Once as free as the air we breathe, most Web-based e-mail accounts now come with all kinds of strings attached. We test four different services to find out if these so-called free e-mailers are worth the hassle.
In most cases, these "free" sites either charge for certain services or impose strict limitations in an effort to make you pay for "premium" e-mail packages.
Hotmail, for example, which boasts more than 110 million users, now imposes strict storage limitations and inside the US and UK charges US$20 per year to bypass these limits. Yahoo Mail now charges for one of its most useful and heretofore free features: the ability to grab your mail not only from a browser, but also from a desktop e-mail program, such as Outlook or Eudora.
Given these limitations, we must ask: Are these so-called free e-mailers worth the hassle? To find out, we took another look at four top services: AOL Mail, Microsoft Hotmail, Mail.com E- mail, and Yahoo Mail. We set up accounts, monitored the amount of spam we received, and tested each service's security provisions. The result: a longtime champ remains at the top, but a former fave ends up in the doghouse. Read on.
AOL Mail
If you use AOL as your ISP, you don't have a choice: AOL Mail is the only way to grab your messages from the Web. Everyone else, go with Yahoo Mail.
Hotmail
If you use Outlook Express or Outlook 2002 on your desktop, you should go with Hotmail since it integrates with those programs for free. But if you're Outlook-free, Yahoo Mail is a better pick.
Mail.com E-mail
Mail.com's many ads and lack of spam blockers make it a weak alternative to Yahoo or Hotmail. Sign up with Yahoo Mail instead.
Yahoo Mail
Even though it now charges for once-free features, Yahoo Mail still reigns as the best free Web e-mailer around.
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