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.Mac, Worth It?
- Thread starter zflauaus
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I would, but I already have MSN DSL service running since I bought my PC a few years ago. Unless you don't have something like MSN or Earthlink I would get .Mac.
I think the best thing to do would be to try the trial and then you'll be able to judge for yourself if it's going to be worth the money. Some people find its features very useful, others less so. It all depends what you're looking for.
To help you make your mind up, there are oodles of threads here on whether or not .Mac is worth the cash a quick search should turn up quite a few for you to take a look through, and suggest some free (or at least cheaper) alternatives.
To help you make your mind up, there are oodles of threads here on whether or not .Mac is worth the cash a quick search should turn up quite a few for you to take a look through, and suggest some free (or at least cheaper) alternatives.
I've not used it myself, admittedly, but Wheel from Spymac looks like good value ($39.99 a year for a 3Gb mailbox, 250Mb disk space, etc) Not too sure about that name though but that's a minor point!
FWIW I've just signed up for a 60 day free trial of .Mac and it seems to be Mail that I'm using more than any of its other facilities at this stage. That said, I'll probably subscribe once my trial expires, so as to retain my new email address - and I could also see Backup being worth the price alone!
FWIW I've just signed up for a 60 day free trial of .Mac and it seems to be Mail that I'm using more than any of its other facilities at this stage. That said, I'll probably subscribe once my trial expires, so as to retain my new email address - and I could also see Backup being worth the price alone!
IndigoQuack said:
I've heard many a bad reports about Wheel, especially when it was first introduced. It might have gotten better but I'd still be wary.
As to whether .mac is worth it, give it a test run and find out. For me I didn't find .mac worth the asking price but my Dad loves it, as it lets him do things he would never have been able/inclined to do before. That's where the real value of .mac comes in.
.Mac is worth it.
If you just want to quickly post a new iphoto or imovie show it's fast. I don't really know how to write html so this is the best choice for me. I've had .mac since it first came out and I'm glad, because I don't have to change email addresses all the time like some of my friends. Just throw something in the public folder and it's there when you need to work on it when your away from your computer.
Nuc
If you just want to quickly post a new iphoto or imovie show it's fast. I don't really know how to write html so this is the best choice for me. I've had .mac since it first came out and I'm glad, because I don't have to change email addresses all the time like some of my friends. Just throw something in the public folder and it's there when you need to work on it when your away from your computer.
Nuc
If you have two or Macs, I consider it a necessity.
It's also nice for posting quick images to the Web - or movies (I don't do movies).
I use it for syncing my computers and image posting.
It's also nice for posting quick images to the Web - or movies (I don't do movies).
I use it for syncing my computers and image posting.
zflauaus said:
Not for me. I have my own web server with email services so I don't need either of those features. I don't like Apple's server dependent applications and I don't trust them with my data for backup. I backup nightly to my own external hard drives and keep data off site securely. They charge an aweful lot for very little service.
My .Mac annual subscription is up next month. I won't be renewing it. It's ok if you want to keep a few easy pics of your last summer holiday on the web and such but that's about all.
Membership deals are non-existant. Forget the free software they mention. All you get is Apple's Backup utility and some Garageband loops. Virex isn't worth diddly squat.
Gmail or similar would serve you better than .Mac and it's free.
Membership deals are non-existant. Forget the free software they mention. All you get is Apple's Backup utility and some Garageband loops. Virex isn't worth diddly squat.
Gmail or similar would serve you better than .Mac and it's free.
My mac (ibook) is shipping currently, and there is a .Mac deal for $60 when you buy a mac, but I didnt bother to order it-- gmail, flickr and blogger are all free and let me do everything I've heard you can do on .mac, except for posting video. It's not worth the money.
I just renewed my subscription. I love the mail. and homepage is cool since i have no clue on how to do webpages. I post pictures/movies.
Question i got an email receipt saying something about shipping. Are they going to send me a box i don't really need it although having those apple stickers would be cool.
Question i got an email receipt saying something about shipping. Are they going to send me a box i don't really need it although having those apple stickers would be cool.
puckhead193 said:I just renewed my subscription. I love the mail. and homepage is cool since i have no clue on how to do webpages. I post pictures/movies.
Question i got an email receipt saying something about shipping. Are they going to send me a box i don't really need it although having those apple stickers would be cool.
I use the iCal publishing all the time... I just email the link to my friends/family when we try to set up meetings/lunches/trips... works like a charm... 'salso nice when I'm at someone else's house and I don't have my computer...
I've been using Gmail for a couple months now and it works great. I also backup to and external HD so that's not a problem. At the moment i wouldn't consider paying for services i wont use, such as posting my pictures. I guess that if i really wanted to share my photos i could use Flickr.com which is also free. I find Gmail to be extremely useful especially b/c it allows popmail. i forever dumped yahoo and hotmail.
japasneezemonk said:
I would find the services .Mac provides are pretty much useless. Their not really worth the extra money you are spending out. Backing up files, sure, but with the same price you can probably just buy an external HD that gives you more space. Even then its not really needed. I usually backup my photos, documents and such on GMail. Just send the stuff you need to keep as attachments.
