.mac really worth it?

rlp · May 6, 2003 3:10PM

i just got an new pb 1ghz, and i am thinking about getting a .mac account. 100 bucks a year seems a little steep for the 2nd year. (I realize you get a lot more than just an email address.)

Currently i have hotmail, but i am a new "switcher"....so out with all the MSN crap.

My question is... does anyone other have a .mac account and think thats its worth it or not? Or should i go with some other free email provider? --->suggestions would be great.

rob-

pesi · May 6, 2003 3:35PM

i guess it all depends on what you plan on using .mac for.

myself, all the free games were enough

seriously though... i don't use mine that much. but when i do, i think it's worth it. especially if i need to throw up some photos rather quickly. and it's nice to not have visitors to that photo page be bombarded with ads like MSN or Yahoo.

bunge · May 6, 2003 4:56PM

If you use all the features, it's definitely worth it. If you use a couple, it's kind of a balance. Overall I'm happy enough with the email account that I'll buy it again. The rest are features I don't use on a day to day basis, but like pesi says, come in handy once in a while.

overhope · May 6, 2003 5:50PM

The webspace, iSync and Backup make it for me, but I don't tend to use the email that much.

Definitely I'll be renewing mine.

idebaser · May 6, 2003 7:39PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rlp

i just got an new pb 1ghz, and i am thinking about getting a .mac account. 100 bucks a year seems a little steep for the 2nd year. (I realize you get a lot more than just an email address.)

rob-

you get .mac for a discount ($69) when you buy a new Apple

http://www.apple.com/promo/everymac/

so for $70 you get Virex anti-virus program and get to sync calendars/calendars/addresses/iDisk which might be cool on the go...

also you get a homepage to share all the stuff mentioned above...

members can download dropstuff file compressor utility for free and receive a discounted price on stuffit deluxe...

the email is ok, i've had it drop out during the day a few times which is lame for a pay service, but i'm giving them benefit of the doubt and no spam is nice...

i think it's definitely worth considering at a discounted price...i got mine for $50 for being registered w/ iTools...hopefully there is a discount for year 2...

kumrabai · May 8, 2003 9:16AM

It's OK. 6 marks out of ten. Apple really needs to start adding a bit more value to really convince more people to start using it. In fact, I get the distinct impression that Apple does not seem to be that interested in investing in the service.

IDisk - quite useful, especially if you're working between Macs. It can be quite a handful to set up if you're sharing files between Wintel and Apple.

Backup - does the job

Mail - pretty much like any other mail programme. No pop ups, of course. I would like to be able to go to 'mail.mac.com', instead of having to click through.

Virex - no complaints

Homepage - needs muuuuuuuuuuch more work. It's simply not enough to put up photos. I would really like more of a homepage creation programme that allows for links to be put in, text to be added, more than one page etc.

Games - good fun.

Cheers

Andrew

kraig911 · May 10, 2003 2:08PM

you don't have to use homepage for your webpage on their webspace if you want. I use it to sync a calendar to our clients sales staff which helps loads of time. the backup and the virus software alone are a great value too.

boba fett · May 10, 2003 4:19PM

i think 99 bucks is totally worth it.

- 15mb of email (even if you have other accounts, just forward them to .mac)

- syncing address and ical with my two mac machines with iSync rocks!

- idisk for sending clients and friends large files is very handy.

- homepage feature is a nice plus. posting photos right from iphoto is easy.

Overall, I am a satisfied customer.

http://homepage.mac.com/bgundu

(think about how much you spend on Starbucks coffee a year)

rok · May 10, 2003 5:36PM

i am a .mac subscriber, and i feel that it...

...IS worth US$70. (though i say that based off the perks and savings they have thrown in for being a member, not necessarily for the default .mac services. HomePage, for starters, needs an overhaul).

...is NOT worth US$100. Not yet. I am hoping that sometime before the first anniversary of .Mac, they will unveil some cool features (and speed) to the .mac family.

barto · May 11, 2003 6:35AM

It's not worth A$180 to me. If I didn't get it for free, I wouldn't use it. But I don't know what it's worth to you.

The biggest deal about .Mac is it removes ALL the hassle of moving ISPs. All your eMail, web sites, pictures, movies, music are with Apple. Virex is also good if you want AV software (not that you need it on a Mac). I would like to see AppleID deprecated, and a teired .Mac introduced. A free basic level, a mid-range services level, and a high-end services and software (Virex, games, Mac OS X free or discount) level.

A word of warning: iDisk sucks over dial-up.

