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Main Area and Open Discussion => General Software Discussion => Topic started by: AndyM on May 17, 2007, 02:30 PM

Title: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: AndyM on May 17, 2007, 02:30 PM

Friends,

This is sort of a software question, so I thought I'd ask here.

My wife will be losing her work email address, and it seems to me it would be best for her to get a gmail or yahoo account.  I have absolutely no experience with this, so I thought I'd ask for opinions here.

Any opinions?

Thanks,

Andy

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: app103 on May 17, 2007, 02:47 PM

I have been a Gmail user since the very beginning (invited by Google).

I love it!   :-*

You can use the webmail...or pop3 with any mail client. (I prefer the webmail)

I also used to be a Yahoo mail user. I never was crazy about it.

What you can do is let her try Gmail. If she doesn't like it, get her a Yahoo account and set up forwarding from the Gmail one to the Yahoo account so she won't lose anything coming in or have to log into 2 accounts to get her mail. I don't think Yahoo has automatic mail forwarding, but Gmail does.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: nosh on May 17, 2007, 02:59 PM

Gmail is the hands down winner in my book... for too many reasons to list here.
I also recommend you try the lesser known Rediffmail.com for a simple/good looking interface & terrific speed.

Mind you, none of these services are flawless, some Gmail(!) users lost their saved mails lately.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: Edvard on May 17, 2007, 03:57 PM

If you're more concerned about speed & reliability over a pretty interface, try fastmail.fm.
More features than you can shake a stick at, and many domains to choose from.
http://www.fastmail.fm

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: nosh on May 17, 2007, 04:19 PM

Fastmail has an account disabling policy, they wipe every little bit of data off permanently if you don't login for a certain amount of time. I wouldn't call them "reliable".

I believe most other services (Yahoo, Rediff, Windows Live Mail) follow this practice. Gmail does no such thing. :-*

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: mwb1100 on May 17, 2007, 04:58 PM

Mind you, none of these services are flawless, some Gmail(!) users lost their saved mails lately.

-nosh (May 17, 2007, 02:59 PM)

That's why it's nice that GMail lets you access your inbox with POP3 - you can archive your email locally very easily.  I'm not sure how many other webmail services do this.  A few years back (before GMail) I know Hotmail had a proprietary method that works only with Outlook and/or Outlook Express, and there are proxies that will let you get POP3 access to other webmail services, but my understanding is that they tend to be fragile.  It may be that in order to keep up with GMail other services have had to open up POP access, but I don't know.

See http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=34030&topic=1556 for details on "How do I back up all my mail using POP access?"

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: dk70 on May 17, 2007, 05:41 PM

Must remember that loss of email happens very rarely. If same amount of people had emails on their hd more would be lost! Last accident? http://gigaom.com/2006/12/28/mom-google-ate-my-gmail/ , I think connected more to a Firefox flaw than Gmail, hit 60 people. Same probably goes for other major services. Dont remember Yahoo or Hotmail disasters at least. Very important services so dont worry too much, not like they will stop caring.

"speed & reliability" are of course also keywords for Gmail ;) Let you log in with https for example http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=8155&query=https&topic=&type=f&ctx=search More importantly I doubt you can say service has a history of failures, more like the opposite.

If organizing in folders not tags is a must forget about Gmail. Most noticable difference to Yahoo, MS. Well read about here http://mail.google.com/support/ but really has to be experienced.

I heard in some podcast MS will release new email client next month or so - to replace Windows Desktop Mail. Free and no advertising, replacement for Outlook Express I guess. Well, if Gmails interface feels hopeless, though nice spam filter and "reliability", it can be used as a POP machine http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?ctx=%67mail&hl=en_GB&answer=10350 with Outlook Express, Thunderbird or whatever is prefered.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: Mark0 on May 17, 2007, 06:41 PM

Another vote for Gmail here!
I got my account back at the time trough GmailSwap (or something similar), offering a picturecard from Venice! :)
First I wanted to try it just out of curiosity and for the "Google" factor, then started using it more than The Bat!, then started using Gmail from his web interface exclusively.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cthorpe on May 17, 2007, 07:12 PM

I also would recommend gmail.  Though I haven't spent any time with the other big webmail systems.  I always got overwhelmed with spam in hotmail, yahoo-mail, etc.  With gmail, I rarely have a spam email get past the filters, and it is fast and reliable.  I got an invite way back in the beginning, and I cannot recall a single time that I have ever been unable to access it.  I have had trouble with the new feature that lets you have gmail check other pop accounts.  Emails were showing up days later in gmail than they were getting to my pop client.

