Personal Information Management - My Recipe

After my Palm Centro stopped synchronising with Evolution email client it was time (again) to figure out a personal information management solution.  My requirements weren't too heavy (I thought):

1. Calendar, Contacts and Password manager on my phone (and I'm ready to buy a new phone)
2. Calendar, Contacts sync with Linux desktop (Evolution, Thunderbird, others?)
3. Password manager sync to anything (such as my wife's Windows laptop)

Turns out this is a major problem.  And there are lots of people looking for this too but there is just no integration for Linux desktop.  The only way to move forward was to just pick a safe platform and do the best possible.  Naturally I picked Android and came up with this solution...

GMail account dedicated to calendar & contacts

• Can access anywhere online
• No emailing (I don't approve of email on my phone)
• Used for buying applications
• Can use as alternate contact for other accounts
• Keep memos as 'draft' emails (crappy but does the job)
• Provides a reasonable migration path because a lot of things sync with Gmail

 
Android phone

• A password manager application that can sync with wife's Windows PC
• No other third party applications
• Turn off everything non-essential such as background data sync and location based services
• I don't want this device to rule my life
• I don't want to shoot myself in the foot
• Contacts and calendar are sync'd explicitly

Evolution mail client

• Continue reading all email with this client
• Regularly backup emails worth keeping
• Use 'Sync' tool to synchronise Contacts with my Gmail account (via SyncML)
• I am not using anything else like calendar nor notes etc.

Features...

1. Email using a proper client with Contacts I can manage and sync to my phone (indirectly)
2. Calendar and Contacts available online and sync'd to my phone
3. Passwords are always with me (if my phone is working)
4. Can lose or destroy my phone without too many dramas

Drawbacks...

1. No memos on phone
2. My personal data is in the cloud.  There was just no other way to do it short of running my own server.