.Mac worth it?

kumrabaikumrabai
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Sorry to repeat what must be a frequently present thread, but here goes.



I have just bought my first Apple (sweet freedom!), but am wondering what to do about the .Mac situation. It seems ridiculously, stupidly expensive. Compare it to the McAfee Security Centre package for the PC, the abundance of email programmes / accounts out there, web hosting services etc.



So is it worth it? Any experiences from others about using alternative services? My main concern is about getting Anti-virus software up and running soon. . . . Web hosting I don't care so much about, nor do I care about the email account, as I already have about 5. . . .



Thanks

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    if the main reason you'd get .Mac is for the anti-virus, forget about it. viruses aren't anywhere near the problem on Macs as they are on PC's, and at this point in time there are 0 known OSX viruses.



    it would only be worth your time if you wanted to use all the features, or wanted to take advantage of the free online photo printing. otherwise it's a waste.



    -alcimedes
  • Reply 2 of 9
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    you dont need anti-virus software....



    .mac is overpriced if you didn't get the upgrade pricing
  • Reply 3 of 9
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    .mac is overpriced, but the functionality is great. I'm really glad I got it. I don't use the anti-virus software, don't use backup, don't play the games they included. But I do use the email, the homepage, the webstorage and the one click ordering from iPhoto. At some point, I'll also use the .mac synchronization with multiple devices if they incorporate other things (like pocket pc devices). Sure $100 is spendy, but the functionality is great. And it's so easy, the way it should always be.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by Paul:

    <strong>you dont need anti-virus software....



    .mac is overpriced if you didn't get the upgrade pricing</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I agree. I wouldn't have signed up for .mac if I didn't get the upgrade price.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    the hulkthe hulk Posts: 7member
    It's great for posting photos of The Hulk to message boards. It's worth $100 just for that alone.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    stunnedstunned Posts: 1,096member
    Get .MAc if u really need to use the homepage functions and stuff. But be warned that it is not cheap and 15mb of email space for that price is not value for money.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    And also be prepared for .mac to be down all the time.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    trowatrowa Posts: 176member
    If you don't care about email or web then .mac isn't worth it. I like it because I can access my email anywhere I go. Some companies actually block yahoo and hotmail so it is almost impossible to access your personal email. .mac isn't really recognized as a problem by most IT/IS depts. So that is something to keep in mind. I'm also able to store files and documents as a backup in case my machine goes down. granted 100 MB isn't much but it is something and it does help.



    I think we are just witnessing the early stages of .mac. It may not seem worth the $99 now, but with iSync and some other stuff possibly coming into play, .mac is going to be very interesting. I do like iCal and just recently having access to my address book wherever I go is a good thing. Whether I am on my machine or not.



    I would say wait a bit. I think Apple should lower the price (to around $50 if they are smart) and they are definately enhancing it as it hits some bumps in the road. We're just beta testing it for them while they work out the kinks



    [ 01-03-2003: Message edited by: trowa ]</p>
  • Reply 9 of 9
    snoopysnoopy Posts: 1,901member
    No one mentioned Backup. This is what I use all the time. When I do work, I don't want to lose it by a disk drive going bad. Before .Mac I used external storage locally, but this is subject to things like theft and fire. Now, I just keep Backup running and hidden. After every 15 to 30 minutes of work I tell it to make a backup of these items. I keep what I'm working on checked, and the other stuff unchecked. It only take a few seconds to click on 'backup now', and I'm back at work.
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