My first Android Handheld (or from Palm OS to Android)

I’ve had a history of PDA/Handhelds in my life. Let’s see:

Handspring Edge -> Handspring 300 -> Treo 600 -> Treo 650 -> Treo 755p -> HTC Hero.

The choice to jump from a Palm OS to something else was not easy. I have many years of data stored on my trustee Treo. Passwords, Financial information, stock portfolios, notes, and the list goes on. But, lets face it, Palm OS is antiquated, slow, and crashed too much. So, I took the plunge.

In the next few articles I’ll discuss my conversion and how I got from here to there.

In brief, I need to transfer or convert:

Phone numbers
Ebooks (Mobipocket and eReader)
Passwords (SplashID)
Stock Portfolio (Stock Manager)
Backup software (Backup Buddy)
Calendar (Date Book 6)
Dictionary (Dictionary to Go)
Office Suite (Documents to Go)
Memo Pad
Email (Snapper Mail)
Shopping list (Splash Shopper)
Financial (Splash Money)

I wasted a  ridiculous amount of time transferring my contacts from the Treo to the HTC Hero.  I began by following instructions I found to sync the phone with the Palm Desktop. Then export the contacts into a csv file. Next, create headers in the csv file to describe the data in each column. Then, import this file into Gmail and sync with your Android phone. While this worked it populated the Gmail contact fields incorrectly. I then had to copy the contact information from the notes field to the correct field for each contact. I fought with this over the course of a few days until I did the following:

 Transfer Contacts From Your Palm to Android
[wp_ad_camp_2]

1. Sync your contacts with the Palm Desktop

2. Export each category separately to vcard (.vcf) files. (Select all records in your contact category before exporting)

3. In Gmail contacts, create a group that corresponds to the Palm category exported in step 2.

4. Import the vcf file into the appropriate category.

5. Done

With this method I had 90% of my contacts correctly imported. The exceptions where in my business category where I did not have a first or last name for the contact. I only had a company name. For these contacts I had to move the business name from the company name field to the first name field.

Hopefully this saves you time if you have to transfer your contacts from your Palm Treo to an Android phone.


Please leave comments below. If you have questions feel free to post them our new forum here.

Terry.

P.S. If you are like me and have not Hotsync’d your Palm in years, here is a link for the Palm Desktop. Download Palm Desktop Here.
Also, If you are having trouble syncing, i.e. it just hangs during the sync, like mine did, try dbScan from PimlicoSoftware:
dbScan. Search for dbScan on the page.

Happy dancing.

86 thoughts on “My first Android Handheld (or from Palm OS to Android)

  1. Can someone tell me how to contact JOHN to get a copy of his conversion program? The links in the 1o/24/10 posting don’t work for me. I would love to convert all of my 1,000++ Palm contacts from my desktop to Gmail and then a new Motorola Droid 3.

    Mike

  2. Thank you Terry. I did go to that site, but my security software (Trend Micro) said that the “megaupload” site was known to contain some malicious stuff. You can probably tell from my verbiage that I am a PC neophyte, so I get very cautious with these kinds of warnings. That said, I think you put the program there originally – true? If so, can I presume you have confidence in the site?

  3. Can I get copy of the software to convert from treo to google then to android? Megan load is down. Thanks gentlemen in advance

  4. Fantastic Terry ! Thank you from ROME, Italy.
    Your process to transfer contacts (over 800) from my Treo 650 to my new Motorola Defy Plus 526 was simply and successfull.

    All my contacts (and their notes) I exported as vCard File from Palm Desktop and imported to Gmail account and then wifi sync to Motorola are in good health !
    And this is working with Apple and Mac os X Lion.
    Thanks again.
    Lucas

  5. Will the data transfer described above work with a Palm TX to a Motorola Bravo? I’m new at this and don’t have a clue.
    Frank

  6. Frank,

    Yes. The transfer should work from any PalmOS device to any Android, as long as you get your contacts to the Palm Desktop.

    Terry.

