Best Free Email Client? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

flamestalker · 03-26-2010, 10:45 PM

Alright, so it's time to grow up and stop using Hotmail as my main email client. Anyone got any good suggestions for a good free email client? I know about the Yahoos/Gmails, etc. but out of all of them, which one offers the best service for email?

Or perhaps a better question is, what do you guys use and what do you like and dislike about them? Thanks in advance.

Dorkmaster · 03-26-2010, 10:50 PM

I personally like gmail`s spam filtering. Very very good at recognizing what is spam and what is not. Of all the emails I have recieved only one automated message from Air Canada got incorrectly put into the spam folder.

Rathji · 03-26-2010, 10:52 PM

Gmail is by far the best email out there. Archiving and Searching your email is amazing.

You can use any client with it really.

Thunderbird and Windows Live Mail are not bad for free options, but if you have MS Office, then you can also use Outlook as well.

Mike F · 03-26-2010, 10:56 PM

One thing to keep in mind:

Most free email services are US based and thus fall under the jurisdiction of the Patriot Act and it's snooping provisions, so be sure to keep any business correspondence that is sensitive away from those services.

photon · 03-26-2010, 11:10 PM

I use gmail and really like it.

I used to use gmail in combination with Thunderbird for sending because it used to be that when you said an email from gmail it would always say "from photon@mybusiness.com on behalf of samename@gmail.com" or some such, basically always making the gmail visible which wasn't very professional.

Now they've fixed that so I stopped using thunderbird, though I'm currently figuring out ways to back up my email automatically now just in case something happens, I've heard of a few stories of people having their accounts closed down.

OilKiller · 03-27-2010, 02:49 AM

I use Thunderbird, but it sure annoys the hell out of me. Too many quirks. Would be interested in any other free options and suggestions...guys?

photon · 03-27-2010, 08:17 AM

Free, I don't think there's anything that compares to Thunderbird.. are you using the new version 3?

http://www.postbox-inc.com/

This one is pretty cheap and I've heard decent things about it, though I've never used it.

Having all my email online and available for searching from anywhere and having my read/not read status updated live from any device I'm reading from are two big reasons why I'm online only now.

OilKiller · 03-27-2010, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by photon

Free, I don't think there's anything that compares to Thunderbird.. are you using the new version 3?

I'm using version 3 and have been for a while. It's still bug-riddled.

The thing that has always killed me (we use TB at work as well) is when you delete messages with large attachments, it takes forever. God help you if you select multiple messages with attachments...

I simply can't understand why if they want to delete the attachment, delete it in a separate thread after I click delete. Don't make me sit there and wait until I can do anything else.

I've also had version 3 simply lose where it is, stop showing the subjects and the sender for a list of message in the Inbox and go completely fubared until I restart.

It's great that it's free, but boy is it flaky. They've officially released version 3, but we're still all beta testing it.

Edit: So I downloaded the Postbox app you suggested. It obviously uses the TB engine, but it does things a lot faster and I have had zero issues so far. I haven't used it much, but I will try it out at work and see how it does. So far very impressed. They seem to have solved the issues I've been having with TB in this app. Thanks photon!

Iceman90 · 03-27-2010, 11:08 PM

This mail seems to be mixing up mail clients and mail providers.

Mail Providers
Yahoo's new RocketMail service isn't bad either, if you like web mail interfaces. It's not a mail client, but a mail provider.

I haven't tried them yet, but I have a few friends that really like GMX (http://www.gmx.com) as a mail provider.

Mail Clients
I too use Thunderbird. I recently upgraded to Thunderbird 3, which is now out of beta. I really like it. The new style search drives me nuts, but is is very easy to disable and go back to Thunderbird 2 "quick search" mode.

I think ideally, you'd use Gmail as your provider, to do things like spam filter, and then use an IMAP connection through Thunderbird to it if you want a desktop client (perhaps for managing multiple accounts.

MickMcGeough · 03-29-2010, 10:18 AM

Gmail/Google Apps is by far the best, IMO.

