Better than most (updated 01-14-03)
Written: Feb 11 '01 (Updated Jan 14 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fast and reliable Internet-based e-mail; Spam filter
Cons: Service might be down every now and again; forget about sending long files
The Bottom Line: Best Internet-based, free e-mail package on the market. What more do you need to know?
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| HawgWyld's Full Review: Yahoo! Mail |
When it comes to Internet-based e-mail, most people ask four things -- is it fast, is it reliable, is it free and will the hosting company be in business next week? Yahoo! satisfies all three of these requirements.
First of all, Yahoo! is faster than most Web-based e-mail services I've tried. I've messed with some that load slowly and really make checking e-mail a chore. That's not good, of course, because most e-mail accounts turn into spam magnets anyway, so being able to quickly identify the junk and get rid of it is important.
Checking the mail that you actually want has to be a quick operation, too, and Yahoo! works at a speed that's just blazing when compared to some other e-mail services I've tried (that includes that snail-like, little Microsoft Hotmail or MSN or Bill's XPress or whatever it is this week, too).
Second, Yahoo! is very reliable. I've used a number of Internet-based e-mail services that seem to be hosted on servers that crash constantly. That's just plain obnoxious. Yahoo!, though, manages to stay up just about all the time. Sure, it hasn't worked from time to time, but that's unusual -- as a rule, Yahoo! is up and running every time I need to check my e-mail.
Third, Yahoo! offers free e-mail service. This isn't a big deal because most Web-based e-mail services are free. It's worth mentioning, though.
Fourth, a lot of free e-mail providers are "fly by night" companies that might shut their doors in the next day or two. Remember all those "dot coms" that having been dropping like flies for the past couple of years? Failing Internet-based companies aren't unusual, and how do you know if your e-mail account will vanish with the next bankrupt Internet-based company? Yahoo! has been around for a few years, though, and is one of the most established companies on the Web. Your e-mail account will be safe for them for a few years, at least.
Now, here are some other features of Yahoo! worth mentioning. Want to check your e-mail at home? Yahoo! can be configured to check any POP account in addition to the native, Yahoo! one. That's proven quite handy when I'm away from home.
Also, you can send encrypted mail if you want. Is this a nice feature? I don't know -- I don't use it. Hey, I've got very little "sensitive" information that's sent around. If someone wants to pick off my love letters to my Wife, they're pathetic and sad and not really a threat. This feature's there for those who think they need it, though.
I also enjoy the fact that this e-mail hooks up very well with the Yahoo! Messenger. When I log onto the Messenger, it checks my mail, tells me if I have any new messages, and can take me to my account if I want. That, too, is a nice feature.
The only complaint I have about this service is that Yahoo! isn't too generous about attachments. You can only send or receive 1.5 megs worth of file for each attachment. Most people might not care about that, but you're limited on what you can send. Also, you've got a mailbox limit of six megs, but you can increase that for a yearly fee. For $9.99, one can get a 10-meg mailbox; $19.99 will net you 25 megs; 50 megs can be had for $29.99 and $49.99 will bump you up to 100 megs.
So, if you're looking for a free, permanent e-mail address, give some serious thought to Yahoo! Mail. It works better than most, and has some dandy features, too.
Big ol' update referencing, perhaps, the best feature about Yahoo! Mail
I've come to regard spam as one of the worst damned things floating around on the Internet. Truly, I hope the bastards that traffic that junk rot in hell after very painful deaths. Junk mailers, in my estimation, rank right down there with used car salesmen, the head football coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks (Houston "The Scalded Chicken" Nutt), most attorneys I've known, Wal-Mart executives and the Clintons. I don't give a damn about unsecured credit cards, women doing God-knows-what with barnyard animals, incest porn, finding off-brand Viagra or any of that other rot.
Yahoo! Mail, fortunately, comes with a built-in spam filter that gets rid of a lot of the trash. And, it's an interactive tool which allows the user to identify pieces of mail as spam and send off a report which is, in theory, taken and used to update the spam filter.
The spam filter works pretty well and, from my experience, reporting spam actually does have an impact as I've noticed the "bulk mail" filter catches a lot of garbage. In this day and age, a spam filter is essential for anyone wanting to use e-mail without going insane. Yahoo! Mail, fortunately, includes a pretty darn good one for free.
There is, however, a spam-related problem that just comes with the mailbox. I've had a Yahoo! account since around 1996 or 1997 (I can't remember exactly), and I've noticed that Spam just finds its way to my mailbox incredibly quickly. Sure, Spam finds its way all over the place, but the Yahoo! spam filter stays much busier than the one I have through Arkansas.Net, my ISP. Yahoo! accounts, for whatever reason, seem to be just magnets for spam. Thank goodness the spam filter is around to take care of a lot of that junk.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
HawgWyld
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Member: Ethan C. Nobles
Location: Benton, Ark.
Reviews written: 1437
Trusted by: 495 members
About Me:
The oxen are slow, but the earth is patient.
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