mNotes Review

I promised a review of Commontime's mNotes some time ago. I have been using the application for synchronizing with Lotus notes for several months. In fact, I have used it enough to experience one incremental uprgade.

My first impression with the software was a favorable one. The interface is pleasant and elegant, not like the rather archaic Pylon interface. The installation was smooth and user friendly.

The features of the product make keeping up to date on a mobile device exceptionally easy. I have all of the basic functionality for PIM on the device as I do on the desktop. In general, I am pleased.

However, probably due to my own inabilities, there have been a few glitches. First, I attempted to compare mNotes and Pylon. That, of course, required loading both of them on the device. Unloading them was not so easy. I ended up with two inboxes in mNotes for a rather long period of time. Thankfully, the support services at Commontime are quick and responsive. While they did not actually fix the problem, they did educate me enough the I was able to build on they advice and resolve the issues. Then the upgrade came.

I downloaded and installed the latest mNotes version. It has much more functionality in the mail conduit than I use. Commontime really increased the wireless push mail capabilities of the program. Since my workplace has not made an enterprise level deployment, I cannot experience the benefit. Also, a quirky little problem arose.

It seems that there is a conflict between mNotes and the Palm TX. Here's the background. I use the Palm Versamail program for checking my internet mail and I use the Blazer browser as well. With the latest version of mNotes installed on the device, after wirelessly checking the internet mail, then switching immediately over to the browser, the machine resets. This is not the end of the world. but it is annoying.

I tried several options, installing various conduits in various combinations, I put the software into flight mode to disable the wireless feature, I contact Commontime Support. I still have the problem. in a moment of clarity, I realized I could reinstall the previous version...voila...everything worked as it should.

Commontime is aware of the issue, and I will continue to work with them to resolve the problem. But, for now, I am simply glad that the old version works.


P.S. I started this blog on the Palm, but I typed my way to the limit of the buffer and had to switch over to the laptop. I guess there is a limit to how much input I can have through the Blazer browser.