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Has anyone used both Polaris Office and Documents To Go? I'm wondering how these two compare. Polaris Office is preinstalled. Would it be worth spending $15 or so get Documents To Go instead?
Thanks!
Ron
corruptz0r said:
- Better Google Docs Integration.
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Can you elaborate on how you use Google docs with polaris office?
For the life of me I can't figure it out...I can create local docs....and I can create docs with GD...but not integrate them...
You might want to check out the comparison that I posted in the XOOM forum. Link is in my signature. Each office suite has its own advantages and disadvantages but Polaris is definitely one of the best.
rpavich said:
Can you elaborate on how you use Google docs with polaris office?
For the life of me I can't figure it out...I can create local docs....and I can create docs with GD...but not integrate them...
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Click to collapse
As far as I remember you have to go to the menu on the home screen of Polaris and add account and you should have the option of Google Docs.
My big issue with Polaris is that I can't connect to Google Docs, never been able to in fact, I've tried many times and it always says 'failed to connect to web server'. No idea why I can't connect. Has anyone else had this problem.
As far as the OP question goes, I've generally found Docs to Go the best in terms of compatibility with Word, it renders tables much better and doesn't lose as much formatting as other Office suites (and I've tried Quick Office and Picsel on the tablet). However, the Google Docs syncing is a bit spotty on Docs to Go, doesn't always connect and Quick Office does it much better. If I could connect my Google Docs account to Polaris I might change my mind but it's just impossible for me to do that.
Polaris gives a better editing UI
The only option I'm given is an account at "box.net"...not google docs nor dropbox...
I've rebooted to see if that is an issue....and nothing changed.
Polaris office is the clear winner to me...
Is it possible to insert footnotes with Polaris Office?
And with Documents to go?
The only thing so far that has given me a problem with Polaris Office is the inability to view comments on .docx files. It would be a nice feature to have.
I'd like to know how to log in to Google docs in Polaris too. All I see is the "Box.net" option like rpavich mentioned. Does anyone know how to fix this?
Reverence12389 said:
The only thing so far that has given me a problem with Polaris Office is the inability to view comments on .docx files. It would be a nice feature to have.
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Documents to Go is so far the only suite that has extensive review options enabled. Comments are annotated.
I answer myself:
Documents to go has it! Anyway, I still haven't found anything about Polaris...Anybody knows?
Zag_84 said:
I answer myself:
Documents to go has it! Anyway, I still haven't found anything about Polaris...Anybody knows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can you add footnotes in docs to go?
Polaris Office = Winning
Mart3n1uk said:
Polaris Office = Winning
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Click to collapse
How to add footnotes?
Hi,
Just as the title says, I am a very long time (since 2002) WM user. My current phone is also a WM device. I will keep it for another year, and I want to be prepared once my phone is due for an upgrade.
I use the phone both for personal stuff and for work - mainly scheduling, working with project related info, task lists, excel spreadsheets etc. Ability to share PIM data and files across multiple computers at work and at home is essential, as well as syncing to online calendar (I use Google).
Most of my work and some personal info was in ListPro database files and Excel spreadsheets. However, ListPro doesn't really work well when one has to joggle info between different computers all running different OS, plus AFAIK there's no Androind app yet. Anyway, to make life simple, and to be able to bring my data with me on a USB stick to any computer, I recently migrated most of it out of ListPro files into DOC files (can be easily converted to RTF) and Excel spreadsheets. So far, I had no problems using it on any Windows or Linux system. I also sync much of this data to my phone where I can quickly access it via Pocket Office. I prefer to use formatted text as it makes it easy to work with information, and applying formatting in Pocket Word is fast.
Finally the next big thing is information backup, especially PIM data. Don't know if this problem is specific to ActiveSync on WM, but every now and then the calendar gets completely out of whack and needs to be restored from backup which I run daily on the phone.
Anyway, sorry for the long winged intro. Here are some questions:
How easy is it to sync files on an Android phone to a computer via a direct connection (USB / BT / WiFi, i.e. not via cloud) ?
I was looking online for a good free Android editor capable of working with either RTF or Word Doc files, and couldn't find any - all I found was some paid soft. It has to be one of these formats so that I could send files to other people. Can you recommend an app ?
