Reader Chris Long writes:
- Since it's now about the time that most ".mac" users (incl. me)
will have to decide whether to pony up $100 for another year - or not -
Mebbe U should be writing up a li'l column on alternatives, eh? I
myself still wonder whether I should attempt the email address switch,
once again.
A timely topic to revisit. Many folks who signed up for Apple's
half-price offer for a year of .mac service when the former, free
iTools service was terminated last year are, like Chris, now faced with
the decision of whether to pony up $100 for another year of service or
look elsewhere.
Personally, I thought even $50 was steep for someone like me on a
slow dialup
connection who would get little or no useful benefit from .mac other
than an email address. I let my mac.com email addresses lapse at the
cutoff date for the free service last September.
On the other hand, if you're on broadband, or perhaps an urban
dialup service with decent throughput, it's up to you to determine
whether what you get from .mac for $100 a year is a good value.
If you think not and/or if email service is primarily what you're
interested in, there are several free or cheap alternatives to
.mac.
There are dozens - maybe hundreds - of free Webmail services
available. Web-based email can be convenient if you travel a lot or
need to access your mail from computers you don't own, because you can
use any computer, anywhere in the world that has Internet access.
However, for day-in-day-out email management, most people will find
using a POP3 email client like OS X Mail, Eudora, or any one of
about a dozen others available for the Mac much more
convenient. For dialup users, the ability to access one's email files
without going online and to download email to ones hard drive to open
and read later while offline is a near necessity, at least if you deal
with a substantial volume of mail.
Most of us get one POP3 email account included with our ISP
account, but I would hate to have to get along with just one email
account. I have about 20, which is perhaps the other extreme, but I
find it more convenient to have lots of email options.
Happily, there are still quite a few free or inexpensive POP3
email services available. Many also give you the choice of accessing
your inbox through a Webmail interface with a browser as well as POP3
access - the best of both worlds. Here's a representative sampling
of what's offered.
MacMail
If you would like to have a free email address with "mac" in it,
check out MacMail, a
worldwide UK-based ambidextrous webmail/POP3 email service where your
address will be "username@macmail.com."
The downside with MacMail is that there is no SMTP support, so you
have to use your ISP's outgoing email server to send mail from your
email client. This works with some ISPs but not others (mine for
instance).
FireMail
While the excellent German GMX email service has stopped accepting
new signups outside German-speaking Europe, FireMail
is another very professional free email service from Germany that
North Americans can still sign up for, and it offers both SMTP and
POP3 support
Note well that the signup information and procedure is entirely in
German, so you might want use one of the online translation
services.
Gawab
Egypt may seem like an unlikely place to find an email service
provider. There is, in fact, a very good one based there called
Gawab.com,
which offers both webmail and POP/SMTP support. I've been using Gawab
email for several months, and it has been completely reliable and
very quick.
HotPOP
HotPOP is a free POP3
email service based in Newton, Massachusetts. Founded in 1998, HotPOP
offers email accounts, from various domains, as well as SMTP Access
(you have to check your email first). You may include up to 50
recipients on a single message. There is also Web access to your
HotPOP account, a limit of 500 KB per message, and a maximum of 1,000
incoming email messages per day.
I've had a HotPOP account for a couple of years. It has been quite
reliable, although the POP before sending feature is sometimes a bit
cranky and sluggish, requiring several email checks before your
outgoing message will send.
MyRealBox
MyRealBox is a free
email service from Novell that has been around for several years now
and offers POP3 and SMTP service and well as webmail access to your
account. It is one of the few free email services that will work with
older email clients like Eudora Light that don't support SMTP
authentication (you just have to check your email before
sending).
One caveat about MyRealBox that is spelled out on their signup
page is that because this is a permanent beta, there will sometimes
be system timeouts. I haven't found this a big problem, but they went
through a rough patch in late August, which has now been
rectified.
SoftHome
SoftHome is another
free email service that's been around for a while. I've had an
account with them for about five years. There is also an upgraded for
fee Professional service available.
SoftHome free personal email accounts are limited to 6 MB and
150 messages and a transfer limit of 10 MB/month. I've found that
recently both the email server and the SMTP server are frequently
slow to respond. Messages stored in the system for a period of time
may expire and be deleted, and unused accounts are deactivated,
although they can be reactivated from the homepage. Messages can be
sent via SoftHome's SMTP service to a maximum of 10 recipients per
email. Web access is also available.
Cwazy Email
Cwazy Email is based
in Selby, North Yorkshire, UK, and was created in September 2001 to
provide good quality free email for the Webmaster's friends and
family. In early 2002, after quite a number of "friends of friends"
requested accounts, Cwazy began offering accounts to the public.
Cwazy offers POP3 support and a choice of domain names, but there
is no SMTP support for sending mail, so you have to use your ISP's
SMTP server for sending (if they allow it for third party email
accounts - mine doesn't).
Bonnag.com
Bonnag.com
is a Web portal service maintained by Scott Pearse that offers free
POP3, webmail, and email forwarding. SMTP is also supported for
sending mail.
Applelinks
Applelinks offers a free webmail service that can also be
upgraded to POP3 support (that you can access with an email client
like OS X Mail or Eudora) for $19 per year.
The Mail
TheMail.com offers
free webmail, but for 5¢ a day you can add an extra 10 MB of
email space and POP3 access, merge mail, file manager, filters, and
an autoresponder.
Select Mail
Select
Mail offers free email, plus you can choose your own custom
email address (e.g., username@yourchoice.com) so long as you select
one special offer (e.g., a $6.95 Video Professor trial).
Features include POP3 and SMTP access and SpamShield that filters
out junk email.
Regarding the custom domain name, you will be what is known as the
domain registrant, the possessor of the domain name. Additional fees
apply to transfer your domain name to a different registrar and/or
modify your domain name record. Your own custom .com, .net, or .org
email address. .biz and .info are available for an additional $9.99.
You can use Select Mail with a domain name that you already own.
To renew your account after the first year, you'll receive a
reminder before your anniversary to select another special offer (if
available). At that time, you will also have the option to pay for
Select Mail ($24.99 a year).
You may upgrade to 25 MB of total storage space and 10 MB file
attachment handling for $19.99 (US) a year.
