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ultraviolet · 01:20 AM

Hi I just bought a new ibook G4 and for some idiotic reason I was talked into getting a year of mac.com membership for $70. I am not active on posting pictures on the net, posting blogs or any graphic stuffs, I mainly use e-mails to communicate with friends and so on. For those of you have .mac experiences, what is it? is it really necessary to have it just so you would have more storage space or "back up" as the Mac leads us to think we need?

I am thinking of returning it back to the Apple store, anyone has the experience if the software can be returned?

ETA: also I wonder if I could return the .mac software as it's already open when I purchased and the Apple people installed it for me on my new ibook. It said on the receipt that no acceptace of return if the box is open, but I wasn't even the one that opened it.

Thank you in advance!

gizmo_pony · Feb 20, 2006, 02:38 AM

i dont think it is really necessary unless u got some extra money in your pocket ...

but i am also a new guy though ... correct me i am wrong ..

Mojo · Feb 20, 2006, 03:09 AM

If you already have an e-mail account then you don't need a .mac mail account. .Mac is for people who want an easy way to post images, movies, Web sites and sync multiple Macs. iDisk is a safe way to back-up data off-site, which might come in handy if your iBook is stolen or damaged.

I was talked into getting a year of mac.com membership

That's too bad... normally you can try it for free for two months and see if it is for you without having to commit to buying a membership. It sounds like you are suffering from a little "buyer's remorse" after having been talked into the purchase.

but I wasn't even the one that opened it.

Let's be grown up here, shall we? You could try that argument on the store manager, but wouldn't you feel just a little bit embarassed doing so? You agreed to buy it, and the sales associate installed it for you. It sounds like you will have to live with your purchase if the store sticks to its return policy.

If you want to try and return it, I would be honest with the store manager and tell him/her that you made a mistake and don't think that you will have much use for .Mac in hindsight. I have found that honesty is always the best policy in these kinds of situations and you may get lucky and get a break.

If you don't want to do that, or the store manager sticks to the return policy, then you wil just have to suck it up and live with it. Try to consider it as an inexpensive learning experience about impulse-buying and letting sales people talk you into buying something you don't need. Somewhere down the road it might save you some real money, like when you are buying a car or a house.

jjlannoo · Feb 20, 2006, 03:12 AM

I bought a year of it and plan to renew You don't need it. I like it though. I use the idisk all the time for linking pictures etc. Seems reliable and I like having a .mac address. My younger brother wants a reliable address So I am actually going to get a second email account for Him.

cla · Feb 20, 2006, 03:47 AM

If you have access to a web server you can set up your own iDisk, sleeker, more storage and waaaaay faster. I even created a link on my iDisk to the server's webspace, so I can easily publish anything on the net using just drag and drop in the Finder.

mikochu · Feb 20, 2006, 08:53 AM

The girl at the Apple Store got me to buy .mac when I bought my iBook. I didn't need it, but she seemed like a nice girl and they helped me out a lot that day...

Anyway, the only reason I'd use it is for the sync feature. I have my own email address/domain, so everything else is pretty useless. I ended up finding MySync, which works pretty well for syncing between my PowerMac and iBook. I never took the cellophane wrap off the .mac box, so I was able to return. Although, when I returned it, the guy at the cash register was all "awww, you're returning .mac?"

Do they get commission or brownie points for selling .mac? It's kind of a rape-in-the-bum if you ask me...even at 70 bucks (for new users). The girl told me that renewing would also be $70 (69.95), but I'm sure that's malarkey.

RadarBob2 · Feb 20, 2006, 06:21 PM

The girl told me that renewing would also be $70 (69.95), but I'm sure that's malarkey.

it is. .mac is $99/yr.

mikochu · Feb 20, 2006, 07:08 PM

Uh... ?

99 != 69.95

69.95 is the price for new Apple owners until April or something. The girl said renewing after my subscription runs out would be $69.95, as well. *shrug* It's still not worth it. If iDisk was 2gb+, that'd be great.

volcano · Feb 20, 2006, 07:35 PM

They probably get a pat on the back when they sell .Mac. It's probably similiar to retailers who sell credit cards, and they have a certain "goal" each day that they attempt to reach.

I didn't buy my first Mac at the Apple Store (iMac G5) because I wanted the larger hard-drive, but in August when I wanted an iBook, I was [initially] going to purchase the stock configuration so I wanted to buy it ASAP. They were out of the 12" model at the time (go figure!) so I ended up upgrading my order when I placed it to a 60GB drive instead. The salesman (as nice as he was) really pushed .Mac on me, and to be honest, it became flat-out annoying and ridiculous towards the end. He wouldn't stop. Yes, I might be an impressionable 18 year old, but I'm not retarded.

I kept saying lines like "I've already got 2 mail accounts - one with my DSL provider and one with G-mail, and both provide ample storage already." "I don't need the iDisk space. I've got 2 huge external hard-drives AND plenty of webspace with my host, so it's useless for me." "I don't need to sync my address book and iCal calender with this machine - I don't even use the Address Book on my iMac..."

Eventually I said something like, "What's with the third degree? I'm buying an Apple computer - isn't that enough for you people?" He gave me a blank stare and apologized at the end for harping on me. I guess he didn't even realize he was doing it so harshly.

Oh well.

RadarBob2 · Feb 20, 2006, 08:43 PM

Originally Posted by mikochu

Uh... ?

99 != 69.95

69.95 is the price for new Apple owners until April or something. The girl said renewing after my subscription runs out would be $69.95, as well. *shrug* It's still not worth it. If iDisk was 2gb+, that'd be great.

OK. All I can say is that on apple.com, is says, bigger than Dallas, "Just US$99 per year"

volcano · Feb 20, 2006, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by RadarBob2

OK. All I can say is that on apple.com, is says, bigger than Dallas, "Just US$99 per year"

Go to the Apple Store and then click on .Mac

Right below the description, it says the following:

Special Offer — Save $30
Between January 17, 2006, and April 17, 2006, buy any Mac and save $30 on your .Mac annual membership.

And, more than likely, after the April 17th "expiration" date, they'll just extend it and change the dates. This promotion has been going on for quite a while, because I was offered .Mac for the same price when I purchased my iBook in August 2005.