Another.com is a great web site offering e-mail domain address and e-mail services at a great price. They have a massive range of domain name extensions that can all be controlled through one account. This review covers my experiences with another.com, and another.com as a web site offering e-mail addresses and my conclusion.
My Experience with Another.com *************************************** Here is an overview of my experience with another.com and if you like what you hear, you can read on afterwards about what features another.com offers.
-- History --
I first joined another.com about five years ago when it was a free e-mail service, it was great, a free e-mail service and you could choose up to 20 different domain extension all under one account. I had to sign up! I used about 6 different domain names to start off with and I use 2 at the moment with the option of signing up for more but I keep with just a couple as the novelty has worn off.
Another.com stayed free for about two years and then I was asked to pay to keep my e-mail account. My first thought was that this is unfair, that I have signed up to so many different web sites and used my e-mail address in so many different places that I couldn't afford to move to another free e-mail account and transfer everything, it would be impossible. I looked at it from another perspective and realised that everything one day on the Internet is going to have to be paid for, so I paid the yearly £23.95. This is a really good deal considering the cost of other e-mail accounts and at least with another.com you have the option of multiple addresses. I am on my
third paying year with another.com and I am very pleased with the service.
Recently, Another.com has been taken over by a company so there has been a few changed, some for the better some for the worst, read on to find out more.
-- Changes --
The first change to the web site was the changing of designs of how you can view you e-mails, they were very basic and nothing compared to the excellent layout of the previous another.com web site, so I was very disappointed, I had no choice but to stick with it. They are currently offering new web page templates to view e-mails, they are better but nothing compared to the decent ones that they used to use. I have e-mailed the support address and have asked if there are going to be any plans for bringing the old versions back, no news yet.
The login page changed from a fancy, inviting web page that was great on the eye and looked very professional to a simple form that asked for your details to login. It is gradually getting better now as the main page is very professional and looking like the old, loveable another.com.
At the moment, the features are very hard to find and take a lot of searching about to find the spam filter and applying e-mail rules. I've given up on trying to stop spam, as I used a spam filter and it stopped one of my friends e-mails from getting through and it's a lot less riskier if I just suffer with spam and sort through what I want and what I don't want.
A nice change of another.com is the option of having pop3/imap available so you can download e-mails into a program like Microsoft Outlook. I did use this feature for a while, which was a nice change, but I find it quicker and safer to view my e-mails on the web. That is the good thing about another.com, you can view your e-mails anywhere in the world because it is web based, and if you don't want it web based you can set your computer up to download your e-mails.
-- The Service --
The uptime of the server for another.com is unbelievable, it always seems to be up. In the five years I have been a member I can remember about five times that I haven't been able to access the web site, which is excellent.
I have had to contact support on one occasion about not receiving certain e-mails and I placed the enquiry on the Sunday and my problem was answered and sorted out on the Monday of the same week.
Another.com, the web site *******************************
Here is an overview of what features you have with your another.com account
-- Sending an E-mail --
Not only can you only send e-mails, but you also get to send SMS messages, which is useful. You have a number of free SMS messages to send and you can top up your account with more by paying for them.
You send e-mail by clicking on a new message button. From there you have your usual features of sending e-mail, add attachments, mark as urgent etc.
-- Receiving E-mail --
You receive e-mails and they are displayed in your inbox. You view e-mail by clicking on them. You have the option of moving e-mails about into different folders (You can create new folders to move messages into).
-- Deleting E-mail --
To delete e-mails you have to check the box next to the message and then click on the button delete, it is put into your trash folder. Messages in all your other folders are deleted in the same way. To completing get rid of an e-mail you have to go into your trash folder and click on empty trash.
-- Calendar --
There is an option to use an online calendar so you can add important dates and receive e-mail alerts when a certain date has been reached. This could be a handy feature, but I don't use it.
-- Address Book --
There is an address book feature included with the web site. Where you can store your friends, family and contacts addresses for easy reference.
You can search through your account for e-mails, which is a handy feature if you like to keep hold of a lot of e-mails.
-- Options --
Under the options button you can change you signature that goes at the end of every message, you can change your spam settings and you can change your personal details. There are quite a few things to do but I haven't had a chance to play around with them.
-- Other features, worth a mention --
While in your account looking at your folders there is a little bar on the let hand side that lets you know how much space you have used.
-- Current prices and features available --
Basic package 20MB 20 aliases 10 free SMS messages £2 per month ------------------------------------ Advanced package 50MB 20 aliases 10 free SMS messages £2.50 per month --------------------------------------- Plus package 100MB 20 aliases 10 free SMS messages £4 per month ---------------------------------------- Professional fully featured email services Having up to 20 email identities Select from over 10,000 domain names Powerful anti-Spam functionality Powerful virus protection Online address book to keep track of contacts Customer service staff on hand to help. Access your email from anywhere on Internet Access your email from Outlook (or any other email client)
Conclusion **************
Another.com is really just your normal e-mail service that has all the features that some free e-mail accounts have. But if you are looking for great support, server uptime and a mix of different extensions to your e-mail addresses then this web site is for you. You have the option to buy extra storage space, but the space I have with my account is just about right (20mb). I wouldn't think about having a new e-mail address now, but if I did, I could choose one at another.com!
This web site did used to be a lot better and they used to include countdowns to when you account expires, which was helpful. I have owned a web site before and I set up an e-mailing system for users to join and use, and the templates I used for that were better than the ones that another.com uses. Hopefully they will reply to my support request and let me know if they are going to do anything about it.
So, overall all, if you want a decent e-mail account then another.com is for you. If you have already established an e-mail address at another host, and have joined hundreds of web sites with it (like me) then you are probably better off staying where you are. Everything that is free on the internet, won't be free forever.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
never heard of this though i use gmail now, the best thing since erm... sliced bread yep!
rowei 18.12.2004 22:09
Excellent review, although I've never heard of this e-mail service until now.
carly_pussycat 06.12.2004 02:34
Rated E because it was a really thorough review. I used to use this service about 4 years ago when it was free because having funny email addresses was novel but once the novelty wore off I stuck to Hotmail where I have stayed ever since (apart from Blueyonder).
Advantages: A fun alternative, as good as any of the big boys. Disadvantages: Whilst they've got rid of the sponsorship (Apparently), they are now charging for the service. Is it really worth it?
oneshallstand 14.08.2001 (19.04.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of another.com
Dec 1st, 2004
exceptional by (7%):
very helpful by (93%):
