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> Review :: Papyrus, Rating 4.5 out of 5
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post Feb 7 2005, 09:56 PM
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I am a slave to time. I am a slave to my calendar. As an independent consultant my being on time for every appointment is critical. Being able to keep up with which client I service when is a huge deal. And my SmartPhone is the primary tool I use to make sure I am where I am supposed to be, when I am supposed to be there. But the calendar functions of the SmartPhone are pretty basic. It's hard to tie the calendar into anything else, or get any advanced capability.

SBSH Mobile Software saw the large holes in the SmartPhone calendar application and took them to task, and Papyrus is the result. A robust, forward thinking calendar application designed with one thing in mind: the power of control. Here is what SBSH says about Papyrus:

QUOTE
Manage your busy life with Papyrus and your Smartphone. Papyrus is a robust time management solution for Smartphone devices. Papyrus offers many smart views and powerful tools to manage and keep track of your schedule. This is how your Smartphone is supposed to act!

Daily View
  • Today's events all on your screen



  • Alarm, private, note ,and recurring icons show for all appointments on the daily view



  • Appointment's subject text is colored to easily identify item status



  • Optionally set text size to display more data or for better visibility



  • Contacts can be linked to each appointment and can be dialed directly from the daily view by clicking the dial button



  • Much nicer looking display than the phone's built-in calendar application



  • Custom scroll-bar that matches the look of your Papyrus display
List View
  • The current week all at once.



  • Two display modes to choose from: list view or grid view



  • List view style offers a seven day lookahead display with maximum details, icons and status colors



  • Grid view offers seven days packed into one screen for a quick overview



  • You can scroll backward and forward by weeks by moving the joystick left and right, and scroll up and down to view days



  • See your status icons for each appointment
Monthly View
  • See the entire month on one screen



  • A 20 hour timeline with color codes showing your appointments appear on each day



  • You can choose to show a Quick-View at the bottom of the screen that shows the current day's activities



  • The Quick-View has a larger detailed timeline for that day



  • Click on any day to switch to the Day View for that day



  • Red LED icons on the Month View indicate all-day events on that day
Enhanced View Dialogs
  • Greatly enhanced view dialogs compared to the built-in calendar



  • View dialogs include full recurrence details when viewing recurring appointments



  • Any included notes show in the view dialogs for appointments



  • You can dial directly from the view dialog using the Dial or Send key on your smartphone
Enhanced Create/Edit Item Dialogs
  • More intuitive and compact edit dialogs allow you to view more data on one screen



  • The subject, location, and note input fields support full screen control for easier input and reading with large texts



  • Support for many common recurrence patterns allow you to define recurring events directly from your Smartphone



  • More flexibility in setting reminder times, ability to insert custom reminders, and customize of reminder default values


  • within the settings makes Papyrus the most user-configurable Smartphone PIM available



  • Quickly link contacts to appointments using a special "contact picker" dialog



  • Fast insertion of pre-defined 'My Text' subject and location fields
Phone Buttons Navigation
  • Navigate among the many views and dates with your Smartphone's buttons


Note: These screenshots are provided by Papyrus. Partly because they were already done, and partly because I don't want to advertise my schedule :-)

That is a pretty long list of features. That's because Papyrus is packed FULL of features. And the developer wanted to make a point that the software development is not over. They are committed to improving the application to include new features and capabilities. This is a product that won't be dead in a few months.

So what does it do? How does it work? And is it worth the $17.95 price? I thought you would never ask!

When you start up Papyrus you will quickly notice the basics: daily, weekly and monthly views. Pretty simple. Each row below shows those views.





The weekly view has two options: list and week (as shown above). The monthly view has two options as well: with and without the quick view list (again as shown above). The really cool thing about the monthly view is that all of the indicators on the days mean something, and once you understand what each one means you may not even have to look at an individial day view to know what comes next and when!

Is that all you get? Is that all the software does? Just a few views of the same data? Absolutely not. It's how this application ties everything together and presents it all in one place that makes it shine. But we are still talking about a calendar application. So lets look at a single event.



When you open an existing event this is the screen you will see. Simple and to the point. Lets take a look at making a new appointment:



Just fill in the blanks. It has a pick list of words to save you some typing, called MY TEXT, which is completely customizable. Here are the screenshots related to MY TEXT to help you understand how you would use it in creating a new appointment.




You can tie appointments to contacts directly from your contact database just by picking them from the list. Their information is added to the event automatically.




Here is the screen that allows you control over the MY TEXT list for complete customization of the quick messages.



Configuration options are pretty spread out over several menu choices:



And selecting one of those options will lead you to one of many setings screens.




Here is the all important ABOUT screen showing the version number. Shown only because the developer indicates you will have more features thrown at you on a regular basis, so knowing what version you are using will be important. And I am using version 1.0 which is the version available from the SBSH website.



Finally here are some shortcut keys that Papyrus uses to help you navigate around your schedule.



So I have shown you some screenshots and given you a brief description of what the application does. But how well does it work and is it worth the asking price? I can say that I have used several BETA releases of this product. It has been my primary calendar for about a month and a half. With BETA versions come minor challenges, but all in all my experience has been positive. And the speed in which issues are addressed is exceptional. The developer certainly gets an "A" for responsiveness to customer issues. But the issues have been minor. Now that the software has been released, I see all of the previous issues corrected, and a polished product is the result. Once you get it configured to show your schedule in the way you want to see it, you will see how easily you can see exactly what's going on in seconds regardless of the view you happen to be using.

But $17.95 is a little steep for a SmartPhone application isn't it? Well that really depends on the person buying it. If the application meets a need you have then certainly it is more likely to be worth it than an application that would just be cool to have. But if you are schedule driven; if you depend on a tool to make sure you are on time and in the right place, then Papyrus is certainly for you. But if you are a casual scheduler you will be just fine with the built-in calendar.

Good:
Easy to read
Information in a very condensed format for quick viewing, but detailed with a simple click on an item
Multiple views available
Uses the built-in calendar and contact database so it still syncs with outlook and Exchange
Dial an associated contact directly from an appointment detail screen
Color coding for appointments
Icons in daily and weekly views that show status and event settings at a glance
Indicators on monthly views to show schedule information at a glance
Condensed format: more information in less space

Bad:
No today plug-in. This tool could be so much better with a configurable plug-in.


You can download the trial version or buy it from Handango


--------------------
Jim Cleek (Slacker)
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kmcx8
post May 13 2005, 08:24 PM
Post #2


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Papyrus vs. Power Calendar (Developer One)

Thanks for your review of Papyrus. Do you know if you can change (enlarge) the font size in Papyrus? I use the large fonts on my Samsung SP i600 (middle-aged eyesight). The SmartPhone calendar is almost retarded, its so basic.

I've tried demo's of both Papyrus and Power Calendar, but it's been awhile. Sean reviewed Power Calendar back in January, and gave it 5 out of 5 .

Has anyone compared the two products side-by-side?

The bottom line for me is, no matter how many whiz-bang elements the product has, if I can't read it on-screen, it's no good to me.

Thanks for your help.

Keith
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Slacker
post May 14 2005, 04:11 PM
Post #3


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From: Alexandria, VA
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I have never used power calendar so I can't compare them. But I will tell you that Papyrus' developers will listen to your needs and suggestions. If you need to be able to change font sizes, tell them.


--------------------
Jim Cleek (Slacker)
Editor / Administrator
Mobile Gadget News

My Gadgets
iPhone 3GS
HTC TyTN II
HTC Wizard
HTC Touch Dual
Motorola MPX220
Motorola MPX200
HP Ipaq 5550
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