Can you work with PIM data on Android phone offline ? (I assume yes). Does it have to be connected to the internet at all time ? (I assume not)
Is there a free Excel compatible application other than Google Docs ? I.e. an app that can work with native Excel files and would output a file that Excel users can open on the computer.
How does backup work on Android - is there a way to automatically backup Google Calendar, Contacts, ToDos ? (I know I can download ICS files manually).
Any other things I may have overlooked ?
Thanks !
1. It is quite easy to sync files between an android phone and pc. It depends on your phone brand.e.g. - If you have an HTC Android phone, you could simply download and install HTC Sync on your pc and easily sync anything.
2. For document editing and excel format dealings, you could download and install quickoffice pro to easily deal with word, excel, powerpoint, and pdf documents.
3. Accounts and syncs (online) can easily be set to run in the background and you can download backup applications.
Good luck.
Your PIM data is backed up to Google contacts and calendar automatically. Any change made on your phone or PC syncs to the other next time you connect. As far as backups go, you can use things like Titanium Backup to back up individual/all system apps, installed apps, and their data to either the local SD card, online to DropBox, or both. And, if you root, you can take backup snapshots of your entire system and restore your entire OS and all the configuration of installed apps and widgets in just a couple of minutes. I do the full app backup nightly and the full OS backup about once a week.
Syncing is easy as your computer mounts the SD card as a drive letter on your device. There are lots of sync options out there that can be used to automatically sync files or entire folders to removable drives when they are connected. You can use them to sync documents to and from as well as things like syncing your phone backups to the computer. Both HTC and Motorola have sync software as well that acts somewhat like iTunes or Windows Media Player in syncing things like music libraries to your device. Personally, I prefer the old file explorer method.
As far as your RTF and Excel files go, there are a couple of different apps out there that work with Google Docs. If you don't want to sync with Google Docs at all or use their editors, your best bet is one of the office suite packages. I know of three or four of them that are available. Some offer free readers, but you need to purchase the pro version to edit. There is an Excel editor that I saw that was only $2 though, so there ARE cheap options out there if you don't want to go the free Google Docs route. Personally, I just sync my docs folder on my laptop with Google Docs and do any small edits I need on the Android using Google Docs. If I want to do a lot of heavy editing, I use the big screen of the laptop anyway.
If you have any other questions, I'll be following this thread and will respond with whatever I know. I know the stress of deciding to move to another platform. I've been on Palm, Blackberry, WM, iOS, and now Android. And, I have to tell you, I like the Android best of all and can't think of a single thing that I used to do on those other devices that I cannot do on this one.
Thanks, guys !
The reason I don't like using Google Docs is twofold. First, and foremost, the access to GD service via our corporate internet is blocked. I work for a major corporation, and as far as I know, at least two of our biggest competiors block GD as well. (We at least can access gmail and calendar). They see it as a potential security issue. Actually for me it's a security issue as well - if anyone ever got hold of my Google password, I definitely don't want them browsing through some of my personal spreadsheets, or any of my work-related stuff. It may be ok for them to see the list of invites to my kids' party, but definitely not my 401K rebalancing sheet . I do use Docs as dropbox, but I upload excel files saved inside AES encrypted zip archive.
Second, I need Doc and Excel since many of my work docs get shared with other people, and I like to be able to email them right away in a useful format.
Thanks ! I will keep reading up on the subject. My wife does have an Android phone but I don't have time to play with it at home.
Added: another thing that bugs me about Android, is that whomever steals your phone has full access to all of your Google services. The way it works on WM, they would only be able to see a few days' worth of emails (I do not save passwords to sensitive sites in browser cookies). The way Android phone is fully integrated into online Google, however, makes it a perfect key to all your Google data. I password protected her phone but I don't put too much trust into a 4-digit PIN.
So I finally got printing all worked out on my captivate. I have a wireless printer and really want to leave the laptop on the desk and use my phone for everything. The one major problem has been printing. Finally, here's an answer...
To Print from your Captivate, it will cost you about $4.50 (or limit yourself to 3 docs a month.)
General Printing - test this first
Get PrintBot from the market (free version to test out - supposed to cover 2700 wireless printers)
Open it and setup your printer. My settings are...
