Accessing gMail Using VersaMail on your Treo

[Christopher]

Here's my take on your questions:

Originally Posted by renthead74

Hello Chris,

Thanks for this post. I am very excited to buy my Treo 650 right after the New Year and have been lurking on Everything Treo and other forum websites. I rely heavily on my gmail account and wanted to make sure I wouldn't have any problems. A few questions arose while I read this post:

- What are the pros and cons of using versamail as opposed to the mobile link that Google just created for gmail? Pros: 1) You can work with the messages offline, storing a draft of a reply you are working on, or a message for later review without having to access the internet. 2) You won't be interrupted by a phone call. Yesterday while I was replying to a message using the m.gmail.com site, I got a phone call and lost the reply that I was working on. A little annoying, but not that big a deal really.
Cons: Versamail sometimes seems to have a hard time interacting with Gmail; for example, it will want to download a large amount of messages that you have previously downloaded. I once had Versamail trying to get over 400 messages. The workaround is to go in to Gmail and reset the POP mail settings to "only download messages received from now on." That solves the problem; however, I like to have access to ALL my email wherever I am, as I often need for work purposes to go back and find old messages, even from several months earlier. The mobile site allows me to do that. The other "con" - and this is very minor - is that your ability to write large messages is somewhat limited, and the feature are also limited on the web site - e.g., no automatic capitalization after a period like the Treo does elsewhere. Very minor, but a little irksome until you get used to it.

- will the google mobile link allow for messages to appear as they come to my inbox or is there a delay? The delay is longer than on a regular computer on gmail, which seems to refresh quite often automatically, but for me I haven't noticed it. I don't want to be constantly bothered by chimes and vibrations from new emails. I want to deal with it all at once. As soon as you've processed one message (i.e., replied, archived, etc.) any new messages will show up. Or you can just hit "refresh" from time to time. It's working quite well for me. If you're wanting to know if you have new email every 5 minutes, then the mobile link is not the solution for you.

- I keep hearing praises for chattermail and snappermail. What are their advantages over versamail and the google mobile link when it comes to downloading gmail? I haven't used them, but everybody seems to praise them. I'm going to investigate chattermail after the new year, as that may be better. What I really want is to be able to have all my email in three places: work computer, on the web to access from home and elsewhere, and on my Treo (at least until I delete it). I haven't been able to get Versamail to properly sync with Outlook at work, but that may be my own incompetence.

- Do versamail, chattermail and snappermail enable me to use the archiving and labeling functions that I have come to rely on in the gmail interface? With Versamail, a resounding "no." With the others, again, I have no experience, but I seriously doubt it. However, you can set your Treo to leave the message on the server, and then archive or label from the full web site once you're at a computer. That's what I'm doing. Although, you can archive from the mobile link. Google has done a good job of breaking down the messages to be easy to interface with from your Treo (and, I suspect, even from a regular cell phone).

- If I use any of these applications, will I still be able to access my gmail account on my computer web browser (i.e., will the messages still be in the google server)? Yes. Make sure to set it to "leave message on server." However, I've discovered that once I've downloaded (POP) on my Treo, then it won't download the same message again on my work computer to Outlook. No biggie though. It's still on the web.

Thanks in advance for sending the rest of the materials/screenshots you mentioned.

Happy Holidays,

Mark

[Tyzing]

Hey guys yall really know your stuff so hopefully you can help me out...I set up Gmail on my VersaMail just like yall said to do and even made the switch for Sprint PCS...and when i click "Get" it will do everything like it should, Get connetion, etc. downloading messages although once it gets to downloading messages it then says closing right after without actaully downloading a message...what should i try to do? Thanks guys!

[Christopher]

Hmmm. Try this:
On the Gmail web page, go to SETTINGS, select FORWARDING AND POP, then hit the radio button ENABLE POP ONLY FOR MAIL THAT ARRIVES FROM NOW ON. I'm thinking that your Versamail is getting hung up trying to download every message that you haven't trashed. If this doesn't solve the problem, let us know and we'll try something else.

[Tyzing]

Hey, thanks for the help but it didnt work...like i said before everything looks great, it establish's a connection then says connected then a split second later it says closing and no messages appear, I just set up my Gmail account so I only have like 3 messages in it....anything else I should try also my email address is Tyzing@hotmail.com incase you want to email me...thanks again for all your help!

[Christopher]

What do you have for the following settings?
*Incoming Mail Server
*Outgoing Mail Server
And in Advanced:
*Incoming Server - Port #?
Is the "Use Secure Connection (SSL)" box checked?
*Outgoing Server - Port #?
Both SSL and ESMTP boxes checked?

Just want to make sure all the basics are covered ...

Also, what are your settings in Menu/Preferences/Delivery Options?

[Tyzing]

Originally Posted by Christopher

What do you have for the following settings?
*Incoming Mail Server
*Outgoing Mail Server
And in Advanced:
*Incoming Server - Port #?
Is the "Use Secure Connection (SSL)" box checked?
*Outgoing Server - Port #?
Both SSL and ESMTP boxes checked?

Just want to make sure all the basics are covered ...

Also, what are your settings in Menu/Preferences/Delivery Options?

Incoming Mail Server: pop.gmail.com
Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.gmail.com

Incoming Server Settings: Port Number: 995
SSL checked
APOP unchecked

Outgoing Server Settings
Port number: 465
SSL Checked
ESMTP unchecked

Everything in the Pref. looked right, i changed the max size to download to 15kb just in case the emails might have been to big....thanks again guys!

[Christopher]

I've got the ESMTP box checked, and am using outgoing port 587, but that really shouldn't be what your problem is.

It sounds like your Treo is accessing Gmail fine, but it doesn't find anything to download, so the problem may be with your Gmail settings. Do you have another computer, such as your desktop, already configured for POP access with your Gmail? Perhaps going in to the Gmail settings and disabling POP, then reenabling it to download all messages.

Also, try sending a Gmail message to your hotmail account, and see if you are able to send. That would confirm the hypothesis that your settings are all correct.

Anybody else want to chime in with some bright ideas?

[Tyzing]

Sorry i havent been on for a few days I went up to DC for New Years...but in deed you were correct, i had my outlook accessing my Gmail and I deleted it off Express and now my Treo is pickin it up...is there any way i can keep both at the same time? Thanks again man

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by Tyzing

Sorry i havent been on for a few days I went up to DC for New Years...but in deed you were correct, i had my outlook accessing my Gmail and I deleted it off Express and now my Treo is pickin it up...is there any way i can keep both at the same time? Thanks again man

No problem - hope you had a nice tripe to DC. What'd you do? I live in Alexandria - just south of DC on the VA side.

I don't think there is any way to have the same message downloaded to both machines. But that's the beauty of the m.gmail.com site - if you archive the message, you'll always be able to access it on your Treo, even if you downloaded it to your desktop.

Happy New Year!

[Tyzing]

I went to the mall in DC

So is there any way to get them both on my Express and Treo with out archiving them manually?