Sync Wars: Address Book vs. Google Contacts

The main reason I stick with Google stuff is Gmail. If the Apple Mail.app ever improved, I'd seriously consider a MobileMe only solution. As it is, Gmail has saved my butt numerous times - it finds old emails that Mail.app never seems to find and it finds them fast. That, plus the way Gmail integrates with Google Calendar is awesome. I wish Mail.app and iCal worked as well together with invitations and collaborative calendars. The bottom line for me is that right now - the Google Apps are just better. I wish the sync was better - but the apps are so good I'm willing to deal with the challenge.

I've just activated MobileMe for the first time since my first Mac purchased in 2007.

I got the activation code (1 year, 20GB) for only USD44 from an eBay vendor based in Australia.

I'm extremely happy with the MobileMe sync performance and data integrity so far (re: iMac, iPhone 3GS, MacBook Pro).

All my emails from Gmail have been set up for automatic forwarding to my me.com account, and I'm super-pleased with Mail.app after years and years of using Gmail's web interface.

I've never tried MobileMe so I can't really compare, but Google Contacts/Calendar:
- does have multiple alerts (up to 5 per event)
- does sync multiple phones per contact (don't know if there's a limit)
- does have a Company field for contacts (don't know if this is the same as some commenters want)
- does sync immediately (within a couple of minutes, I've tested this) to your iPhone wirelessly without having to sync through iTunes
- does have a problem with the unified name field. To their credit, the Contacts guys do some interesting things with the names, recognizing first/last name in most instances, but it's not flawless and so I'd rather fill two fields myself.

Three words for great syncing... symbolic link+dropbox

https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTIwNTA3NjI5

Macbook + Macbook Pro + Spanning Sync (use promotion codes) + Android = Match made in Heaven. Every field and alarm needed is synced in every repo with Spanning sync. If you can gather 5 friends/followers, you get it for free and all of them get a 20% discount (is a pyramid scheme, but works in every aspect)

You could of course just use http://soocial.com for the contact syncing. It fixes most issues described in the article and is allot cheaper than MobileMe (Its free even if you have less than 250 contacts).

It doesn't do calender syncing but you could just use google or a nother service to sync that.

I've had my MobileMe for years. The syncing is great, but better yet the 20gb of online service that syncs with my iLife. It's one of several ways I back up family videos and photos. Those are also viewed through the gallery app, and online from any computer. Lets not forget the "find my iPhone" feature. A close friend of has had to use it. There's also the back up for key chains, bookmark marks, etc. So, so much more than just syncing. As far price, I pay no more than $60 a year for it. Worth every penny.

How about starting a series of articles on alternatives to Google.

Is this a Mac site or what?

I use MobileMe as the standard for my syncing. To move my information to Google, I utilize a combination of BusyCal and SyncMan.

BusyCal has a wonderful interface that I prefer of iCal and I've had no problems with syncing any of my calendars. My calendar information is synced bi-directionally.

I use SyncMan to move my information uni-directionally from my Mac to Google. In doing so, I am able to have up to date contact information without the worry that some change on Google's part will delete any portion of my contact info.

This combination has worked well and caused no problems for me.

I wish the rumors of Apple making MobileMe a free service would come true. Then I could ditch Google completely. I've already switched to another search engine.