Network Connection : Protocol - Auto Printer - choose your own
Printer : Re-select your printer
And print a test page. If this works, you are in business
Printing an Excel or Word Document:
Printbot is great for pictures and pdfs, but it doesn't print office docs, so those that your coworker emailed you just sit there So here's the great workaround.
First make sure you install these two programs:
From the market, find and install google documents, open it and sign in. Make sure you can use this on your cappy.
From the market, find "My Docs - Google Docs" (by RCS, LLC), install it and sign in.
Now you are about ready! Don't give up hope to soon!
You must upload your file to Google Docs, but for some odd reason it doesn't allow you to upload xls into it (unless I'm and idiot and can't find the upload button). But "My Docs" allows this. So open up My docs, click upload, and choose your file. It will be uploaded to your google docs account. You can close mydocs, it has served it's purpose.
Open your google documents (called "Docs" in the app drawer), find the file you uploaded (don't need to open it), from the arrow on the right side - open the pull down menu and click "SEND", choose "PrintBot" from the menu and your doc should start to print. Whew! Lots of steps, but it's done and printed. Caution! Watchout for multipage excel files, it will print each and every worksheet.
And Finally Printing Email from Gmail:
For some crazy reason, none of these programs interface easily. So you are in your gmail app and want to print off your free redbox rental code or some password you keep forgetting. Leave the email alone and open up your browser (yep, back to the www).
Go to the online version of mobile gmail. Sign in and open the email you want to print (I set up a shortcut on my homescreen). On the right side of the email, open the pulldown menu (double down arrows) and click "Print". This will open up google cloud print. You should have an option to "save to google docs" where it converts your email to a pdf and stores it in google docs. Then click "PRINT", it will create a pdf document of your email. you can close the www, or just surf around for a while...
Now back to google documents on you phone, find the pdf, click the menu on the right, click send and send it to Printbot. It will print your pdf.
And that's the whole 99 steps to printing documents with your captivate. OO) Actually it works pretty quick as long as you use your home wifi. I tested it with excel, word, and gmail files.
Good luck - Will
Or, check out Cypria Free from the market.
thanks
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium
mrhaley30705 said:
Or, check out Cypria Free from the market.
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That would work for photos, but I wanted emails, excel, word too. Plus Cypria is epson printers. But I'm sure it works great for most uses.
Sorry about the epson part. Wasn't thinking about everyone else.
Try Printer Share from the market. Works for more printers and prints almost everything.
mrhaley30705 said:
Try Printer Share from the market. Works for more printers and prints almost everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That looks like it would work better, and has the with the ability to choose which pages to print. A bit more expensive, but probably worth it of you printed a fair number of pages.
It was free in Amazon app market a while back. Maybe the will do it again.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Is there a way to mark upi a word document with the spen? I would like to be able to review documents and put editing marks and notes on the page using the spen and then save my notes and email back to the orginiator
inmnbob said:
Is there a way to mark upi a word document with the spen? I would like to be able to review documents and put editing marks and notes on the page using the spen and then save my notes and email back to the orginiator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you should be able to do this with Polaris Office however it does not work very well. There are two other options, either you convert the document into a pdf and use a PDF annotator such as ezpdf or there is a new app called textmaker which allows you to mark up text like MS Word but the app is expensive although there is a free trial availableon their website at the following link:
http://www.softmaker.com/english/ofa_en.htm
inmnbob said:
Is there a way to mark upi a word document with the spen? I would like to be able to review documents and put editing marks and notes on the page using the spen and then save my notes and email back to the orginiator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My favorite app for Office files is OfficePro6.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...3lzdGVtcy5lZGl0b3Iub2ZmaWNlX3JlZ2lzdGVyZWQiXQ..
inmnbob said:
Is there a way to mark upi a word document with the spen? I would like to be able to review documents and put editing marks and notes on the page using the spen and then save my notes and email back to the orginiator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are some notes I made on using Polaris for ink notations:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1856691
I haven't found another office product that allows ink annotations either. I did install MobileNoter SE HD recently. Its an unofficial OneNote app for Android that has tons more functionality than the official OneNote app, including ink annotations that will be captured and synced back to OneNote on a PC. Here is a link to that, but FYI its $15 (but worth it if you are a heavy OneNoter).