  7. Late to respond, but I think I found an app that does what you want. I, too, was a long-time palm user and couldn’t face making the switch to a smartphone. I researched like crazy until I found this app called B-Folders. I was able to just *import* all of my memos (over 1,200) and contacts from Palm desktop (no re-keying).

    Since 1994 I’d been using some form of Palm device – I had a LOT of data and a lot of familiarity, but I wanted to get rid of “contact” duplication and add the phone/texting/email options to my “Palm” system. I didn’t want my stuff on “the cloud” – I’d run an encrypted program to store my passwords on Palm (and on my MacBook Pro) and I didn’t want to give up that security just to have everything in one place.

    I actually shopped for a palm-type application before committing to my smartphone. Finding a “Graffiti” app for Android began the process, and also took the iPhone out of the running even though my laptop is a MacBook Pro. Finding B-Folders nailed my decision: This was exactly what I was looking for. And after installation (and now after over a year of daily use), I have never had a moment’s disappointment.

    I looked at Memento, too – but it just didn’t do what I wanted. I wanted *everything* in one app, with one sync, not on the cloud. B-Folders has really been able to do that (besides its easy, mistake-proof migration).

    And it’s better than PalmOS in its customizations: no limits on “number of categories” or “number of characters in the category’s name” – everything is *very* open-ended. And the development seems to continue – with free updates being released often. It works equally well for business and home applications and easy backups provide the best security – especially when I’ve never had to use them!!.

  8. Wow–Thanks, Kay. Similarly situated–tenaciously clinging to me Treo 700 with 2000 contacts and all sorts of info from the past few Palm platform devices (pre-phone!). I synch daily, and do NOT want to use “the cloud” for a variety of reasons.

    I appreciate the link. May be time to move on . …

  9. I was similarly entrenched in the Palm world (I had two pre-Treos, then 600-650-670). I also had many years of calendar, contact and memo data that I didn’t want to give up.

    I started looking at Android products in 2008 but couldn’t find a Palm-to-Android solution. In mid-2010 I found DejaOffice which syncs both ways with Palm Desktop, so I tried it out. I was pleasantly surprised. The Android portion of DejaOffice is free but the PC sync portion is about $30. I don’t and won’t use Google or any other online storage, so I had to be able to sync locally. (I’ve been in computers for a long time: there’s no such thing as security when you don’t know where your data is.) In late 2010 I switched over.

    The Palm desktop-to-Android conversion was painless: I installed the DejaOffice PC program and synced. That was nice! DejaOffice also interconnects with Act! and other PIM software, not just Palm, and they also have an iPhone client. (I’m not associated with them – just satisfied.)

    I can’t say it has been worry-free, but that’s mostly because (IMO) the Android is not as robust as a Palm. Sorry, but it’s been true in my experience. The Treo was first and foremost a phone: turn it on and place a call, but with good app integration. The Android is first and foremost a computer: turn it on, find the phone app, and place a call – if it doesn’t hang. I hate going backward in reliability but since the Palm series is gone (insert sad face here), Android is the next best thing for my needs.

  10. Wow, I feel like I have found “Palm Anonymous”. I’ve had my palm data going since my Handspring (1999) and been through all the Treos. I am still using a Treo 755p (and have a backup ready to replace the current one!) partly because of the long-time data, partly because of the single-button speed dial, and partly because of the ability to copy with a swipe of my fingernail. Also, I don’t want to be forced to pay the data fee. With the Treo I can still do without the data package. I tried the iPhone but hated the push/hold/expand approach to copying. I also REALLY missed the single-button speed dial feature.

    Now that the data conversion has been taken care of (thanks all above), I just need to fix the copy and speed dial features. Does anyone know if there is a current smartphone that has a “thumbnail” swipe to copy feature? Since hard buttons are pretty much gone I assume the only way to fix the “single-button” speed dial issue is with voice command. Are there any current smart phones out there that have both of these features? Does “B-folders” or “DejaOffice” offer either of these features?

  11. Another question. The B-folder and DejaOffice work with Android but will they work as well with the Google OS converting Palm data? I am thinking about a Samsung Galaxy.