When I first started using gmail, I found a little utility that helped me forward every single email from my Outlook mailboxes to my gmail account.  I recently got a copy of TheBat! for my various pop accounts, and I set gmail to let me download every single one of my gmail emails through pop.  It took a little while, and it downloaded in spurts (I just set TheBat! to check that account every 3 minutes), but eventually I had all 13,632 emails downloaded dating as far back as 1997.  What am I going to do with all of those?  I don't know, but it was nice to see that gmail and TheBat! could handle it.

Carl

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: AndyM on May 17, 2007, 08:59 PM

Ok, gmail it is.

Thanks everyone for the advice, tips, and links! 

Andy

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: Deozaan on May 17, 2007, 11:28 PM

I'm a little late to the party (Hey where'd everyone go?) but I just want to say that Gmail is indeed the best in my opinion. I used to despise webmail and feel sorry for everyone who had it. Once I started using Gmail, I stopped using my pop3 client.

 :-*

Now I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't use Gmail.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: lanux128 on May 18, 2007, 12:18 AM

i'm another one of the late-comers to this thread.. like many others before, i had pretty much given up on webmails until Gmail turned up and changed my mind.. :) also, get the notifier (http://toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper/notifier_windows.html) as well.. :Thmbsup:

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Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: iphigenie on May 18, 2007, 03:33 AM

I do know that gmail is sexier and that yahoo mail has improved immensely lately, but I use fastmail. Less sexy, but I know that I pay for it and they won't sell my profile to anyone.

I stopped trusting google about 3 years ago when they changed their description to "the largest advertising agency on earth"

I use fastmail - paid for - and find it reliable and well set up etc. They are very transparent in their blog as to what technology they use and what the customers can do with it, which I appreciate since I used to run mail servers and have seen so many badly configured services (godaddy's for one)

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: app103 on May 18, 2007, 03:48 AM

Speaking of ads...

When you send an email from your Yahoo account, they tack ads to the end of it. The receiver sees these ads...same with Hotmail.  :-[

Gmail...they don't put ads in the mails you send out. The only ads seen are by the Gmail account holder, in the right side panel, if you use the webmail...not in the emails themselves....and not seen at all if you use Gmail with POP access.

Something to think about. Do you want to send people email + ads? or just email?

Something else I remember about Hotmail and Yahoo...they spam you with ads. It's not enough that they are tacking ads onto everything you send out, they have to send you mail to your inbox full of ads too. I don't get extra crap to delete from Google like I did from Yahoo & Hotmail.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: iphigenie on May 18, 2007, 04:01 AM

I have friends on yahoo and I only see a tagline "sent via yahoo" thingie (just like gmail) no ads. Can't comment about hotmail, seems noone uses it to send anything anymore, only as a spambox.

That model is much better: after all the account holder chose to get on gmail, and therefore agreed to see ads and be profiled, but the people receiving the email did not agree to anything and why should they be subhected to ads or tracking bugs?

That's why I have always either paid for email or run my own mail server - courtesy to my recipients as well as professionalism. Also, I want to make sure I have the control over my email etc. If fastmail lose all my email I can expect them to do everything to restore it quickly, and I can also demand compensation.
If google decided tomorrow to change all the T&Cs of their account, drop certain features, access etc. I don't believe users have any recourse... (Both google and yahoo have in the past changed their features, changed their conditions, dropped entire areas of service)

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 18, 2007, 04:19 AM

There are ads on the email main page for yahoo.
But in the email itself There is like one line at the bottom.
And not on every email.
That's my experience with yahoo.

Hotmail is a waste of good bandwidth imo.
Too many hoops to jump through.
I guess you still have to be signed in with 'passport', I don't know

Haven't tryed Gmail but sounds good.

Roadrunner has a feature to view your emails on their servers before downloading them. But once downloaded they are off their server.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: dantheman on May 18, 2007, 07:29 AM

A bit late in the game too...

But i like GMail for the above positive notes and also for the fact that:
-you can send mail to make it look like it comes from another address.
-you don't have to click on 100 links before you get to your inbox like Yahoo does.
-filters unlimited.

It's just too much!

 :Thmbsup:

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cthorpe on May 18, 2007, 07:37 AM

I have friends on yahoo and I only see a tagline "sent via yahoo" thingie (just like gmail) no ads.

-iphigenie (May 18, 2007, 04:01 AM)

Gmail does not tag emails with "sent via gmail".

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: AndyM on May 18, 2007, 08:24 AM

One advantage of setting her up with one of the mainstream services like gmail is that she has friends who also use it.

The advice not to teach your spouse how to drive also applies to computers...

