AOL, one of the worst services.....
Written: Jun 10 '06
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Pros: Good for Dial-up users
Cons: Cost, space consumption, bad for high speed internet users.
The Bottom Line: Depending on what internet service you have, I will recommend different things. For DSL and Cable, do not use this, for Dial-up i would recommend this.
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| gross99's Full Review: AOL (America Online) |
What it is
AOL is mainly a service used to connect people to 56k(Dial up) connections. You may also use AOL to connect you trhough Cable or DSL if you prefer. What it will do for you is take the interenet coming into your computer and connect your to a browser with an instant messanger built in. Also you will recieve your own email address. So far you know the basic details of AOL, if you choose to read on, you will find out what types of connections will be benefitted by AOL.
For Cable and DSL Users
For cable and DSL users I wouldnt suggest this AT ALL! If you think their broadband applies to cable, you are also terribly wrong. AOL will not speed your connection up at all, in fact...AOL will slow down your computer. For a cable user your paying 25$ a month for #1 an email address, #2 less hard drive space, and #3 a screen name. Now for many of you, an email address and screen name may draw you to AOL, well you do not need to pay to have either of those. You can download AIM which is a free instant messanging service. You can also get a free yahoo email address. Basically for all cable and DSL users, all AOL does for you is take up storage space for other programs on your system. The reason I discourage use for AOL on these systems is basically that it is un-necessary, the point of AOL is to keep dial-up users online for a lengthened amount of time without having to reconnect multiple times to access Internet Explorer. For cable and DSL you are always recieving signal from your router making it un-necessary to have this.
For Dial-Up users
For Dial up users this service may be worth it to think about. Because many dial-up services charge per connect its worth it to be online for a larger amount of time before having to reconnect. Plus, it gives you everything you need to have a good time online. A browser, instant messenger, and email address. Of course the 25$ fee is somewhat painfull to pay so you may want to look into other dial-up services like net zero or something of that sort but basically you just need something that gives you a good stable internet connection for a reasonable price.
Just as a side note, do not attempt using AOL on an Alienware. For some reason with these PC's AOL and Alienware is clueless how to get it working, for some reason it refuses to work on Alienware PC's
Overall Rating
Well, since I have cable myself I do not own AOL but in the past I did have dial-up and did pay the money for AOL. So today I would have to say experiencing both, if you are on your computer ALOT then I would say invest in cable or DSL(you will be much happier), but if you are rarely on then a simple service like AOL will be fine for you to use.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 25$
Version Number or Year: 9.0
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Epinions.com ID:
gross99
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Member: Betsy Gross
Location: good old USA
Reviews written: 51
Trusted by: 2 members
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