To all those saying "I'm already using a gmail name"
A lot of comments about "I've got a gmail address already"
1) you can always receive @gmail or @googlemail
2)There were some UK accounts created with a @gmail address before google stopped allow this
3) accounts that are restricted to "googlemail" cannot (or could not) send as "gmail" from the gmail web page or via (Google's) SMTP.
Sending via Google's SMTP servers, the "From" and "reply-to" fields are overridden according to your gmail settings, the "from" field specified by your e-mail client is completely ignored. If you want to send from a different address you can set gmail up to do that, provided you prove you own that address. But it doesn't (or didn't) let you switch your from address from "googlemail" to "gmail". Of course, you may be able to use a non google SMTP server that lets you specify any "from" address you like.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
