s60v3 contact search made easier--maybe?

A

anew returner

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Anyone using ALON Contact Guide for S60 3rd edition?

It allows a bit better contacts search in that it is T9 based. You can, if you need, define how deep this search goes (like into the Company name, Job Title, etc.).

It's a bit pricey for the recreational user, but for the typical business user with several hundred (or many more) contacts, it may make sense.

I can get to just about any contact in most cases with ~half the # of key presses with the T9 based search, as opposed to using the built in contacts search. This in a contacts database of 415 entries currently.

I find it frustrating, as many have already commented on in various threads over the past 9 months (yea, I've done some searching), that a better search mechanism wasn't included in the original OS. But, maybe this will help a bit.

Or, will the built in search get better with a future release?
 
for a cheaper option, check out VITO Quick Contacts. Does the same thing, but it's alot cheaper. http://symbianguru.typepad.com/welcome/2007/01/vito_quickconta.html - REviewed here.
 
Rcadden, Thanks for the heads up. I dl'd the trial and playing with both already.

Will compare the two and report back if anyone's interested...

Thanks again!
 
I'm growing tired of the s60 contacts as well but i'm hesitant to try something else as I fear it will suck the already depleted system resources. Anyway you can comment on how fast each program opens and how much ram it uses once it's open. I'm assuming that with something like this it's probably better to keep it running in the background.
 
Stoopid question....

I can see how much memory each app uses via App Mgr right? Or is that reporting the amount of NVRam the program occupies?

Or is it via Handy Taskman and subtracting the amount of memory available after loading each app, from the amount of memory available right after a soft boot?

Or....is there another app to do this?

Isn't the app size in memory (once it is opened) dependant on how many contacts in the database?

ALON Contact Guide loads 'much' faster for me. QuickContact is somewhat cumbersome in the trial in that it has a 'nag' screen in between most every function.

ALON Contact Guide can be a replacement to the built in contacts app (it allows adding contacts and all the other fields, creating groups, etc.).

QuickContact is mostly a search utility, but it does have the benefit of better font control.

Let me know how you want me to check the memory usage of the two.
 
Thats a good point..i'm not sure but that would make sense...I doubt 250 and 450 contacts would tax the system significantly more but it might. As far as how to get an exact estimate it's tough to say. I just use a y-browser to get an estimate of before and after.
 
App Mgr says that VITO's QuickContact's application size is 576kb. App Mgr says that ALON's Contact Guide size is 537kb.

From a soft boot, Handy Taskman says I have 21.7M of RAM. After opening QuickContact, it shows 19.0M of RAM. After closing QC, Handy Taskman reports 21.7M of RAM.

Doing the exact same for Contact Guide....Handy Taskman says 21.7M of RAM, after a soft boot, and then opening CG I have 19.5M of RAM. After closing CG, I have 21.8M of RAM reported.

I'm leaning toward the ALON product, but not because of memory usage. It is much faster loading, about 2 seconds. All features are available, it just has a countdown timer on the top to show the trial status. No nag screens. QuickContact otoh, takes almost 8 (EIGHT) seconds to get to a NAG screen, and then about a second to open after keying in the option for the trial. This could be just the NAG screen delay.... QC also has a NAG screen every so often during the trial use.

However, like I mentioned, Contact Guide can be used completely in place of the built in s60v3 contacts app. Adding/editing contacts, groups, etc. CG is editing the same fields as the built in Contacts app. You can see the changes there, and therefore could be sync'd to your PC's apps.

RCadden, when you reviewed VITO's QuickContact....I'm guessing you may have had a registered version? If so, did it load faster?

The one thing that would make the ALON Contact Guide perfect, at least IMHO, would be that it would remember the last group that you were using when you exit the application. Then, this would be the ultimate contact app, almost as good as what I had setup on my 'gasp', Moto v635. Moto's built in contact app is much better in that regard, from setting up groups and searching. Not sure how all this compares with the non s60 based app phones. Or, other S60 based Nseries phones. I've only had the N73.

Note that all my testing was with 415 contacts, most with one phone number, but ~10-15% with multiple, and a few with email addresses, business names, etc.

HTH.
 
The registered version will not load any faster.

One thing to note is that with QC, the app will exit automatically when you initiate a call to a contact. Alon will remain open so you have to close it if you want to free up your resources.
 
I found that both stay open for me, and yes with a registered version the nag screen on Quick Contacts goes away.

On my N73, which I use for personal use, I deleted them both. However, on my work phone, E62, I've kept them both, and am still judging which I prefer.

Quick Contacts is cheaper and has more searching options (different screens), and is merely an overlay for searching through your contacts.

ALON is more expensive, but aims to completely replace your contacts app.

They both have trials, give them a go, and forgive QuickContacts for the nag screen in your trial, it goes away completely when you register it.
 
Can you possibly check to see the load delay time on QC with the registered version? Is it like I'm seeing of 8 seconds (using the trial), and seems to be like that for zeze in post #8 above (but I think his is registered from his post)?

Thanks!
 
Yes, I received a full copy to review it on my blog, but I didn't see any noticable difference in the amount of time it takes to load before and after the reg key is entered. I will say that you should definitely install it on your phone memory. Even with my high speed memory card it still didn't load as fast as when I installed it to the phone memory.
 
which of these progs do the search thru the contacts list like the older s60 contacts (built in) program? i.e. if i type in mom it doesnt give me bob's mom, john's mom, and then 'mom' (for my own mom)
that is the most annoying part of the new contact app on s60 v3 for me -- even after i changed most of my friends moms phones/houses to mother i still have to type in that 3rd letter
 
unfortunately, neither. Don't worry, though, that was one of the first things I noticed, too (my ex-girlfriend's name was Meagan and my boss' last name starts with "Mea", so if I wasn't careful, I could have sent a drunk text to the wrong number). You'll soon work past this, though, it just takes a few months.
 
Well I have an important difference between the two. Alon is the only one that runs on my memory starved N91 8gb ME. Vito starts to load then terminates (from what I'm assuming is lack of memory). Alon works fine, takes 6 seconds to load with 1,000 contacts. Pretty happy about that after Vito QC wouldn't even load.
 
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