I find it worth it, but only barely. I have only one Mac and so don't use the sync stuff. I do find it extremely convenient to post family pics and vids from iPhoto in Homepage, which is the whole basis for my family website. I also love having my email address end in "@mac.com," even though I forward it all to gmail anyhow.
I love it for syncing multiple computers and my lovely email address which i wouldn't change for anything in the world ><!
Duff-Man says.....ah, our weekly "is .mac worth it" thread....
I use .mac and will renew again this October. I use multiple computers so the syncing features are worth it to me. The simple web pages and email aliases are a bonus along with all the other little things. sure, there is nothing I can't do in other ways or with other software but .mac just works and suits my needs with no hassle.....oh yeah!
I use .mac and will renew again this October. I use multiple computers so the syncing features are worth it to me. The simple web pages and email aliases are a bonus along with all the other little things. sure, there is nothing I can't do in other ways or with other software but .mac just works and suits my needs with no hassle.....oh yeah!
e-mail is good. easy to set up with the aliases.
syncing is great. i have access to my adressbook and calendar from everywhere. also syncing the keychains can be very helpful.
the homepage is useful for people like me. i have no clue about webdesign and homepages and still can set up one.
the idisk is too small and too slow. you can keep a few files. thats it.
the software features aren't worth mentioning. there should be more pages themes, keynote themes, soundeffects. but you get only a few. the promised widgets are still not there.
it comes down to that: if you are not a computer specialist and if you don't want to become one than the $100 or so are worth it. if you are good in these things or you don't have the money it's not worth it.
syncing is great. i have access to my adressbook and calendar from everywhere. also syncing the keychains can be very helpful.
the homepage is useful for people like me. i have no clue about webdesign and homepages and still can set up one.
the idisk is too small and too slow. you can keep a few files. thats it.
the software features aren't worth mentioning. there should be more pages themes, keynote themes, soundeffects. but you get only a few. the promised widgets are still not there.
it comes down to that: if you are not a computer specialist and if you don't want to become one than the $100 or so are worth it. if you are good in these things or you don't have the money it's not worth it.
I liked iTools, but I personally have never been able to justify $100 a year for .Mac when I already have email addresses and external hard drives for backup. Plus my college provides me with ample room for a website... so that is a non-issue for me as well.
Obviously, only you can determine the worth of .Mac. I've considered it before, but to me it's not worth $100; $50 maybe.
If all you're looking for is some web space and a place to backup files to, you can easily buy your own domain and hosting package for considerably less. You'll also have your own personalized email address too. However, if you know absolutely nothing about HTML, then .Mac can make the process of setting up a web site easy.
If all you're looking for is some web space and a place to backup files to, you can easily buy your own domain and hosting package for considerably less. You'll also have your own personalized email address too. However, if you know absolutely nothing about HTML, then .Mac can make the process of setting up a web site easy.
What makes .mac worth the $99/year to me is the homepages. I'm not skilled enough to create a webpage by myself, and the free ones out there are not very good. With the homepage, I can easily post all my pictures, and they actually look very nice and sleek. I've had a bunch of friends ask me how I made such a nice homepage. They have no idea that I just pick a theme, upload, type some descriptions and arrange! It's also nice to be able to upload movies and have pages of text.
The ability to share files is also nice, but it may only be useful for certain situations. For example, my biology teacher gave us his homepage address at the beginning of the year, and we were able to download documents, notes, presentations, assignments, quizzes, lab pictures, etc. from his iDisk. For him, it was worth $99 to be able to so easily share lots of files with all his students.
I don't use my .mac email address, I've had my gmail address for a while, and I hate switching addresses. However, I did add my gmail account to Mail, not sure if you can do this without .mac or not.
The freebies are nice, but no big deal as some other posters have said.
I think basically what it boils down to is what you're going to use it for. Hopefully the free trial will help you decide whether you need it or not.
The ability to share files is also nice, but it may only be useful for certain situations. For example, my biology teacher gave us his homepage address at the beginning of the year, and we were able to download documents, notes, presentations, assignments, quizzes, lab pictures, etc. from his iDisk. For him, it was worth $99 to be able to so easily share lots of files with all his students.
I don't use my .mac email address, I've had my gmail address for a while, and I hate switching addresses. However, I did add my gmail account to Mail, not sure if you can do this without .mac or not.
The freebies are nice, but no big deal as some other posters have said.
I think basically what it boils down to is what you're going to use it for. Hopefully the free trial will help you decide whether you need it or not.
Duff-Man says...ultimately what it comes down to is looking at *all* the features, deciding which *you* will use, and then if that is worth the $$ to you...as you can see, we all have different opinions because we all use/need different parts of the service....oh yeah!