[eL-ZilCHo!]

I'm quite tempted to get myself a blackberry so I'm doing a bit of research however I have come to a bit of head.

How does this push e-mail thing actually work?

What I really want to know, and it appears impossible to find out, is can I still access my e-mails from my computer? Does it "push" a copy or does it work like Outlook and download the mail from wherever it was sent?

I'd like to have e-mail access on my phone, but I would still want to access them from my computer too.

Also,

Are the more expensive models worth it? I had a play with the basic one at the weekend and I liked it, in the real world do the more expensive ones offer anything extra?
I can't say I'm a heavy phone user, so the cheaper one is probably more than enough for me. However, is 3G that much better than edge or whatever it's called? (never used the internet on my phone, but I'd like to)

Edit: please ignore the moronic spelling error in the title

[richard_ha]

Push email just means there is a constant connection from your phone to your mail server so that you are notified as soon as an email is received. The way the email is handled (left on server, moved to phone, etc) is a different setting.

Push is all good and well but tend to use a lot of battery so you are best of just setting it to check ever 30 mins or so.

[RobM]

If properly implemented, Push can actually save you battery life.

To answer your question, you can indeed still manage your email via Outlook or any other email client as well as your phone.

Push simply keeps your phones inbox and your mailbox in-sync in real-time. It maintains a constant connection to the email host and polls it for updates. Any changes are automatically reflected in both directions.

It doesn't work like POP3, whereby you download the email from the server. Think of it more like synchronisation rather than a download.

[richard_ha]

Originally Posted by RobM83

If properly implemented, Push can actually save you battery life.

How? Having a constant mobile connection (GPRS/3G/HSPDA) using a lot more battery than not having one open.

I found on my phone I can double the battery life by turning it off.

[eL-ZilCHo!]

That was quick, thanks for your help.

[RobM]

Originally Posted by richard_ha

How? Having a constant mobile connection (GPRS/3G/HSPDA) using a lot more battery than not having one open.

I found on my phone I can double the battery life by turning it off.

My post earlier was a little misleading, but my point remains... I'll try again

There is no hard and fast truth, but Push can save you battery life. It depends on the volume of email you receive though as well as the data connection type (GPRS, EDGE, 3G, WiFi etc).

Push doesn't transmit much data if there is no email to download and it's the transferring of data that puts a strain on the battery. Setting up a data connection and disconnecting also puts a strain on the battery. Push just pings the server once in a while to ensure the connection is kept alive and to check for updates it needs to download.

If you only set your phone to pull every 30 minutes or less, you'll save battery over Push for sure. But if you set it to Pull more frequently, you can end up using more battery than you would with Push.

In reality, there are many other things that will have a bigger effect on battery life than this, such as network conditions and signal strength. Most people wont notice a difference with or without Push.

I dare say though, that if you're not interested in Push, do you need to go for a Blackberry?