Customer Reviews

Susteen Datapilot Cell Phone Data Transfer Suite Universal

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

I obtained this software in a kit that included the software on CD along with a cable for my phone (LG 1300, a model with no camera, but pretty much everything else).

The packaging for the kit I purchased is quite nice, however, the fancy chart incorporated into the packaging which gives phone compatibility is obviously dated, since my phone is not present on the list but is known to the software.

More interestingly, the CD in my package was blank (not defective, but actually blank!). That was a bit startling. Sending emails to the company (every email address on their web-site) produced absolutely no response. I didn't bother to call since the idea of spending hours trying to reach a customer or tech service by phone that wouldn't respond to email seemed pointless. Anyway, about 6 weeks later a replacement CD showed up in the mail, with no explanatory note.

Interestingly, the replacement CD I received has a label on it that says "if the serial # you have does not start with 'BJ' please replace the first 2 characters of your current serial # with 'BJ'". Evidently, they have had to send out a bunch of these.

I remain totally mystified as to why Susteen didn't acknowledge any one of my emails and simply send me a download site (you can buy the software on-line by download, I believe). I had a valid serial number after all.

As to the software. My install was for XP (SP2). The install was not clean (rejected the serial number, then took it on a second try). The install didn't call for reboot, but I couldn't get connection to my phone until I rebooted, a minor quibble. The software's autodetect feature did not work for my phone, even though it wasn't among the phones the software listed as being problemmatic. I was able to successfully connect by entering my phone id info manually, although connecting this way failed on my first try (which is why I rebooted).

The connection appears to be a USB-serial replacement patch for an earlier serial version of the software. Anyway, the install is actually a series of installs, one of which puts in a driver similar to those for USB-serial adapters, which may explain the somewhat flaky connection issues I experienced.

Once I achieved connection, I was able to upload/download my address info, including the stuff I already had on my phone, an important plus, since managing this was a primary motivation for wanting the software in the first place. Incidentally, this process also took two tries, even after I had successfully made connection. I can't address the issue of syncing with Outlook, since Outlook has caused me enough grief over the years that I long since gave up on trying to sync anything with it. I am interested in seeing if I can sync this software with my PDA, but suspect I will find it will need to be a manual process. Frankly, given the rather low price for the software, I'm just happy that it actually can deal with basic capabilities of my cell phone.

The interface for handling ring-tones (assuming your phone supports this) is impressive given the evident playback limitations of a cell phone. I imported a large midi file and easily dumped it to my phone. Don't expect to do anything complicated with the software (there are much better products, albeit expensive ones, that do this; e.g., Sibelius), but the software does nicely display a staff line for each track, you can change the instrumentation on each track, modify notes, set tempo, and it downloads a reasonable rendition according to what the phone can play back (I dumped a lengthy Bach fugue onto the phone ... I suppose a 3-minute ring tone is a bit excessive, but it gives you the idea).

If your phone has wallpaper background (as my phone does), the software provides an image editor. Just as with the music, you would probably be better off doing image work with another product. Given the very limited display capability of the phone, you can't show much of an image anyway, but I did test it by putting a neat little jpg file I had on hand as my new wallpaper. It certainly distinguishes my phone and is an improvement over the stuff put on the phone by my supplier (Cingular).

The software provides other facilities (calendar, text message management) that I have not tested because these are for features I don't use my phone for (and probably never will).

I can certainly recommend this software. You do need to have a USB cable compatible with your phone. If you are willing to poke around on the web, there are suppliers who provide them for most phones for as little as $10, otherwise do what I did and buy the kit. Perhaps it's because I've used a huge variety of software over the years, but in contrast to other reviewers I found the interface to be just fine. There is a nice pdf documentation file included with the software that provides a pretty complete hand-holding for those not inclined to decipher an interface by trial and error. So why only 3 stars? Well, if you encounter difficulty, it appears to me unlikely that you will get much help from this company. I also thought that the install was unusually clunky. On the other hand, once in, the software appears to be solid and delivers pretty much what I expected it to.