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 18, 2007, 08:32 AM

Clicking the icon Yahoo E-mail and clicking inbox is all I have to click.
Don't know what you are saying about all those clicks you have to do dantheman.
Also if you have yahoo messenger up and running it notifies of new mail.
And it has good spam blocking.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: iphigenie on May 18, 2007, 09:02 AM

Another way to look at it is what other toys come with each account

One of the possible advantages of a yahoo account is that you automatically also have a my yahoo page, a blog if you want it, messenger, yahoo groups etc.

One of the possible advantages of gmail is that you also get the calendar and possibly the new personalised search and search notebook etc.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: Mark0 on May 18, 2007, 09:09 AM

Gmail integrate also the Google Talk IM (Jabber based) right in the browser, with the conversations logs that become like mail threads, and equally searcheable. Going from mail message to IM and back is very handy.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: hpearce on May 18, 2007, 09:16 AM

I would recommend you look at BLUEBOTTLE https://mail.bluebottle.com/index.php

It has "spam protection" by forcing all senders to re-certify they sent the email ... these emails stay in the PENDING box until certified by the sender OR accepted by you.

It is free (the freemail version) and has POP abilities.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: dantheman on May 18, 2007, 05:19 PM

Here's the way i see my Yahoo.ca account:

1st click to enter p.w. (often forgotten even if they say it is remembered for a few weeks);
2nd click to get to mail.
3rd click to get to inbox.
4th click to read message.

One click to enter GMail (which always remembered) and then another to whatever message i please.
That's two clicks to two too many for Yahoowooo!!!

Antispam is awful compared to GMail.
I have a Yahoo account with which i've sent only a couple of emails and i get spammed with a few messages everyday inbox and spam box (that last one's okay).

I also have a GMail account with which i've sent hundreds of messages.
Only the occasional (twice?) spam message hit the inbox.
A few have gone to the spam box.

If you go to www.emailaddresses.com's forum you'll see that most people attest to GMail incredible spam protection.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 18, 2007, 11:01 PM

well, i only have to click twice, then inbox
but gmail sounds interesting

i don't get much spam
only if i send an email to the wrong place
which i have been dumb enough to do

but i can always make a new yahoo account
import my contacts from messenger and inform them

what is required to sign up for gmail?
what do they want to know?

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: dantheman on May 19, 2007, 04:23 AM

well, i only have to click twice, then inbox
but gmail sounds interesting

i don't get much spam
only if i send an email to the wrong place
which i have been dumb enough to do

but i can always make a new yahoo account
import my contacts from messenger and inform them

what is required to sign up for gmail?
what do they want to know?

-cmpm (May 18, 2007, 11:01 PM)

Sign up is free. Just go to www.gmail.com

No email service is perfect and i guess it's all about how you feel for it (like your favourite browser or car or pizza) but i really do like GMail's conversation view.

As hpierce mentioned previously, Bluebottle is pretty good too but when you have almost 3G's of space for free, i think you kind of prefer that to a smaller 250mg.

Enough said on my part for GMail. Wish you the best and most comfortable choice cmpm!

 ;)

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: dk70 on May 19, 2007, 05:51 AM

When signed up for Gmail you get a Google account and access to most of their services https://www.google.com/accounts/ManageAccount will let you modify settings, see what you have joined etc. I think you will automatically join iGoogle, the personalized homepage - not sure. But if so next time you go to www.google.com you will see an iGoogle menu item at top. Other services you must log in to. One of the nice things about Google is this ease of use. Gmail account is key to all the goodies and probably why they it is generous with features. Selling Gmail is also selling Google but you can just ignore anything but Gmail if you wish.

More or less also goes for Yahoo, MS I guess but really tight integration at Google, no reason to feel trapped.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 19, 2007, 06:19 AM

Yeah, I'm a Google account participant.
I have the notebook and docs and spreadsheets so I added Gmail.
It is an easier account to access.
And as iphigenie said yahoo adds a blog and more.
I'm sure google does too though.
And Yahoo is 1gb not 250 mb.
Either way, google or yahoo I doubt if I'd ever use that much space.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 19, 2007, 06:21 AM

No way to set Google as default E-mail as far as I can tell so far but I haven't looked into it deeply yet.

For instance I can right click anything on my computer and send to e-mail recepient with yahoo.
Don't know if Gmail has that interface yet.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: lanux128 on May 19, 2007, 10:42 AM

there is this option in the notifier.. :)

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Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 19, 2007, 01:42 PM

Thanks lanux.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 19, 2007, 07:24 PM

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ok there's some ads in gmail

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 19, 2007, 07:32 PM

No ads like this in Yahoo, though I do like Gmail.
I've only received a few e-mails in Gmail so far but they all have ads.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 19, 2007, 08:28 PM

Ok set it to basic html and no ads, but no google talk interface either.
Which is fine, I use Skype any way.
Also if you open the email in a new window there are no ads with the 'standard with chat' mode on.


