Hey, I wanna spend $400 at Best Buy! Might be the most fun half hour I’ve spent in a while. But, I’m a long-time AOL user and I want to know the differences between the two. Most of my web-browsing is done through Netscape anyhow, so that’s not a problem, but I’ve noticed that I’ve gotten a couple of files bounced back from my brother’s MSN account for being too big. Thing is, he doesn’t know if that’s an individual file limit or a mailbox limit.
How many screen names does MSN allow–ya know, ya gotta have one for the squeaky-clean stuff, one for the wife, one for the kid, one for regular use, and one for dirty-dirty-transvestite-nun porn and vidcaps of the latest backyard orgy?
Is it worth it to switch? I figure that if I can afford to switch to double the price for cable or DSL I can probably afford the cancellation fee, so that’s not a question, and I’d continue to pay the same amount for AOL if I didn’t switch.
Opinions? I’m going to BB this afternoon anyhow to get some CDRs, and there’s some stuff on sale I’d like to purchase if I get the rebate.
You could get Compuserve. They’re giving the $400 rebate (or were…I got it). It’s basically a more businesslike-looking version of AOL. I’m not sure if they’re still doing the rebate thing, but it might be worth it to ask.
When I got it, they mailed me a check for $400 to use as I please…I think the stores put a stop to that pretty quickly, though.
Yeah, they’ve got that at Circuit City with the gift certificate, but I started with Compuserve and from the service I got back in the olden days (about 9 or 10 years ago), I’m not looking at that as an option. Not to mention that Best Buy’s got more stuff to choose from, at least here.
Why such an intelligent group around here even messes with AOL and MSN is beyond me.
Since day one, I’ve used the ISP my telephone company has offered. Until I went broadband, I paid about twenty bucks a month for service. After the switch, I pay about forty a month.
For all that money, or lack of, I get my own stand alone browser, I prefer IE to Netscape because they’re about equal, and get my own e-mail program, Outlook Express.
Yeah, yeah, all Microsoft, but the damn thing seems to work fine. I’ve helped a few friends upgrade and change systems around who use AOL, Compuserve, MSN, and can’t believe the problems it seems to cause. Fatal errors, transmission problems, you name it. They seem to be the most proprietory and unstable programs I’ve seen.
Add to that the contract you have to sign to get the $400.00 ‘rebate’, which seems like one massive rip-off to me, and you’re not gaining much in my book.
Get your own ISP and browser and enjoy the TRUE Internet, not what AOL, MSN, and others want you to experience.
In most major cities (or college towns), you can find a local ISP that charges $10 a month, and will give you better service than any of the big national ones. Check the yellow pages, and ask around of local computer-savvy types. Be warned, though, that if you’re going to try to switch from AOL to anything else, you’re in for a major headache. I’ve known folks who formatted their entire hard drive, just to get rid of AOL.
Thanks for the input, folks. Considering that I wasn’t going to change from AOL without the bonus, and that all the local ISPs here suck, I went ahead and did the MSN switchover. But I got a Palm M100, an MP3 player, software for my daughter, and a CD player for my wife. Better than anything AOL’s ever given me
To get that $400 you have to not cancel the first year or they charge you $400, right? So you are paying $21.95/month for MSN for three years but getting $400.00 of that back.
Three years = $790.20, after rebate, $390.20, or about $10.85 per month
Shucks, costco.com has MSN for $12.00 per month, which turns out to be just about the same deal, except you can cancel anytime.
