[mjfairman]

I would like "best practice" guidance on how to set up two actively used BB devices to synch with a single Outlook .pst ( contacts & calendar ) on a Vista machine.

I currently use a 7100t ( T-Mobile ) in-synch with MS Office Outlook 2007 on Vista Ultimate using DM 4.2.1.8. Works fine.

Wife just purchased an 8310 Curve ( AT&T ) and wants to synch with Calendar and Contacts. Ideally, she only needs a subset of the contacts ( those assigned to our "personal" category )

Before I jump in to adding the new phone to the "mix", I'd welcome any appropriate high-level guidance!

?? I imagine I have to install the DM provided with the new 8310 ( or will 4.2.1.8 work with 8310? ). Do I uninstall 4.2.1.8? Or will the new DM install as an upgrade on top of the existing 4.2.1.8? Or exist in parallel to it ( serving only the new phone)? If 4.2.1.8 ends up going away, will the 7100t be compatible with the new version of the DM?

?? Either way, I expect a field re-mapping will be required. Correct?

?? I wonder if I need to create separate profile or login in Vista or Outlook so DM will differentiate between our phones, or will the DM software handle differentiating between the two BBs, and manage any desired synch differences?

?? Can I reasonably expect that both BBs ( and Outlook ) will be able to initiate and synch changes to the others? Any caveats for synching in a two BB world? ( beyond those for a single BB sync with Outlook )

?? Any known Vista problems with this?

?? Will the DM allow me to filter contacts for synching using the Category field? or is there a better way to do this?

?? Any other issues I should consider?

Thanks in advance!!

[mjfairman]

I'm kinda expecting this would be a common "reference" topic.

Please offer insight if only to a subset of my questions.

Thx.

mjfairman

[CO_BBTechie]

The PIN numbers on the devices will keep them separate as far as DM is concerned. It will not treat hers as if it was yours. You can setup synchronization on the second device just as you did with the primary.

Your current version of DM should work with the other device but it's rarely NOT in your best interest to upgrade to the latest. In this case I'd go up to DM 4.6 as 4.7 still has some lingering issues.

[mjfairman]

Thanks for clarifying that one instance of the DM will handle both phones, that new versions of DM are backward compatible with older phones, and suggesting the 4.6 version!

Will making the upgrade to 4.6 require a deinstall of 4.2 first, or will I simply proceed with a 4.6 install?

[CO_BBTechie]

I would recommend uninstalling 4.2 prior to installing 4.6.

[mjfairman]

I share the following success about using a 7105 and 8310 with Outlook 2007 on Vista Ultimate.

DM version 4.2.1.8 ( from Jan 2007 ) works with both phones. I did not have to upgrade to the version of DM recommended for the 8310.

The phones can both by sync'd to the same instance of Outlook 2007 ( contacts & calendar ) without creating separate user profiles. I have not run into any problems with the 4.2.1.8 version of DM / Media Manager for sharing files between the 8310 and my Vista machine. I did have to verify that the DM field mapping for the 8310 was the same as I'd previously been using for the 7105.

Using the DM software, the set of data each BB syncs with can be selected to be different.