Is Webmail Better? - Comments

Bob, You didnt mention what I think is the biggest drawback to web-based email. I have an account with mail.com, and what annoys me is the advertising. I could always ignore it before, but lately when I go to check my email, I get audio advertising - loud tones and voices blaring at me and I've had to mute my audio. Another thing that bugs is that they dont give you near enough spam filters.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Loud audio advertising? I'd drop that in a heartbeat. You might want to try Gmail...

Bob, One advantage that you neglected to mention with a web based email is the ability to access it at work without violating acceptable use policy. I have work email forwarded to my gmail account and can check work emails both at work and anywhere else. Gmail can be downloaded (if you want) to your computer. It also has a spell check (Firefox has one, too so you could use it and not worry). I have Thunderbird, but it has been a while since I have even used that. Since I use more than one computer, I alway have access to my emails. They are never left on another computer. My isp provides me with 7 addresses, and professionally I have two more. Gmail is still the primary email I use.

1. Yahoo mail once wiped out all I had saved because, they claimed, I hadn't checked email for 4 months.

2. Gmail seems to want me to import everything from my Eudora.

3. I am afraid it will be like Homestead which was free to begin with, but after I had spent weeks on my site, they started to charge, first $30 but it has gone up to $100.

I've been using GMail for well over a year now, and haven't had any trouble with it. It hasn't required me to upload anything, although it did offer to import my address book. One thing I do like about GMail is the fact they allow free POP3 access. I'd used Hotmail and Yahoo both before they started charging for that feature. Yes, there is the possibility that Google will start charging in the future, but it's unlikely. All in all, I'm quite satisfied with GMail and hope to use it for a long time to come.

I love web-based e-mail. I have 4 different accounts, and have mail from a list go to two of them so in case one is down for service I won't miss anything. I particularly like the features of yahoo.com and inbox.com. I closed my gmail account because of ads. On my two of other e-mails I don't get ads, and all but lycos are great at screening out spam.

If I want to save something I can save it in the mail or copy and paste onto a Word document. They save sent mail and trash but empty trash periodically. I also like the fact that I can access my mail from anyh computer anywhere.

I tried gmail but even on a broadband connection I found it too slow to be of any use so reverted back to my computer based account. I only use one computer and travel infrequently so there is no advantage to me of accessing my account away from home, besides there are always options to getting my email if necessary.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Must have been a bad day... I use Gmail because it's lightweight and FAST!

To Viv: Many free mail providers close an account if its unused for several months. Thats how I got rid of my spam-filled hotmail account. Theres no delete way. Its possible that if you had scripts or cookies blocked that it may not have recorded your login. Gmail may ask if you want to import Contacts etc from your local email client but its optional. And it doesn't delete your email as "spam" without you knowing about it which some do.

Bob: I can think of a couple of other issues with webmail accounts like the ones mentioned.

For one, you have no local backup of your email so if there is a hiccup like Viv mentioned, its gone. That could be fatal for a business. In that instance, I would use it as a remote copy for things like traveling but have it also forward to a standard POP account you can download.

Secondly, free email accounts have a bad reputation. Especially Hotmail and AOL. Some business sites won't accept them for contact. For a professional "look" its much better if you have a more professional domain.

Finally, its worth mentioning that most ISP's now provide web access to email so you can choose to use webmail or a client. The issue of being tied to an ISP is avoided by getting your own domain and using it with the ISP.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I do exactly what you mentioned for email backup. My bob@rankin.org is forwarded to Gmail and a regular POP inbox.

I use Gmail as you can see, but I have recently been introduced to a new webmail called Squirrel, and although only one week of use it seems to offer most of the essentials one finds in Thunderbird.

An excellent web-based email -- one that allows you to pay a little more and substantially increase the storage -- is www.inbox.com. For $9.95 you can get rid of the one-line advertising "footer." Up to 30GB storage.

Something else in Gmail's favour. They offer free POP access, so you get the best of both worlds - download your mail to your computer or, if you're travelling, use their webmail service.