http://www.mobilenoter.com/Home/Features_HD
JC
I think I remember some one mentioning sonnr scribble app. For annotations on office documents.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.soonrscribble
tonyz3 said:
I think I remember some one mentioning sonnr scribble app. For annotations on office documents.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.soonrscribble
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Nice. Thanks.
tonyz3 said:
I think I remember some one mentioning sonnr scribble app. For annotations on office documents.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.soonrscribble
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Thanks for the link. I checked it out. The functionality looks good, but the implementation for me is a deal-breaker. From the description of the app:
" The documents you want to annotate and share are securely stored in your Soonr Personal account in the cloud so you must be connected to the internet to access them."
So you have to store your docs on their cloud server to annotate and access them, and there is no off-line caching of those docs. Sounds like the functionality is just a gimmick to get people using their cloud services.
jchammerpants said:
Thanks for the link. I checked it out. The functionality looks good, but the implementation for me is a deal-breaker. From the description of the app:
" The documents you want to annotate and share are securely stored in your Soonr Personal account in the cloud so you must be connected to the internet to access them."
So you have to store your docs on their cloud server to annotate and access them, and there is no off-line caching of those docs. Sounds like the functionality is just a gimmick to get people using their cloud services.
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Not to be rude like our "VP"........ but you are in correct. You can offline cache either in office formats or the pdf(annotated format)
When you have a doc on your screen you can either back arrow to save it as annotated to the cloud account. or if while it is on the screen you can hit the upper rt corner menu and down load which will cache it. What i have noticed is the down load did not seem to work if you are just in the soonr menu and long press a file to download it that way without it on the screen open. For me it must be open on the screen and DL from upper rt menu to cache.
I DL'd this app this morning to try it so i have not played alot with it but this is what i know so far. Seems pretty good though.
tonyz3 said:
...while it is on the screen you can hit the upper rt corner menu and down load which will cache it...
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Click to collapse
Many thanks for the further insights. If you do download/cache it, can you open it in the sonnr app without an active internet connection to truly work with it offline? Or is the downloaded version "read only," still requiring an active connection to their cloud to make further annotations on the cloud copy?
I love the idea of the app, except if I have to be tethered to their cloud to use it.
JC
jchammerpants said:
Many thanks for the further insights. If you do download/cache it, can you open it in the sonnr app without an active internet connection to truly work with it offline? Or is the downloaded version "read only," still requiring an active connection to their cloud to make further annotations on the cloud copy?
I love the idea of the app, except if I have to be tethered to their cloud to use it.
JC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes it will work in their app, let you work on it and when you are done place it in a pending upload state until you are back on wifi. than it will update in the cloud. Still trying to work out everything- will take another look at it over the weekend.
I have a Box account. I'm trying to find the value in it, as I currently use Dropbox. Does anyone here use Box in conjunction with Dropbox?
The Box sync application for PC seems to work well, but I don't see any utility that Dropbox doesn't handle. The file size limit (Box) is pretty debilitating.
How do you handle your file syncing?
I actually use 3 different syncing services: Google Drive, Dropbox and SkyDrive, each with its own specialty.
I use Dropbox for all of my pictures (they recently made a nice improvement on their site which lets you organize with a nice GUI your albums and photos).
I use Google Drive to sync my class notes because it integrates quite usefully with Evernote (using IFTTT). I also manage my personal stuff with Google Drive where I have a 2-step authentication to protect these files.
SkyDrive is mainly used for Excel, Word and PowerPoint files across my work and home computers.
kgal said:
I actually use 3 different syncing services: Google Drive, Dropbox and SkyDrive, each with its own specialty.
I use Dropbox for all of my pictures (they recently made a nice improvement on their site which lets you organize with a nice GUI your albums and photos).
I use Google Drive to sync my class notes because it integrates quite usefully with Evernote (using IFTTT). I also manage my personal stuff with Google Drive where I have a 2-step authentication to protect these files.
SkyDrive is mainly used for Excel, Word and PowerPoint files across my work and home computers.
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Click to collapse
Ah, nice. I forgot to mention that I also use Google Drive. I'm a bit disorganized in what I use each of my syncing services for. I recently signed up for Skydrive too lol; haven't used it yet though.
