See this long thread in the Devon forums - https://forum.devontechnologies.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=25119
I use DevonThink Pro because
- I own the databases. I put them where I want, I am in charge of security and storage…my data is mine and you cannot have it.
- therefore, you buy the software, not a service
- It will take anything and everything
- it syncs everywhere
- support is awesome
if you do not like these reasons, go back to #1 and ponder that
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It’s a great document management database. Search and “see also” suggestions are firstrate.
I think of it as “better Evernote than Evernote.”
I think that the search of DF simply gets it. If only google would work like this - it finds me things I want under the hundreds of documents with similar keywords. So I don’t really care how beautiful it is as long as it outperforms other tools in search. It was the “Aha”-moment for me when I was testing DT: I’ve exported my notes from Bear, imported them into DT, tried to search in both of them, scratched my head… and deleted Bear. Because I hat to recognise that it is no use as a knowledge hub since it hicks up on its own data 
I took the plunge to experiment and try DTPO, but so far, I don’t see anything amazing about it.
As “first world” as this sounds, I see a clunky-ugly looking app each time I open it. I only have the Mac version because of the trial. It would be nice to test-drive the iOS version, since I am on my iPad Pro a lot, but I don’t want to spend $14 on an app that may not cut it.
I am a heavy note Evernote Premium user. The premium features I get…
-Unlimited Sync across devices
-Monthly Uploads of 10GB (I only use about 1~2gb)
-Access notebooks offline if I want
-Forward emails to evernote
-Search in docs & attachments
-Annotate PDFs
-Scan and Digitize Business Cards (one I never use)
-Browse history of your notes
-Discover related content
I used to use the Evernote Web Clipper alot, but then I discovered Pocket about 2 years ago. So I send what I want to Pocket, it simplifies the article, and then I send to Evernote.
My DTPO setup so far…
I have 6 Databases set up. These 6 Databases reflect the 6 “Stacks” of Notebooks that I had.
I might have to rethink all this and put everything into 1 Database to get better search-ability. I can’t figure out what I am missing out on it.
Suggestions?
Have you looked at the other thread here at Talk.MPU about Devonthink? Some good suggestions there about how to get into it.
This one is a good start: DTPO
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I’m tinkering with the Mac version demo as a finder replacement for client files: I need a viable way to encrypt everything and still be able to use cloud services for sync and iOS access (lawyer in EU + GDPR + outside-EU based clouds)
Regarding what you have from Evernote, most of these can be done with DTPO.
-Unlimited Sync across devices
[Certainly possible with DTPO and DTTG2 – and you get to control/choose the location/cloud system]
-Monthly Uploads of 10GB (I only use about 1~2gb)
[Since DTPO<>DTTG2 can work with Dropbox, iCloud, Box etc., this is kind of ‘built-in’]
-Access notebooks offline if I want
[Again, depending on how you ‘sync’ to your devices, this is a given. I have +/-40GBs of data on my iPad/iPhone, all accessible (downloaded) and synced from DTPO on my Macs]
-Forward emails to evernote
[This will require a little bit of a workaround. DTPO allows for rules to be set up in Mail.app, and when the criteria is met, the email is imported into DTPO. Since DTPO can also index cloud based folders, there are other options – using something like IFTTT – to get an email to where you need it. But the short of it, is that there isn’t a dedicated email address for DTPO. That said, depending on your mail-client over on iOS, you can simply ‘share’ the email to DTTG2, so that’s also an option].
-Search in docs & attachments
[This is a given – if the file is readable inside DTPO – content can be found.]
-Annotate PDFs
[The DTPO annotation options are OK. But, since you can open anything inside DTPO in your ‘default’ application, annotating PDF’s can be done using DTPO, PDFPen, Skim, Preview, Highlights.app, PDF Expert, Preview etc. etc. That said, I prefer using the Apple Pencil over on the iPad to annotate, and this too works very well. I had a simple workflow that worked prior to DTTG2, and with DTTG2, it’s now even easier.]
-Scan and Digitize Business Cards (one I never use)
[Again, getting stuff into DTTG2 from other apps on iOS is really simple, so this is a given, should you need it.]
-Browse history of your notes
[Not quite sure what you mean by this, but since anything inside DTPO is searchable, combined with Smart Folders, you should be covered.]
-Discover related content
[DTPO excels at this. Here and there, you will see comments about it not being effective, or not doing what was expected. The AI features are heavily dependent on how you set up your DBs, and so it might very well be that your ‘system’ is not allowing the AI to do all that it could. But there are plenty of resources available in the Forums, explaining ‘best-practices’… When set up correctly, the Auto-Classify feature, using the AI, always makes me smile!]
I take your point on the UI – I am hopeful that it will be dramatically improved with V3 – but in all honestly, given how I am now so familiar with it, I find my focus is exclusively on my files and their content, and the UI is pretty much in the background – especially in 3-Pane view (where I am 99% of the time).
That said - keep in mind that you are able to ‘personalise’ group icons and the toolbar etc., so there is an element of ‘customisability’ to having it look more like something you would prefer.
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UI Issues?
OK Maybe I’m just blind to it but what specific UI issues do the folks that don’t like DT’s UI see?
For me it’s clean, compact and works as I expect it to 99.99% of the time. The other .01% it’s usually a user problem not the fault of the app.
I might mention that I use the 3 panes view all the time.
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I agree the UI is just not a problem for me. DT is a database–I’m not looking for beauty. I’m looking for effectiveness and efficiency. Of course, my wife says the same thing about me! 
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I was at one point (rather loudly) vocal on the DT forum about this. I give two main strikes to the UI. First, the presentation of controls is excessive to the point of causing clutter. Second, following on the mantra of E Tufte for clean design in the visualization of graphical data, the windows generally have significant amounts of useless ink. I have a minor gripe about the outdated icons. Overall, the UI does not help me develop an intuitive or fluid use of the app. Rather, it leaves me more oft bewildered and befuddled.
I am also not looking for beauty. But I am not accepting of cases when UI design gets in the way of effectiveness or efficiency, and I find this to be the case with DT.
–
JJW
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I’m not arguing the point, it is a valid one. I’m just not letting that keep me from using a superior application that meets my needs otherwise. Design is important but, for me, not a determining factor.
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Can you explain this a bit more? Maybe a specific example of a control as it exists and how you think it ought to be?
Also explain “useless ink” Personally I hate the useless white space I see in so many apps. I want text tight and compact in terms of spacing but at a decent size in terms of font size. I do not like text that is spread out with lots of leading on the lines or is a font with thin lines that I can’t see well.
And why are the icons “outdated” What benefit would a newer approach provide?
Just trying to understand because I hear that a lot about Omnifocus and about DT. Lots of folks hailed the newer look in OF and I hated it and have been working to develop my own style sheet to get it back to something I can use effectively. I also like how efficient DT is for what I do in terms of finding and using stuff. SO I’m clearly missing some point of view that other folks feel is important.
I don’t think the iOS version will search inside Microsoft office documents…
I can confirm this: having a PDF and a Word docx document from the same source markdown file a quick search for a specific content will show up only the PDF but not the text document.
Haha thread title should be reasons NOT to buy…
True - but OP was specifically asking about macOS/DTPO.
But who needs MS office really?
Gotta ask, what use case or scenario leads to 150,000 items? Says a lot for the product certainly.
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I don’t personally. Buy I can’t control what others send.