Waiting on Mail.app to retrieve messages is like watching paint dry.

Calvados · #1 December 2nd, 2007, 06:58 PM

I was never a fan of Mail.app, but I lost it this morning when it timed itself out trying to download two images, 1330 kb and 1308 kb in tandem. Of course, doing this on dial up didn't help — my only other option would be satellite, but I'm too cheap to consider it. I've been advised that Thunderbird could be my cup of tea, yet I haven't read anything anyplace that praises TB's speed in downloading attachments form the incoming server. I need someone to hold my hand and advise me out of this muddle.

MisterMe · #2 December 2nd, 2007, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calvados

... it timed itself out trying to download two images, 1330 kb and 1308 kb in tandem. Of course, doing this on dial up didn't help — ...

You are complaining about Mail's being slow over a dial-up connection? Hate to break this to you, but everything is slow over dial-up.

Observation: There was a time when even a 9600 bps connection gave acceptably fast and reliable performance. Today, this is not the case. Many Internet clients and servers assume that you have a high-speed connection. If your connection is slow for whatever reason, then its quality drops dramatically. This problem is not confined to email.

Suggestion: Until you can get a faster connection, then you should probably switch to a webmail for communicating with friends who send digital images.

DeltaMac · #3 December 2nd, 2007, 07:41 PM

Or, at least re-consider your 'too cheap' excuse. High-speed access prices tend to go down over time, although satellite choices seem to have their own challenges, and not all about the cost.

ApeintheShell · #4 December 2nd, 2007, 08:52 PM

Welcome to 1999. I had dial-up until 2002 so I feel ya there. I bet you don't download system and security updates as often.
If you have no other choice than you will have to get accustomed to asking others for smaller digital images and files. Anything over 1mb is going to take considerably longer than a broadband/dsl/report connection. The software does not speed up the connection. This is a misconception. Now you will have downloaded items in queue but they won't download until the first one downloads.

ApeintheShell · #5 December 2nd, 2007, 08:53 PM

ignore the "report" lol

Kees Buijs · #6 December 3rd, 2007, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calvados

I was never a fan of Mail.app, but I lost it this morning when it timed itself out trying to download two images, 1330 kb and 1308 kb in tandem. Of course, doing this on dial up didn't help — my only other option would be satellite, but I'm too cheap to consider it. I've been advised that Thunderbird could be my cup of tea, yet I haven't read anything anyplace that praises TB's speed in downloading attachments form the incoming server. I need someone to hold my hand and advise me out of this muddle.

A simple calculation which is valid for any email program on any platform.

You want to download about 2,638 kilobyte of data on with a speed of 6 kilobyte per second. The calculation leads to a time of 440 seconds = over 7 minutes of time). In the high-speed internet connections the same is done with e.g. mail.app in my situation in about 5-10 seconds (depending on my connection it varies from 400 - 1250 kilobyte per second = 70 to 200 times your speed).

Welcome to the 21st century in computing power (but for optimal use all parts of your system needs to be up to speed and a dial up is certainly not up to speed. If you internet on a regular base, you most likely pay more (and are frustated certainly a lot more) for the internet connection.

Good luck, Kees

Calvados · #7 December 6th, 2007, 09:43 AM

Ruefully, I have been overwhelmed by the insights provided by you and your predecessors. I'm trying hard to suppress my miserly nature and expect to join the Satellite crowd as soon as I can browbeat myself into submission. My only immediate problem is I can't stop crying about the cost.

Thank you all for helping acquaint me with reality.