Foo - Gmail

Anyone uses Gmail? Pros/Cons
What about hotmail?

I currently use Outlook but have been doing a lot of travelling so I'd like to switch to web based.

Thanks
Derek

I like the ease of gmail as I use this as my personal e-mail versus my company based outlook.

And with a company, I have limitations on what's sent, what I can have delivered (1 mg) while gmail - I've sent some big files (7-9 mg) and received them as well. Has a pretty good chat item too, but only one person at a time - no group.

One thing about it is the viewing of the e-mail - I'm on a personal distribution of about 6+ people and sometimes we write on it, other times it's slow - but when we get going on it - the post display is annoying. While I like the fact that the e-mails are "grouped" (all responses under the same "Parent"), it gets hard to find the original thread - as it is not grouped under "Title". So if you're really looking for a certain e-mail - where someone attached something (and yes you can have lots of e-mails with ye old "paper clip" notification) - and are looking thru a sometimes (at least for us) an e-mail thread that can contain 80 plus responses ... ugh. Things get lost.

It would be nice if you could have the e-mail - threads be more prominent, hence be used.

Other than that - it is a pretty awesome program!

The one thing I don't like about Gmail is that you can't create folders that you can just drag and drop messages into like I'm so used to. Or maybe I just haven't figured it out yet. You instead create and put a "label" on the message. Hard to explain but I don't think it is nearly as easy as say Yahoo. The plus side is just as Tude noted, you can send and recieve huge files if you want.

I use it to hide my illicit sexual escapades

The one thing I don't like about Gmail is that you can't create folders that you can just drag and drop messages into like I'm so used to. Or maybe I just haven't figured it out yet. You instead create and put a "label" on the message. Hard to explain but I don't think it is nearly as easy as say Yahoo. The plus side is just as Tude noted, you can send and recieve huge files if you want.
I had an account but did not use it for a while for that same reason. Then a friend of mine explained the usage to me and it made sense. You can effectively use labels similar to folders, but even more powerful. You can just click on a label and see all email with that label. However, you can put more than one label on an email item so it shows up in more than one label filter. It would be like being able to put the email in more than one folder. I find that immensely useful. And if you want it out of your main inbox, just select them and click "archive".





Overall, I have come to like Gmail way better than the others. Hotmail is my least favorite....it seems to have the sloppiest spam filtering and lets the most spam into my inbox.

Gmail has a lot of unique features, like the filtering/labeling that I explained there. It is like the concept of folders but even more powerful. It has a built in chat feature so you "could" chat while in there if another of your contacts is online in Gmail (or Gmail's chat program). It's one of the few I've found that my work doesn't block.

My only complaint is the same as what Tude mentioned. When you get an email chain going with another person it keeps them grouped which in some ways is cool because you don't have to go all over looking for the entire conversation, but also seems to make it harder to find a particular email sometimes if its one in the middle of a grouped set (kind of like a thread on here). It would be nice if they'd have a on/off button to turn that off and then on again if you wanted to search or something.

Been using Gmail for years. For me its the best.

Thanks. Spam is definitely a no no so I don't think I'll try hotmail, to bad because I heard it has a lot of functionality with MS trying to emulate Outlook.

You can use Gmail in Outlook and other email programs, something that yahoo charges for.

The one thing I hate about Gmail is the grouping of 'conversations'. I can understand why, especially if you have 10 ten people hitting reply-all to respond to an email, but I find it annoying since that rarely happens with personal email. And I can't figure out how to turn it off, I've searched endlessly.

Other than that, I think its a great way to view email. I have it setup through thunderbird on my home PC and use the web interface at work. And you can chat through Gmail's interface with other Gmail users. Not groundbreaking, but a nice feature to keep intouch with friends without having to use a different program.

My only complaint is the same as what Tude mentioned. When you get an email chain going with another person it keeps them grouped which in some ways is cool because you don't have to go all over looking for the entire conversation, but also seems to make it harder to find a particular email sometimes if its one in the middle of a grouped set (kind of like a thread on here). It would be nice if they'd have a on/off button to turn that off and then on again if you wanted to search or something.

+1000

One of the things I love about gmail is its support for keyboard shortcuts. I'm a big keyboard shortcut junkie. I can just hit "U" to refresh the inbox. "C" to compose a new mail...

Also, I was put off at first by the lack of folders...but I got used to using labels and the search. Most of the time I know what I'm looking for, so I just search for it and it brings up the e-mail.

One of the things I love about gmail is its support for keyboard shortcuts. I'm a big keyboard shortcut junkie. I can just hit "U" to refresh the inbox. "C" to compose a new mail...That feature is available in all 3 main web email programs. Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail all have keyboard shortcuts.

Having a hard time finding your email in gmail? use the search --it is google, after all. Once I started searching for emails instead of trying to scroll through my inbox my love for gmail went through the roof --and I already dug it.

I run gmail and yahoo mail side by side, and think they're comparable, but gmail gets the edge because of efficiency.

One of the things I love about gmail is its support for keyboard shortcuts. I'm a big keyboard shortcut junkie. I can just hit "U" to refresh the inbox. "C" to compose a new mail...

Gmail's shortcuts
http://gmail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6594

Yahoo's
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/basics/basics-65.html

Having a hard time finding your email in gmail? use the search --it is google, after all. Once I started searching for emails instead of trying to scroll through my inbox my love for gmail went through the roof --and I already dug it.
Me too...I do search, but some things you don't know enough to search for. Example, I'm looking for an email from a potential dog sitter the other day to find her phone number. I don't remember her name and I can't search for a phone number I am trying to find in the first place. Still though....it's not that bad, I just wish I could "click a button" to turn off the email grouping and then sort by sender.