Too bad we can't give a negative number of stars.

First, recognize that I am an electronics engineer who works with (and sometimes designs parts of) computers every single day of my life, including using/installing incredibly complicated pieces of software that cost thousands of dollars. I am extremely computer savvy and technically literate. Also, recognize that my computer, my OS, and my phone were supposed to be 100% compatible with the Datapilot software.

That having been said, I've just finished spending approximately 6 hours trying to get the software to work with my phone, as well as rehabilitating my computer from the damaged caused by the attempts at getting Datapilot to work.

I've read every bit of the installation instructions. I've read every potentially related article in their "knowledge base". I've tried everything they recommend as well as everything else I could think of, reinstalling things many times over. I've completely verified, by other means, that everything on my end (computer, phone, USB connection, etc.) works just fine with other applications and when used in any other manner *except* with the Datapilot software. I've verified, time and time again, that the drivers are the correct ones according to their instructions, and that the drivers are being installed properly, and that there is absolutely no problem.

Except that Datapilot absolutely will not recognize my phone, no matter what.

I've never requested a refund on any piece of software before, and I've never posted a software review anywhere before, but this is an outrageously bad piece of software. (Or else their compatibility list is a lie.)

Aside from the software just not working, there are problems with various pieces of documentation conflicting with each other, also.

I've requested a refund (I bought the software directly from Datapilot, not through Amazon). However, in detailed searching of their Knowledge Base, I now find that they say that a refund of something bought via credit card may take up to 2 billing cycles (i.e. up to 2 months) to show back up as a refund, which is ridiculous. They also say that they are going to charge a $9.95 "handling fee" regardless of the reason for the refund. The price of the software alone, in downloaded version not on CD, was $34.95. So they are charging nearly 30% of the purchase price for "handling" of something that is not physical and doesn't require any re-stocking or anything like that. And that refund policy is not posted in the normal website any place where you might possible see it before you buy.

Although I've never requested a software refund before, and only once or twice in my life requested a refund on other types of products, at this point I'm prepared to take them to court and spend even more money just for the satisfaction of getting that extra $9.95 back. I've never been more livid about a purchase in my life.

If I don't hear back from them right away and get a full refund very quickly, I'm definitely reporting them to the Better Business Bureau in any case.

The bottom line is that it's a great idea. And you may get lucky (like one or two of the people here)and have it work for you. But for most people it's a complete waste of time and money.

This kit supports most newer phones. It comes with two USB half-cords, and several phone half-cords. One USB cord is actually a serial converter, the other one is passive. The software is an all-in-one package, offering phonebook/ringtone/image/calendar sync and internet dialer, unlike FutureDial's Snap products. The software is well laid-out, however, not all phones support all sync functions. Also, some phones don't support two-way communication - you may be able to upload images, but you can't retrieve them. I gave the product only 3 stars for two reasons. First, the website doesn't mention that some information cannot be pulled from the phone - it can only be pushed to the phone. Second, the package I received had a defective serial converter USB cable - and after having to sit through three customer service reps, who may or may not know what they are doing, on a line that was busy for most of the day, I had to spend more money sending the cable in for exchange. The price is right for all the cables that you get, but there's free bitpim software out there that does the same, and more.

How I wish I would have read the Amazon reviews before I bought this product...

