I'm sure at least a few of you have some stuff to do in between, but I also know that more than a few of you have two computers on which you perform HotSync operations with your Palm devices. I tend to constantly copy and paste stuff into my Palm Desktop from emails and websites, and of course I can type much faster than I can use Graffiti. During the course of a normal day, I end up entering a lot of information into my Palm organizer using Graffiti as well, since I take it with me to business meetings, and elsewhere. It's a part of my natural workflow to use my Palm device/computer duo in tandem this way.

HotSync at the office
Performing HotSync operations between two computers using the same Palm device without duplicating records isn't actually too difficult. For simplicity's sake I'll refer to the two computers as 'Home' and 'Office'. First, you'll need to have two HotSync cradles, one for each computer with which you'll be synchronizing your data. Next, you need to set up the Palm desktop software on both computers with the same user name.

Then, you need to HotSync with the Palm Desktops on each computer. My office machine gets a bigger workout, so I'll start with that one. At the end of the day, I perform a HotSync operation in order to synchronize any work I've done on my Palm desktop and any additions I've made to my Palm device. Now I have the same data on my Palm device as I do in the office Palm Desktop.

HotSync at home
When I get home I have to do one of two things to keep my Palm Desktops from getting all flummoxed. The best of the two is to be sure I perform a HotSync before I change anything (and I do mean anything) in the Palm Desktop at home. This option allows me to have any changes made to my office Palm Desktop and Palm device added to my home setup before I start working. When you HotSync, the conduit keeps track of changes made to your information and moves the newer information from the Palm device to the Palm Desktop application and vice versa.

3Com recommends an option that is more of a fix-it measure to make sure you haven't changed the same information on both the Palm device and the home Palm Desktop. To see their guidelines on this subject, visit http://www.palm.com/custsupp/helpnotes/hotsync/duplicat.html.

Had I made changes to the home desktop before synchronizing my data and these changes happened to coincide with changes made on my Palm device, the conduit duplicates the record.