I read many times in this forum that John advises to use IMAP instead of POP3, because IMAP is newer and more stable.
I’ve always used POP3 for my accounts and never IMAP.
With IMAP my e-mail stays on the server as far as I know, and that’s not needed for me.
If I use IMAP, can I then still specify that e-mails can be deleted from the server once they have been downloaded to my laptop?
Note that I do not want my locally downloaded e-mails automatically to be deleted once they are deleted from the server!!!
What other advantages are there of IMAP compared to POP3?
I think to do what you’re asking, the easiest way would be to move the messages from the IMAP account folder (on eM) to a local folder. Then it would/could be deleted from the IMAP folder. You could move the messages with a rule.
For me, the advantages of IMAP are that I can view my mail on multiple devices and not have the confusion of multiple copies. Everything is centralized on the server and provides a consistent reference for all the devices (PC, tablet, phone). Also, if away from any device, I can use any PC with a browser to access the same server storage via webmail. Storage on the server also provides an automatic backup, subject to storage limits of course.