Customer Reviews

Xircom Rex Pro 5 PC Companion with Docking Station

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've tried them all...Windows CE, Palm and now Rex. There is no doubt that the size is terrific, and it makes it possible to have it with you at all times. However, save your money and don't buy the Pro unless you need the memory. Input of info is downright painful and I've long since given up trying to enter events while disconnected from my computer. The synchronization software is also not perfect as it will only recognize 4 categories if you use it to organize your Contacts folder in Outlook. Otherwise it dumps all other contacts!

In short, a great device if you need a reference-only PDA, but virtually worthless if you're looking to enter appointments, tasks or contacts while on the road. Also, no calculator!

As a long time user of PDA's I loved everything about this unit. I even got use to quirky interface to enter data on the run. If you plan to sync with Outlook 98 or ACT 4.0 just forget it. It just does not work. I spent hours on the phone with tech support and could never get it to consistently being over my data in the correct format. The problem seemed to be all true sync related. Stick to Intellisync or Hot sync manager if you sync data on regular basis. Palm Pilot is still the best on the market but just wait for version 2 of HandSpring

This is a nice product that has the advantage of being very compact as compared to other products in this category. However, I have experienced a great amount of problems in synchronizing with Outlook 98 contacts. Be wary of this problem if you are using these products. Also, the product does not include a calculator, which I find inconvenient

I love my Rex Companion. I got it to synch my Act 4.0 database (over 700 contacts) and my list of personal contacts from Outlook 2000 as well. I had no problems with the software once I got the hang of it. I'd recommend the clear lexan case some sites are offering for around 12 bucks because it looks fragile. With it in the case you can still read it but you can put it in your back pocket and not worry about breaking it. It is so small I can take it with me all the time (not like the large Palm and Visor devices). You can search contacts by various groups, company names, first or last names. I added the categories I needed for my business right from Act. I also enjoy reading text files from stories I have scanned and pasted into it in the notepad format. It's great to be able to pull it out at a moments notice and start reading Sherlock Holmes and the like!

Size does matter...especially when the REX can fit in your wallet! I'm a PR Manager for a Fortune 50 company and once my wife got me my REX, my Palm just sits in a drawer.

It's small, convenient and stores those important names/numbers (media, business contacts, etc...) that I always seem to need when on the road. A steal of a deal...

In it's day this was an OK product. You couldn't beat its size! So now you want to move on to another calendar application, but can't get your old calendar items out of the Franklin Rex Pro?

So your calendar is stuck in the .skw format and you want to move it to a more modern calendar like Google Calendar? Here's one way to do it:
A friend downloaded Sidekick 98 from Rapidshare
Installed Sidekick 98
Imported the .skw that had been created by the Franklin RexPro/TrueSync application
Created "Report" of Events, which is a quasi-spreadsheet format
Within Excel changed Start Time and End Time from "10:00p" to "10:00 p" and "9:00a" to "9:00 a" so that Excel would format as a time event. Used the Replace function for this. Then formatted these sells to standard time display like "10:00 p.m." to make sure that they were valid
Saved in Excel as csv (comma separated values)
Opened csv with Outlook. (I used Outlooks 2003, since it was already loaded on this computer. Confirmed that the events all shows up properly.
Saved from Outlook as DOS csv (Google calendar would not read Excel csv)
Imported DOS csv into Google Calendar (Google Calendar would not read Windows csv, even thought the Help page said it would.
Waited for events to fully show up in Google Calendar. With a few thousands events this may take 10 or 15 minutes, but some events will show up immediately.
Once you've got the data into Excel and have it in .csv format there are many other calendar applications that can import it.
This device and the TruSync software was supported by Rolodex, Intel, Xircom and others during it's lifespan.
Good Luck!