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Why do people like offline email clients like Outlook, Thunderbird, etc?

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thunderbird + gmail is the best thing you could ask for. you have a local copy of everythign so if you don't have internet access or you're on dialup its much faster (if thats possible in today's world). plus you have gmail that archives everythign anyway... i wouldn't want anything different.
 
Originally posted by: DeviousTrap
Originally posted by: CorporateRecreation
Your argument only makes sense if you use the POP3 protocol.

I prefer a software based client so I can configure it how I want it and it's not a clunky piece of garbage.
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Exactly, just use IMAP with your mail client to mirror the servers inbox with your inbox at home.
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Agreed, I switched to using IMAP 2 months ago and will never look back. A true best of both worlds experience.
 
Set the client to leave message on server... I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather just go to Thunderbird and click "get mail" than go to some website and type in a username and password.
 
Originally posted by: CrazyDe1
Originally posted by: Stefan
Originally posted by: Howard
Because it's more convenient.
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What makes it more convenient? I see it to be more of an inconvenience.
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Umm...you're an idiot.

You don't have to login everytime. You don't have to go to a website. You can check 5 or 6 accounts at once. You can setup filters. You can SEARCH for previous or sent emails. You can also set outlook to check your email every few minutes so that you immediately know when you have mail.

As far as copying the mail off the server I hate leaving messages on the server. I always download emails to one place so I can tell who I sent an email to and what I said by searching. If you get 100-150 emails a day you don't want all those staying on the server and you want to read, reply and delete.
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CrazyDe1: ePenis +1

Stefan: ePenis -1
 
I don't like webmail....considering I user both IMAP and Exchange, my email stays on the server. Plus, I am notified when I get mail. Can't beat it.
 
Well with POP3 mail I can have mail from loosers, girls who's last name is .jpg, and african princes go straight to trash. Sort into folders based on sender.

I also leave it on the server until deleted from my mail client so I can access when not at home.
 
with techinicality aside, whats the difference between pop3 and imap from an end-user's viewpoint? i am currently using pop3, but my school supports both. just wondering..
 
because it's (WAY) faster. because i have unlimited storage. because it integrates my calender and address book and syncs both automatically with my cell phone. because i can view or compose email when i'm not connected to the internet. because my personal email isn't subject to someone else's server failures or company bankruptcy. because my outgoing email doesn't have advertisments stuck on the bottom of it. because i'm not subjected to a million advertisments every time i want to look at my mail. because i can back up every message, folder, contact, appointment, note, etc in ONE file, in a matter of seconds, or restore it all back in an instant. because i can leave it open in the background and it checks all SEVEN of my email addresses every 5 minutes and notifies me with a sound and icon when a message arrives. because it has an easy, quick spell-check. because it has multiple levels of "copy" memory, so i can keep more than one block of text for pasting at a time. because i can attach a file INSTANTLY, and let it do the sending later when i'm finished composing and ready to do something else, instead of having to wait for the upload before i can tell it to send the email. because i can send email from any of my addresses simply by selecting a pull-down menu next to the "send" button. i could probably go on, but i have homework to do.
 
damn, thomsbrain pretty much covered it all. although once again, gmail with adblock solves a lot of the issues...
 
More secure. My emails are stored on my computer, not on a webserver. It's unlikely anyone would actually want to hack a server to read my email, but I run much of my business via email so I'm not going to take that chance, even remotely.

I also have unlimited space. Not such a big deal since gmail has been developed, but space was a major concern in the past.
 
i prefer webmail but using something like outlook is a lil easier for business i suppose, and there have been times where i can't get in my hotmail or gmail but i have never had a prob checking my outlook mail
 
Originally posted by: McCarthy
Reason I use OE is because I can use it to access my hotmail - giving me both web access to my mail and a convenient way to access it normally. Of course how much longer MS is going to allow this is my question. They already cut off new accounts from doing this, wouldn't be surprised if they make everyone check through the web later on down the road...at which point hotmail loses it's advantage for me.
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Yes, I used netscape mail client with netscape mail service until they ended the service (offline clients). At that moment, I really dumped the netscape email account
 
I'd like to try using gmail with an email client, but I can't get POP access to work for the life of me with either OE or Thunderbird
 
Umm, isn't this the type of question that depends on what a person needs?

I use yahoo Mail Plus. I use a Firefox plug-in to check every 5 minutes for new messages and alert me if something comes in. I'm one click away from viewing my email with firefox, as my username/password are saved in the plugin. I go back and forth between school/home/work and so it's a necessity to be able to access mail from anywhere. IMAP is out of the question because my ISP/School doesn't offer it. Spam/Virus protection is brilliant, as it means I'll never unwillingly open up a virus email and I don't have a need for antivirus software (haven't use any in four years actually without problems), plus I don't have to bother with sorting through spam. Other benefits are that I never have to backup my email, I can have mail forwarded from other POP3 accounts to my main yahoo account, I can created "psuedo" addresses for use if I don't want to reveal my real address, filters, folders, address book, 2 GIGS of storage, POP3 access for backup if I really need it, forwarding, and the peace of mind that I don't have to worry about my ISP closing/merging, etc.

Yeah, webmail works for me. Although I can see why some people might not like it 🙂

 
I use IMAP, and have all my mail go to one place. I pay for the service, so they have backups if anything goes wrong. A client also works nicely because I can click on those mailto links and get a composition window. webmail is the backup if I want to access it remotely.

while pop3 has the option of leaving it on the server, some clients won't let you leave it there indefinately.. and will delete after x amount of days. Not sure if thunderbird does this.. haven't tried.

for a bit of time, I used webmail exclusively because fastmail had the ability to work w/ identities very very well. Thunderbird now has that as well now.

The other nice thing about using webmail only... is one address book to update. I haven't looked into using something to keep it all in sync since one of my work address books is in OE... I can't export the groups in that 🙁
 
Originally posted by: zerocool1
I'm pissed though that my university blocked off smtp... *grr
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They probably did not block it. You have to use the SMTP server of your ISP (the schools ISP when you are at school).

Just see if the school or their ISP has an SMTP server you can use, then just reconfigure outlook for that.
 
Originally posted by: Trevelyan
Originally posted by: Stefan
Originally posted by: Howard
Because it's more convenient.
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What makes it more convenient? I see it to be more of an inconvenience.
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For one, you can still access all your mail if you don't have internet access
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THat's the main reason. If you have a laptop and aren't online, you can still get your email. I use webmail just to go on and delete all the spam I get every day. Then I launch Eudora and download the real emails so I can store them and not have to worry abotu running out of room.

I do use gmail for random spam garbage as well.
 
I use outlook. Saves me time as I don't have to log on to 7 different webmail accounts. I lieave copies of the mail on the originating server so it is still accessable via webmail if needed. Works great.
 
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