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Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: MrCrispy on May 20, 2007, 01:59 AM

If gmail was just a webmail like the others, it would still be hands down the best one, due to the simplicity of its interface, google's no nonsense approach ect. But thats not reallthe attraction of gmail. Why you want (at least why I) want to use it is -

- automatic conversation threading
- no folders, welcome to tags
- unbeatable search
- countless extensions and greasemonkey scripts to make it better
- integration with other google services like maps

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: lanux128 on May 20, 2007, 09:18 PM

if you're using Firefox, you can disable the adverts with an extension called CustomizeGoogle.

CustomizeGoogle

This is a Firefox extension that enhances Google search results by adding extra information (like links to Yahoo, Ask.com, MSN etc) and removing unwanted information (like ads and spam)

http://www.customizegoogle.com/

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 22, 2007, 05:17 AM

The ads in gmail don't appear in firefox with the ad blocker add-on.

I'm toying with Maxthon now and the ads do appear in maxthon, even though it has an adblocker.

So I just downloaded ad-muncher which kills them in ie7, but for some reason does not in maxthon. Perhaps disabling maxthon's built in adblocker will alert admuncher.

Haven't tryed it yet. Gotta go to work .... again....

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: Darwin on May 22, 2007, 10:02 AM

Just to interject - my Yahoo account (and I also have GMail and MSN accounts, too) now has limitless storage. I'm just waiting for someone to release something like GMail Drive that will let me take advantage of this (because there's no way I'll ever use 2.8 GB of storage just for e-mail let alone an infinite amount - he says in 2007... in 1994 I thought a 120MB notebook harddrive was HUGE and impossible to fill).

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 22, 2007, 10:57 AM

limitless? is that a free account?
just wondering...........

I also would like to see the attachment size limits increased,
and be able to hyperlink them-
use it as a temporary webspace.

speaking of size-lol
I picked up an old apple that had a 64mb hard drive.
That succer still works too.
But it was made before the internet.
No internet hookups for it.
Not even a phone line.
Although i heard of an attachment for it, I never pursued it.
It was running os8 for mac.
And could only have a 3.5 floppy drive.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 23, 2007, 09:22 PM

Some how the combination of Maxthon, Avant and Admuncher has succed in bloking the ads in Gmail running Maxthon.

Don't know how, but I had Maxthon and Admuncher and still had the ads.
Installed Avant, (the simplest browser I've ever seen). And no ads now.

If I exit Admuncher the ads are back...kind of funny.

Not too impressed with Avant but Maxthon I like.

Loaded Fasterfox and saw a very noticeable difference in performance.
For the better that is. hope this helps someone.
Admuncher is not free, but only $20 I think.

Of course with firefox there is no ads in Gmail at all.

Still playin', haven't played with Opera yet.
But like I said I thought Maxthon was pretty nifty.
For me that is....................

So Web Mail is the subject, but this has been my trip thus far with Gmail stuff.

Love the instant access to Gmail rather then the things to do with getting into Yahoo. Even though i'll keep it. And Windows live I like for desktop sharing instant access to help my friends.

Peace.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: Darwin on May 23, 2007, 10:08 PM

hi cmpm,

I have a paid account (I like being able to access my mail from within Outlook and, when I initially purcahsed the upgrade, I got 1 GB versus 25 MB so it was worth it. I'm not so sure it's that worth is anymore...). Anyway, the limitless mailbox applies to both free and paid accounts, so fill your boots!

I like the Yahoo Mail Beta more than GMail - I use it more, anyway. The only thing I like better about GMail is the tagging vs. Yahoo where you still need to use a traditional folder system to organise your mail. Having said that, it's fully searchable, so you probably don't really even need to do that...

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 24, 2007, 11:23 AM

Well, son of a gun, it's been done.

http://www.download.com/Gmail-Space/3000-11745_4-10654729.html?tag=lst-0-1

I'll have to check this out.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 24, 2007, 11:32 AM

Here's another link for g-space or g-drive.

http://www.getgspace.com/howitworks.html

Works in Firefox.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: nite_monkey on May 24, 2007, 01:03 PM

Hey can someone show me these "ads" that are in gmail? I don't have any? Right now I am using IE6 at school, and I don't have any ads in my gmail account.

Title: Re: Web Mail Recommendation?
Post by: cmpm on May 24, 2007, 02:32 PM

scroll to the right of the picture i posted
not a big deal but there they are...