Is Gmail any good? I've heard the hype, but is it really any different to other web based email providers?

I haven't really noticed much of a difference.
Aside from a few inbox organization gimmicks, It receives and sends mail just like the others.

Is Gmail any good? I've heard the hype, but is it really any different to other web based email providers?

If you send an email to thomas789 at gmail.com , I'll send you an invitation and you can check it out yourself.

I use Gmail only for some secondary email adresses and forward the messages to my main account. If I get too much spam on it, I stop the forwarding and get a new account. However, I found that the spam filter is very good so far. Hardly any spam is getting through, even for addresses I use in newsgroups etc. and which are bombarded with spam messages (which go straight into a separate folder).
What is somewhat irritating though are the tailored adverts that appear alongside each message you open.
I also had a problem recently, where a couple of genuine emails where not forwarded by the server. Generally, the Google servers seem to be somewhat unreliable in recent months. I am frequently getting messages that the server can't deal with my request when trying to log into my email account, submit newsgroup messages and sometimes even for searches. So I wouldn't use a gmail adress for important emails (I personally have a paid for email account with fastmail with which I am very happy so far (for the last year)).

Thomas

I need a new invitation to gmail.. my old account is loaded with spam. :(

I used to be absane@gmail.com

:(

I need a new invitation to gmail.. my old account is loaded with spam. :(


There is a Report Spam facility with gmail.

Do you not use it?

--- Ron.

I get new spam everyday. It doesn't work. I have tried. It's almost like my e-mail address is circulated among a large organization of many spammers. Plus it doesn't take much to randomly generate my name.. it's only 5 letters.

The only account I have that gets no spam is my student account at my school. However I don't like that account and I use it only to e-mail the school or to find out that I owe the library $12.00. :-/

I've tried the Report Spam button and it worked well.
Offending items never came again.
Your handle should have nothing to do with it because the spam block is general.
Anything identified as spam would be blocked wherever it goes.

--- Ron.

I need a new invitation to gmail.. my old account is loaded with spam. :(

I used to be absane@gmail.com

:(

I have sent you an invitation, but you can actually invite yourself (even with your present gmail address) if you have invitations left.

Thomas

P.S.: By the way, I find your avatar somewhat irritating (it might be perceived as promoting violence).

I think my avatar is great. I am not promoting violence at all. But what's wrong with some fist fighting every now-and-then?

And it's from Office Space...

It also represents the recent testoterone boost I received from starting a workout program. I got to say, I feel great. I feel like kicking some ass.

RAWR.

When gmail first came out, I bought an invite for $7. Sad, eh? But it was great for bragging back then. HEY! I got a gmail account!!

But now you can get them anywhere. lol.

And it's from Office Space...I thought it was from Office Space, but I wasn't sure!

I have a gmail account, but I barely use it. I have so many other email accounts that I have no use for it. I wish I'd been invited earlier because it looks pretty good.

One thing I can say about it is that one of my friends lost his account for a week, because of server problems in google or something. Anyway, he kept a ton of important information in his gmail account, such as his financial aid information. So when he almost lost it, he was really scared. But I guess if you are dumb enough to keep all that information in your web based email client, then you have it coming.

But I guess if you are dumb enough to keep all that information in your web based email client, then you have it coming.

Web based mail accounts are not private. Google has access.

--- Ron.

I use Gmail as my primary webmail. All the newsletters and light chatter with friends comes in there.
I have a few personal email accounts on my own server which I use for serious stuff (friends, bills, shopping and work).

I like gmail. everything the other guys have is a direct result of gmail. gmail's features are great, I like the layout, its good at keeping spam out of your inbox, and their "do no harm" policy makes it clear what is advertisement and what isn't. I hate getting mail from my yahoo friends. they attach this shit every time:
Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.
at least google has the decency of separating it.

Gmail is still in BETA and changes and improvements are being introduced regularly.

I'm using it as my primary email store but I've set forwarders on my other public email addresses. I've also uploaded some 8000 messages from my OUTLOOK store.

The ability to assign multiple labels and to classify email in such a way is very powerful. The 2.7GB free capacity is also quite generous.

The subtle and discreet auto customized adverts down the right really aren't a problem and I have found them useful several times.

The search features are powerful although I'd still like a sort function for targeted lists. Search does not replace sort despite their claims.

The SPAM reporting and SPAM detection seem very effective.

Layout is good. Address book features are also good.

Its ability to group conversation trails together is also very useful.

I would like to see message sizes listed.

