Hey all,
I am thinking of registering a new .com domain, primarily for email. I want pop3 functionality, perhaps webmail too but would also prefer web forwarding without banners.

I realize that a provider is more likely to offer these things at a reasonable price if they are bundled with the cost of the domain registration.

Also I wanted to be able to rely on the registrar not hiking the price of renewal up after the first year, I've been bitten by that before.

I am thinking of easyspace but they charge $stupid for bannerless web forwarding. Can anyone recommend a suitable registrar?

I'm looking to pay around the $20/yr mark as thats what my student loan will stretch to.

Thanks for your time.

Most web hosting services include POP3, although they may limit the number of mailboxes. Some possibilities to consider:

(1) Register the domain name using the cheapest registrar you can find (GoDaddy, Hostway, NameCheap, etc.), then sign up separately for free or cheap hosting (Portland.co.uk, Doteasy, Hoststock, or search FindMyHosting.com for "super cheap" hosting plans).

(2) Use a cheap register that bundles hosting with domain registration (Doteasy, Maxipoint, Catalog.com, Registerfly).

Personally, I think you're better off with option #1, since it's much easier to switch hosting services if you're not satisfied. I've used all three of the hosting services listed under #1; Portland is the cheapest and Hoststock offers the most features. Doteasy has been rated fairly highly for reliability, though I haven't noticed any reliability problems with Hoststock either (though I believe Doteasy is much larger and has been around a lot longer).

Hmmm going for cheap hosting would perhaps be a good option, but for example NameCheap (www.namecheap.com) offers the ability to setup pop3 email accounts and web forwarding on your domain for $17.88, and with the cost of the domain at only $8.88 that brings you to $26.76 total.

I know thats a little over budget, but generally registrars are very reliable in that respect and I think would probably be better than a cheap host :).

Good luck!

I would suggest that you register the domain on your own, a cheap place is GoDaddy.com

Then find a host. This way you will be sure that you keep 100% control of the domain and can easy switch away.

Becareful not going with a to cheap provider that will stay in business for a week. Search here at WHT, there are some good cheap providers than have been around for years.