Synchronization impossible with Palm Z22 and Windows Media Center Edition

Question

I am so disappointed!  I have tried to Hot Synch my Palm Z22 with my new Dell XPSM140 with Media Center Edition of Windows, but it would not work any way I tried.  I kept getting an error message with a COM port conflict.  Even when I switched the cable to another USB port, I kept getting 'FOUND NEW HARDWARE' wizard.  When I would run it, trying to find a driver, it would run completely reinstalling the software but at the end another error message would come up that said 'An error has occurred and your hardware may not work correctly'.  It was impossible to synchronize my Z22 with my laptop!   Can anyone offer any work-arounds?  I am trying to synch with the Palm Desktop software, not Outlook, which I refuse to use.   Thanks!   Jacira

davejohn · Answer

According to Palm:

Current devices support the following versions of Windows XP:

Home Edition
Professional

These versions of Windows XP are not supported:

Media Center Edition
Tablet PC Edition
Professional x64 Edition

Looking at the forum messages at Palm at lot of people are upset about Palm's lack of interest in supporting other versions of Windows. I didn't see any work-arounds, other than to buy a different brand of PDA. I wonder if they'll just add Vista to the list of unsupported Windows versions.

Dave

SalsaPower · Answer

Yeah, my work around was to send my M-140 back to Dell.  I have over 600 contacts on my Palm Z-22 and there is no way I am giving up my Palm.

Babz325 · Answer

There appears to be no solution to this problem. I just purchased my computer and only after I installed the Palm software, discovered that it was fouling up my internet connection. When I trolled the Palm website, I found the information that 3 of the 5 versions of XP do not support Palm products of any kind. Reading through the forums on the Palm site, it is apparent that no-one ins interested in creating a patch for this.

Yesterday I looked at the Dell site to see if in the part of the site where you place an order, they put even a one-line disclaimer or warning that not all peripherals are supported by this software. They do not. Therefore, if you are an average individual whose Palm worked perfectly with the (antique, I know) Windows 98, you would never think to ask either Dell or Palm or Microsoft if this would be an issue.

I called Dell today. The first person I spoke to confirmed that Dell is aware of this "glitch." He offered to transfer me to the Media Center support section. I was transferred to the wrong department but had to repeat the story anyway. Then I was transferred to the wrong department again. The third time, I got a recording that I should call back again since they were in a departmental meeting, which of course I could not do, as I was forwarded to that department and did not have a direct-dial number. I called again, to a different telephone number and was routed to someone in some software department. This guy had the nerve to tell me that Dell (yes, a computer company...) does not recommend ordering online, as humans have more information at hand...Like I would have known to ask the question and they would have volunteered it. He proceeded to tell me that the only way to solve the problem was for me to PURCHASE either Home or Professional. I decided that I will call back tomorrow during daytime business hours, hopefully get someone in the United States on the phone and try again to extract out of Dell a free copy of Home or, for my aggrevation, Professional. The next thing that I am doing after this call is to call Visa and tell them that I am putting the charge into dispute due to the apparent fraud committed on me and probably thousands of others by Dell by not apprizing customers that there is a significant glitch of which they are aware, in software they are pushing, and about which they refuse to warn customers or take any corrective action.

SalsaPower · Answer

I am surprised they are not asking people if they will be using some sort of PDA software with the new Dells as surely I am not the only one who has sent back a laptop because of the incompatibility of the software. That has to cost them money. I am also surprised that neither Palm nor Dell have tried to find a patch for this problem

I wonder if they ever read these forums ...perhaps what we need to do is start a letter writing campaign.

www.SalsaPower.com

davejohn · Answer

It's not really a Dell issue.  It doesn't matter if it's a Dell, HP or Gateway.  It's a Windows MCE & Palm issue. Dave

Babz325 · Answer

Long story short on my merry misadventure with Palm and Windows XP Media Center is that I finally got to someone in some sort of dispute resolution department and told him about the fraud that I felt had been committed by failing to put so much as a warning on the Dell site that people should check peripherals, if they did not want to list all the peripherals that won't work with Media Center.  Dell agreed to swap OS to Home, as I really didn't 'need' Media Center, just seemed like a good deal to get it for the same price as Home.  They twice sent out a hard drive with the new program and sent a tech over to swap the drives and twice they sent Media Center!  Ultimately, they gave up and we did a swap of the entire tower.  Needless to say it was QUITE frustrating for this to happen and for it to take weeks to resolve due to the shipment errors, but when I finally got through to the right department with someone who understood and appreciated the situation, it did work out.      As to the Palm, due to its ancient age, the current desktop would not work with it, so I had to delete it and re-load the old desktop.  It seems to be working just fine now.  I did have to re-load Avant-Go, but that seems to be working okay now.   Needless to say, it is still distressing that Dell is not advising customers that there could be an issue with a very popular peripheral and an OS that they are pushing and no-one appears to be interested in addressing this...

Windows General

Synchronization impossible with Palm Z22 and Windows Media Center Edition

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