123Greetings: Animatedly Yours
Written: Aug 16 '01
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The Bottom Line
Lets you send okay-looking animated e-greetings quickly and easily.
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123Greetings is another one of the many online greeting sites that have sprung up on the Internet. Although, two years older than Bluemountain, and five years old in total, it has never been as wildly popular. I, for one, have rarely, if ever, received a greeting card through 123Greetings, although Bluemountain has brought me many. Having used and over-used Bluemountain to the point of saturation, I am gradually moving on to other greeting card sites. 123Greetings was one of the first few to come in mind.
Although the help section isn't overly helpful, the website is fairly easy to use. On the left is a listing of events or holidays that are taking place on that very day. This event listing contains the usual as well as the more diverse events, most of which I never knew existed. This isn't very unusual for e-greeting services, however, as both Bluemountain and ClubGreetings contain similar calendars. Some of the more bizarre events in the next few weeks are "Cherry Popover Day" and "Potato Day". Since I had next to no idea what these days were all about, I entered their respective categories. Above the thumbnail images for the different cards, there was a brief explanation of that particular event/holiday. It helped.
The thumbnail images are miniature representations of the actual card. They, like the cards, are also animations, and so you can see what the card is like without actually having to visit its individual webpage. There are more than 5000 cards available covering over 400 occasions so I really don't think you would want to do that!
Some of the cards are vaguely cute, but there is nothing uniquely special about them. There's nothing that jumped out at me and made me scream "WOW!" Although most cards are animated, I have yet to come across one made in Flash. Flash cards are very interactive and impressive. But you won't find any here, so if you're looking for them, you better look elsewhere.
Once you've selected a card, you can go ahead and send it to anyone with an email address. You have the option of customizing the card somewhat - the background and the text can be changed around - but I don't really advise that as it makes a mess of the whole thing. You can add a personal message, which can be as long as you can make it, and a card can go with music or without. The 25 tunes available to choose from are the same for all cards, no matter which category they belong to, unlike Bluemountain where each card has its own tune. I've never heard of most of the tunes at 123Greetings, though, so I never use any music with my cards. There aren't any advanced options or extra services so there's no need to worry along those lines.
The cards are sent immediately, unless you schedule them to be sent later. They can be sent up to 60 days in advance. I often use this option when I remember someone's birthday is coming up, just in case sending-a-card slips out of my mind on the actual date. E-greetings can be sent to up to 10 email addresses at a time, or through ICQ. The actual card does not show up in the recipient's mailbox. Instead, he/she receives a notification telling them that a greeting card from you (the sender) is waiting for them on 123Greeting's servers. When the recipient views the card, you will be notified, unless you left this option unchecked. Cards are stored for 30 days.
There's one feature I really like. I myself don't have much use of it, though many people could, but I just think it's a great idea. If you have scheduled a card for delivery at a later date, you can delete the card and stop it from being sent. Say you've made a mistake and want to edit it out, no problem! I haven't seen this option anywhere else.
123Greetings is great when you have no place else to go. Afterall, sending cards by snail mail just doesn't click.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
navinthebean
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Member: Navin
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 61
Trusted by: 46 members
About Me:
If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people?
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