the
software to detect that and merge the two entries together, even though the two entries lie on different devices.

* I want to be able to keep a record of phone calls and
other contacts with authors and prospective authors, and I
want that record simultaneously on both my handheld and my
notebook.

* I want to set ticklers, so I can remember to follow-up
with people when I need to.

* It might be nice to have email exchanges automatically
get filed in the contact manager.

* It’d be really great if all this could somehow interface
with my Motorola v60i cellphone (I’m locked into that
model), so that any phone number I enter in any device automagically gets propogated to all others. For example, when I enter a new number in my cellphone, I want to see that number in my handheld and in the contact management software on my notebook.

* Whatever functionality I haven’t thought of yet, I want
that too.

There are lots of good handhelds out there, lots of good
notebooks, lots of good software, but what I want is a
handheld+notebook+software (+maybe cellphone) solution that
works; I want the components to play well together; and I want them from major vendors that will be around
for the long-haul. And I don’t like to tinker. I’m also somewhat averse to using MS Outlook because of virus issues. I’ve not been hit by a virus in two or more years, and I attribute that largely to my avoidance of Outlook.

If you use a combination of notebook+handheld+contact management software, I’d be greatful for any advice or suggestions that you can offer.