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Gmail vs. stand-alone app?

J

jesuscandle

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 22, 2003
141
22
Boston, MA
So, I've always been a snob when it comes to using webmail. It was slow and clunky and didn't do everything I wanted to. I've *ALWAYS* used a desktop email client. To the point of paying for reliable IMAP access.

But I recently got a subscription to Gmail and it seems to be damn near a desktop client over the web!

Am I hallucinating? I guess I'd love to hear others impressions of Gmail and how it compares to a desktop client. Are there must-have features I'm over-looking?

For that matter, Gmail says they're working on POP (and IMAP?) access. Maybe that's all I need?

thoughts?
 
the *only* thing about Gmail that's keeping me from switching completely is the fact i can't download and archive emails for myself. in a way, i'm trusting google to retain my emails. google is as trust-worthy as anything on the web, but it would be nice if i could retain and archive the emails myself. (i mean, it's only a gig, at most, right? ;) )

i like their interface for the most part. (threading seems a bit arbitrary at times, but it's ok...) i haven't gotten any spam and it's very uncluttered. i like the fact i have much easier access to 100s of mails without going through 100s of lines.
 
I for one think the Gmail interface is great, the address book intergration is fantastic (autofill when you start typing names in to the address field). The way emails are viewed and coversations I love, labels for organisation is simple and effective.

So yeah, I like it, and I'm finding myself using it more and more over my .Mac email setup in the Mail app.
 
a bit OT, but has anyone reading this thread received any invites recently? i've been using Gmail for a month or so and i am yet to get one. if you have gotten some invites, how often do you feel like you are getting one? (i know it's supposed to be random...)

since i got one through MR, i'd like to extend invites to others on the waiting list thread, but i'm yet to get one... :(
 
Thanks for the feedback. So, here's another way of looking at it, why WOULDN'T you use Gmail?

As far as invites - I haven't gotten any in the week or so I've been using it. I sort of assumed that they mete them out at specific times rather than on a rolling basis. Like "Well, we work fine with 200,000 people. Let's give out another 300,000 invites."
 
I like gmail too, but I'm not about to use it as my primary email address. I've had 5 different times when I was unable to log in. One time it had a cute message from Google saying that people were running around trying to find out what the problem was. The other times the error message popped up in the login window and I was unable to scroll around and see what the error was :rolleyes: I like the idea of labels, but I prefer folders much more.

Yeah it's only in beta, but until it becomes more stable for me, it's .Mac all the way :)
 
I think Gmail is great. Although, I do agree that I wish I could d/l my email and save it myself... {sigh} oh well. That aside, I love the interface, and it's nice and fast too. I want to be able to collect my Gmail in Mail.app, but I haven't tried the HTTPmail plugin yet. Anyone tried this?

I also haven't gotten any invites. :( I've been using it for about a month. I got invites for my whole family, and none of them have gotten to give out invites either. Not sure what it takes, but I dont' have it! ;)
 
oh btw, since i've never gotten one, how would you know when you get an invite? :confused:

do you get an email from the Gmail team or something?
 
jxyama said:
oh btw, since i've never gotten one, how would you know when you get an invite? :confused:

do you get an email from the Gmail team or something?
Click to expand...

No, there will some red text under the search or next to the search options. I just noticed that under Safari 1.2.2, the search options are next to the search bar, whereas in Safari 1.3 and 2.0 the options are under the search bar.
–Chase
 
jxyama said:
oh btw, since i've never gotten one, how would you know when you get an invite? :confused:

do you get an email from the Gmail team or something?
Click to expand...

i got one invite in the month i have been using it. there is a link to the right of the refresh button (in green i think) that says invite a friend to try gmail or something like that. i didn't notice it for like a day. but i can be a little oblivious sometimes...
 
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