Palm VersaMail Compatibility with Gmail

There's been some discussion around Palm's VersaMail client being compatible with Google's Gmail. We wanted to clarify that currently Palm Treo and Centro smartphone customers can access their Gmail accounts using the POP email protocol. While VersaMail supports the IMAP protocol, there are some known incompatibilties and limitations with Gmail. For example, VersaMail does not support IMAP-IDLE, which is used by Gmail to deliver continuously updated email. For Gmail users on the Palm OS, there are aftermarket email solutions that support IMAP-IDLE on Treo and Centro like ChatterEmail.

-Jay Baik, Product Manager, Email

Comments

[Joe]

The 700p will be my last Palm device. Sorry Palm, I know I've been with you since the palm pilot days but I'm sick and tired of having to troubleshoot my phone every day. The numerous lock ups, e-mail problems, incompatibilities, etc. make this a horrible horrible product. I can't wait for my contract to be up so I can get a new Windows Mobile device.

[Anthony]

To Palm's credit they did post an update to Versamail for the Centro that does support gmail's imap. It's just too bad for other people like me who have a TX that it's only available for the Centro.

http://blog.palm.com/palm/2008/01/versamail-updat.html

[JonMelamut]

what settings should one use to get GMail to work on a 700p with Versamail?

[Brian]

I've got VersaMail working with IMAP. As Joe noted above, it seems to work with Gmail.

Also, I might be the only one, but I prefer using Opera to read my Gmail. You do have to pan the screen a lot on my Centro, but you get the full Gmail experience. :)

[Carlos]

I have changed from pc and disc with software is not well, i install my tx to my new notebook but versamail, star having problem and i do not have the chance to reinstal the program or to fix same what can i do

[rohan]

I use Versamail for Gmail on my 700P. If you use (Warden Security beware that it will no longer work). Other than that, I haven't had any issues. Just download and install the application. No setting changes were necessary. Palm said it was aprtially compatible with the 755P and that's what told me it may be OK for the 700P as well. Its about time Palm did something partially right.

[Lisa]

This is the last Palm device I will buy. Why is there no Gmail IMAP update for Versamail on Palm TX?? It's not like it's a dinosaur, this is still a popular and widely sold device even on Palm's own website. And considering the $300+ price tag, is it really too much to ask for a properly working e-mail client?? One that doesn't truncate so many messages, keep quitting partway through message download, fail to download embedded images, provide no option to re-download and correct partially failed messages... and one that actually syncs properly with popular e-mail services?

I should add that recently there *was* a Versamail 3.5 update available for download... for $9.95. Which is ridiculous considering how much you already paid for the unit and how big a selling point it is that you can use it for e-mail. There is additionally no mention whether this update actually resolves any of the problems I've mentioned, most notably Gmail IMAP (although the forums seem to agree that it does not). Unless you are the type who simply must have the newest version of a piece of software regardless of cost or actual usable benefit, this is not much of an incentive. Nevertheless, a search today reveals that even this 'option' appears to have been removed. There is no word anywhere on where this update went, or whether there ever will be another update for the TX (it certainly doesn't look promising). Way to go, Palm! Thanks a lot.

All this is a perfect example of how to lose customers forever. I'll be sure to spread the word.

If you're a Gmail IMAP user and just bought a Palm TX, like the customer above, my suggestion is ship it right back and tell them why.

[Beettlle]

Ok, so I was very disappointed with the lack if GMail support as well. Then I came across this post on how to update Versamail to get access to Gmail though IMAP. http://blog.palm.com/palm/2008/01/versamail-updat.html
Glad to know Palm is committed to get their products to be more "up with the times".

DJ, when you say "If you have Sprint, the best solution for Gmail IMAP is the FREE Sprint Email program. Works like a charm with Gmail IMAP. I wouldn't pay Palm a dime for Chatter."

Are you talking about the built-in Versamail when you say "FREE Sprint Email program"?

Thanks!

[Cortland Robinson]

You can have true Push Gmail via Versamail. Visit my sites for setting it up.

www.treo-tips.com

[Sean]

Sprint's Seven (http://community.seven.com/forum/main.php) doesn't work on the Palm OS.

