RE: Dump AOL?

[sandykayak]

 
Okay, I ll admit it....I m psychologically attached to my AOL account.  However, I do keep wondering, " How come if I m paying $24 a month I get so many popup ads and even have to click Sign Off from yet another popup ad.
 
 Since I opened a Yahoo account for my camping-related " business,"  my AOL (ver. 7.0) gets about 15+ spam messages a day vs. 2-4 personal ones.
 
 I just had my PC serviced and the guy couldn t believe how long it took until you can actually get to your messages.  I could sign up to their ISP for $10/month.
 
 He then suggested I open a hotmail account because it s owned by MicroSoft and all messages are scanned for viruses.
 
 I love aol s addressing feature.  e.g. I type in sa....and it immediately brings up everything in the address book that begins with those letters.
 
 Things I don t like about Yahoo are the way you have to delete by clicking on boxes and then it always takes you back to the beginning.  It also takes longer to retrive an address when you are composing.
 
 I do like Yahoo s spamguard and how they dump most bulk messages to a separate box.  Some spam messages to get through tho.
 
 I m looking for comments on pros and cons of these systems.  What do people like/dislike about hotmail?  Also, does anyone use msn?  I ve been told that is also MicroSoft and should also scan.
 
 many thanks y all

[mike4947]

 sandykayak
Like the Net Zero commercial says, the computer is attached to the same phone line to the same internet. Why pay twice as much for the same thing.
 
 All internet providers have mail service. You use your " home"  mail service for friends and use a yahoo or hotmail account for surfing (helps keep your home mail spamless)
 I take it your using AOsmell s browser now. If you switch services you ll most likely use IE s outlook express for your mail. They you ll need to get one of the free virus software packages available on the web.
 Most local providers will actually set up your computer for you just to get their monthly fee, so there s no " computer axiety" .

[g-whiz]

 sandykayak
The best ISP that I have found is EarthLink.  I was with Prodigy for years but there were mergers and takeovers and when the dust settled they were Yahoo.  After the first week of being bombarded with spam and pop-up ads I switched to EarthLink just to try it and decided to stay.  The reasons:
 
 1 - Their Web Mail is VERY easy to use.
 
 2 - I can download my mail very easily into my Incredimail
 
 3 - The Spaminator which takes the spam out so you don t even have to look at it.  This works beautifully, btw.  I have NO spam!!!
 
 4 - Their pop-up ad blocker (which is free) makes surfing the Net a pleasure and it really, really works!!
 
 5 - You are allowed 8 e-mail addresses so all family members can have their own or you can have a couple to use for whatever.
 
 
 My grown children all have MSN since they bought computers with special offers if they used the service for a certain time frame.  All of them will switch services when their time is up since the mail filter lets most of the spam through and the advertising is constantly popping up.
 
 I was trying to think of a negative thing to say about Earthlink and just can t think of one!
 
 Good luck.
 
 
 

[bikolee]

 mike4947

Like the Net Zero commercial says, the computer is attached to the same phone line to the same internet. Why pay twice as much for the same thing.

 BUT. AOL limits your access to the Internet. There s a whole other world beyond AOL s " gates" .

[Kelly]

 sandykayak
[font=" comic sans ms" ]We had a year of AOL free when we bought our computer.  When that year was up we switched.  We still have dial-up access and I found an ISP that offers 5 email addresses, 50mb of web space, virus filtering, Spam filtering, personal firewall and unlimited access for less than $10.00/month. We use those email addresses for family and close friends.  
 
 A good source for information on different ISPs is www.thelist.com
 
 I have 4 Yahoo email accounts and 2 Hotmail ones.  I prefer the Yahoo accounts....I get maybe 1-2 Spam-type messages a week at any of them.  I get no mail at Hotmail ~ I set them up to use MSN Messenger and have it set up to accept messages only from specified addresses (then I didn t put in any addresses!).  You also get more space with Yahoo.  I use the photos feature at Yahoo for 2 of the accounts to post pics for camping friends.  I post family pics at our ISP site.
 
