Ultimate Treo 650 email solution

So I am sure there are plenty of Treo 650 users out there that are looking for a better email solution. So you don't have to keep reading the details I'll tell you the combination I have that finally satisfied me.

ChatterMail and an IMAP account from emailtreo.com

My Treo is on the Verizon network and has the Verizon Wireless Sync feature which is really quite good. There are however problems that keep it from being the best solution for email. You must have a dedicated machine running to sync to. While this isn't a problem if your primary machine is a desktop or an office PC that is always on, it IS a problem if your primary machine is a laptop you take everywhere with you! Sort of defeats the purpose!

Why not use GMAIL and VersaMail you ask? Or POP and VersaMail? Simple:

1. I don't want another email address


2. I don't want to download all my SPAM


3. I wan't instant notification or "PUSH" email (IMAP4)

So what is the solution already?

1. Buy ChatterEmail+ from http://www.chatteremail.com - $39.95 after trial expires (You can always trial it!)


2. Sign up for the emailtreo.com account from within the application (I had initial problems connecting but it eventualy worked). I got 6 months free when I signed up so you can try it before you purchase it. Even when purchasing, it is very reasonable at $10 per 6 months!


3. Add a redirect to your current primary email account to your new emailtreo.com account AND mark the option to leave a copy of forwarded email on your server. This is a server side option that some may have access to via their web settings.


4. Change your reply-to address inside ChatterEmail for this account to your primary email account.

That is pretty much it. EmailTreo.com has an excellent SPAM shield which alleviates my biggest problem using standard POP3 with my account, downloading 300 SPAM messages a day. My email client is what handles spam for me so it simply wasn't an option. Some may have server based spam blocking in which case POP3 is probably ok for you. An additional benefit of using IMAP4 vs POP3 is that you get instant PUSH email. With POP3 you must set intervals for checking email.

ChatterEmail+ has options for changing notification times, sleep times, notification "nudges" or nags to remind you that you have new email, and a ton of other options. The biggest selling point to me is that you can store your messages on an SD card directly. Most other programs, if they even allow that, require you to manually move them or archive them there. For users tight on memory that recieve a lot of email, this is a must!

On my treo I have had ChatterEmail reboot my Treo 3 times in the last 2 months. I find it an acceptable compromise to downloading hundreds of emails a day that are pure JUNK.

One of my pet peeves with the palm version of the Treo is the need to constantly "buy" software to do the things you expect it to do in the first place. While this is a pain, it also allows the market to create some incredibly ingenious solutions to fill the gaps that are there. So far this has been money well spent.

Gripes:

While emailtreo.com is incredible, I haven't been able to use HTTPS to connect to my webmail. This is an issue in public wi-fi spots as my user/pass is in cleartext.