The saga is as follows:

- Had a palm pilot (Tungsten E, great product if anyone cares). Bought a cell phone (LG VX3300).
- Ditched the Palm so I wouldn't look like a jedi knight wannabe by carrying two devices on my belt.
- Found that I used the phone's calendar a lot.
- Yearned for software that could sync phone with PC.
- Found the Datapilot kit at local big box electronics store.
- Checked box for compatability with my phone. Yup, there it is.
- Felt sense of great joy (that would later turn to sheer aggravation...read on)
- Bought the kit ($75 retail. Ouch)
- Installed on my PC w/no problem...uh-oh, software won't recognize cable.
- Checked box again to confirm compatability. Yup, there's my model #.
- Checked Datapilot's website. Website said I would need a special cable for the LG VX3300 model and listed number to call.
- Called number. Susteen representative said he would send cable once I faxed receipt from big box store. Would take 10-14 business days.
- Faxed receipt to representative.
- Put date in my calendar on my trusty phone.
- Date came and went. No cable.
- Called Susteen again. Spoke to same representative as before. Representative said he had no record of my call, did not remember me and not cable was sent.
- Took deep breaths to control blood pressure.
- Representative did not apologize, but said would send cable. Would take 10-14 business days.
- Marked on my calendar again.
- (Guess what happened next)
- Date came and went.
- Called Susteen again. Asked for different representative to speak with. This representative apologized and said they would send new cable by 2nd day air.
- Cable actually came.
- Hooked up phone to PC.
- Contacts sync to PC. Calendar does not.
- Going back to big box store tomorrow and asking for refund.

If the above sounds like a good time to you, then by all means, buy the product.

I bought this with the intention of being able to convert my music files (MP3's) to ringtones, and also to use some of my personal pictures as wallpaper. I wasn't able to do either of these, but first things first...

Bought this at Fry's Electronics a feew days ago, and it is only 3 days later that I got the whole thing installed. The serial number that was on the jewel case kept coming up as incorrect, and therefore, the installation would abort. After 2 days of calling tech support, I obtained a new serial number and the program installed. Whew...step one is done. Next, trying to get this program to communicate with my LG VX7000 Verizon phone was difficult at best. I again had to call tech support and obtained an email address to use! =) After an hour or so of fiddling with the additional files emailed to me, I got it to communicate with my computer. I was able to back up my phonebook onto my computer and complete the settings to use the phone as a modem (If I had a laptop), but was unable to use my pictures as wallpaper OR use my MP3's as ringtones.

When using the wallpaper easy wizard, at the very end, I get an error message that states: Error #417: Image unable to be completely sent to handset. I went onto the Susteen support page and here's what I found regarding this error message:

"Error 417 - Image write issue

We are not certain of the cause for this error but it appears to occur in the latest version 3.17.0 or later for some users. Testing in our lab with the same image only yields successful transfer without the said error.

There is a case that a user uninstalled 3.17.0 and went back to the older DataPilot version and it worked. If you have older DataPilot CD please try to install old version and retry and please let us know of the result."

..So basically, "Oh well!" From Susteen.

I WOULD NOT RECCOMEND THIS PRODUCT TO ANYBODY.
VERIZON OFFERS THE BACK-UP ASSISTANT TO BACK-UP YOUR PHONEBOOK AS OFTEN AS YOU LIKE FOR A FLAT MONTHLY RATE.

If you are looking to use this in that capacity, I reccomend using the Back-Up Assistant. Tech support was far from knowledgeable, and the online support was marginal at best! PLEASE! Find a different product to use, rate it, and let me know!

Fellow Amazon Shoppers: I purchased DataPilot just over a year ago (not from Amazon) and it was a complete headache trying to get the software drivers to load and recognize the phone correctly. After much effort and repeated trips to their disappointing website (the included instruction sheet is useless), I was finally able to download my cell phone's numbers. However, I just tried to re-perform a data download and the same exact technical issues plagued me this year. Yet again the device drivers and software are so poorly written that I was not able to perform this SEEMINGLY SIMPLE STEP. I am currently a CIO, have run a corporate IT department, and I have been a software developer (and my current company develops imaging software). While the concept is awesome, this product is not ready for commercial sale. If you see a post that states this product is anything but junk, suspect that the person writing the post works for Susteen (the selling company).

