Which is better to use, POP or IMAP and why?

[hparsons]

Originally Posted by cdaniel76

I don't think you understand what he or I are saying... He says IMAP leaves mail on the server. I understand that to mean that if I delete an email from my phone, I should still be able to receive it on my home computer later on.

However, this is not what's happening when I use IMAP on my Pre. If I delete it on the Pre, I cannot get it on my home computer later on. It's gone.

Um... no, that's not what I said, nor is it what I'm saying. When you use IMAP, and you delete an email, it is deleted from the server. That deletion is then synchronized to your other IMAP clients, and deleted there as well.

[hparsons]

Originally Posted by cdaniel76

I understand what you are saying... But we're talking about two different issues here. In my experience, whenever anyone else says "it leaves mail on the server", like hparsons said, I always take that to mean that if you delete it from one device/computer, you can still get it on another one.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. My meaning was that it leaves the email on the server even after the client receives the email (as opposed to POP, where the email is typically deleted once it's delivered to the client). It doesn't leave it there forever. When the client (any of the clients) deletes the email, it's deleted at the server.