I know it’s a free account, I know they offer a free gigabyte, and I know it’s in Beta test stage, but even so Google’s g-mail accounts suck. I know for a fact there are several e-mails I’ve never received or else received days after they’re sent. Meanwhile, Hotmail, which is also free, now offers 250 MB of space and their quality is as good as ever.
Google needs to stop offering free accounts on G-Mail altogether until they’ve figured out how to work the damned thing, or else issue major disclaimers that “Don’t use this if you actually want to get a response”.
Look a little harder at the logo in the corner of the page: “GMail BETA”. You’re using a guinea-pig setup, which despite the hype is not a full public product, and have consented to it by accepting whatever terms&conditions you accepted. If you have specific problems, then report them to the Gmail development people. Other than that, if you want secure and reliable email, then pay for it!
I must agree. It’s BETA for a reason. If you have a problem, Google wants to know about it! So tell them! It can only get better once the bugs are fixed.
I just wish they offered some basic features. Like blocking, a few extras other than you having to code the HTML yourself and a way to filter your emails into folders that doesn’t lump everything into the general archive. Other than that.
I’ve got the same issue with some e-mails not getting through, and for some reason I have lots of spam despite my never having used that address anywhere.
I have to admit I haven’t had a problem with Spam (probably because the little barkers at the velvet rope are turning back everyone), but as far as free accounts Hotmail is currently worlds better. (I can’t speak for Yahoo as I don’t have an account there, but they seem to be doing well as well).
For the non-spamees: give it time. Every spam computer in the world is pouring its powers into random Hotmail addresses, because a small proportion of them exist. If Gmail becomes popular, it’ll happen in the same way.
You can get HTML to work? How? I tried using it once and it came through as coding. Very annoying since it was a fairly HTML intensive email I sent. Agreed on the folders, by the way. I have three pages of saved email and would like a way to categorize it better.
Otherwise, I’ve never had a problem with it though and am having a difficult time believing Hotmail is superior to smoke signals, let alone gmail.
I have a Hotmail account and a Gmail account. I like Gmail better. I’ve had it since August, and just now started getting spam on it (like 1 message for every 4-5 days). I like how Gmail handles address book auto-completion in the “To:” field. I like how it shows e-mails as “conversations” so you can see how you replied. I like the automatic notifier I have in my system tray.
I must admit that I’ve never had a problem like those described in the OP.
I’m sorry Aesiron. I didn’t mean to imply that I’d had any luck with it either, just that you were supposed to be able to use it that way in lieu of them having some actual simple bells and whistles.
But I do use it as my primary account and absolutely loathe Hotmail. So, there ya go. Perhaps after it gets outta the Beta stage, it’ll improve by leaps and bounds.
Labels? I like the whole label system. I’ve got a filter for each of my message boards’ notification emails (and LJ’s) that automatically labels them for where they came from. Labels are basically the same as folders, except you can put more than one label on an email.
I’m liking gmail. I noticed today that they’ve got POP access now, and I’ve been taking advantage of their free forwarding feature for a while now.
I’ve never had mail lost. The one major annoyance about gmail (and it’s huge) is the extremely stupid and irritating way that replies are structured by default: cursor at top of message, three blank lines and then the quoted text. In other words, encouraging top-replying, possibly the most annoying internet habit in existence.
Love GMail and it’s format-- find Hotmail frustrating. (They kept shrieking at me, YOU HAVE NO MORE SPACE! DELETE DELETE! and then promptly followed Yahoo’s lead and increased storage space, AFTER I had already had to start deleting emails I’d rather have saved…Yahoo is just fine but I like GMail. I’d recommend it. I’ve got invites, actually, if someone wants one.
I think I’ll stick with my free Yahoo e-mail account, thankyouverymuch. 250 megs of storage are enough for me, the spam filter is nice(the spam doesn’t even count against your 250 meg limit), and I can send 10 meg files.
I dunno, I like top-replying in email, especially if it’s just me an one person. I rarely actually refer to the quoted text, so I don’t want to have to scroll past it in order to read the new message. On a message board though, top-replying is highly annoying.
Good God. I find the spam filter on Yahoo absolutely terrible.
I was a Gmail skeptic at first, but I’ve been won over by it. For someone who’s on as many mailing lists as I am, the labels and the storage space are a godsend.
I agree - I find bottom-replying infuriating, particularly when there’s a dozen nested messages, and all the ‘John Smith wrote’ captions become meaningless.
I thought of another reason I like Gmail over Hotmail: the page design. Hotmail has too much business going on, with ads and pictures and whatnot and the blue… Whereas Gmail is simple, clean, refreshing, and only has those text-based ads (which, honestly, I don’t really notice because 70% of the time they don’t even show up for me).
