Easy Mail vs Easy Mail Plus Handling Addresses Which Program Do I Need?

Easy Mail Plus Features Which Format Is For You? Easy Mail Plus Web Site

Easy Mail vs Easy Mail Plus

Easy Mail and Easy Mail Plus are different programs that meet different needs. It is inappropriate to say that one is better than the other. They differ only in function, not in quality or performance. Easy Mail Plus includes the popular features of Easy Mail, but offers much more. In particular, it provides comprehensive database support.

Brief Summary

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Handling Addresses

Easy Mail features free-form addressing that has proved extremely popular with our customers. Since addresses in lists have the same format used in correspondence, or on envelopes or labels, there is never a doubt as to what will be printed; you can see any address at a glance. Here is an example of how an address might be printed or recorded in an address list.

Ms. Mary L. Jones
Advertising Director
Number One Firm
1400 South One Street
Somewhere, ST 99999

While Easy Mail Plus includes this method of handling addresses, it features two comprehensive database formats, ideal for managing larger lists. When using database, elements in the example above are entered into separate fields. That is, "Ms." is entered into the prefix field, "Mary" into the first name field, "L." into the initial field, and so forth.

One way of looking at this difference, is that while entering a new address in database takes a bit more time, more data related to a name can be entered, and all of it can be used in a greater variety of ways.

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Which Program Do I Need?

Ease of use is our primary design consideration at Home Plan Software. Be assured that both Easy Mail and Easy Mail Plus are in fact easy to use, so this factor does not need to be part of the decision. Which program you need depends entirely upon the task you want to accomplish. It's not unlike choosing between power drills. For most, a good quality quarter-inch drill gets the job done. But for those with special needs, a half-inch or even a three-quarter-inch drill may be required.

If you have small lists, say in the 100 - 200 range, Easy Mail will meet your needs indefinitely, and do so in the easiest way possible. But given lists with hundreds of names, there is no realistic choice but database. By its very nature, entry to, and maintenance of, a database is more work and takes more time. The payoff for the extra effort is the powerful options available to select sets of names in a list in a variety of ways. And Easy Mail Plus simplifies all aspects of the task in every possible way.

If you feel your lists will remain small, than Easy Mail is the clear choice. If you already have large lists, database is the way to go. It may also be the best choice if you see your lists are growing larger even now.

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Easy Mail Plus Features

The following are available in Easy Mail Plus, in addition to the popular features found in Easy Mail. (Click here for a summary of Easy Mail features.)

• Database mailing list management
  

• Personalized mailing (Mail Merge)
  
• Selection of addresses by tagging
  
• Selection of addresses with filters which can be edited and saved
  
• User configured address formats; up to 8 lines
  
• Automatic update of Reference Date on mailing
  
• Automatic insertion of city and state on zip code entry
  
• Address books for fax numbers
  
• Movement of text or graphics within the editor with the mouse
  
• Merge of text at the cursor position
  
• Record or replay keyboard and mouse macros
  
• Back up and restore
  
• Pre-defined and user-defined reports
  
• Support for .BMP, .GIF, JPG, JPEG, WMF, and .ICO files
  
• Support for additional popular labels including those used with diskettes, audio and video cassettes.

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Which Format Is For You?

In addition to free-form address handling as in Easy Mail, Easy Mail Plus supports two powerful database formats. While most will select one format for general use, both are available from within the program as needed. That is, you can switch at any time from one to the other, provided you also have a database engine installed as described below.

In general, if you use relatively small files, you will find the EasyMail database faster. If you use relatively large files, you need the Standard database version, which means you will also need to have a copy of a database engine.

Advantages of Standard database:

• Faster and more efficient when there are more than 500 addresses in a list
  

• List size limited only by disk space
  
• Import/export directly from/to dBase and Paradox database tables, or from/to comma or tab delimited files

Disadvantages of Standard database:

• Slower when using smaller address lists
  

• The database engine requires additional disk space
  
• A database engine must be downloaded

Advantages of EasyMail database:

• Faster and more efficient when there are less than 500 addresses in a list
  

• Less download time and less disk used on your system

Disadvantages of EasyMail database:

• Slower when using larger lists
  

• Import/export limited to/from comma or tab delimited files
  
• Large files take longer to load on startup (approximately 20 seconds for 1000 addresses)

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Our Easy Mail Plus Site

For further information, visit easymailplus.com, the site upon which Easy Mail Plus is featured. Please click here for a visit.

If we can be of any assistance in helping you decide which program best fits your needs, please send us a note. Or give us a call. The phone number at Home Plan Software is 209-286-8011

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