  12. Many, many thanks. Your instructions were just what I needed. I spent many hours in futile attempts to convert Palm and got totally frustrated. I finally got them onto gmail, the rest should be easy.
    TallPaul

  13. HI Terry – managed to DL the VCF2P2G.exe but the instructions on the web page are obscured by advert so i’m unsure how/when to use it. Any chance of you providing some pointers?

  14. Jean-Pierre,

    Here are John’s original instructions along with my notes below each step. Hopefully the notes make it more clear.
    Let me know. Good luck.

    1. Make sure you don’t have “PRINTABLE:” anywhere in your contacts (including address, notes, etc.) Use the Palm search function to check your contacts.

    In the Palm Desktop type ‘PRINTABLE’ in the Look Up field. If you find any remove that word from the contact.

    2. Use the VCF export function to export all your contact data to VCF files. If you have multiple categories (e.g. business, personal, untitled) you can select a category in your Palm desktop, highlight ALL the contacts in that category, use the Export VCF option off the ‘file’ menu, and give it a name like ‘personal.vcf

    Choose one of the categories like Personal and select all contacts. Edit -> Select All
    Choose File -> Export vCard. Choose to save it on your desktop and call it Personal.vcf
    Do this for each category you have.
    When you are done you will have one file for each category you have in your Palm Desktop on your Windows Desktop. Business.vcf, Personal.vcf, etc…

    3. Request the conversion program from me and I will email it to you with an extension “TXT.” Download the conversion program VCFp2g.txt to the same folder as you exported the VCF file(s) and rename the file to VCFp2g.exe

    Get the program from here: http://ge.tt/3HS6dLe/v/0 and save it to your Windows Desktop

    4. Run the program. It asks for a VCF file name. Enter the name e.g. personal or personal.vcf. It creates a GMAIL formatted file gmailX.VCF. Since my program always creates gmailX.vcf I renamed it after each conversion, e.g. I renamed GmailX.vcf to Gpersonal.vcf, to reflect the category for the contact card file.

    5. Import gmailX.vcf (or if you rename it to something like Gpersonal.vcf, use that) into GMAIL. Before importing, you can specify a group using the category names you are familiar with in Palm

    A.
    Run VCFp2g.exe
    At the prompt: Palm File to convert:
    Enter Personal
    This will create a file called GMAILX.VCF
    Rename this file to be GPersonal.VCF
    Repeat step A for each file you created in step 2.

    B.
    In Gmail contacts. Choose More -> Import
    Select a .vcf file you created in step 2
    Click Import
    You should have a new ‘Imported’ group with today’s date
    Rename this group to match file category you imported. More -> Rename Group
    Repeat step B for each file you created in step 2.

    Terry

  15. I have used my Palm Tunsgsten E2 for the past 20 some years. I recently switched to an Android phone. I too had some hesitation.
    Why does it take 2 or more devices to do what one Palm PDA does?

  16. Now that I have done the steps and saved all my contacts to my desktop, I need the conversion program, please.
    Thanks!

  17. I don’t want to read books on my phone, because it’s too small, so I have a Nook also, that I use for reading and can download stuff I need for my business.

  18. im confused. have been using palm pda since early 90’s.

    have many addresses with sensitive info tacked on. some not used except once or twice yearly, some obviously more.

    want to import into droid as a SEPARATE APP, that is, do not want in any other address book other than palm desktop and “the new app” on droid.

    by doing like this can keep separate from droid contacts but access at will thru the “the new app” on the droid.

    do i make sense or am i just crazy ???

  19. Thank you very much for for this information on how to convert my Palm address book to Google Contacts. I was trying for weeks to get the column headers right in my CSV files. But nothing worked.

    Then I found your idea of exporting selected categories as vcard files (which eliminated column header headaches).

    This work perfectly! One small matter, though, in your instructions steps 3 and 4 should be reversed. Just import the vcard, then a new group will appear called “importedmmddyy”, then just rename this new group to the real group name.

    But I couldn’t have gotten anywhere without your suggestion to export as vcard. Thank you very much!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *