Considering dropping Gmail -- any paid-for recommendations?

[DrCR]

Well after this whole Gmail/Buzz ridiculousness, and out of a long and growing concern of just how well Google can be trusted nowadays, I'm considering switching email over to a company that can be trusted, even if it means paying. Got any recommendations?

Maybe I should just bite the bullet and setup my own email server, yeah?

[Captain Ned]

Moved to Networking.

[Corrado]

I doubt you'll trust Microsoft either, but I've been using Live.com (Hotmail essentially) for about 2 years now. Its always been great. The website is fast, POP works better than gmail's does, and if you use Windows Live Mail client, you get MAPI/Exchange like features and push email to the desktop. Calendar and tasks, etc are also built in as well as the contacts, so wherever you go, your contacts are there. Coupled with live.com mail is Skydrive which gives you 27+GB of free online storage. The only caveat is the file size limit is 50mb.

[Heiwashin]

Well, get your own server and use it for email. Web servers can be gotten for a few dollars a month. If you're that concerned about your information don't use an email provider.

[Buub]

Yahoo! mail is also quite good. But they're all going to have facets of social networking integrated, because that's the New Hotness. On the other hand, more mature systems like Yahoo's should allow you to choose not to participate with relatively little distress.

Paid email? Are there any out there that aren't just premiums of the free services?

Personally, I just run my own (Exchange) email server, but I've been doing the self-network thing for a lot of years.

[just brew it!]

I've been using Pobox since practically forever (over 10 years). I only use their forwarding and spam filtering service though, not their POP/IMAP capability. But FWIW they've been a great company to deal with -- very little downtime, and very responsive customer support.

[UberGerbil]

You could just obtain a domain and a minimal shared server for a few of dollars a month. People usually do that to put up a lightweight web site or blog, but you don't have to do that; you can just set up the POP/IMAP side of things with the client of your choice.

[Zoomastigophora]

Just in case you hadn't noticed, Buzz can be turned off in GMail using the link at the very bottom of the page. First thing I did when Buzz reared its ugly head in my gmail.

[DrCR]

I've been using Pobox since practically forever (over 10 years). I only use their forwarding and spam filtering service though, not their POP/IMAP capability. But FWIW they've been a great company to deal with -- very little downtime, and very responsive customer support.

Interesting. They seem to have a niche in the IT/CS world. I'm going to be look at these guys closely. I'm not a POP/IMAPer, but use webmail exclusively. I'm going to miss how gmail keeps re: emails of the same subject line together.

Yes, I disabled Buzz. But not until today. That's however many hours with my email running on settings I didn't set...and it was done by the provider, not an incredible hacker. Totally unacceptable.

I totally don't mind an opt-in policy, but auto-opt-in is deal breaker for me. It's going to be a difficult move. I've been using Gmail since very early on (actually paid some dude for an invite lol). Got about 15 accounts or so and 6k+ in the inboxes of my primaries (I create expendable accounts that I then forward to a few "primaries"). Yeah, unfun.


Still considering going a DYI approach. I would really like to setup a private digital library for me and my techie friends, e.g. FTP server on steroids, something we can autoset our HTPCs to backup/upload to and have an electronic loaning system for movies. But I'm cheap, lazy, and FiOS isn't in the area.

[derFunkenstein]

I would not use Windows Live Mail if you want to get away from social networking (not that you're considering it, just replying to Corrado's suggestion). They have their own "networks". Even though they're opt-in, you get an annoying opt-in message every time you send an email to someone on your contacts list, and if you're not careful everyone you reply to winds up in your contacts. I just left Hotmail in the last few weeks. I've disabled everything Buzz-related with my gmail and that's good enough.

Though I agree with the above comments, if you're going to pay for a service you might as well pay for your own service.

[yogibbear]

There's a "turn off buzz" clicky at the bottom of the page.

[titan]

Buzz was an opt-in for me. It asked if I wanted it, I said no. All I have is the link below my Inbox. Hardly an eye sore.

I'm not opposed to Buzz, I just don't know what I could stand to gain from it.

[yuriylsh]

Wow, it's ridiculous! Just logged into my gmail account and found out that I'm enrolled into Buzz (without even asking me!). Furthermore, it made me a follower of several people from my contact list that I do not want to have anything in common at all! And it also set it so that anything I post on my Picasa (and other services) to be automatically funneled into Buzz (again, without asking me, I just found out all this post factum). So, count me in, I'm dropping my gmail account altogether. Just turned off Buzz for now until I move all my stuff to other services.

[Flying Fox]

There's a "turn off buzz" clicky at the bottom of the page.

May not be enough:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10451703-2.html

[Dirge]

There's a "turn off buzz" clicky at the bottom of the page.

May not be enough:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10451703-2.html

I also found myself being followed by a number of people I barely know.... hurray for privacy by default. I followed the above instructions and told Google's new feature to buzz off.

As for alternative email providers I am all ears for a good alternative to both gmail and hotmail/live mail. Though I would prefer a free option as I dont have allot of extra cash to spend right now.

[Mentawl]

I was opt-in too, not seen anything of Buzz beyond the initial "do you want it" followed swiftly by my "hellz no".

[titan]

There's a "turn off buzz" clicky at the bottom of the page.

May not be enough:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10451703-2.html

I also found myself being followed by a number of people I barely know.... hurray for privacy by default. I followed the above instructions and told Google's new feature to buzz off.

As for alternative email providers I am all ears for a good alternative to both gmail and hotmail/live mail. Though I would prefer a free option as I dont have allot of extra cash to spend right now.

One thing about that article, the author made a stink about what are essentially posts still being there after turning off buzz.

It'd be like a gerbil bitching about a post still being on the forum after s/he closed his/her browser.

[Dirge]

Here is a list of free webmail providers I have turned up. I haven't tried any of them yet and would still like to hear of others recommendations.

GMX
Hushmail
Icerocket which also has its own search engine.
Inbox.com
Lavabit


Disposable email addresses try YOPmail

[just brew it!]

I've been using Pobox since practically forever (over 10 years). I only use their forwarding and spam filtering service though, not their POP/IMAP capability. But FWIW they've been a great company to deal with -- very little downtime, and very responsive customer support.

Interesting. They seem to have a niche in the IT/CS world. I'm going to be look at these guys closely. I'm not a POP/IMAPer, but use webmail exclusively. I'm going to miss how gmail keeps re: emails of the same subject line together.

My original reason for subscribing to Pobox was just to get a permanent e-mail address that wouldn't change when I switched ISPs (this was back in the days when Hotmail was pretty much the only webmail service around, so Gmail was not an option). They didn't even offer POP/Webmail back then, only forwarding. They've since diversified into most areas of e-mail service... I recently switched to using their outgoing SMTP relay as well, since it seems to be more reliable than my ISP's.

[DrCR]

I've been using Pobox since practically forever (over 10 years). I only use their forwarding and spam filtering service though, not their POP/IMAP capability. But FWIW they've been a great company to deal with -- very little downtime, and very responsive customer support.

Interesting. They seem to have a niche in the IT/CS world. I'm going to be look at these guys closely. I'm not a POP/IMAPer, but use webmail exclusively. I'm going to miss how gmail keeps re: emails of the same subject line together.

My original reason for subscribing to Pobox was just to get a permanent e-mail address that wouldn't change when I switched ISPs

That's cool and makes a lot of sense. I have a 'graveyard' of email accounts from my pre-gmail days. No clue if they are even still around (had juno way back when), and I'm sure I don' remember the password. I'm going to have to look and see if pobox allows the creation of aliases though.

Dirge, Hushmail rings a bell. I talked it over with a few techy mates several years ago. I forget why it caught my attention back then...I think it was mentioned in the TR shortbread or something and that's what caught my eye. Maybe it was that it went https by default, or that it allowed aliases or something.