Which email provider for use with iPhone, iPad & pc

[ChildrenofLir]

I have used outlook for a long time due to being a creature of habit. I particularly liked the diary element as it was what I used at work and was familiar with. However have been a SAHM for 5 years now. Use my iPhone & iPad for most diary needs but also my laptop (am half considering buying an a mac for this also).

I suspect that outlook is not the best programme to use for diary/email when hoping to cross use the above.

Would be interested to hear what others do?

I use gmail - but any web based mail would be fine for you.
I also use google calendar and sync it with the calendar on my iPhone, this means I can set it up so I have a work and home calendar - I can see both but they are colour coded.

When you say outlook, that won't be your provider - it may be possible to continue with the address you have depending on who provides the service

Tarquin - thanks.

Sorry you are right, my provider is BT currently. Am using outlook on laptop and have just tonight managed to get it sync'd to both iPhone and iPad by iCloud (which has up until now been a mystery to me).

I would ideally like to have 2x calendars as you have described. A personal one and a family one which could be shared. Through BT, I can access my email online through yahoo and have managed to get it to set up a shared calendar which is sync'd to my phone but for some reason can't manage it on iPad (seem to be a bit slow to connect all the dots on this matter).

Another friend uses gmail and has recommended it to me. Up until now I've been reluctant to loose the capability to use outlook on the laptop as I find the calendar part great for entry and manoeuvrability purposes. Have fear that a web based email programme will be more awkward to use?

I prefer web based email, but I didn't get on with Outlook and ony used it for a short time - I find google calendar very easy to use and I like the fact that it syncs with the iPhone calendar - or you can use an app like calengoo if you prefer.
I have four different calendars set up and have never had any problems

You can get outlook to sync with gmail.
for example

But it could be possilbe to also get a second email address from BT, if you are comfortable with their service.