What's Wrong With AOL Anyway? (page 3)

Frannie Banannie

Like the rest of the posters that know AOHELL for what it is, it's a cancer that invades your computer system, so you have a hell of a time getting it cleaned out....it bumps you constantly and requires constant upgrades...PLUS....if you use any other ISP at any time that AOHELL is in your system, AOHELL automatically jumps on board and tries to come online in the middle of any attempt to get online with your ISP of choice....it totally sucks big time....also....by using a credit card or any other means as payment for AOHELL server, you leave yourself WIDE OPEN for AOHELL to begin charging anything it wants to on your account and saying you ordered it, so keep constant watch on your credit card or other accounts that AOHELL is aware of....I was using my ex-hubby's computer that had an expired AOHELL account, so they spied on my account (not AOHELL), got my credit card number and began charging ME for something he no longer was using or paying for

Frannie B

shamus

Frannie said the "h" word!!!!

Frannie Banannie

LOL, Shamus! AOHELL is the "H" word!

FB

maxwell

AOL is perfect for someone who has little computer savy and yet wants to get on the net without a lot of training. Basically you put in the AOL cd and it does everything for you..

Yup... very true. I know some people who use their computer for nothing more than AOL Email and playing the shared games... like bridge.
It's all they need and they are perfectly content with it.

A while back the joke I heard was AOL is "the Internet on training wheels". I've never had AOL, but considering all the control they exert over your computer I never wanted to use it. My first Internet connection through school required that we set up a dial-up connection inlcuding putting gateway addresses and DNS server addresses in the right places. It was all written out step by step for me, but after learning how to do that, I wasn't particularly thrilled when I got my first commercial Internet connection and they had software that did it all for you invisibly. Who's knows what else that software is doing to your computer.

drwtsn32

The biggest problems with AOL is that it is expensive and it uses proprietary software. I guess the benefits of AOL include their own content and parental controls.

Who cares about their own content though? The Internet is already packed with information. The parental controls I guess are pretty nice, but I don't know how well they work and I don't have kids.

Here in the US, AOL dialup costs $23 or $24 per month (don't remember exactly). This is well over the cost of standard dialup... it's not difficult to find a provider that only costs $10 to $15 per month. AOL's price approaches that of broadband. In our area you can get cable modem service as cheap as $29 per month.

The proprietary software is junk. Real ISPs allow you to connect using your operating system's native PPP software.

FlyingHighNow

Englishman,

I use AOL dial up. Can't afford high speed. I have no complaints about AOL except that it does cost about 10 more dollars than SBC Yahoo, 10 dollars that is well worth it. Andy's mother just switched to SBC Yahoo and has had nothing but trouble ever since, including her computer being filled with spy programs that slowed it so much she thought her hard drive had all but crashed. She has to use Outlook Express to try to add backgrounds and photos, etc. to her e-mails and they look terrible when I receive them. She loses her connection all of the time. She laments the day she canceled her AOL account.

Reasons I like AOL:

I love their dictionary with spellcheck you can find on the drop down menu under edit on the AOL toolbar.It's easy to embed pics and backgrounds into my e-mail. I can easily store e-mail offline. If I lose my connection, which doesn't happen very often, if I am in the middle of writing an e-mail, AOL saves the unfinished e-mail. It's a much better and smoother e-mail program than my hotmail account.I don't get anymore spam with AOL than I do with hotmail.That isn't much spam at It's easy to upload and download files. AOL has pop up add controls. I no longer have pop ups invading everytime I bring up a new website. I can surf on AOL and E internet explorer at the same time.

I love the weather dealie on the welcome window, I can easily look at weather in most towns all over the world. You can make a homepage with two programs that are fun to use. I made a very good friend through AOL.

There are a lot of pluses to AOL, E-man. Plenty of us unsophisticated are highly satisfied with AOL. I don't know why they call your AOL, America Online. I think it's kind of funny that they do. I think most people shorten America Online to AOL anyway. You could rebel and call it BOL.

See, things aren't so dismal afterall.

Heather

shamus

'
FlyingHighNow,

Boooooo! (from childish 7 year old in the back of the hall, LOL!)

FlyingHighNow

FlyingHighNow,
Boooooo! (from childish 7 year old in the back of the hall, LOL!)

Okay, that's the first thing that made me smile since I woke up. Not counting the goodbye kiss I got from Andy when he was leaving for work.Edit: Shamus, aren't most 7 year olds childish?

Sorry, Shamus, but I'm happy with my AOL and it would take an ISP as good as AOL and better to get me to change. If there is such a company and they are cheaper: bring them on!

Heather

FlyingHighNow

Mike,

One more thing I like about AOL is the picture editor! SunnyGal just posted her pics. She got them to come up but they came up upside down. All I had to do was left click on her pic, drag it over clear of this window and then it popped up in the picture editor. Then I rotate the picture to see it upright. The picture editor is one thing I forgot to mention. Pretty cool.

Heather

What's Wrong With AOL Anyway?

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