Hi!

I'm a complete newbie to Salesforce.com and I have to load large amounts of data to the Salesforce.com database. If it's possible I'd like to avoid developing my own solution using the Apex API.
While searching the net for a possible solution, I stumbled on three tools.
The first tool I found in the Salesforce blog is named "Excel Connector"; unfortunately Excel is not (and should not be) involved in the upload process.
Next, I found "SForce Data Loader" on sourceforge.net and "arlanis Salesforce.com Data Exchange" on arlanis.org. Now, I'm not sure which one of these two tools best fits my needs. Any experiences or suggestions?

Thanks in advance

Adam