EYAL GOLDSHMID

Computer help: What's the cost of AOL's Gold service, why does fee change?

Eyal Goldshmid
Special to TCPalm
Recently, you wrote about an AOL Gold subscription that offers a 30-day trial period for $4.99 a month and then goes to $9.99 a month after that.

Q: Recently, you wrote about an AOL Gold subscription that offers a 30-day trial period for $4.99 a month and then goes to $9.99 a month after that. I am not sure where you found this information but I have been using AOL Gold since it came out and it is still $4.99 a month and includes McAfee Antivirus and McAfee TrueKey for account holders. Is this correct? 

— Joe G., Jensen Beach 

A: Currently, AOL offers four levels of service. 

First is AOL Free Email — mail.aol.com — which is just it's standard webmail service but with the inclusion of third-party advertisements built into the usage experience (which is what keeps it free). 

Secondly is AOL Ad-Free Email — subscriptions.aol.com/products/ad-free-aol-mail — which costs $4.99 a month and essentially provides the same services as Free Email, except the monthly subscription fees ensure no third-party ads interfere with usage. 

Thirdly is AOL Desktop Gold — subscriptions.aol.com/products/aol-desktop-gold — which is what you appear to have. Like AOL Ad-Free Email, this costs $4.99 a month (with a first month available for free for new accounts) and includes an account access portal similar to what AOL used in its heyday, ad-free email (provided email is accessed within the portal; webmail will still contain ads), various security add-ons (including password protection and antivirus, among other options) and 24-hour access to phone or chat support. 

Above that is AOL Premium — https://help.aol.com/articles/aol-premium-subscription-products-faqs — which is what the previous column on the topic was about.

This option, which starts at $9.99 a month (with an introductory rate of $4.99 for the first month for new accounts) offers the same features as AOL Gold (portal access, ad-free email within the portal) but includes even greater security options than what's available with AOL Desktop Gold, including Norton Antivirus, Identity Guard, Data Secure and Backup, and Safe Central (which focuses on protecting financial transactions and bank access), as well as several computer optimization tools and concierge-level tech support. 

AOL Premium subscribers can also add additional a la carte security options to their account for additional monthly fees if desired. More information on these various AOL Premium add-ons can be found at the following URL — https://plans.aol.com/. 

Untangling the web 

Looking for an easy way to count calories and take better control of your daily intake and diet goals? Then make a point to visit this destination — fitday.com — which boasts more than 5 million active users.

Looking for an easy way to count calories and take better control of your daily intake and diet goals? Then make a point to visit this destination — fitday.com — which boasts more than 5 million active users.

At its core is its daily log, which lets you enter your foods consumed, activities performed and weight into a personalized profile and in return you receive detailed reports on calories consumed and expended, weight-loss and diet progress and goals and more.

In addition, the site offers various diet management suggestions, weight loss and fitness tips, support forums and more. Basic usage is free, with account creation, with enhanced features available under the site's "Premium" plan, around $4 per month. 

Contact Eyal Goldshmid at egoldshmid@yahoo.com.