.Mac: Is It Worth It

Hey all,
Im getting a MBP and I cant decide if I want or need .Mac. Im a new college student. What is it? Is it worthwhile? What do I get with it? Anyone have any experience?

I'd say no. You get an email address and your contacts in the address book, a place up upload web pages, some online storage and the ability to sync contacts and bookmarks with other Macs, but I don't think there's enough there to justify the cost. I only use mine as an online photo album, I feel it was a waste of £70.

I think .Mac is really only worth it if you often use multiple Macs in different locations.

The core components (some online storage, an email account and some other software) can all be had for free from other places, but .Mac comes into it's own when you have to sync info between multiple Macs over long distances.

More input here:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51878

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68925

You'll find more if you do a search, the topic has been discussed countless times.

Not too long ago Steve mentioned there would be a major update to the very neglected .Mac in the "very near future". I'm hoping we will see some good things coming out of .Mac by the end of the year.

Levi said:

I think .Mac is really only worth it if you often use multiple Macs in different locations.

The core components (some online storage, an email account and some other software) can all be had for free from other places, but .Mac comes into it's own when you have to sync info between multiple Macs over long distances.

Click to expand...

I signed up for the 60 day trial recently. I've never been a fan of .Mac, but the ability to sync all of my stuff between my desktop and my iBook is actually quite nice. For this reason, I've more or less changed my mind about .Mac and will probably sign up for the full year when the trial ends. I too am hoping for a nice update shortly.

If you figure it out, $99/year = $8/month.

I got .Mac free through work for ages (Apple has an offer for Apple reseller's employees who pass certain courses), which I really enjoyed using.

But it's limitation did frustrate me a bit, plus I was always switching Macs and didn't sync much.

In my current job, I have one dedicated work computer and really appreciate the sync - so I'll probably pony up when it's time to renew.

i have a 60 day free trial of .mac i think i have about 20 days left. im going to buy the years package when it runs out. just for the email address and the storage space really mauy even start a webpage £70 isnt that much money over the 12 months really.

Macwillis said:

i have a 60 day free trial of .mac i think i have about 20 days left. im going to buy the years package when it runs out. just for the email address and the storage space really mauy even start a webpage £70 isnt that much money over the 12 months really.

Click to expand...

Bear in mind that you can do those things for free.