Hi Folks,

I'm gonna be ditching my ISP email address when (if) we move to Oz and was wondering if anyone can recommend a tried and trusted web based email service (free of course!!)?

Yahoo give 1Gb storage. So does google, if you are 'lucky' enough to be invited to use it I think lycos is 300 Meg. Loads of others, I use yahoo, its perfectly fine. The above mentioned ones are all free, and big enough companies that they wouldn't go bust and take your email with them.

There is the privacy issue with Google mail (Gmail), they use bots to read your mail. If that doesn't bug you.... and you've had an invite, try them, or yahoo
JTL

Gmail from Google. I find it's excellent. If you have to be invited pm me your email address and I'll invite you

Sorry if this is a daft question, but can you use your hotmail.com email address in Oz ? Or do you have to get another one that's .com.au or something?

Why? What's the difference?

Judy

No, you can still use your hotmail address.

I still use my yahoo.co.uk address, I guess there may be a slight drawback if their servers are actually based in the UK, but I've never noticed a speed problem with it.

It just helps if you are apllying for jobs and stuff if you have a .au address to avoid any confusion.

JTL

gmail is the best the storage space is already over 2mb and still counting!

If you need an address pm me and I'll send you an invite, in fact if anyone needs more starage space on web based mail pm me still got lots of invites left.

I'm with Sue, I think G mail is far superior to hotmail.

Gmail is the mutt's nutts for this.

Can also get gmail invites from here http://isnoop.net/gmail/

HTH

Neil

I have been looking into this myself this week and can't make up my mind.

Hotmail is tried and tested but is so popular it attracts a lot of spam and thus some companies will not send / receive email from it. The free version is also limited in size. Gmail spooks me that they are spying on me to send me tailored spam. I didn't realise that you could have a Yahoo webmail address for free until this week.

You can set up your own domain for a personal address for life if you don't mind the expense and are techie enough to cope with it. I think Bondipom does this.

NTL have confirmed that as soon as I cancel the contract they will suspend my email address (though some people will tell you they don't always remember).

My preferred option at the moment is to keep NTL but switch to their cheapest dial up package for a couple of months and use their webmail service until I have a proper Aussie ISP. At least I only have to tell everyone to change my address once that way.

I think you mean 2GB not 2mb lil factor of 1000 in there! (or 1024 depending how anal they are being with their calculation...)
I would also recommend GMail, however if you want a service with more features (i.e. WAP email as well for your phone, IMAP4, POP3, as well as quality webmail) may I suggest www.mailsnare.net, for a few pounds (about £8 if i remember correctly) you get the service, with a techincal support department second to none (personalised email written by hand back within a couple of hours at the most).

Your right about the 2GB and its going up all the time! One of my accounts is now at 2229MB.

The only downside to it is that you cannot set up folders, its all done by 'Labels' but I suppose you get used to it.

Never had a problem with it and have used it from when it first started!

R.

I've had my Yahoo address for ages since I was in NZ and I've always used

[email protected] and that works fine. No idea where the server is.

I've been in melbourne two months and NTL is still forwarding NTLworld email to my gmail account. I set up a gmail account three weeks before I left UK and forwarded ntlworld and my own domain email to gmail. Great thing about gmail is web-based so can use anybody's computer. I'm willing to bet NTL never stop my forwarding! I like gmail so much I have stopped using my own domain email address because I like the web access and with 2gig memory thats a lot of email. The spam filter on gmail is pretty good as well. Other thing is you can transfer your email address list to gmail so that you have access to them via webmail. Another good thing is they use secure protocols and not bog standard POP/SMTP. Your anti-virus probably won't automatically check the email traffic. I use Avast(free) and Stunnel. http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=10428.0
The really big advantage of web-mail is you are never tied into an ISP and can be relaxed about chasing a better deal wthout having to re-tell the world your email address. Do yourself a favour and get a gmail address. When downloading gmail to your email client you don't get ads. I never notice ads on the rare occasion I use the web-mail
Right, that's my selling pitch for gmail over.
Ian

Wow, thanks for all your replies and offers for invites , sounds like gmail is a favourite, I'm on NTL at the moment and about to call them up to cancel the contract as we are moving out soon.

oops! That should have been 2GB+