Google provides an MS Exchange facade for Contacts & Calendar - meaning you get "real time" two-way updates on any supporting client. When I update a contact on my iPhone it immediately updates my google contacts accordingly, when I enter an appointment in Google Calendar on my desktop it syncs to my iPhone calendar automatically with alerts & all.

Gmail's IMAP support is awesome - tags work as folders with an IMAP client. Searching is silly fast. Lots of awesome.

mykalberta · 03-29-2010, 10:23 AM

I use Gmail. It takes a while to get used to labels instead of folders but I much prefer it to what I used to use.

OilKiller · 03-29-2010, 10:33 AM

Guys, we are not talking about mail providers, we are talking about actual email clients. I use GMail as well for 2 accounts, but I use a client to download and read the email as well as respond, forward, etc.

jtfrogger · 03-29-2010, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OilKiller

Guys, we are not talking about mail providers, we are talking about actual email clients. I use GMail as well for 2 accounts, but I use a client to download and read the email as well as respond, forward, etc.

You might not be talking about web clients, but the original poster is. He lists Hotmail, Yahoo, & Gmail as free email clients that he knows about. So, ignore what I am about to say, since I am responding to the original question.

I use Gmail. I have my own domain, but I am using Google to host it. The Gmail interface is what is used for the mail client. Prior to having them host my own domain, I used a regular Gmail account. There are two key features that I believe make it stronger than most anything else out there. First and foremost is the searching. I can find any email in an instant if I know something about it. I sure miss that feature if I have to use something like Outlook or GroupWise for work. The second is the really strong spam filtering. I think I have only had something appear in my spam accidentally once in the 5 or so years I have used Gmail. And it was basically spam that I signed up to get. And it is extremely rare that something slips through the filter.

There are other nice features about Gmail, it works well with my iPhone, and it is a reliable service, but the two features I mentioned are really what makes it win out for me. They do also add new features on a regular basis. If you want something for when you are offline, Gmail does have that feature. See here. I haven't used it myself, so I can't comment on it.

Buff · 03-29-2010, 11:43 AM

Like Iceman noted. The client is the program you use to view your email ie. Outlook, Firefox, etc. The provider is who you get your email service from, ie. Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc.

MickMcGeough · 03-29-2010, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buff

Like Iceman noted. The client is the program you use to view your email ie. Outlook, Firefox, etc. The provider is who you get your email service from, ie. Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc.

No. Firefox is a web browser. Email clients can be web-based (gmail) or desktop (outlook, thunderbird). An email provider like Gmail can provide the email service and a client. You can use the Gmail web client to receive mail for any POP account you want.

mykalberta · 03-29-2010, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OilKiller

Guys, we are not talking about mail providers, we are talking about actual email clients. I use GMail as well for 2 accounts, but I use a client to download and read the email as well as respond, forward, etc.

If anything the only thing he lists is hotmail/gmail etc.

There is not one mention of outlook etc.

And Gmail via the web can easily be considered a client even if it is web based.

photon · 03-29-2010, 01:39 PM

The point is that many people use gmail as their primary or exclusive email client, not using Outlook or Thunderbird or anything on the desktop.

Which is what I do.

mykalberta · 03-29-2010, 02:17 PM

What he said.

Diemenz · 03-29-2010, 05:52 PM

Well flame since I know everything I can give you some quick pointers

First off only yellows use yahoo.

Use gmail and as sad as it sounds Windows Live Mail (free download if your not a pirate) Is better then Thunderbird because TB3 is slow and has issues with attachments and Imap Idle. When TB gets a bit better I say run back. Currently NOTHING else is even worth your time.

QuadCityImages · 03-29-2010, 07:19 PM

I've never really understood what the point is, in this day and age, of email clients like Outlook or Thunderbird. It used to be that you could download your email and view it offline, but when is anyone offline anymore? I'm not exactly in the corporate world, so maybe there's some obvious reason that business people don't use web mail interfaces?