I’m also in search of a half-decent mail client. I have three simple requirements, supports the Japanese charset, proper IMAP IDLE, and multiple accounts. I can’t believe there isn’t a single client that can’t do this.

Alex: I suspect the mail clearing behaviour is has something to do with the mail server you connect to. For me, it happens with one account (hosted on textdrive) but not on another (hosted on dreamhost). It drives me absolutely bonkers.

Being one who uses his Treo 650 (PalmOS) as a laptop more so than most, I can appreciate when others want to take a PDA and extend the mess out of it. To a large degree, we can be quite successful, and if manufacturers just pushed a bit more, using a mobile device such as a PDA or smartphone would be more the norm than the exception.

The only issue that I have, and this is with nearly all OSes on all platforms, is that there never seems to be a well enough solution out of the box. Or, not so much one that is easily noticeable that a person doesn’t have to sift through thousands of forum posts, blogs, news websites and portals for the applications that would work best. Not saying that our devices should come with exactly what we (individually need), but that its apparent use, both simple and extended, should be easier to find from the device, and not necessarily from us who push our devices. In that respect, I think that usability for mobile devices is not there for most people because too much is assumed about the use, and not enough is expected of the user.

That being said, I long for the day when I can dock my Treo and have it served with a full sized keyboard and monitor and work from it just as if it were the desktop that I am working from now. I do believe that the hardware is there, but for one reason or another, the software just doesn’t seem to want to be there with it.

Alex: I agree with you about the email situation, which is why I left that whole category off my list. FlexMail is okay. Just okay. It has some features that make it much better than the built-in Messenging app, but it takes a lot more RAM and is quite buggy. I have resorted to forwarding all my email to Gmail accounts and I use the Java app I mentioned. Yes, I wish it were standalone and not a Java app, but it’s the best of what I’ve tried. My biggest complaint about the built-in app is the lack of filtering/rules, and the fact that I can’t select all messages at once to mark them as read. I also can’t move messages between accounts.

TK: Does the Skype app actually work on the Cingular 8125? I was under the impression that you had to overclock your phone since it didn’t meet the minimum processor requirements. And spb PocketPlus has a feature for closing applications when you hit the “X.” I know Microsoft “meant to do that” but it’s darn annoying, isn’t it?

I actually like the builtin app. If it only supported rules and did not delete all my previously downloaded mail when I send/receive it would be perfect. FlexMail has all the features but the interface is not that great (it takes 3 clicks on two buttons to delete a message)

Gmail’s java app just fells like is ment for a smartphone not pda and you need to go to midletmanager which is really annoying.

Anyone has a suggestion which mail up to try next?

there’s this other product, NTRconnect (www.ntrconnect.com) that provides also remote access and you can access your Mac computers also (not only windows). It’s definitely worth a peek (they have also other cool products).