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markw10 · Jul 10, 2007, 01:20 AM

I am currently using Comcast for high speed internet. I'm happy with it except for the fact that Comcast only supports pop, not imap. Now that I have a iphone I sync email with it. After doing some research I found out imap is far better than pop when used on multiple devices and eliminates the problem with syncing.
We have Qwest dsl available here with msn and I am going to check with them if they support imap but I think my best option may be able to subscribe to .mac. I know many parts like photocasting I won't use. The iDisk is also too small for me. I've heard Leopard will add features to .mac but I like both the syncing part of .mac and also the fact I get a .mac email address and it is imap.
Since this will replace comcast as my primary email which I use a lot daily for heavy use I am wondering if it's very reliable, works fast, etc. I would set it up on my iphone and in the mail program on my Mac but I want to make sure it's very good before I make the switch.

DigitalEl · Jul 10, 2007, 03:42 AM

I've been a .Mac mail user since the iTools days. I've never had a problem with speed or reliability.

The "new and improved" .Mac webmail interface was a bummer for me, b/c (prior to the iPhone) I used it to access my e-mail while at work... On old, slow Gateway PCs running an ancient version of IE... Which never ceased to hang on the newly-designed website.

Little did I know, you could use a legacy website to access your .Mac webmail, under the old, circa 2003 interface.

Bottom line: .Mac e-mail is

in my book!

- - e r i k - - · Jul 10, 2007, 07:31 AM

I second that. I've also used .Mac as my primary email since the iTools days (albeit behind a forwarder alias from my own domain), and have rarely had stability problems and never speed problems. I wish they would up the attachment limit though (10 MB at the moment).

TETENAL · Jul 10, 2007, 07:52 AM

iDisk is definitely nothing that is regularly described as fast. .Mac e-mail is fine, but .Mac is rather expensive just for mail.

I would seriously consider getting your own domain with IMAP e-mail. It's much cheaper and since it's your own you can surely keep it for the rest of your life.

CatOne · Jul 10, 2007, 01:17 PM

.Mac email is pretty fast, and it's pretty reliable. About a year ago there was a frustrating period where it was offline a fair bit for a couple week period, but I don't recall any issues since then.

Few of the ISPs I know of offer IMAP support. I find it quite nice with .Mac -- I have about 450 MB of email on the server now, and can easily access it from anywhere. I have an ISP account with Comcast but I've never used it. I have it forwarded to my .Mac account actually, so I get an info email from Comcast every couple months.

ginoledesma · Jul 10, 2007, 01:43 PM

.Mac has had a number of outages, but fortunately I've been spared in that I didn't really notice it. If you're just getting it primarily for email, it's a tad pricey. Much cheaper to go with other web hosting companies, or maybe even getting commercial solutions from Yahoo or Google Mail.

MacosNerd · Jul 10, 2007, 02:13 PM

Yeah, I've had .mac since its inception and their reliability is good and getting better. I cannot remember when the last outage occurred.

GuillaumeB · Jul 10, 2007, 03:42 PM

Well all those replies are quite encouraging. I actually created a poll few minutes ago about .mac
As for me, as a new mac user I just registered for the free trial

macintologist · Jul 10, 2007, 05:52 PM

I've used .mac email since 2002 and it's been great ever since.

Appleman · Jul 10, 2007, 10:34 PM

I liked iTools better

as it was free.

.Mac is ok, but surely too expensive for email only. imap is great for several computers/places though.

PEPPERRULES · Jul 11, 2007, 01:00 PM

.mac is overpriced, but I still use it. The e-mail is reliable, but they don't give you enough storage.

Sherman Homan · Jul 11, 2007, 01:11 PM

When it first came out it was teh bomb. Now it is somewhat overpriced, but nothing else that I know of works as seamlessly.

PEPPERRULES · Jul 11, 2007, 01:15 PM

Yes, being seamless is actually its main benefit. There is a free trial with limited storage. You should definitely test it out.

Randman · Jul 12, 2007, 07:01 AM

Originally Posted by DigitalEl

I've been a .Mac mail user since the iTools days. I've never had a problem with speed or reliability.

Bottom line: .Mac e-mail is

in my book!

Agreed.