HOTMAIL : Offering A Daily Dose of SPAM That Exceeds The Recommended Daily Allowance
Written: May 13 '01 (Updated May 14 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: free email provider; virus protected messages;
Cons: mass amounts of SPAM on a daily basis
The Bottom Line: is that Hotmail is a free email provider with many nice features but there are other providers that offer even more with less SPAM.
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| phineaskc's Full Review: Hotmail |
I signed up for my first Hotmail account in 1997. I had just launched my first website and needed a contact e-mail address but didn't want to post my personal e-mail account. At that time, there were several free email servers but not near the amount there are today to select from.
I still maintain this account and average approximately 250 email messages per day. It would appear that Hotmail has enabled me to make a slew of new friends over the Internet so my mailbox is quite active. In fact, I just received notification that I received some more messages so let's take a look and see what we have.
• Repair Your Credit, Fast and Easy. This sounds familiar and on opening it, I can see it is from the same company that I have requested for the last several months to remove me from their list. What pearls of wisdom do they have for me today? Do you have bad credit, judgments, bankruptcies or any other credit problems? Does it seem like your bad credit is holding you back from qualifying for a major credit card, car loan, or even a department store card? Same old message and they call me their friend. Sigh.
• I'M A WINNER! Oh boy imagine my delight when I saw the subject of this message. I received it twice in one day so it must be urgent. Tap into Our Huge Network of Lenders. We provide a 100% free service that enables you to get the lowest rate possible! I guess I wasn't a big winner after all but they can clean up my credit and get me lower mortgage rates for just a small fee.
• I Can Get A Facelift! Now my prayers have been answered thanks to Hotmail and my new friend, qgashhkqsre (what do you suppose his name means - NOTHING). Well his email handle might be a little misleading but look at what he offers ME - Is financing stopping you from getting the cosmetic surgery you always wanted? You'll receive quality cosmetic procedures with only a small or no down payment and low monthly payments. Wow! Now I can get that facelift and tummy tuck on a payment plan. I would have never known.
• Oh, That Crazy Denise! My friend smdodenise dropped me an interesting message with the subject line DO you miss me? Well of course I miss you girl. After all it has been just days since I received your last message about Wild Teens & Hot H-O-R-N-Y Housewives showing it all. How could I not miss those messages? But not to worry Denise because all my other new found Hotmail friends have been keeping my mailbox full of the same invitations. Just after I got your message I received two others inviting me to some Girl on Girl ACTION and if that wasn't a big enough party, I also got an invite to see Celebrities Baring It All Just For Me! .
• Helpful Email In case I get too tired from visiting all my friend's sex sites, I got an invitation to purchase Viagra at unbelievably low prices. With all that extra energy, I can then go spend all the free cash I have waiting at the many online casinos that emailed me too.
As you can see, I am not hurting for communication thanks to Hotmail and the WWS (Wide World of SPAM). The attention you get when you become a Hotmail member is amazing and there is always a new invitation waiting in your mailbox - guaranteed!
Out of an average 250 email messages per day, approximately 4 of those are actual correspondence from people I communicate with.
Signing Up
If the mass amount of SPAM doesn't scare you then let's proceed to the benefits of using Hotmail as your free email provider.
Some of the benefits of signing up with Hotmail include:
• SSL Encrypted Log In: This is suppose to be a secure method of signing in and checking your account. Basically it scrambles your login ID and password so others can’t read it over the Internet.
• Virus Scanning of Email: Hotmail and McAfee Virus work together to bring you this feature. The process is simple in that all messages with email attachments are scanned for viruses.
• Junk Mail Folder: Great feature but really lacks in function. The basic concept is to move all junk mail to a separate folder, alleviating so much SPAM. However, it filters email messages not directly addressed to you and some times you can lose important messages. The other problem being that I have found it is not very effective in ridding much of the junk since I still receive approximately 200-250 emails per day with most not pertaining to me at all.
• Multiple Languages: Hotmail offers a variety of language selections including English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Portuguese.
• 2 MB of Storage: Although this may sound like a great deal of space and in most instances, it is but not with Hotmail. Due to the large doses of SPAM, this storage limit isn't hard to reach at all especially if you wait a few days to check your email. I receive a warning from the Hotmail staff at least once a week about exceeding my limit in space. If you don't delete the messages in a timely manner, they will do it for you. This could result in some lost messages that were actually important.
• Communication: Hotmail offers the MSN Passport feature, which basically gives you one logon ID and password to access other sites. This has saved me time in signing up at other sites of interest including MSN The Zone, a gaming site. They also offer the ability to receive email alerts through your MSN Messenger Service and even through your personal paging device.
• Pop Mail Server: One feature that I especially like is the ability to check my Hotmail service through my Outlook Express program. This saves me the time of going to their main page to log in and check mail.
Overall, the sign-up process is really easy and takes little time. They will of course offer you many additional perks like custom newsletters and promotions from outside sources. Simply check the boxes of the offers that appeal to you and move along.
What I Don't Like About Hotmail
Aside from the obvious drawback, which is the SPAM load, there are just a couple things that I find unappealing about the service.
It seems within the last few months there have been some technical issues which have either delayed email processing or have brought it to a complete halt. There have been times when I haven't received email for days then all the sudden, I will get a rash of mail in one lump sum.
The other issue is with logging in. Several times over the years, I have had difficulty logging in at times through both my pop server and at the main page of Hotmail. When I enter my login ID and password, I get a message stating the account doesn’t exist. When contacting Hotmail support with these questions, the response from them never arrives but the problem straightens itself out in a few days.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, I think you get what you pay for. Since this is a free service, you can't really complain too much. Well you can but who is going to take you seriously?
For a free email server, I am only somewhat satisfied with Hotmail. Although it allows me a certain anonymity when signing up for newsletters, freebies, or other offers, there is the constant flow of SPAM that makes using their service less appealing than other services.
I have been on the Internet since the early nineties and learned quickly that when you sign up for offers, you usually get a ton of unwanted emails from third parties that they sold their lists to. Hotmail has saved my personal email account from a barrage of SPAM. However, I find that I have my finger constantly on the delete key when going through my mail there. The filtering system they provide just isn't adequate.
Just keep in mind that you get what you pay for and you will have a long lasting relationship with the Hotmail service.
If you are interested in comparing Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail Services then please be sure to read my other review located at http://hostmidwest.epinions.com/content_22389755524
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
phineaskc
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Member: Pamela
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Reviews written: 211
Trusted by: 375 members
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