I just got a new Cingular Nokia 9300, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle my AOL email.
I used to have a Blackberry last year, and while I loved its ability to push my AOL email to my phone (using the Blackberry Internet Service), I hated the lack of sync between the server and my phone. For example, when I would delete an email from my phone, it would still be waiting on the desktop when I would arrive home, and then I would have to delete it again. Also, if I sent an email from my phone, it would not be listed in my "sent mail" folder on the AOL server.
Another problem is that Blackberry strips HTML content from all emails. This does not matter if your phone email client cannot support HTML email, but the 9300 can, so I'd like to be able to receive any HTML emails with all of their content retained. I have an unlimited data plan, so I don't care about saving bandwidth.
AOL is IMAP, so if I use the regular email client on the 9300, I'm sure I can set it up to sync the various folders. Then I would solve the problem of having to delete emails twice, and not being able to view all my sent mail from one location. But then I won't have push email either.
I was then reading about a couple of other options. One is Seven Always-on Mail Internet Edition. Another is MailX. While they both claim to support push email, I'm not sure if they both have the same limitations as Blackberry does as far as being able to keep my IMAP folders in sync with the server or as far as HTML email.
My understanding is that AOL supports "IMAP Idle" as a quasi-push way of delivering email, but I'm not sure if any 3rd party email clients or plugins for the 9300 support it. I'd actually prefer a plugin program to the existing email client as opposed to installing a whole new email client, as I have read that the default client is a pretty good one with regard to handling HTML email.
I read about a plugin called Automail that allows you to poll the server in time intervals, but I worry that this kind of setup will kill the battery life on my phone. One of the reasons I chose the 9300 is the long battery life, and I would like to be able to go at least a couple of days without recharging.
The only big limitation of AOL email, is that it cannot be set up to auto-forward email. So subscribing to a hosted BES service to use with the Blackberry Connect plan is not an option as there would be no way to get the email over to the BES account.
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