Is Gmail any good? I've heard the hype, but is it really any different to other web based email providers?
One of the things that I love about Gmail is their use of labels instead of folders. With other email services, you have to decide which one folder you want to put your email in. In Gmail, you create labels, which are sorta like folders, but you can assign any number of labels to an email. Again, I love this.

You could read this page to see what all the hype is about: http://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en/about.html

Love? That's putting it a bit strong isn't it, Athelwulf? I would have overlooked it but you wrote it twice, italicising each instance. Do any other readers harbour romantic feelings towards web-based technology?

I find GMail convenient and satisfactory. I love the fact that Google services place a cookie on your computer which sits there, reaping your personal details, until 2038. I love the fact that, with GMail, Google can now link this info to a specific email address, thus making the job of tracking our every internet move that much easier. I recommend that you use GMail when swapping child pornography.

Love? That's putting it a bit strong isn't it, Athelwulf? I would have overlooked it but you wrote it twice, italicising each instance. Do any other readers harbour romantic feelings towards web-based technology?
That's right. I'm a Googlesexual.

In all seriousness, you don't know how much I hate having to decide which one folder an email should go in, because often an email will fit very well in many. I hate indecision. Google has eliminated this. And I love it.

I find GMail convenient and satisfactory. I love the fact that Google services place a cookie on your computer which sits there, reaping your personal details, until 2038. I love the fact that, with GMail, Google can now link this info to a specific email address, thus making the job of tracking our every internet move that much easier. I recommend that you use GMail when swapping child pornography.
I hear about this a lot, and I've always wondered about the validity of this claim. In fact, I think I even read once a statement from Google saying some aspect or another of this claim was false. :bugeye:

More storage then other email thingies
You can Google search through your emails
Instead of putting your emails in a specific folder, you can put them in numerous

Besides that, nothing important is better.

Oh yeah, and there's apparently the privacy issue, who knows

Gmail has POP access...free...I almost paid for that from another provider :)

I anticipate Gmail will move the way of Yahoo et al and place POP under pay mode when they're ready.

Is there a limit on how big a file you can send in Gmail?

10mb

So why ever use POP now and be forced to use a local mail client when mail services like Gmail have so much storage and can be accessed from any internet connection?

Security? I wouldn't like that all my important and/or confidential mails are stored on the internet somewhere where anyone that cracks the password can access them. My home workstation is much more secure.

That's why it's recommended to change the password every few months. Cracking is possible, but far less common these days. And google is reliable with with security.

I think this a tradeoff between convenience and security. Probably some 99% of my emails wouldn't be classed as a security problem for me, private yes, but really it wouldn't be so bad if someone else read them.

Of the few sensitive items - hmm - perhaps that is a risk.

spam features btw arent very attractive, oh god, after hours of those page by page deletions they finally added delete all spam messages now button? but wait was it already there on yahoo? hmmph... anyways, GMAILS fast, but i dont care honestly, i mean you have 2 gb account and you can only send a 10 MB attachment? thats pathetic and yeah thats the case with all mail providers, which sucks...

and no GOOGLE DOESNT HAVE PROBLEMS WITH BANDWIDTH OR HOSTING, SO DONT TELL ME OTHERWISE.

Rick

spam features btw arent very attractive, oh god, after hours of those page by page deletions they finally added delete all spam messages now button?

The idea of the spam button is that you identify the spam to report it, to establish a block on any further instances of the same to anybody, which is a very good idea and commendably functional in practice. Google is famous above all else for its incredibly fast and effective algorythms.

--- Ron.

What's to stop someone reporting legit emails as spam in that case?

Nothing, but consider that:
1. Immediate changes will affect only your account
2. There have to be many reports of the same mail to label it as spam Google wise, i.e., for all users.

Technically POP email is stored online until you download it from the main server. Mail is only directly delivered if you run your own mailserver and have a DNS entry setup to direct mail to you.

Of course running your own mail server requires knowing how to configure it correctly, how to keep it updated so the software isn't exploited and an understanding of how to either block via filters you create or online blacklists.

Most POP servers I've used in the past all had file size limits, as the larger a file is the heavier it is on resources to deliver. (since it requires first having it cached via RAM on the server when uploaded to the POP server, it then has to be assembled, and stored, before being delivered/pickedup, which then in turn requires a persons client to do the Caching/storage).

Well thanks to Thomas I've been using Gmail for a while. The conversation view is interesting but nothing else really stands out. It seems to have just as much "storage" space as others.

im happy with my hotmail, i can't be bothered to change

I doubt anybody cares to bother you with this issue. :p

im happy with my hotmail, i can't be bothered to change
I got sick of the spam I got with Hotmail, it was relentless! The spam filter caught some stuff that wasnt spam and let through way too much I didn't.