Are free email services worth it?

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Thanks for helpful information.

I'm new to e-mail. Please explain what is spam mail??

Leo,
You are exactly right! I HATE the new windows classic hotmail they made me change to--and did not even ask if I wanted to!
So, what email ervices do you recommend that are NOT free---I don't even care if I pay for them, if I can get some service when I need it.

thanks for your help---

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That's this article:
http://ask-leo.com/what_forpay_email_providers_do_you_recommend.html

Leo

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this is not true, and this is the website to prove that it is not true, stating that AIM does not read your private AIM conversations, which they rightfully shouldn't ...

http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/aim.asp

Several years ago I had free email accounts from Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL--and got rid of them all because the amount of spam was incredible!

However, I have had a GMail account now for over a year and I am very happy with it (although I still use my ISP email account for more important mail as Leo suggests). GMail has been more reliable than the other free accounts and I do not get anywhere near the amount of spam that I got with the others--and what little spam I do get is normally delivered into my spam folder and not in my inbox. And because there is so much less spam in the spam folder, it is quick and easy to look through it (to make sure there is nothing I want to keep) before I delete them permanently.

Having used many of the other free services, I would definitely recommend GMail for anyone who would like to have a free mail account along with their ISP's account.

I agree with the comments about Gmail. Its a great service. Well gmail has also enabled directly downloading of email messages via their POP server. Gradually they a are planning for upgrade to IMAP which will even better out their User experience.
Gmail is great alongwith its powerful search features & the ability to group a particular set of email messages into one single conversation which simply allows us to keep track of the emails exchanged with a particular person with regard to a particular subject.
Ravi.

Leo is right....web-based e-mails are great"THROW-AWAY" programs.

Does anyone ever want their precious ISP URL known by anybody except their friends and family?

Can you imagine some of those replica watch or viagra websites getting to know your ISP address?

I like Yahoo because it has a nice spam device and other features that keep it simple and effective, especially the "Answers FORUM".

I use Outlook (the full blown program) and have a cable broadband ISP main account I want to protect. Can I add any one of the free email service accounts just to get one of those 'throw-away' email addresses, AND still use my full blown Outlook program to access both, or several email accounts, simultaneously? I have been using Craigslist and other services to buy and sell household items and want to protect my identity when I respond to inquiries w/o having to sign-in to each individual email service to see if I have mail.

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GMail accounts, for example, can be configured to be downloaded into Outlook.
Just be careful that when you reply or send email that you're sending using the
email account you think you are.

Leo

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