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newbie wants to know: mobileme.... yes or no?

caligurl

caligurl

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 8, 2009
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what purpose does it serve.... i've read the product descrition... yet ANOTHER email account (like i don't have enough of them already!) and picture storage (again.... i have flickr, photobucket, etc)

so other than "find my phone" do i NEED mobileme? and why?

thanx (be gentle... as i said... iphone newbie here!)
 
i think it is nice because it syncs contacts, calendars and bookmarks over the air, so if i update a calendar item or contact on my phone it is automatically pushed to the servers and then to my computer almost instantly, and this helps a lot
 
waterskier2007 said:
i think it is nice because it syncs contacts, calendars and bookmarks over the air, so if i update a calendar item or contact on my phone it is automatically pushed to the servers and then to my computer almost instantly, and this helps a lot
Click to expand...

+1 on those features. It's just nice to have 'everything' work in sync. iPhoto, Mail, Contacts, iPhone, etc... Plus it's perfect for taking pictures on the fly and uploading them right to your MobileMe Gallery.
 
One issue I have had with several syncing apps is that I have non standard labels and multiple email addresses for contacts.

It seems the customized labels don't get synced.

Do these things get synced in mobileme?
 
waterskier2007 said:
i think it is nice because it syncs contacts, calendars and bookmarks over the air, so if i update a calendar item or contact on my phone it is automatically pushed to the servers and then to my computer almost instantly, and this helps a lot
Click to expand...

Without a doubt. It is such a nice seamless setup.

And i already started uploading some quick videos from my 3Gs and it works fast and is soooo easy.
 
ok..... so contacts? where are they? in itunes? i have a palm that, of course, has its desktop that has the only current contacts i use.... i know (or assume) i won't be using that contacts..... (and that gets retired not that i have an iphone)

if contacts is not in itunes... then where are they? and yes.... (and contacts ONLY sync via mobile me?)

i guess i need to give the free trial a try!
 
If you need to get docs to edit but don't have WiFi, then MobileMe and QuickOffice seems to be the only option.

Also, MobileMe is the only service I've found that syncs all contact info correctly, others only sync two email addresses for a contact, or don't sync more than one address, or don't sync things like birthdays.
 
+1
I'm enjoying my trial, and will sign on when that is up. The push email is working great for me! I was trying to use yahoo for its push but that was terrible!!!! Never pushed. So I would recommend it.
 
You can get it for $69 with the purchase of the iPhone or on Amazon for a similar price.

As others have said, it's really convenient. I was using GMail, Google Calendar, and Picasa but you have to make it work with iPhone and it isn't perfect. Google is free, yes, but it's not the same and not nearly as easy to sync between a desktop, the cloud, and the phone.

It's worth it for me but everyone's needs are different.
 
caligurl said:
ok..... so contacts? where are they? in itunes? i have a palm that, of course, has its desktop that has the only current contacts i use.... i know (or assume) i won't be using that contacts..... (and that gets retired not that i have an iphone)

if contacts is not in itunes... then where are they? and yes.... (and contacts ONLY sync via mobile me?)

i guess i need to give the free trial a try!
Click to expand...

are you on a mac or a pc?
if you would rather just pm me about syncing with mobile me that might be easier
 
caligurl said:
ok..... so contacts? where are they? in itunes? i have a palm that, of course, has its desktop that has the only current contacts i use.... i know (or assume) i won't be using that contacts..... (and that gets retired not that i have an iphone)

if contacts is not in itunes... then where are they? and yes.... (and contacts ONLY sync via mobile me?)

i guess i need to give the free trial a try!
Click to expand...
Contacts can be synced to Outlook or the Mac Address Book (options to sync contacts are in the iPhone menus on the desktop iTunes. Back up your iPhone before you set up MobileMe, the first sync will delete all contact, calendar, and website bookmarks.
 
waterskier2007 said:
i think it is nice because it syncs contacts, calendars and bookmarks over the air, so if i update a calendar item or contact on my phone it is automatically pushed to the servers and then to my computer almost instantly, and this helps a lot
Click to expand...

yeah thats what i like about it. plus you can fully manage your e-mail through your iPhone.
 
ceuyan said:
if you are just trying to sync mail, contacts and calendar over the air the try using Google.

