which email service do you choose ?

[SpeedyPC]

I have Optusnet email and Gmail all connected to Thunderbird email software which mean I can used both at the same time

I use Gmail as my everyday used and Optusnet with my internet provider

[bob3160]

Gmail sucks in my honest opinion.

Maybe that's because you don't know how to use it

[Spoudason]

I have tried many e-mail programs. I use gmail with Opera. It takes care of my business and personal needs. I could not be happier with this set-up.

[MikeBCda]

My primary email is my ISP's POP server, which does a great job of intercepting and quarantining 99 percent of incoming junk (and malware-infected stuff, too), using Thunderbird as client.  The latter has its own junk-detection built in which catches nearly all of what the ISP might miss (and also learns my preferences), so it's rarely more than once or twice a month that something actually sneaks into my home inbox, and even then it's usually fairly obvious.

The only webmail I use is Yahoo, and that's strictly a backup and generally just for spam related to my Yahoo ID.

[Dch48]

Gmail sucks in my honest opinion.

Maybe that's because you don't know how to use it

There is no reason for an email service to have that many options and "features". It should be light and simple. I don't need apps, facebook or twitter and I have never even owned nor used a cell phone. I don't need links and options to half of the internet and you should at least have the option to not use the spam filter that many people have found to be too aggressive and have lost important mail because of. You also should not have to wade through a maze of settings to turn off what you don't want and at least maintain a modicum of privacy.

[bob3160]

Gmail sucks in my honest opinion.

Maybe that's because you don't know how to use it

There is no reason for an email service to have that many options and "features". It should be light and simple. I don't need apps, facebook or twitter and I have never even owned nor used a cell phone. I don't need links and options to half of the internet and you should at least have the option to not use the spam filter that many people have found to be too aggressive and have lost important mail because of. You also should not have to wade through a maze of settings to turn off what you don't want and at least maintain a modicum of privacy.

Some of us happen to need a lot of features. Just because you still want to live in the "good old days" when email was personal communication between 2 parties and telephones hang on the wall and need to be cranked before use, doesn't mean it's what most of us use.  

[Pondus]

I use GMX which to me is the best of the free services. Gmail is bloated and has too many features that I never use. Yahoo just has a terrible interface, in my opinion, and Hotmail I never have liked much. I don't keep mail after I've read it (with very few exceptions), I don't need any sorting features, and I turn off all provided spam filters. I let everything come through in Outlook Express and use the free version of SpamFighter to sort it out. That way I can see what has to be adjusted without having to go to a website to see what I may have missed that was classified by the provider as spam. I never get more than 5 or 6 spam mails a day and SpamFighter puts them in it's own folder where they are easily deleted. Another thing I don't like about Gmail is that the mail does not get deleted from their server after Outlook Express retrieves it even though it is set up in OE to do so. The GMX mail is cleanly removed automatically but I have to go to the Gmail site periodically to clean things out. I greatly prefer the interface of Outlook Express (or Windows Mail) to read my mail in. The web based interfaces are, without exception, terrible.

Update--- On going to the Gmail site, I discovered that you can't turn off their spam filtering. How stupid is that? I have had to make a custom filter to stop mail being sent to the spam folder. I just told it to ignore anything that has the @ symbol in the To field. That's basically everything so now it will all go to my inbox and be dealt with by Outlook Express and SpamFighter. I did however find out how to have mail in the inbox deleted after being retrieved by Outlook Express. It's buried in the myriad of mostly useless options.  Gmail sucks in my honest opinion.

That setting is in the Gmail gui

you find it under settings > POP/Imap > what to do after .....

they will then be sendt to the Gmail resycle bin where they stay for 30 days and then deleted

[Dch48]

I use GMX which to me is the best of the free services. Gmail is bloated and has too many features that I never use. Yahoo just has a terrible interface, in my opinion, and Hotmail I never have liked much. I don't keep mail after I've read it (with very few exceptions), I don't need any sorting features, and I turn off all provided spam filters. I let everything come through in Outlook Express and use the free version of SpamFighter to sort it out. That way I can see what has to be adjusted without having to go to a website to see what I may have missed that was classified by the provider as spam. I never get more than 5 or 6 spam mails a day and SpamFighter puts them in it's own folder where they are easily deleted. Another thing I don't like about Gmail is that the mail does not get deleted from their server after Outlook Express retrieves it even though it is set up in OE to do so. The GMX mail is cleanly removed automatically but I have to go to the Gmail site periodically to clean things out. I greatly prefer the interface of Outlook Express (or Windows Mail) to read my mail in. The web based interfaces are, without exception, terrible.

Update--- On going to the Gmail site, I discovered that you can't turn off their spam filtering. How stupid is that? I have had to make a custom filter to stop mail being sent to the spam folder. I just told it to ignore anything that has the @ symbol in the To field. That's basically everything so now it will all go to my inbox and be dealt with by Outlook Express and SpamFighter. I did however find out how to have mail in the inbox deleted after being retrieved by Outlook Express. It's buried in the myriad of mostly useless options.  Gmail sucks in my honest opinion.

That setting is in the Gmail gui

you find it under settings > POP/Imap > what to do after .....

they will then be sendt to the Gmail resycle bin where they stay for 30 days and then deleted

Actually they do not go to the trash or recycle bin as you called it. They are gone immediately.

[Pondus]

Actually they do not go to the trash or recycle bin as you called it. They are gone immediately.

They go to the Trash folder....the one that you access in Gmail web, not in your computer...

mail settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP > POP Download: 2 When messages are accessed with POP > Delete Gmails copy


I use that setting and that is where they go in my Gmail POP account....

[Marc57]

Primary email is my ISP's, I use Yahoo when I don't want to give out my primary address.

[Dch48]

Actually they do not go to the trash or recycle bin as you called it. They are gone immediately.

They go to the Trash folder....the one that you access in Gmail web, not in your computer...

mail settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP > POP Download: 2 When messages are accessed with POP > Delete Gmails copy


I use that setting and that is where they go in my account....

That's the setting I found and am using and I just checked and you're right, they do go in the trash folder. Even that is not acceptable in my opinion. With GMX, they are immediately fully deleted just by telling OE not to leave a copy of the message on the server. That OE setting does not work with Gmail.

[Pondus]

If you use IMAP you will have full sync and it does what you do on your computer

delete a mail and it is deleted on web...delete on web and it will be deleted in your comp

[scythe944]

If you use IMAP you will have full sync and it does what you do on your computer

delete a mail and it is deleted on web...delete on web and it will be deleted in your comp

Exactly.  IMAP, not POP3 should be used whenever possible, especially if you download your mail at several locations.

Otherwise, it's a nightmare to keep it all straight.

[SpeedyPC]

If you use IMAP you will have full sync and it does what you do on your computer

delete a mail and it is deleted on web...delete on web and it will be deleted in your comp

Pondus is 100% correct that's how mind is setup through Thunderbird

[scythe944]

Also wanted to throw this out there, ISP mail is good, except for when you move or change service providers.  Then you have to change email addresses, change logins for websites, update all sorts of information, let everyone know your new email address, etc.

It's a big pain in the rear (I had to do it twice in a year, no fun).  If possible, use one of the free web-based email services for your primary email, or at least for websites that you subscribe to.

You don't have to worry about losing emails if your hard drive fails or laptop is stolen, etc.

With Gmail (sorry Dch, it's a great service) you get a ton of space, so you don't have to worry about getting too much mail and deleting the old stuff if you choose not to.  Secure IMAP (for free, by the way, Yahoo charges for this) keeps your emails synched almost as well as MS Exchange does on multiple devices, and it's secure unlike POP3.