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Email-only Providers?
Amiralul writes "I feel that having GMail or Yahoo email domains on my business card isn't really a professional touch. Yes, I do have a work-domain email address, but it lacks IMAP and it's rather non-responsive from time to time, so I choose not to depend on it for the time being (the previous mentioned free services are actually more reliable). Besides buying a domain and using Google Apps on it (which isn't actually intended for home users), I was thinking on having a domain of my own and choosing a commercial email provider that should provide just that: email (POP3, SMTP, IMAP, with a decent storage space). I don't need storage for my website, I don't need an ugly web interface (if provided and looks decent, maybe I'll use it, but it's not a must-have). If it's free, it's ok, but it doesn't bother me if it has a decent monthly or annual fee. So, do you Slashdotters know any providers that would satisfy my email-related needs?"
You are making this far to complicated for a simple email issue. Just use Google Apps. They have a free version for people just like you. The reasoning that Google Apps "isn't actually intended for home users" is silly at best. It's EXACTLY for people like you.
It's incredibly easy to set up and will provide you with a "professional" looking email address. http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/editions.html Just sign up for the standard version.
Here's what you need -
Set up your DNS with mydomain.com (you can use them as a registrar if you wish, I highly recommend them, but they offer free DNS even if you don't register the domain with them!) and use their mail forwarding service (mydomain is somewhat rare in offering this as part of their free DNS) instead of setting up a MX record.
Create a gmail account and set up an alias for the domain including reply-as.
Done! Totally free, pretty easy, and very reliable.
Sorry I don't have time to do a walk thru of each step I imagine others here can fill in the details...
closed minded is as closed minded does
Yes, but the OP was also under the wrong impression that Google Apps is not intended for home users.
The thing is that it satisfies every single need the OP has. It's free, as reliable as anything else you'll find, supports IMAP and has a decent webmail interface to boot. The only reason not to go with it is if you have some kind of objection to the company.
Anyone out there know of (an)other service(s) that satisfy all the OP's needs *and* deliver a, in your opinion, better-than-Gmail/Google Apps webmail interface?
Your question assumes that there is a better interface for webmail than GMail. After searching around, I've never found a better one. GMail just works so well for managing large amounts of email that I'm hard pressed to think of a better way to do it.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Well I have to be honest with you, having any webmail service provider domain name instantly makes your company look amateurish from a prospective customer point of view, a real fly by night company. Don't be foolish register a domain name, a get your ISP to handle your email routing, most medium sized ISP's do it at very competitive rates and it is well worth the expenditure to create a more professional impression with potential customers.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Does Lockheed Martin not have a VPN and policies about conducting all company activities through company resources? Most of the large companies I have worked for do. Often for security reasons it is a disciplinary offense to discuss business matters via non company means. I have not worked for Lockheed Martin but have worked for (Australian) security and defense and financial service organisations in the UK and Germany.
Even if you were dealing with someone face to face I suspect you would get a lot more response as a potential client by saying you are representing Lockheed Martin than saying you are electrictroy uid = 912290 from slashdot(if fact you see a similar effect on slashdot... people with lower uids are often seen to be more impressive than higher... I once had a very lower uid but lost it due to neglect and really noticed the differene in mod points).