[Shosh]

I used to love my old Palm -- guess we all did. Hung onto that last Palm
Treo until it froze so much I just couldn't stand it. Took me almost
two years to find a way to get my data onto a contemporary system.
Finally did it! Google is the answer, people. I can't recommend which
"smartphone" is the best one to use to sync with Google, but there
are more and more of them out there. Do any of the new Palm phones sync with Gmail? Anyway - we have to save our data from the old Palm OS first! The point is that Google's Gmail
system has enough flexibility to handle all the "extra" fields that
former Palm users have in our data -- like multiple mobile tel no's
for a contact, etc. I haven't found anything else.

Whatever you do, don't get a Blackberry and don't try WinMobile.
You risk losing lots of data because there just aren't enough fields
to handle everything. You have to get your data over to Gmail. Just
set up a free Gmail account. It wasn't easy to find the applications
to get my data from Palm to Gmail because most of the app's leave
some data fields out. I am happy to share the info that I finally
nailed it. You just have to buy a couple of inexpensive programs, but
it's well worth it. Here's what to do:

First, tranfer your data out of the Palm Desktop into Outlook using
the Chapura PocketCopy Software. Look, I am not suggesting actually
using Outlook. (Outlook hides many fields, like that 2nd mobile tel
no for a contact, into obscure locations where it's very hard to
find. Yuck.) Outlook is just a conduit for getting your data onto
Google. Read on.

To transfer all your data (contacts, calendar, notes, and tasks)
including all fields from Palm Desktop go here:

http://www.chapura.com/pocketcopy.php

Then, back up all your data for safekeeping from Outlook into PST
files. You have to do that separately for each of Contacts, Calendar,
Notes, and Tasks. Just go to File, Export, etc.

Now, here's the gold -- The one and only program that I have found
which will actually copy 100 percent of all your Contacts, Calendar,
and Notes fields from Outlook onto Google's Gmail is Gsyncit. (V-cards do NOT transfer all the fields BTW -- contrary to someone's suggestion earlier in this thread. But Gsyncit does.) Works great. You can get it here:

http://www.daveswebsite.com/software/gsync/index.shtml

Just read through all the Settings in Gsyncit very carefully. (You
can even use it to periodically back up all your data from Google
onto Outlook, which is way more convenient than those awkward CSV
files.) Here are some settings that I highly recommend in Gsync for
your initial upload to Gmail, and then it works like a charm:

CONTACTS:
-Check Automatically continue synchronizing on failure (in case your
internet goes down)
-Check to sync everything -- and especially User Defined Fields at
the very end of the list
-Uncheck "allow contacts to be deleted"
-Uncheck "removing duplicates when syncing" (Trust me -- you can
merge duplicates in Gmail after uploading.)
Read the other options and do what you want, but I strongly advise the above.

CALENDAR:
Read the Settings options and do what you want, but here's a taste of
what I did and I was happy:
-Check Automatically continue synchronizing on failure (in case your
internet goes down)
-Check to sync or not what you want - read carefully
-Uncheck "allow events to be deleted"
-Uncheck "removing duplicates when syncing"

NOTES/Memos:
You can upload by Category (hooray!!!) to Google Docs using GSyncit.
There are detailed instructions on the GSyncit support page. I did it
and was very delighted. I have almost 500 Memos from my Palm Treo
which are all organized by category and I was very concerned about this.

TASKS:
Apparently, Google has made it impossible for any developer to get
access in any way to upload into their Tasks system on our Google
Gmail accounts, despite the fact that people have been asking for
over a year. GSyncit has a way of uploading to a separate calendar,
but it's not ideal because you lose your categories from Palm. I'm
about to try a separate app called GTasks, but I don't know if it
works or not -- I don't think that the GTasks app works with Google -
I think it's maybe a standalone. So, if you don't have a lot of
tasks, and you want everything on Google, the GSyncit workaround
might work for you.

[Darlene]

I am happy with VersaMail on my Treo 755P, my husband uses the Treo 700P. We started using gmail several months ago. It (gmail) will down load to the Treo (mine) no problem. What I would like to figure out is how to stop receiving 300 messages. I thought Labels was the answer, but it was not. Archiving does not help either. Any suggestions?