I run gmail and yahoo mail side by side, and think they're comparable, but gmail gets the edge because of efficiency.
Same here....in fact, I still have Yahoo and Hotmail. I mainly stick with Yahoo because I have all my bill pay reminders set up to my Yahoo. I mainly use Hotmail as more of my junk mail account. Now that I have the Gmail interface mostly understood, it is definitely the preferred interface. Like you said, it's much more efficient.

Me loves Gmail. I dunno how the situation is now, but when I got it (while it was still BETA) you could choose pretty much any user name. Hence, I chose the classy first.lastname@gmail.com, instead of having to choose something tacky like i_ride_my_bike7914@hotmail.com.

You can also then use Google talk while browsing your inbox, whish is super handy if you wanna chat without having to have the program on your PC (or open up MSN's web messenger)


So, I say GMail, hands down.

teh awesome. BUT google knows too much about me at this point. Might have to change my email client.

teh awesome. BUT google knows too much about me at this point. Might have to change my email client.

A good point and should be mentioned.

Google DOES keep statistics on you by reading your email (rather a program that parses and collects keywords). They claim its only to target the ads at the top of the page, but some people are a little paranoid about it.

I have been part of Gmail since the very first round of invites for the Beta version came out several years ago. I loved it since day one and never went back to anything else.

Like anything new, it takes time to get used to it (like 15 minutes), but once you are hooked, you are hooked.

A good point and should be mentioned.

Google DOES keep statistics on you by reading your email (rather a program that parses and collects keywords). They claim its only to target the ads at the top of the page, but some people are a little paranoid about it.

Yes, this does bother me too. I know almost any email service can read my email and know stuff about me, but Google explicitly reads your email and targets ads at you. Tie that in with normal Google search, Google Maps, Finance, Calender, they'll know what you're looking for, where you're going, when you're going and have an idea of what type of income bracket you're in (if you keep how many shares you have listed on the finance page).

Its my own fault for using their websites, but yikes, its kinda scary how much one company can know about me.

Its my own fault for using their websites, but yikes, its kinda scary how much one company can know about me.Exactly!

I try not to use my real name on any of their stuff if I can get away with it....but still, with emails from online purchases and such, I'm sure they could figure it out in heartbeat if they needed to.

Exactly!
but still, with emails from online purchases and such, I'm sure they could figure it out in heartbeat if they needed to.

True! The problem as Jeseysbest pointed out, is they make such good looking and intuitive software that its tough to extricate myself from them. At this point, they know my search history, my CC from using google checkout once, my to-do list, my news habits, my calendar, my portfolio, even some of my docs! Scary.

if all that user tracking helps weed out ads for stuff I don't buy, I'm okay with it. I'd rather see relevant ads --and Google has the least intrusive of them-- than for stuff I'd have no intention of buying.

if all that user tracking helps weed out ads for stuff I don't buy, I'm okay with it. I'd rather see relevant ads --and Google has the least intrusive of them-- than for stuff I'd have no intention of buying.

I dunno dex, Id rather see no ads and just search for stuff when I need it.

I dunno dex, Id rather see no ads and just search for stuff when I need it.

agreed, which is why I pay for BF and for Yahoo. if I could give google money to eliminate the (very inobtrusive one-line) ad I would. But I accept what they do with my info for their services. Shrug :beer:

I quite enjoy my gmail account especially since I have igoogle as my home page. Its quite true you can't create subfolders but you can link up your gmail to your outlook to store messages that way. For quick on the road email checking I think its top notch.

gmail allows you to make your own email addresses, so when you give out your address,
you can see if it gets spammed to others, based on incoming mail. you can figure out who
is stealing your email address:

for instance

actual gmail address = mrmail@gmail.com

well, all these work

mrmail+01@gmail.com
mrmail+2@gmail.com
m.r.mail@gmail.com
mrma.il@gmail.com

....etc..so when you see mail come to you,
see what they sent to, [and you remember who you
gave that address] and figure out how it came

if all that user tracking helps weed out ads for stuff I don't buy, I'm okay with it. I'd rather see relevant ads --and Google has the least intrusive of them-- than for stuff I'd have no intention of buying.

True...but its the potential of what they might do with it that worries me. I don't trust them like I don't trust any company. Sometimes its not even them...what if their security were breached and all that personal info were in "who knows who's hands"?

agreed, which is why I pay for BF and for Yahoo. if I could give google money to eliminate the (very inobtrusive one-line) ad I would. But I accept what they do with my info for their services. Shrug :beer:

True that...I don't complain about ads for free software, but what got my knickers in a bunch was when I would access my roadrunner (personal broadband email account) email through their web interface and was stifled with ads (particular slow loading ads at that). How can they justify putting slow loading flash ads on your email web interface for an account that you are paying good money for?

So I just signed up with gmail. It asked for my current email address as a backup. So will I receive a duplicate in my regular outlook account every time or only when they experience issues on gmail's end?

I don't recall giving a backup email, but if I did, I surely don't get duplicate email.


So I just signed up with gmail. It asked for my current email address as a backup. So will I receive a duplicate in my regular outlook account every time or only when they experience issues on gmail's end?

ok.

Thanks everyone, some good info here.