Barto

rok · May 11, 2003 9:13AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Barto

A word of warning: iDisk sucks over dial-up.

i got news for ya. it isn't much better over ADSL, either.

in fact, does anyone know how to turn off iDisk trying to show icon previews, etc. of every little file??? sure, it makes it look like a standard finder file window, but GOOD LORD does it take a while for it to generate all those little thumbnails of files. ugh. all i need is a file listing. can i ftp into iDisk?

paul · May 11, 2003 2:35PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Barto

It's not worth A$180 to me. If I didn't get it for free, I wouldn't use it. But I don't know what it's worth to you.

$180?

how is that?

you have 1 account an 9 email addresses?

or 3 EDU accounts?

you know you can add an email address to an existing account for $10 a year...

rok · May 11, 2003 3:17PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Paul

$180?

how is that?

you have 1 account an 9 email addresses?

or 3 EDU accounts?

you know you can add an email address to an existing account for $10 a year...

sigh... he's quoting $180 AUSTRALIAN.

paul · May 11, 2003 3:26PM

ah

that sucks...

jared · May 11, 2003 5:58PM

I finally finished my website on my .mac site...

http://homepage.mac.com/jaredstutts

I am very happy with it and it is fast to transfer the files over Cable...I am going to get some more disk space and register a .com to forward to my .mac account.

It would kick butt if Apple made a .mac domain! Like yoursite.mac

hobbes · May 11, 2003 11:49PM

If I needed the free mail, I would definitely be intrigued, what with everything else .Mac offers.

I don't though, so I won't be renewing unless Apple drops the price (e.g. something closer to the $50 initial fee I paid) or adds some indepensible new features.

My favorite has always been iDisk (for all its hiccups and occasional sluggishness) -- I love how it's integrated into the OS. Use it practically every day, exchanging data between home and work. Also like the simple AIM/iChat name. Syncing up via .mac is very useful. Virex is OK -- needs some major speed improvements. (I can't really say I'm concerned about viruses on the Mac yet.)

Everything else... don't really use.

I'll probably be dropping .Mac come this October, using an ISP-provided space for exchanging files and setting up my own WebDAV server to handle syncing. The integration .Mac offers is nice, but I can't really justify the price for what it offers -- for me.

OTOH, if you need webmail (ad-free) and web space, plus syncing support, nifty home page building features, and extras, .Mac is a decent deal. If you just need cheap webmail, check out Yahoo.

der kopf · May 12, 2003 7:11AM

That's kind of cool, jared. I had always kind of thought that people were bound to the templates .mac furnished them with, but apparently, they aren't. Cool. What are the conditions of use (I mean: how much webspace do you get, and what kind of monthly bandwidth)? I have been looking for a proper domain and hosting service, and I was surprised at how expensive this is. Over here, the main ISP in this country charges upwards of 120 euro for domain registration + one year maintenance (otherwise about 50 euro maintenance only), and north of 200 euro for a 10 MB website with only 2 GB / month traffic. !!

I'm thinking of going with one of geocities extended packages now, not only a lot cheaper but more webspace/monthly bandwidth.

In any case, after realising this, I suddenly realised that $100 is not that much for a bit of 'upgraded' webspace.

jared · May 12, 2003 1:26PM

Quote:

Originally posted by der Kopf

That's kind of cool, jared. I had always kind of thought that people were bound to the templates .mac furnished them with, but apparently, they aren't. Cool. What are the conditions of use (I mean: how much webspace do you get, and what kind of monthly bandwidth)? I have been looking for a proper domain and hosting service, and I was surprised at how expensive this is. Over here, the main ISP in this country charges upwards of 120 euro for domain registration + one year maintenance (otherwise about 50 euro maintenance only), and north of 200 euro for a 10 MB website with only 2 GB / month traffic. !!

I'm thinking of going with one of geocities extended packages now, not only a lot cheaper but more webspace/monthly bandwidth.

In any case, after realising this, I suddenly realised that $100 is not that much for a bit of 'upgraded' webspace.

You get 100 MBs. My site right now only takes up about 12! you can buy up to 1 GB of disk space if you want.

As you have seen you are not bound to use the templates, you just drop your web ready html/pictutes into a folder called Sites and you are on your way...

nitzer · May 12, 2003 1:59PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kumrabai

I would like to be able to go to 'mail.mac.com', instead of having to click through.

Try http://webmail.mac.com.

iSync between computers is what really does it for me. I love that feature. I've occasionally used iChat. I think it's definitely worth it if you have a couple other people that you would like to give email only accounts to.

.mac really worth it?

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