I Think They're On To Something Here
Written: Apr 15 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Ease of use, fairly reliable, wide range of chat rooms
Cons: Enough imbalance to get on your nerves
The Bottom Line: While all the others gave me fits, Yahoo has been easy and fun even with its flaws.
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| keithpruitt's Full Review: Yahoo! Messenger |
During the year and a half in which I have been on line, I have tried just about every chat messenger service offered. I started with AOL, and boy was that a nightmare when they changed over to their most current version. My computer was possessed!
I tried ATT's new instant messenger, and while I thought it might be of use to be able to chat with friends and family, it (as part of the mandate of the AOL-Time Warner merger) drags AOL along with it and all the problems to boot.
So when my sister-in-law suggested that I tried Yahoo Messenger, I just kinda said, oh yeah, yeah, perhaps. But when I checked into the system, I found that it allowed you to do a number of things that I found welcoming. It has a number of different chat rooms so that I can talk to people all over the world (one of the things I like about this instant messenger thing), allows me to check the news, stocks, weather, etc. while being at the chat site. And, it allows me to stay in contact with friends and relatives without making long distance telephone calls.
But it isn't without its flaws. It does have some imbalance, and one can never predict when the site might go down. Generally, it is only for a few moments, but when it does, it doesn't tell you. The other day I was talking away at this person when I noticed that he wasn't responding. Everything said that he was still there, but he gave no signs of life. For all I knew he had fallen over dead. The system didn't tell me I had lost communication. Sure enough, when I re-booted, he was gone.
I also like the standard ability to go into private chat with someone that you might have met in a chat room, or to have private chats with friends and family outside of a chat room. You can do this my merely clicking on their name and sending them an invitation for chat.
One of the truly amazing features is sending messages to someone who isn't on line. When they open up their computer and go on the internet, the message will be there. With all these services, no wonder the postal service is operating in the red.
There is also a voice option. For it to work, the person to whom you are speaking must agree to use voice conferencing as well as you logging into this variance of chat. I have found in the couple of days that I have used it (with my new hands free unit), the system is somewhat unreliable with the voice option coming and going without warning. And sometimes, I found, it just won't allow you to use this option.
I like the notifications the system gives you when someone is on line (the opening and closing door) and the little message box telling you when one of your selected friends is there or have left.
All in all, after just a few weeks of using the system, I like it. I did learn last night that there is a limit to the number of people you can place in your listing, and it makes no distinction between friends and family; no big deal really. I certainly would recommend people trying it out for themselves. I think Yahoo is on to something here.f
Recommended:
Yes
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