Save/sync/backup contacts stored on iPhone?

[Azzin]

Hi all,

A friend of my Wife's has an iPhone 3Gs that has never been sync'd and all her contacts have been manually added to the phone over time (saved on the phone presumably?).

She just bought a new laptop and wants to start syncing her calendar, email (she uses Hotmail) and most importantly her contacts with Outlook.

If you just tick the "sync contacts" + "with Outlook" in iTunes when the phone is connected will it copy the contacts from the phone to Outlook, or will it copy the contacts from Outlook to the phone (in other words wipe the contacts on the phone and replace it with the blank contacts list in Outlook)?

Cheers.

 

[paulcdb]

The best way to sync is by setting up exchange so that any changes you make get pushed without worrying about having to manually sync.

If you have a Gmail account then you can setup exchange for free.

 

[Azzin]

The best way to sync is by setting up exchange so that any changes you make get pushed without worrying about having to manually sync.

If you have a Gmail account then you can setup exchange for free.

She currently uses Hotmail.

If I set her up a temporary GMail account via Exchange, could I:

Sync the contacts from the phone to GMail.
Export the contacts from GMail to a *.CSV file.
Import that *.CSV into Outlook.
Sync iTunes with Outlook so all the contacts stay intact.

Thanks.