Are there really no good .mac alternatives?

[PDE]

I left .mac a few years ago when it was having lots of problems and still don't feel totally confident in Apple's web-hosting ability yet. I LOVE the interface and integration, but I need a personalized domain email! I don't want a silly @mac.com address.


So: is there really no nicely integrated service that is more mac-like than the normal, low-medium cost webhost? You'd think that there MUST be, but I haven't found anybody yet.


What do I need?

- good webmail: nice looking, flexible and speedy. I'm using atmail now and it's ok, but just too heavy, slow and cumbersome.

- webdav

- easy to understand control panel

- reasonable storage 10gb+

- reliability!!!

- prompt, helpful service when needed

- 6+ domains and unlimited email

- max $20/month


Any recommendations?

 

[ppc_michael]

Dreamhost?

(people either love or hate Dreamhost, I know)

 

[PDE]

I should have added that I was with dreamhost and they had so much downtime that I had to leave. I liked them for a while, but way too many problems. It just wasn't worth it, no matter how cheap they were. I prefer to pay more and not have to deal with issues all the time.

Thanks though...

 

[Mal]

SiteGround's been great to me, and they have more than enough features. Only about $7 a month even if you don't do several years in advance (which is what they prefer). Actually, I should clarify though, I'm not sure about WebDAV. I've never used it myself, so I'm don't know if they support it.

jW

 

[edesignuk]

If you can live without WebDAV (why do you need it over FTP?) then just about any decent host will do the job. You can use Google Apps custom domain to check your e-mail, or just use Gmail as normal and set it to check your POP e-mail from your hosting package.

I'd recommend A Small Orange, they're pretty good value and their support is fantastic.

 

[ChrisA]

I left .mac a few years ago when it was having lots of problems and still don't feel totally confident in Apple's web-hosting ability yet.

How much traffic does your site have? Is this an ultra-low volume personal site with only a few "hits" per day (if that) or is it going to see some real traffic where you need to worry about bandwidth and performance?

If it is the low volume type, have you thought about hosting the site on a computer at your house. DSL or cable is fast enough. You would need to leave the computer running 24x7 which will burn some electric power. I'd recommend using an older notebook. A 500Mhz machine is fast enough.

 

[rennafire]

I'm using MacHighway - reasonable, mac-dedicated. And real live helpful people answer their phones.

 

[eatbacon]

I can't suggest a good web hosting solution, but I can suggest that you separate your web hosting and email hosting. Google will host your email for free, with whatever domain name you register. You will get the gmail interface with all of it's features (imap and pop3 access, spam filtering, tons of storage, etc) and google calendar. It is very reliable. You can even set up several domains that all go to the same accounts.

 

[UltraNEO*]

I left .mac a few years ago when it was having lots of problems and still don't feel totally confident in Apple's web-hosting ability yet. I LOVE the interface and integration, but I need a personalized domain email! I don't want a silly @mac.com address.


So: is there really no nicely integrated service that is more mac-like than the normal, low-medium cost webhost? You'd think that there MUST be, but I haven't found anybody yet.


What do I need?

- good webmail: nice looking, flexible and speedy. I'm using atmail now and it's ok, but just too heavy, slow and cumbersome.

- webdav

- easy to understand control panel

- reasonable storage 10gb+

- reliability!!!

- prompt, helpful service when needed

- 6+ domains and unlimited email

- max $20/month


Any recommendations?

I should have added that I was with dreamhost and they had so much downtime that I had to leave. I liked them for a while, but way too many problems. It just wasn't worth it, no matter how cheap they were. I prefer to pay more and not have to deal with issues all the time.

Thanks though...

If you need reliability (web-hosting) then how about media-temple?
Their clients inc Diesel, L'Oréal Paris, Sony, Starbucks... and loads more!

OK, they're not cheap but you won't get any down time with their grid servers... i sometime deal with some minor clients who are over the moon with their service!! But.. $20/mth is quiet high for a non-commercial homepage.