Fuss-free email accounts for my folks?

May 18, 2007 10:26 AM

If your 70 year old dad used Outlook and a Blackberry what email service would you suggest he use?

My parents are switching their ISP from Comcast to Verizon and will be getting rid of their respective @Comcast.net email addresses, so I need find new email services for each of them. As the go-to IT guy in their life I want them to have most fuss-free email experience possible, I can convince them to pay a bit for convenience, so it doesn’t have to a be free services, gmail etc, but I want to make sure I’m getting the best service for each of them.

1) My mom has an iBook she really likes so I was going to get her a .Mac account and set up Mail for her. I figure that the added interoperability with iPhoto and the fact that the mail and address book will sync with the .Mac web mail will be worth the 10 buck a month, so unless there’s something I’m missing I think that’s the way to go for her.

2) My dad uses Outlook on a PC and has a Blackberry w/ Cingular. He’s very used to Outlook’s interface and really likes the Contacts functionality in Outlook so I want to stick w/ that as his desktop email client, but I’d like him to have IMAPish (stay on the server) web mail access and good functionality/syncing between the Blackberry and Outlook. I don’t have a blackberry and I don’t use Outlook so this is kind of unknown territory for me.

Would I want to look into an Exchange hosting plan for him? I don’t know that much about how Exchange works but it seems as though it’s like .Mac for PC+Outlook. My Googling only turned up services that sell 3-5 mailbox minimums, and it’s absurd to pay $50/month for email for just his personal email.

posted by JulianDay to computers & internet (15 comments total)

Is running your own mail server out of the question?
posted by jozxyqk at 10:35 AM on May 18, 2007

Yahoo mail is fairly similar to outlook and I've got both my parents using it without a hitch. Upgrade it to yahoo mail plus for 20 bucks a year, it does the job.
posted by pwally at 10:42 AM on May 18, 2007

I wouldn't want to set up a server for them because I'd be in charge of the server and I'm trying to make this fuss-free not just for them but for me as well. As it is now they call me every time something happens ("The Internet stopped working... what do I do?", "I can't find my Inbox.", etc.)
posted by JulianDay at 10:50 AM on May 18, 2007

Well, I'm unfamiliar with Blackberries, but I use Gmail with Outlook and also am able to check it from my phone with ease.

They have Gmail / Blackberry info available here.
posted by tastybrains at 10:51 AM on May 18, 2007

gmail...
posted by chuckdarwin at 10:51 AM on May 18, 2007

I don't really think .Mac is worth the money myself, but if you get it for your mom, you can set up an email-only account for your dad at no extra charge.

Then just access the accounts from the iBook, the PC, and the Blackberry over IMAP, or via the web interface.
posted by designbot at 10:53 AM on May 18, 2007

Why not give Gmail a go? If he doesn't mind the privacy concerns that is :)
posted by philsi at 11:04 AM on May 18, 2007

I'm not sure about the setup, but I know someone who routinely e-mails me from her GMail account via Blackberry. I've been very pleased with my own GMail account; I use the web interface and query it via POP (messages stay on the server anyway) from my Treo periodically.
posted by fogster at 11:14 AM on May 18, 2007

If you are looking for a cheap solution that works well, Yahoo and Blackberry have the best integration currently. For example, messages read on the BlackBerry will show as read on the Yahoo webpage. This all works with the free Yahoo account. There is a pending upgrade to make the synchronization work both ways too.

However, if you want to use Outlook with Yahoo, I believe that you probably have to upgrade to a paid Yahoo Plus account.
posted by dcjd at 11:18 AM on May 18, 2007

What about the service that will come with Verizon? Won't they get an @verizon.net accont? Usually this is part of the package.
posted by media_itoku at 11:33 AM on May 18, 2007

With all due respect, I think you're looking for the proverbial ten thousand dollar answer to a ten cent question. Yahoo it all the way - or Gmail - but Yahoo has excellent Blackberry integration. As for your mom, keep it all in the family and sign her up with Yahoo. They would then both have addresses from the same provider and spending very little. Your mom would probably love the new Yahoo drag 'n drop and as I said, the Blackberry integration for your dad makes them a logical choice.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 11:41 AM on May 18, 2007

FWIW, my 64 year old Dad has a Blackberry for work-related email and, at home, a Verizon email account.
posted by amro at 12:06 PM on May 18, 2007

I'm with the above poster, go Gmail or Yahoo all the way. They can help each other if they are both using the same.

Your dad will especially like Yahoo!'s Blackberry integration and Outlook like interface. Pay the $20 bucks to get rid of all the ads and he can keep using Outlook with the service if he likes.

Your mom, on the other hand, must use Firefox on her Mac to get the benefits of the Outlook interface, it doesn't work with Safari. If she's already using Mail.app, spring for the extra $20 to get access for her to POP her mail.

Conceptually, I love IMAP too, but unfortunately, it seems too difficult or not demanded enough for the big email providers to enable it.

RANT ON
One last word, DO NOT give them an email with their new ISP. Unless you have complete faith that they won't switch ISPs ever again, changing your primary email address is a pain in the ass. The fewer times you do it, the better.

My father-in-law has done this twice in the last 3 years. Maybe it's me, but I'd rather clean the garage, mow the lawn or any number of other tasks than keep my address book up to date.
RANT OFF

Cheers,
Randy
posted by randy_stewart at 12:09 PM on May 18, 2007

Thanks everyone for the Yahoo/Blackberry info, that was what I was looking for, I'll probably go w/ the paid Yahoo.
posted by JulianDay at 1:26 PM on May 18, 2007

Myfastmail.com has IMAP, but a lot of services support POP3, and you can configure Outlook to leave messages on the server. I'd go with gmail, but that's my preference.
posted by BrotherCaine at 1:22 AM on May 20, 2007