Thanks for sharing.
I use Box for all my personal stuff. I also use Dropbox, but that is for business/work stuff.
I like box better (now) because they gave me 50GB free for life, whereas drop box only gave me 26GB for 2 years.. Though drop box has a better ui and site
Sent from my Nexus 4
I use Dropbox for pictures and managing my nooks ebook collection (via dropsync on the device).
Box is used exclusively for android phone stuff like backing up apk's, wallpapers, ring tones, and syncing titanium backup. Basically it's useful for instances where you have lots of small files that add up real fast (which is no problem thanks to the 50 gb of storage).
I also use Google drive because I don't do much word processing anymore and don't even have an office suite installed on my computer. It's basically used for the occasional letter or for updating my resume.
Used to use sugarsync while I was in school so I always had access to school stuff (spread all over my hdd) but haven't even logged in in months.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
I use both, i like dropbox better but i have more free space through box.
How'd you guys get the 50gb on Box? From the app page all I see is 5gb they're offering :/
& to answer your question OP, I'm using Dropbox + Google Drive. Dropbox has a superb UI and is just much easier to use.
They ran a couple of specials a while ago for iPhone and Android owners that offered 50 Gb if you installed their mobile app. Suffice it to say that the offer was too good for most of us to resist even with their file size limits.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Was able to get 25gb for box for running windows 8 on a dell computer. Good enough, same as dropbox. I also use google drive for school and Ubuntu one to transfer files through multiple computers/devices.
Duckman5 said:
They ran a couple of specials a while ago for iPhone and Android owners that offered 50 Gb if you installed their mobile app. Suffice it to say that the offer was too good for most of us to resist even with their file size limits.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's how I got my 50GB.
captaincanada84 said:
Yeah that's how I got my 50GB.
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Click to collapse
Same. Box has a sketchy terms and conditions thing though. They take your address book and stuff for no reason.
Sent from my HTC One
Yeah box was the way to go when they offered the 50gb signup promo. I got 150gb signing up with three different email addresses.
Dropbox for syncing, skydive for backups. I keep my music on Google play.
Check out an app called Foldersync. It is amazing for keeping all of your files in sync with all of your services. Free version does scheduled sync but paid version does instant sync. Both do two way sync, and both sync deletions. Highly recommended.
Sent from my One X using xda app-developers app
Hi Guys,
I'm paranoid about loosing stuff, so I use 4 services for pictures. Yeah it's too many, but hey they are free
For only pictures I use Flickr.
Flickr gives you 1TB(!) of space, and that's whole lost, even if you record in HD. There's an app called "Flickr Uploader" that auto upload my stuff, set it forget it.
For the rest and pictures, I use Dropbox, Box, and Google.
There is a neat trick I just came up with, since my 25GB Dropbox account will expire soon, and I got 50GB at Box in that promotion...
I just moved my Dropbox folder on my PC into my Box Sync folder, and blam, now both Dropbox and Box have the same stuff So easy and it works like a charm...
I think Dropbox is more robust, and seems to work faster, but if my account expires, I don't think I'll pay for it, because for pictures, that are my main uploaded content, Flickr and Google+ are better.
Peace
I think you're all mad. Do you seriously think these companies are offering""FREE"" storage?
They look at your files, shared drives and resources, etc etc etc.
Download BOXCRYPTER. It will encrypt all contents to your cloud storage service.
Great thing about BOX is that they support WebDAV!!!
It is by far the best for collaboration, commenting, permissions, privacy, etc. ..
BOX.NET / BOX. COM = Absolutely Bloody Brilliant!!!!
Android iPhone blackberry. .. Their apps all support Box or WebDav, obviously some don't, however I've been successful in twisting either native Box API , or BOX WebDav configuration.
If you ate going to collaborate with others, then you really should go see your doctor, if you don't choose Box!
---------- Post added at 12:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:33 AM ----------
If you want higher security than Box and still be able to collaborate, then check out DumpTruck. They are 101% anonymous and implement all the necessary steps for fault tolerance, security, and anonymity.
Die once in your life you won't feel violated with other people (the owners / provider) going through all your data....
But for free services you can always look into Mega who are also serious about not violating their users and paying customers and visitors.