PackRat
Client for 37signals Backpack web application.
PackRat lets you use your Backpack data when you can't be on the 'net. Before you hit the road for the first time with PackRat, just sync up with Backpack and your data is duplicated in PackRat's database. View it to your heart's content. Edit it to your heart's content. View it in ways only a desktop application can. When you get back on the 'net, PackRat will automatically inform Backpack of all your changes and Backpack will be up to date. From then on you can just use PackRat and your Backpack site is automatically kept up to date.
You must have a Backpack account to use PackRat. If you don't have a Backpack account then get one at http://www.backpackit.com
It cost nothing to try it out, however you will only be able to view your Backpack home page, your first 4 pages, and your reminders.
Tags: productivity , backpack , ssb , gtd
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6 Opinions:
packrat:
After being stuck without network access (no Backpack!) on a train trip to DC last month, I downloaded the trial version of Packrat to use on the same train trip this month. I found it great as an off-line Backpack viewer, but limited in many ways as an off-line client/editor.
Designing this product must have involved some choices, over whether to emulate the web site or to work like a Mac app. The author seems to have opted for the latter. Normally, if I were using a new Mac app, I'd appreciate the consistency...but for this purpose, where I'm used to using Backpack on the web, I found some of the changes in layout and UI distracting.
Some examples of differences:
- The list of pages is on the left, rather than the right & the new page buttons are in the action menu at the top & a plus sign at the bottom, rather than in a button at the top of the page list -- on the other hand, the ability to jump from page to page instantaneously using the keyboard is great. I'd like to see the location of the list be changeable in the prefs.
- Some nice features are having the New Reminder button in the menu bar, rather than needing to navigate to the Reminders page, and having keyboard navigation in the list of tags.
- Adding notes is done in a modal dialog box.
- There's no way to open more than one page at once -- I'll frequently be editing an item in BP & switch to another BP page in another tab, leaving the edit box open -- modal dialog boxes prevent this.
Some other areas for improvement:
- Find only works in the current page, rather than as a sitewide search (unlike BP's search function)
- No calendar access or Writeboard access
- The biggest source of frustration for me was that you can't reorder items on the page. It's possible to reorder list items and move them from list to list, in an outline view in a modal dialog, but you can't move entire lists at once. You also can't move items from page to page.
If I were commuting by train on a daily basis (or had some other reason to often be away from a network connection....) I might invest in Packrat but for occasional use I can't justify it -- after adding stuff in Packrat, I still had to go through each page on Backpack on the web once I got back on-line to do some reordering. Better than just dumping stuff in a text file and doing all the editing later, but still adds an extra task. I definitely can't see it replacing the web app. for everyday use.
demo is now a 30-day full-featured (i.e. all pages) trial
hex I don't get your comment -- backpack is $5/month, $60/year at the minimum subscription price, packrat is $25 one-time.
i love the idea of this app and i'm sure the developer's work is worth $25, but it still seems like a lot to pay 5 times what i pay for the service itself...
Utah Ruby Users Group makes someone a fanatic?