 Bikolee makes a good point, too.  AOL is good for what it is....but it does really limit what you can do on the  net.  There is a whole  nother world out there!!
 
 Hope this helps ~ you can email me if you have any questions....[/font]

[4Sharps2Camp]

 sandykayak
I plan to hop on the DSL or Cable wagon when my AOL contract expires this October. If I am going to be paying the price, I want the speed......

[kathybrj]

 sandykayak
I ve been on eithr DSL or Cable for over 3 years now. I can t imagine going back to dial up. The kids use the Encarta site for research and need to be on for long periods of time. I love the speed of the cable modem.
 
 We had AOL for a long time years ago and we liked it, but we really like the speed of the cable.

[ShirleyT]

 sandykayak
Wal-Mart has internet service for $9.95 a month now also. I know of two people that have it and they really like it. I have free aol right now because it came with my new computer, once the free is expired I won t pay to use it. I rarely use it now, only when my aunt tells me she wants to show me something.

[Acts 2:38 girl]

 sandykayak
I think AOL is good for people who just start out online and have no idea how the internet works.  It s like on-line pre-school!  No offense to any AOL users intended-I have a friend who loves it, but I think it has something to do with the movie, " You ve got mail"  []  But once you get into a groove online, definately switch to something cheaper, it s only a computer and not worth the extra $$$.  My DH needs a high speed connection for work, so we have cable.  The speed is great but if we didn t need it, I would want regular, cheap dial-up service.  
 My vote is YES, DUMP AOL!!  [8D] [8D]

[JemJen24]

 sandykayak
I have AOL DSL and love it.  I" ve been with AOL for over 7 years.  It s not the cheapest (I m not even going to mention how much I pay a month for DSL AOL), but it s userfriendly, easy to read and explore, plus I get free Picture services (You ve got Pictures) which lets me store all my digital pics online without paying (unlimited space) and clogging up my dumputer.  I also have my AOL email listed for all my web payments so changing it now would be a major ordeal.
 
 J. [8D]

[bikolee]

 sandykayak
I have DSL thru SBC and if I didn t need it to be able to work from home, I would probably drop it. I can think of much more fun and better ways to spend ~ $600.00 a year.[:@]

[campingcop]

 sandykayak
I have cable and love the speed.
 
 Using AOL for the internet is like going to a maul and only shopping at Sears.  There is a lot more out there.

[sandykayak]

 sandykayak
wow...keep those comments coming.....this is sooo helpful.  i ll check out that link, Kelly.  thanks

[CampNfan]

 sandykayak
We " DUMPED AOL"  and are very happy with our new cable connection! Kids are happy about it too. DW is happy therefore.........I think you know the answer to that!

[RamblingWreck]

 sandykayak
I used to have an AOL account for business.  I traveled outside the USA and they had local dail up numbers in the countries that I visited.  My wife really doesn t like AOL browser, so when I quit traveling we dumped them.
 
 We currently have MSN.  Search engine is not all that great, but you can jump over to google, etc.  We get a lot of SPAM.  Someetimes the sender addresses them on the TO: line instead of teh BCC: line so you can see who all else is getting the mail.
 
 Guess what, everyone on the address list has @msn.com in their address.  Wonder where they purchased the mailing list from?  Reminds me of the TV commercial where pretty girl gives a guy her phone number in a bar and another patron pays him $20 for the number.  Is your ISP provider selling your address?
 
 Now that we got 20 or more SPAMS a day, MSN is encouraging us to upgrade to version 8.0 so we can control the problem.  We have McAfee for Antivirus protection and upgrade weekly.
 
 Certainly, viruses can be spread by e-mail.  If your ISP provider is scanning great.  You still need protection from viruses on Websites you visit or that floppy diskette you or a child just stuck in the PC.  
 
 We have Mcafee for Antivirus protection and upgrade the .dat files weekly.  Its worth the money to have a decent anit-virus software.  I work with customers who have Innoculate, Penicilin, Norton and refer them to free down loads from McAfee to remove specific viruses that their Anti-virus software let in then couldn t clean up.
 
 Getting back to MSN, we will be dropping them soon providing the cable modem installation goes smoothly later this month.