Product worked just OK, but would not update. Benny Wong provided smug and terse responses to emails for support, obviously not reading the emails he was answering. Eventually he sent a link to a download that rendered the program completely unusable. After that, he stopped responding to all emails. Now I have a program that won't work and cannot be registered again to reactivate because it is already registered.

I'm a hardware geek. I installed the software, and set it up for my phone, all I got was a message that the phone connected was not the phone that I set it up for!(?). I tried another phone VX3200 LG, and the cable would not recognise it either. I filed for tech support, and they gave me a support number in the hundreds of thousands...apparently they've had that many complaints. I supplied complete information but only got a canned response in return. You won't actually get to talk to a real person. I got two emails, the first issuing a tech support ticket number and the second voiding it. I followed the suggestions in the first but the program continued to insist the phone model detected was not the model that I entered. After many hours of screwing around installing and uninstalling the software, I've given up. I changed drivers, made sure baud rates on the phone matched the port speed, etc. I'm surprized that Amazon sells such a crappy product. The hardware is nice, but the software is unusable. I'm running W2K SP4 with all updates.
I don't have a problem with my usb ports or my phones; both of which are the same model. Any other USB device I connect works with no problem whatsoever. The warning on the box tells you that if you open the box you can't return it.
This software is useless if it won't connect to the phone. Don't expect useful help from Susteen. Save your money, your time and your effort for something else.

The software basically works but it is quirky and not much fun . . . but, yeah, it is a whole lot better than entering the data by hand.

Not much was supported on my new phone but all I wanted was to import my phone directory rather than have to enter several hundred numbers manually -- and importing the directory was one of the functions supported. I was not able to export data from my old cell phone, an LG 5200, however. It is supposed to be supported, but I was not able to connect to it using their cable (I did not contact support and have no idea whether it was a faulty cable or problems witht the software -- personally, I suspect the cable). Instead, I imported my data from Outlook.

I discovered the hard way that line breaks in the data (the comments field) cause the software to fail the download without any meaningful error messages. After much trial and error, I discovered the problem and had to clean my data externally as there was no convenient way to do so from within the software. My next attempts failed after downloading only a few numbers as it kept reporting that the phone's memory was full. I finally figured out (again, by trial and error) that despite indications to the contrary, the software was not clearing out memory before attempting the download (though none of the old numbers could be seen in the directory). Once I cleared the directory manually from the phone, I was able to download the new directory fine.

Like I said, the software is quirky, but it did work. Frankly, I doubt that they get much assistance from the phone manufacturers; most of what they accomplish they probably do by reverse-engineering the phones, so something like the memory problem is probably understandable. If your cell phone directory is large, reentering it by hand would be a real drag -- this is not that expensive and, at least in my case, it worked well enough to be worth the cost.

I think the software works, that is why we're on our second copy of this program. With new phones being introduced all the time, the first copy we had didn't support our new phones.

So, for $70 some-odd dollars, we bought a new software package with many different cables to accomodate all of our different phones to simply transfer the company phone list into peoples new phones(used at a business).

So, I'm working on phone # 9, and I get an error that it only supports 8 phones (maybe mention that on phone # 8 that it's the last phone perhaps, so I can be proactive and address the licensing issue then, instead of when I need it to work the next time?). They say they offer licensing for 25, 50 or 100 phones, but they don't open until 9:00 am pacific time. Do they think people on the east coast want to wait until 11:00 am to conduct business?!? When you call AFTER 9:00, their voice mail says their business hours start at 8:00 am.... HUH?

We don't use any other feature besides the phone book transfer, so I have no idea if those other features work. Getting the phone book transfer to work is not incredibly intuitive, but after much trial and error, I got it figured out. Also, they just created a new wizard to walk you step by step through it... there's an order to follow, plugging in the cord to the pc, then to the turned off phone, then turn on the phone, etc.

So, shame on me for not finding a minimal software package to do the job we need. Licensing for 25 phones is over $100.