Newbie question - Push email

[disco stu]

First of all let me apologize if this has been asked a million times. I searched the forums, and didn't see a clear answer.

If I don't have MobileMe, does the iPhone push email, and alert me immediately when the email arrives? If not, what is the situaiton with email notification?

I am deciding between iPhone and BB. Really want an iPhone, but one critical thing for me is immediate email notification. I work all over the place, most times away from my desk, and will need to receive and send emails as soon as possible. I don't want to have to pay an additional yearly fee for MobileMe. I am trying to keep my mobile phone/data cost as low as possible. I am in a personal start up business and need to keep costs as low as possible.

Thanks!

 

[PhightinPhils26]

Yahoo Mail and MS Exchange accounts do push. While AOL and Gmail currently only support fetching email. If you use an ISP, most of them are going to be fetch also.

 

[disco stu]

What is the deal with MS Exchange? Is that something I would need to purchase? Is it something "extra"?

 

[kzoojason76]

Look into Nuevasync for your push GMail and contacts/calendars.

www.nuevasync.com

 

[PhightinPhils26]

What is the deal with MS Exchange? Is that something I would need to purchase? Is it something "extra"?

It's MOSTLY for corporate email. (Though it looks as if GMail will eventually go that route) There are very few (if any at all) public exchange email service providers. If you have a personal domain there are services (mostly pay) that will enable Exchange email for your personal domain.

 

[disco stu]

Will I be using an ISP if my email reads something like "discostu@discoinc.com"?

 

[TheNewsPaperBoy]

Its an exchange server if you have corporate email accounts, you would have your IT department set it up. If they even use Microsoft exchange server. Some use blackberry enterprise servers. Your best bet if you don't fall under that category is make yourself a yahoo account. Or even mobile me.

 

[PhightinPhils26]

Will I be using an ISP if my email reads something like "discostu@discoinc.com"?

That would be a personal domain. You can set the iPhone to fetch the email automatically every 15, 30, or 60 minutes. Unless you invest in some kind of exchange server.

 

[STEVESKI07]

Honestly, if the most important feature on your phone is email then get a blackberry. There are work arounds for the iphone that will get you push email, but none can compare to the blackberry and it's extra effort that you may not be willing to put in/deal with if it stops working.