It's Free, It's Easy, It's better than NetZero...
Written: Jan 22 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Good Connectability, Low Aggrivation
Cons: Displays an Ad Window while connected
|
|
|
| mlaleks's Full Review: Buzzlink (by 1stUp) |
Free ISP's aren't new and many of us have tried them before, usually with much less than satisfactory results. I've tried NetZero, and although the connection speed was good found that I could never seem to get through during peak hours and could only use it either late at night or early in the morning, which is Ok, but left me a little cold on the whole concept. That and the fact that I had to keep on clicking on the "Are you watching me window" within one minute or I got disconnected, usually in the middle of a download when I got up to go get a drink, etc.
Well, Enter "Buzzlink". Buzzlink is similar to NetZero in that you visit the website, download the software and as part of the install you answer the demographic questions which tailors the Ads displayed in the Ad banner that is displayed on the screen whenever you are online using Buzzlink. It is here that the similarity ends. Although you do have the same sort of Ad banner displayed ontop of your desktop instead of having a PopUp window that comes up every 20 minutes that you have to answer to avoid being disconnected you have a small "Health" bar that is a part of the window. The way that it works is that as you spend time on-line the health bar decreases, to replenish it all you have to do is click on the banner and allow the ad to open, this will refill your "Health" bar to 100% and you are good to go for awhile longer. I haven't timed the bar from full to empty but it appears to move at about 1% per minute, so you really don't have to click on the banner all that often to keep from getting disconnected. I've found this to be quite a positive change from the traditional pop-up window as it gives you control as to when you watch the ads so that you won't get kicked off in the middle of a download or just because you went to get a drink or use the bathroom. The second thing that I like more about this software over NetZero is the connectability. I live in the Tidewater Virginia Area and for this area there are four separate access numbers and so far I have not had any problems connecting reguardless of the time of day- This is a big change from Netzero as when I used it the only time that access was easy was either late at night or early in the morning, or in other words off peak hours. As a matter of fact that is the primary reason that I deleted NetZero and quit using it- it simply was too aggrivating because I could not log on when I wanted, and then would get disconnected when I left the computer (I felt like I had to be chained to it to stop from getting disconnected).
So in summary, Buzzlink is Free, has a High Connectability rate, Reasonable speed (although my GTE paid ISP is faster), and has a very low aggrivation factor when compared to NetZero, making this Free ISP a winner in my books. Of course the real test will be for you to try it and see for yourself, as with any ISP free or Paid your speed and connectability will vary based on how many users the service has in a given metropolitan area and of course the speed and capacity of the company's servers so give it a try and post a message or reply here, that way your comments can help others by letting them know how this service works in your area...
Buzzlink's web site is WWW.Buzzlink.com
Thanks for taking the time to read this.... Aleks
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
mlaleks
|
|
Member: Aleks
Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 1 member
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.