Gmail and MobileMe

[BigOrangeSU]

So what is the general consensus of using MobileMe with gmail? Should I forward gmail to the mobile me? or should I set it up so that MobileMe only syncs calendars, contacts, and memos and that I use IMAP for my gmail? What are the thoughts?

Thanks

[JimP]

Originally Posted by BigOrangeSU

So what is the general consensus of using MobileMe with gmail? Should I forward gmail to the mobile me? or should I set it up so that MobileMe only syncs calendars, contacts, and memos and that I use IMAP for my gmail? What are the thoughts?

Thanks

I am pretty new... but I will explain what I am doing.

First... I really do not want my iPhone automatically polling for any email. I only want true push email... which is why I bought mobile me.

I had a pre-existing gmail account that I only used for priority alerts that I wanted showing up on my old blackberry. Now that I have an iPhone... I still want those emails to be delivered via push, so I set up that high priority gmail account to automatically forward all email to my mobile me account. Problem solved.

I do use my mobile me account directly as well with close friends and family... or for mail which I am waiting for a specific response. For example, I was selling some property last week so I gave the closing company my mobile me email account so that I could get an email notification on my iphone as soon as the property closed.

/Jim

[JimP]

One more thing. I really dislike the way the iPhone handles multiple emails accounts. i wish I had the option of having each mail account independenly have an icon on my desktop... as well as the option of a common merged inbox. This is an area where Blackberry does a much nicer job than the iPhone in my opinion. Also, the BB does a much nicer job overall with push email from just about any source.

Having said that... I am willing to put up with the inferior mail setup because the iPhone is so much better than the BB in so many ways.

My solution is to only use my mobile me account for push mail. I have other email accounts loaded into the iphone... but I have them all turned off in the settings page. This allows me to quickly turn on an account and reply from that account rather than sending from my mobile me account. Sometimes I do not want to give our my mobile me email address.

/Jim

[Hookem99]

Originally Posted by JimP

One more thing. I really dislike the way the iPhone handles multiple emails accounts. i wish I had the option of having each mail account independenly have an icon on my desktop... as well as the option of a common merged inbox.
/Jim

I agree with that..

I have my gmail forwarded to MobileMe. 95% of my emails go to MM or Gmail, so I only occasionally have to check my other two accounts. But a common inbox like mail.app has would be great!

[impaler]

I prefer the push of MobileMe to Gmail, and the .me domain name is kind of lame but I like the integration with my Macs and really like that it uses IMAP IDLE on the desktop Mail program too...emails are pushed to the desktop as well as to the iPhone.

I am also in favor of a unified inbox. Those that say email management on a BlackBerry is better are stating the obvious--BB does email. Nobody buys an iPhone just because of a superior email experience...just as nobody buys a BlackBerry because the media experience is the best out there.

[Ohmster]

^Gmail can also be configured for push. Just set it up as IMAP.

^Making the mail experience on an iphone better should not be that hard. Chattermail on the Treo should be what everyone strives to emulate. No BB I've ever used could match that experience.

[JimP]

Originally Posted by Ohmster

^Gmail can also be configured for push. Just set it up as IMAP.

My understanding is that even if configured with an IMAP interface... it is still polled email.

/Jim

[JimP]

Originally Posted by impaler

I am also in favor of a unified inbox. Those that say email management on a BlackBerry is better are stating the obvious--BB does email. Nobody buys an iPhone just because of a superior email experience...just as nobody buys a BlackBerry because the media experience is the best out there.

Correct... but that should not be an excuse for Apple not doing a better job on email.

/Jim

[impaler]

Originally Posted by Ohmster

^Gmail can also be configured for push. Just set it up as IMAP.

Wrong. IMAP IDLE is not available for Gmail. Therefore it is NOT push. IMAP and push are not synonymous. Only through Android does it push...and having used the G1 for a week, I can say even that is questionable.

[Ohmster]

Originally Posted by JimP

My understanding is that even if configured with an IMAP interface... it is still polled email.

/Jim

You are correct. My mistake. For some reason, I thought I recalled it supporting the IDLE feature....