Rating: Summary: Great concept, buggy execution Review: I like the FrnklinCovey priority concepts and ideas. I like the ability to sort tasks by dragging and dropping to set priorities. But PlanPlus crashes, crashes, has unexplained behaviors.... I feel for the Covey support guys - they must be pulling out their hair.
Rating: Summary: VERY POOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT Review: I love this software add on for Outlook, in fact I had the older version which worked pretty good. I bought version 2.0 and noticed some good changes, however a couple of weeks after I installed it I started to have some problems with syncronizing. The sync would hang and I would could not just cancel the sync, I had to kill the Hotsync program and re-boot the Palm (Tungsten E). I also had a problem where when I would sync w/o Outlook open, I would get an error. If Outlook was open, the error would not occur. For this problem the tech support had me clear out the "add-in's" (there apparntly was an improper add-in installed with Plan Plus). My other problem tech support provided me a work around... well the work around works, but I have to perform this work around 2-3 times a week. I have installed the online updates, and there is still something buggy with this, but Franklin tech support will not admit to it. I would wait until Franklin fix's their prolems... post complaints to the customer service.
Rating: Summary: Finally PlanPlus gets is right... Review: I was one of the unfortunate ones to purchase FC PlanPlus v 1.x. Being an IT (Information Technology) person by trade, I was dumbfounded how a time and task management company could have put out such as lousy product with v 1.x. FC did not have the staff or plan to support it and I ended up sending it back for a refund.... Fortunately V 2.0 has addressed every one of the problems I reported and it looks like they have finally gotten it right... At least for the versions of the OS and Outlook I am using... I am running XP pro with Outlook 2003 hooked to Exchange server. The install went without a hitch for both the PC and my Pocket PC. The FC Plan Plus home page is a must. I finally have all the screens I use on one page. No more having to open a note to document my phone calls, then having to jump to calendar to enter a meeting request, or go to Mail to look at my e-mail etc. I can stay at the home page and do it all!!!. I can also print my pages with just about any layout I can think of (saving me from having to buy daily pages every year). On the printout I have all my notes, tasks, appointments, etc. I encourage all of you seriously thinking about buying this product to download the 30 day eval and give it a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. NOTE: The eval is 90 meg (has to load .net framework) so be patient. I would have given it a 5 star if ALL the added features of PlanPlus would have transfered to the Pocket PC... As it is now the Mission Statments, Goals, and Compass do not transfer: only the Daily Record and Prioritized tasks go over (along with the standard mail, calandar, etc from Outlook...) All in all I think this is a great product and hightly recommend it for the serious planner...
Rating: Summary: Perhaps 2.0 is better Review: I wouldn't risk it based on the reviews here. The first version ruined my Exchange profile - now I can't have tasks in Outlook -EVER. FC Support is worthless. So ironic that a company that puts so much emphasis on integrity and excellence put out such an incredibly shoddy product. I'm sorry - I can't trust a company that would release such an incredibly bad product.
Rating: Summary: Slow, Crashes, but nice idea... Review: I'd wait to buy this until they come out with version five or so. By then, the bugs might be gone. As it is now, I'm using Outlook 2002 on a Windows XP 3ghz machine with 1gb of RAM, and it takes me 34 seconds to load Outlook (time for the splash screen to go away). Occasionally it will tell me it had to disable PlanPlus on startup as well. The memory usage (if you leave it open all the time like I do) is high as well, although I don't notice it much, having such a leet box (translation: fast computer).I do give them 2 stars instead of 1 because it's pretty. I decided to use it based on screenshots alone. Outlook 2002 on its own is really dull, especially after you've looked at it daily for years. The extras (like the Compass, Mission/Values, and Goals) are very similar to their planner kits' first few pages. So if you liked those, I'm sure you'll enjoy the extras on PlanPlus.
Rating: Summary: PDA Sync issues abound Review: I'm probably like most of you in that I'm not so sure I want my life this documented, controlled, etc....as Mr. Covey does. Kinda creepy if you ask me. That being said, the tool is pretty useful if you have a boatload of stuff going on and you need to budget your time. My goal was to quit lugging around my laptop, my cell phone, and my planner everywhere I went. So I took the electronic plunge, bought a cell phone/PDA with wireless internet, and started syncing up with Outlook 2003. Now I'm down to my planner and my CellPhone/PDA. Next, eliminate the planner, so I install PlanPlus. Functionality: very good. Some tasks I entered immediately disappeared, but hey, I didn't read anything so coulda been my fault. However, much to my dismay, I find that when it syncs up with Outlook 2003 it hits some security issue, and a bunch of Outlook activity like Automated Send/Receive comes to a halt...a "semi-hang". A dialog box appears and you have to authorize access to something and then everything is fine. The problem with this is that it hangs my wireless sync when I'm out at a client site because I'm not at my desk to simply click on anything when I'm miles away from my office. (isn't this the point of a wireless sync?!?!?). FranklinCovey, arrogant company they are, has taken the position that it is a problem with Outlook 2003 since their software works with previous versions of Outlook, and tech support are arrogant, ignorant, and intractable about the issue. They refuse to even engage in conversations like "well, it is now a FEATURE in Outlook that your software can't work with, so will you be addressing this soon in a fix?" Their answer has consistently been "no, because OUR software isn't broken, it's a problem with Outlook". Hmmm.....as if Microsoft will respond to FranklinCovey? But, it's worth it right now for all the other stuff it gives me, and I'm sure they will have to address this issue some day or they won't be sell any as Outlook 2003 and its successors become the norm. Hey! Even arrogant, obnoxious people get nice when they sit at home alone every night!
Rating: Summary: PDA Sync issues abound Review: I'm probably like most of you in that I'm not so sure I want my life this documented, controlled, etc....as Mr. Covey does. Kinda creepy if you ask me. That being said, the tool is pretty useful if you have a boatload of stuff going on and you need to budget your time. My goal was to quit lugging around my laptop, my cell phone, and my planner everywhere I went. So I took the electronic plunge, bought a cell phone/PDA with wireless internet, and started syncing up with Outlook 2003. Now I'm down to my planner and my CellPhone/PDA. Next, eliminate the planner, so I install PlanPlus. Functionality: very good. Some tasks I entered immediately disappeared, but hey, I didn't read anything so coulda been my fault. However, much to my dismay, I find that when it syncs up with Outlook 2003 it hits some security issue, and a bunch of Outlook activity like Automated Send/Receive comes to a halt...a "semi-hang". A dialog box appears and you have to authorize access to something and then everything is fine. The problem with this is that it hangs my wireless sync when I'm out at a client site because I'm not at my desk to simply click on anything when I'm miles away from my office. (isn't this the point of a wireless sync?!?!?). FranklinCovey, arrogant company they are, has taken the position that it is a problem with Outlook 2003 since their software works with previous versions of Outlook, and tech support are arrogant, ignorant, and intractable about the issue. They refuse to even engage in conversations like "well, it is now a FEATURE in Outlook that your software can't work with, so will you be addressing this soon in a fix?" Their answer has consistently been "no, because OUR software isn't broken, it's a problem with Outlook". Hmmm.....as if Microsoft will respond to FranklinCovey? But, it's worth it right now for all the other stuff it gives me, and I'm sure they will have to address this issue some day or they won't be sell any as Outlook 2003 and its successors become the norm. Hey! Even arrogant, obnoxious people get nice when they sit at home alone every night!
|