Palm's latest update to its e-mail client is even better than the last version. Larry Garfield looks at Palm VersaMail 2.5, with improved network support, scheduled downloads, attachments, and more.
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As more and more devices get wireless connections and more RAM, more and more users want to push both of those to the fullest. The "killer app" for Internet access from any device is still e-mail, which is where Palm's newest version of its e-mail client comes in. Palm VersaMail 2.5 is one of the most full-featured e-mail clients we've used, although for a Palm OS application it's a bit on the pricey side.
The 610 KB VersaMail's interface is the same as most mail programs. The main screen is a listing of mail in the current mail folder. New to 2.5 is the option to have either one or two row entries for messages, which gives more room for displaying information about the message. Each entry shows the From entry, subject, and timestamp for the message, as well as the approximate size of the message. Messages can be sorted by date, subject, sender or size. The text for messages can also be color coded for Read or Unread messages. A select box in place of the category selector lets the user switch folders.
VersaMail now has its own internal font support, both in the mail list view and when viewing a message. There are five fonts available, including the default "Palm" font, in multiple point sizes and styles. The new fonts include two serif and two sans-serif fonts, all of which are quite attractive, but unfortunately are only available in two sizes, 9 point and 12 point. (The standard Palm display is 9 point.)
When composing mail, the user can specify To, CC, and BCC recipients, and can lookup any of them from the handheld's Address Book. The user can also have the program attempt to auto-complete addresses, although that tends to slow the response time down. New messages can be deferred to a Drafts folder, sent immediately, or sent to an outbox to be delivered whenever the account next checks for new mail.
What really makes VersaMail shine, however, is it's account and network support. VersaMail supports multiple accounts over POP, IMAP, or synchronization, and keeps all accounts completely separate from each other. That differs from most e-mail programs, which unfortunately dump all mail from all accounts into a single inbox. Each account has its own folders, filters, network options, and signature. We'd like the option to have them share an SMTP server for outgoing mail, but we certainly appreciate this level of separation.
The user can easily switch accounts via the Accounts menu, although we'd prefer an on-screen select box. The current account is shown as the form title. Creating a new account starts an account wizard that walks the user through setting up all of the parameters for an account. The program includes default configurations for several popular e-mail providers and ISPs, such as Yahoo! and Earthlink, or the user can custom configure everything. VersaMail supports both POP3 and IMAP4 protocols for incoming mail over a network connection, and supports SMTP authentication (ESMTP) for outgoing mail as well.
VersaMail can download all mail or only unread mail, and by default will leave messages on the server to be retrieved later although that can be changed. The maximum message size is configurable as well. The program supports both plain text and HTML email. When checking mail, it can either get the entire message or just headers, with a single button to retrieve the whole message. It can also download attachments.
Attachment support is only significant through synchronization, however. VersaMail's conduit has been beefed up, and now allows the user to configure accounts on the desktop as well. The conduit can synchronize the handheld to Eudora Mail, Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express, Microsoft Exchange server, Lotus Notes servers, or directly to an IMAP or POP server. The last two options are now, and very much welcome. That allows users of other e-mail clients than the supported few to still synchronize their e-mail to a server directly, bypassing both an Internet connection on the handheld and any desktop client.
When synchronizing e-mail, the conduit can also convert selected attachment formats for handheld use. Although there are ten different possible file formats that can be configured, only three of them, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point, have supporting programs. Specifically, if the user has DataViz Documents To Go installed then those files will be converted to Word To Go, Sheet To Go, and Slideshow To Go format, respectively. Documents To Go is available separately.
VersaMail also supports handheld-side filters. By default, each account will download all e-mail that is available when connecting or HotSyncing. If any filters are active, however, it will download only those messages that meet one of the filters and move them to a specified folder. That allows the user to, for instance, download all mail sent to themselves personally but not to a mailing list, sent only to a specific mailing list, and anything sent by a specific person and put them all in separate mail folders. For those who are on many e-mail lists, that is an extremely useful feature. Filters can be separately specified for when mail is received via a direct connection or via synchronization, to limit per-byte wireless connections to only the bare minimum of messages.
It should be noted, however, that the program still has to download the headers for every message that is available before deciding which to filter out. If there are a lot of messages available (we ran into trouble with about 150 messages), then the device may run out of space while downloading them and be unable to process any. For some, that may be a serious problem. We also had a problem with the filter field text box, which was simply too short for any address we gave it. It still worked, but the address scrolled off the text box instead of wrapping to a new line, which made it difficult to edit.
VersaMail 2.5 also adds scheduled e-mail checking, a feature we've wanted for a long time. Each account can be individually configured to check e-mail on a schedule between every 15 minutes and 12 hours, although the program recommends setting it at no less than an hour for battery life reasons. The auto-check can be set to run only during certain times of certain days as well, to avoid the device checking constantly while not at work. If other programs are in use, VersaMail can check mail in the background provided the running program does not override the standard Palm system calls. It can also play a sound when new mail is received. It's not true push-based mail, but it's about as close as a client-side solution can get.
VersaMail runs on Palm OS 4.x and OS 5.x, including the upcoming Palm OS 5.2. Amusingly, the Graffiti help menu item is labeled "Graffiti 2", even though on all currently shipping devices it shows the Graffiti 1 help dialog.
Availability
VersaMail 2.5 is available from the Palm web store for $34.99 USD. It will also be bundled with selected future models of Palm handhelds.
Conclusion
VersaMail is one of the most full-featured mail clients we've seen for the Palm OS. Its top-notch support for multiple e-mail accounts over a variety of networks and connection methods is far and away its strongest feature, and we like the good filter architecture as well, even if the filter interface has a flaw or two. The attachment support is also good, but we'd like to see more included converters for images, sound files, PDF files, HTML files, and the other attachment types that are technically supported but have no clear converter. At the very least, we'd like to be able to tell the conduit to send these files directly to a flash card as-is, thus making them available to any program that can read them. Still, mobile users who must have e-mail access wherever they go should give Palm VersaMail serious consideration.
- What's positive: Multi-account support, network and conduit support, filters
- What's negative: Price, limited attachment support
Overall: 
Price and availability
The will start selling for TBA () in December 1969.
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