Some of us live or die by our 'to do' lists, and EPIM has a number of useful features that can help one keep better track of outstanding tasks. Each task entry can be assigned a category color that lets you better identify the nature of the item at a glace. For example, tasks that require travel or advance preparation can be highlighted, as can phone calls or personal entries. (There are 9 pre-defined categories, but you can also add your own.)
Complex tasks can be subdivided into smaller subtasks and you can drag and drop items to create hierarchical lists. If you are someone who frequently delegates chores to others, EPIM's ability to assign tasks to individuals in your contact list may be helpful.
Contacts and Schedule
Contact lists are the cornerstone of most PIMs, and Essential PIM gives you a fair degree of control over how to organize and view your contacts. For example, you can simplify the display by listing an individual's work and personal contact information on different pages, and you can associate a JPG or BMP photo with each contact (assuming the person is willing to provide one).
EPIM's scheduling component provides a set basic of features such as the ability to schedule recurring appointments and set reminders for them. Although you can add file attachments (like a meeting agenda) to any appointment, hotlinks are surprisingly not supported in this particular module. Therefore, if you want to include say, an URL for an online meeting, you have to copy and paste it into your browser rather than executing it directly from the calendar.
Data Protection
To protect your valuable data, you can create backups of your database file. By default, EPIM automatically performs backups every 24 hours and will retain the last two versions of the database file (up to 10 versions can be saved). While the backup schedule can be modified, its flexibility is limited — you can choose an interval of between 1 and 120 hours (five days), but it isn't possible to specify backups to take place on a particular day or time. EPIM databases can also be securely password-protected using 128-bit AES encryption technology.
EPIM Portable Edition
If you travel extensively and don't carry a computer with you, you might want to consider the Essential PIM Portable version, a self-contained version of the application that the company says works directly off a USB flash drive so that it can easily be transported between multiple systems. Essential PIM Portable is a separate $39.95 product, though it is available as a bundle with the standard version.
An important caveat — users that rely on (or are planning to buy) a PDA or smartphone may want to consider the ramifications of using something other than Outlook as this may make synchronizing data between the handheld device and PC difficult if not impossible. If this isn't a concern, however, Essential PIM is a solid product that will be appropriate for those looking for a capable and low-cost PIM, and it may be of particular interest to those that are considering abandoning Outlook due to security concerns.
Essential PIM supports all Windows versions from 95 up through XP. Registering the software costs $29.95, which buys you program updates for one year (or until the release of version 2.9, whichever is longer). Registered users also get e-mail support as well as a 30-day money back guarantee. You can continue to use the downloadable 30-day evaluation release past the 30 day mark, but you will lose access to several important features.
Pros: Easy to use, straightforward interface; offers hierarchical organization of notes and tasks
Cons: May not synchronize with PDAs or smartphones; superfluous time display
