Web-based Mail Account - Which is the best (and isn't hotmail!)?

[Polgara2]

Ok so have had hotmail for eons but have just been hijacked or had virus and am not best pleased at all my contacts getting weirdy emails . Soooooo am going to change to another provider but which one? Your recommendations please?

Oh I see VK - I am watching the reruns of Buffy on SciFi at the moment actually as I missed them first time round and everyone was always raving about them but I must have missed that demon!

I have gone for googlemail btw thanks everyone and I shall see what I think of the conversations.

I actually love the conversation aspect, it's far easier to keep track of things when they're grouped together. Makes my DH laugh though when he looks over my shoulder and sees 40+ exchanges between me and my friend (why don't you just ring her?)

Only downside I've found is that you can't do read receipts, but people don't send them back half the time anyway.

Hmm doesn't it have folders then? How do I file away my messages? (Am sure if I look properly I will find out!)

It has folders (except they're called 'labels') down the left hand side, so filing can be done

Like VK, I dislike the way GMail handles sets of messages (keeping track by Subject line) - so you cannot, for example, delete one item from a set of messages, or simply highlight a single message within a collection.

Don't get me wrong - I do use GMail and have at least 8 accounts (and there's a Firefox utility which can scan them at intervals so you are alerted to new mail arriving) and it's pretty good that it's free (there's another FF add-on which wipes out the advertising section so I only see my e-mail, not the side-bar of advert links too).

For paid-for services, since you didn't specify 'free' webmail:

I've used FastMail and Runbox.com for years, and tested MailSnare (now changed name and not tried it since), and they have some features I prefer over GMail/Googlemail (only googlemail if you register from a UK IP address), but both of them have annual fees.

Runbox also offers domain mail handling and web hosting as part of the deal, so if you have your own domain name like my sister hilary @ surname-family.info then it can accept all incoming mail for 'surname-family' and store in different folders, send alert messages to other mail accounts (such as Orange so she gets an SMS to show new mail arrived) and can even 'pull' in mail from other mail services.

Pretty sure you can add domain handling to Fastmail (I have one 'member' account and 2 old 'guest' accounts which are no longer available, so I don't pay any annual fee, but they have 3 or 4 levels of account, from memory).

Gmail's filter is useful - I don't like my onbox filling up with promotions from all & sundry, but I like to check them out if I'm buying something. So have a look at filters and set them to chuck stuff straight in a separate folder without touching yr intray.

Googlemail is pretty good for a free service, but I prefer to have my own domain. I'm with virtualnames. You can get their Advanced Forwarding account, which includes 5 mailboxes for about £10 per year, plus the cost of your own domain name, which can be less than £5 per year.

i use google

Ok so I have to label a message then archive it to get it out of my inbox? Is that right? Sorry I am just settling in and rummaging around! Will investigate the filters cat thank you.

Thanks to all - Googlemail seems by far the most popular so I will carry on with it I think. Now just have to reinstate a contact list on it and tell everyone I have changed and why, oh and apologise for all the weirdy emails, god what a pain - I may get to bed tonight eventually.

You can just archive it wothout labelling

The search facility will find it for you if you need it again

Polgara2 wrote "... label a message then archive it to get it out of my inbox? Is that right?"

Once you've created a new label (or have one in mind for a class of incoming e-mail, such as online-stores) I suggest you use the 'Create a filter' link (above the messages, where there's search mail / search web, there's then 'show search options' and 'create a filter' links).

Put suitable info in (sender address, or something from the subject line if everything from a source has a common keyword), test the search, and then fill in the rest of the boxes, to add the label and automatically skip the inbox.

I glance down the list, then click 'all mail' and see anything which I have filtered from the inbox (I sometimes add a 'star' so I know what's worth a double-take).

How do you synchronise two Gmail addresses? That would be very useful it's a PITA for me logging out of my work address to my personal address.

To synch 2 addresses log into one and the go to settings > accounts and import

Ah now I tried the 2 addresses thing -thinking that I would just be able to check the 2nd address as and when I wanted to but no it imported ALL my inbox from my second address which wasn't what I wanted at all! Need to do a bit more rummaging I think.

Haven't checked the filter thing yet will do so when I've sorted my inbox out!