A few months back, I wrote a review on Netzero internet service. Since writing that review, Netzero came out with their Platinum service- basically, their paid for internet service. They did this so that they can help fund their free service, and keep it up and running. This is why I'm rewriting this review. I'm also doing this for the Great Re-Write Off, hosted by scmrak. Please feel free to visit the other participants in this write off. For ease of finding their reviews, you may also visit eplovejoy's profile page (http://fallynsworld.epinions.com/user-eplovejoy) where he has so graciously provided the links.

Other participants:
1truluv adjensen arada392 bermudabum bmcnichol cartman_2k ChrisJarmick colldy ed_grover eplovejoy fallyn96 jankp jcvsmom jo.com joubert korova lynnzop machkick magenta321 msmorvay naphtalia nfp proeditor
quasar saxguy scmrak sloucho Social14 tinasamuels

Because the paid for service is different from the standard free service offered by Netzero, I'm going to treat this as two reviews instead of one. I'm going to basically cut and paste my old review- with a few updates to it- and then I'll write a review of Netzero Platinum (since it isn't offered by Epinions yet).

The Free Netzero
I've tried a few free ISP's in the past year and a half or so. I still prefer Juno, but due to problems with Netzero suing them over the ad banner, it is getting more and more difficult to log on to the Internet for free through them. Bluelight seems to have cleared up some of their bugs, but automatically disconnects after about two hours of use- no notice unless you are not actively clicking something. Netzero seems to be the best of those that I've tried.

Netzero is free for up to 40 hours a month. Once those 40 hours are up, unlike other free ISP's, Netzero gives you the option to pay $9.95 for unlimited access for the rest of that month. Juno requires that you pay for a year in advance, and Bluelight offers no such feature. The 40 hours is per household, so it does not help to sign up another user to the account. You can also bypass the annoying little screen that pops up when you've reached the 40 hours by paying in advance- but this is not necessary. I have yet to pay for the rest of the month, due to using Bluelight until it runs out, and then using Netzero. If the month has been a heavy usage month for us, there was still only two days that we were without internet.

There is an ad banner. This ad banner, unlike Juno's, and like Bluelight's, has the option of 'docking' at either the top or bottom of the screen. Docking the ad banner doesn't block programs or icons, instead it shortens the screen to where everything is kinda squished, but everything- including menus- is still in sight.

You do not have to click on the ads if you don't want to. Now, Netzero has pop up reminders ever hour (getting more and more frequent if you don't click on the ads), and generally a few minutes after the reminder pops up, there is a disconnect pop up. You have 30 seconds to click on the button to keep your connection. Netzero does automatically log off, but I have found that it's usually 3-4 hours into a session, and rare if you are not a heavy user. I've also found that there are certain phone numbers that have a shorter or longer limit- you just need to play around with the access numbers to see which one is which (hint: It looks like Netzero wants you to use the two hour line, so the four hour line is usually not the first one listed. Delete that one, and try the next number).

Set up is easy, with local numbers for most areas. Once you are set up, you select your user name from the file (Netzero remembers the last user), and type in your password (it will also remember this if you want it to). Click connect, and you are ready to go.

One of the most annoying things- and also one of the neatest, is NZTV. This is what pops up while you are connecting. It is annoying because you can't minimize and it's always on top. It's also huge, which means that you can't work around it. The NZTV sometimes just has a stationary ad, and sometimes it plays television commericials- mostly for Netzero (lame- why advertise your service when I'm using it?), but there are some for other websites out there.

Then there's My Netzero and Best of the Web. My Netzero has been there since we downloaded it, it's just a website with news and stuff that pops up when you are logged in. Best of The Web is an annoying little tidbit that I could live without. It opens in a second window, and will keep opening unless you close the previous window- and fast. I have not used the Best of the Web- it seems to advertise other websites, and is supposed to help you surf better. I think that I can handle that, thank you very much.

All in all, Netzero is still one of the best out there. I have yet to encounter a busy signal, or to have a problem with the connection. My connection rate has always been 43000 bps to 45000 bps- not the best, but it could be worse.

Netzero Platinum

A few months ago, I began noticing a new ad on my NZTV and the ZCast (their name for the banner). Netzero Platinum was out. What is it? It's their paid for internet service. Because my husband and I can not afford our local provider, and cable access is not supposed to be available in our town until late this summer, we opted for Netzero Platinum (by this time, I had completely and totally sworn off of Juno- couldn't connect to them, and they were bouncing emails left and right, so I was also in the market for a new email account).

Netzero Platinum does still have a bar across the screen- but it docks either up top or on bottom, is is very small compared to the other banner bar (try less than one inch tall). The bar will help you surf to different preselected sites- such as Netzero's home page, news, weather, stocks, and a search engine. There is also a nifty little light on it that says when you have mail ready to be downloaded from Netzero. If you close the banner bar, it logs you off Netzero, so it has to be there. At first, I was offended by it. I mean, I'm paying for this service, right? Why do I need to have a bar in the firt place? It does seem pointless- I mean, there are NO ADS on this bar. But after using Netzero Platinum for almost two months now, I barely even notice it anymore.

There are more problems with this service. The NZTV that pops up when you connect is still always on top, and always annoying. I have noticed different, non-internet related commercials (now my computer, like my television, is telling me to go to McDonald's. Oh joy). But I still keep my sound turned down on them.

Another problem that I noticed a few weeks into using Netzero Platinum, is that sometimes there's a glitch in the software, and the free banner comes up. This hasn't happened in about a month now, and it seems like Netzero has fixed that bug though. But it hasn't caught all of them...

The latest bug in the system is the connection speed. I've only been unable to connect two, maybe three times (and then I've just switched access numbers), but I have never gotten a busy signal. But the past few days, there are times that I connect that I'm only connected at 28.8. Ack! Talk about annoying! Generally I can resolve this problem by disconnecting, and dialing again- but it's too much hassle.

To get Netzero Platinum, you go to their site, and look for the Platinum information. You will need a Netzero account- so don't forget to register. I suggest trying out the free service first, so that you get the hang of working with Netzero, and decide if you like it. Then you can decide if you want the Platinum service.

You will need a credit card (but it can be done by check- it will just take longer to get approved). Netzero is now having a 'sale'- buy five months of service, get one month free. So you are getting six months for $49.95 (not bad when you consider that one month of service for my local- which has frequent busy signals, low connection speeds at peak times, and dead connections- is $25). The only thing that I noticed was that there wasn't an option to purchase one month at a time- which is what my husband and I had set out to do. We wanted to give Netzero a trial run, and then see if we wanted to get the six month package. Unfortunately, when we signed up, Netzero charged us for five months of use. This wasn't a problem for us, but I can see where it would be a problem for others.

Once your payment has been approved, you are taken to a download screen where you can download Netzero again. The beauty of this program is that Netzero downloads both the free and the Platinum service in one easy to use program- you don't even have to tell it which one you want. If you have already downloaded Netzero, and the updates- then you do not need to download anything.

There is a problem with the mail- and this is something that rather upsets me. NZ mail only allows 6 mb of storage. But it will not upload mail from another pop3 account. You can receive those emails just fine- you just can't send from a Yahoo! or Hotmail account if you are using Outlook Express. It's a pain, but there isn't much that you can do about it.

I do not regret choosing NZ Platinum over the free service- but I do wish that they would live up to their name. Platinum should mean Premium- not slow connections and bugs out the wazoo.



Recommended: Yes