I've been using google and it works flawlessly..

http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=138740&topic=14252
Click to expand...

Yeah, if you already use Gmail and want a basic, but complete, and easy to use service similat to MobileMe then I would do this. I, like ceuyan have my mail, contacts and calendar syncing between my iPhone, MacBook and Google and its always worked perfectly.

I also use DropBox for online storage (which you can access on iPhone to read documents etc...no edit though) and Flickr (again accessible easily from iPhone) to make up the iDisk/Gallery parts of MobileMe. I don't use these as much so the lack of overally integration doesn't bother me, but I've heard that if these are things you use majorly then its worth getting MobileMe for these alone.

So MobileMe is now very good I think, but there is definitely a sorted free option if you so wanted. You could even try the Google/DropBox/Flickr option to see if you would use the MobileMe features regularly enough to warrant the purchase.

Wow....thats a lot of writing....hope it helps!
 
What about those $32 BIN on ebay? If you buy off someone else's family account, is that totally secure? Or is it better just to buy your own from Amazon?

I love the idea of not syncing as I am awful at remembering to do it, but I have a pc, not a mac, so I think there is less benefit than if I had a mac.

Just wondering as for $32 I think it would be worth it, but not for $99... thanks!
 
I still have mobile me but I’ve started exclusively using an exchange service for my company’s e-mail. Mobile Me at times is spotty and I had problems with it syncing everything correctly 100% whereas with exchange I haven’t had that problem. Given the fact that you can find exchange hosting out there for a lot cheaper per year than Mobile Me, I think it’s a win-win situation.

I will say though if you are looking for the find my iPhone type functionality, you won’t get that through exchange. I know you are able to remotely wipe your iPhone through exchange however.
 
There are plenty of other free services that duplicate many of MobileMe's features. However, I still use it b/c it's the only one that's integrated w/ OS X, and for me I enjoy having everything under one umbrella.

It's far, far more than an email service and I think essential if you have more than one computer. It's really a central syncing conduit for all your computers and iPhones. Plus it offers push email to your iPhone as well as the new Find my iPhone feature.

That said, go over to eBay. My experience is that its usually the least expensive place to buy. Ask the seller if they will email you the activation code instead of mailing the box to save on shipping (unless shipping is already free). The only thing in the box is the code and a welcome booklet.
 
caligurl said:
what purpose does it serve.... i've read the product descrition... yet ANOTHER email account (like i don't have enough of them already!) and picture storage (again.... i have flickr, photobucket, etc)

so other than "find my phone" do i NEED mobileme? and why?

thanx (be gentle... as i said... iphone newbie here!)
Click to expand...
It depends on your needs and what you already have. I'm a PC user and planning on buying a Macbook soon, and just signed up with MM for the free 60 day trial last week. I can quickly see that you REALLY miss out on the full MM experience on a PC. I don't think I'd pay for it if I weren't getting a Mac. With a Mac, however, I can easily see how it could be worth it since everything appears to be integrated. (I can't even keep my Idisk connected on my PC, making it difficult to move files over.) I find the photo gallery to be flexible enough for my own needs - sharing photos with family and giving them the ability to easily upload to me (having some family members who are not so computer savvy, it tends to result in piles of discs or dozens of picture-laden emails. This should solve that once I show them how easy it is to upload. I even made a folder with the first image being text that says "Upload images here.") I also like that it syncs my contacts, bookmarks, etc. (I was using Nuevasync to handle contact and calendar syncing, but I'm glad to simplify a little.) I've also put some documents for an upcoming trip on there so I can have easy access to them anywhere.

As others said, sign up for the trial and see what it's about. You may find it's not worth the bother, or you may find that it's pretty handy like I have.
 
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