I should say Thunderbird. Its IMAP implementation has always had issues downloading large volumes of mail for me.
I also live in an area where latency is normally measured in seconds, so I think you and everyone downvoting me are living in a slightly different Internet from me.
Heliotrope sounds like it might offer a good alternative without a six hour journey back to civilization.
Why would you use TB for backups? Use something designed for the job, like offlineimap. Well, or Heliotrope, which is brilliant (Sup, the other project by the same author is brilliant too, but it doesn't download, just reads a maildir).
I also live in an area where latency is normally measured in seconds, so I think you and everyone downvoting me are living in a slightly different Internet from me.
Heliotrope sounds like it might offer a good alternative without a six hour journey back to civilization.