What if I need to set up an e-mail account?
If you are looking for a roommate using this service you need to set up an email account so people can reach you. It can be dangerous to give your name, phone number, and other identifying information to strangers. We recommend that when looking for a roommate you use an e-mail address that does not contain you name. For example DO NOT USE: pphillips@hotmail.com. If someone has this information they may be able to look up your number in the phone book or locate you. When using the Roommate Matching Survey please use an e-mail address that does not contain your name, birthday, etc…For Example: alaaskafisherman@yahoo.com Try to show your personality without giving away too much information. Below you will find information about some free e-mail sites on the web. This list is not comprehensive, but it gives the top ten as rated by About.com. If you do not like any of these, just type, “Free e-mail” into any search engine and look around. Find the package that is right for you. If you don’t know which is best, talk to a friend, parent, or anyone you trust and ask for their advice. Each site offers different incentives and services. All are free for the basic package, but extras may cost some money.
Tips:
Only enter the information required (usually indicated by *) Do not use your name in the user name Do not enter your address (change a number or two if it is required) Do not enter your social security number Check regularly (some free sites kick you off if you do not use it) Remember to keep the number of saved message low. Many free accounts have storage limits or require you pay for additional storage. Look around for what meets your needs. Talk to your friends and family. See if they would recommend a site.
http://email.about.com/cs/freeemailreviews/tp/free_email.htm
Top 10 Free Email Services
From Heinz Tschabitscher, Your Guide to Email. FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now! If you are looking for a free email service, you can be picky. You'll be rewarded with plenty of storage, effective spam filtering, a fast interface, desktop email program access and more. Find the top 10 free email services to choose from reviewed here.
PS: Looking for free email, you may also be interested in
1) Gmail - Free Email Service
Gmail is the Google approach to email and chat. Practically unlimited free online storage allows you to collect all your messages, and Gmail's simple but very smart interface lets you find them precisely and see them in context without effort. Unfortunately, Gmail does not offer IMAP, only POP access. Gmail also puts contextual advertising next to the emails you read.
2) FastMail Guest Account - Free Email Service
FastMail is a great free email service with IMAP access, useful features, one of the best web-based email interfaces and few ads.
3) Yahoo! Mail - Free Email Service
Yahoo! Mail is a comfortable, reliable and secure email service with a reasonable amount of storage. A pretty good spam filter keeps the junk out, and you can send rich emails using Yahoo! Mail's HTML editor.
4) AIM Mail - Free Email Service
AIM Mail, AOL's free web-based email service, shines with 2 GB of online storage, very good spam protection and a rich, easy to use interface. Unfortunately, AIM Mail lacks a bit in productivity (no labels, smart folders and message threading), but makes up for some of that with very functional IMAP access.
5) Inbox.com - Free Email Service
Inbox.com not only gives you 2 GB to store your mail online but also a highly polished, fast and functional way to access it including speedy search, custom folders and reading mail by conversation.
6) goowy mail - Free Email Service
goowy mail is your rich Desktop email program on the web with a fast interface that lets you drag and drop, use context menus and enjoy lots of pleasant eye candy. In addition to email, goowy offers a calendar, an RSS feed reader and games done in a similar fashion. More features and online storage would do goowy mail good, though.
7) MSN Hotmail - Free Email Service
MSN Hotmail comes with solid security features and a straight forward, easy to use yet quite powerful interface. Unfortunately, Hotmail lack of POP or IMAP access, you cannot search messages in Hotmail, there is no support for secure messaging, and email management tools as well as the spam filter could use some improvement.
8) My Way Mail - Free Email Service
My Way Mail is a clean, fast and fun (though not particularly advanced) free email service.
9) Care2 E-mail - Free Email Service
Get a solid Web-based email account and donate to environmental organizations, both for free with Care2 E-mail.
10) Lycos Mail - Free Email Service
Lycos Mail has no advanced features, but it also can be configured to have no spam. http://email.about.com/cs/freeemailreviews/tp/free_email.htm