Google Account or Gmail to Setup Android?

[johnnycakes2]

In anticipation of getting an Android device, I am still confused whether a Google Account is required or a Gmail account. These are two separate things. I currently have a Google Account and use many Google services under a myname@yahoo.com username. I use Bookmarks, Finance, iGoogle et al. and they work great. I was under the impression that upon initial setup of Android you could log-in a Google Account and it would "fetch" your online data. Now I'm beginning to think you must have a Gmail account (which I have, but prefer not to use). Can anybody clear this up?

BTW, I've read the user guides to the Nexus One and Droid and neither clears up the issue.

[thacounty]

You need a gmail account for the market.

[johnnycakes2]

Originally Posted by thacounty

You need a gmail account for the market.

Thanks for that, but do you need a gmail account to setup the Android or will a Google Account suffice?

[thacounty]

Originally Posted by johnnycakes2

Thanks for that, but do you need a gmail account to setup the Android or will a Google Account suffice?

You need a Gmail account for your contacts to sync. You don't need one to set up the phone, you can skip it. But you cannot use the market without it, therefore you will be missing some serious functionality if you don't have one.

[johnnycakes2]

Cool. That's what I needed to know.

[rainfreak]

Originally Posted by johnnycakes2

Cool. That's what I needed to know.

Don't worry, GMail won't bite.

[banden]

With the Moto Droid at least, your contacts have to be attached to a sync account. So you can get by without a gmail account if you are using an Activesync account on the device.

Basically there's no 'local only' contact list.