[From Chris Chiu] For a long time, I stuck with the Palm Desktop because it seemed to be the best way to keep all my bits of data in a place where I could find them. However, as desktop apps have gotten better and more integrated with other parts of the desktop environment, I finally made a switch. Right now, I use Missing Sync to backup my TX to my Powerbook. Instead of the Palm Desktop, I use the Mac Address Book, MarkSpace Memo Pad and iCal to store information from Contacts, Memo Pad and Calendar/To Do, respectively.
I did lose categorization after a recent syncing, but that is not a major problem for me. I had found that searching for contacts in the latest version of Palm Desktop for Mac was more troublesome than previous versions I had used. The simple Mac Address Book works well for in that regard--search being the most important feature of the Address Book's utility for me.
My biggest beef through the years with MarkSpaceMemo Pad was that it did not allow import or export of memo's (it still doesn't). In addition, previous versions of MarkSpace's desktop Memo Pad caused duplicate entries whenever I sync'd. This was cleared up with Version 5 of Missing Sync for Palm--although duplicates happened to me again after my TX crashed once. I've recently found that there is a fairly inexpensive shareware app that removes duplicate data entries (in Contacts, ToDo, Memo Pad and Calendar) o the Palm called UnDupe.
iCal is the most robust of the desktop apps I've mentioned so far--with more features than the TX's Contacts. It is a little confusing at times to find both Contact and ToDo items in one desktop program, but iCal is pretty easy to use. I know there are several DateBook/Contacts enhancements for the Palm, but my current plain set-up works well for me. The first time I sync'd this data with my Palm, I had to import the data from Palm Desktop to iCal and then overwrite the Palm with the desktop in order to avoid duplicate entries. iCal is able to share information freely with OS X's Address Book app.
There is no Mac counterpart to the TX's notepad app (but I am still able to sync with the Palm desktop version) and ditto for the Voice Memo app--which does not exist on the TX, but Missing Sync does provide conduits to share information between iTunes and iPhoto from the Mac to the Palm. There is also the option to share files between the Mac and a specified folder on the Palm expansion card.
Currently, the other conduits I use include AvantGo (which is still a bit unstable), ePocrates and my SplashData apps. I also use Missing Sync to backup my Palm and update the clock.
