Archive for March, 2007

Arab Lounge

ArabLounge.com uses the tag line, “Connecting Arabs worldwide.” The site certainly seems to have its focus and delivers the target market it says it will. Not only that, the site gives you more than enough free access to really get a handle on its value and does so in the confines of a pleasant and impressive site design. Here’s what else we found…

ArabLounge challenges you with an involved profile creation process. Generally speaking, the more info you provide, the more chances you’ll have of catching someone’s interest. This may not seem worthwhile to new users, but you should commit yourself to filling out your profile in detail if you plan on staying for any length of time.

“Arab Lounge is certainly one site that seems to have its act together.”

The worry with niche dating sites is that they don’t have the opportunity to reach the masses like a general dating site would. This site has done rather well. It has a solid following of members, no doubt due to the amount of access it grants users.

As for access, Arab Lounge really lets you get a feel for what’s available on the site. New users can search profiles, see when people last logged in and they can even be contacted by paid members. What you can’t do is search for members closer than 150 miles. This is the one drawback. However, if you pay for a membership, you can be a lot more specific on your search radius.

Pricing for the site is more expensive than average – at least on a one-month membership. You pay an introductory fee of $34.95 that renews at a more reasonable $29.95. You also pay less if you subscribe for multiple months. Price isn’t everything, though, especially if you can serve up a decent amount of members from a specific demographic for any given area, but it’s certainly worth mention when other sites often charge significantly less.

The search options available to free members are limited compared to those of paid members. It gives you the basics: seaches by distance from your location, age, profiles with pictures only, etc. As mentioned, though, 150 miles is the narrowest search you can perform. However, if you decide to buy a month or more of access time, you can select from a plethora or criteria that you, and hopefully most others, filled out when signing up for the site.

You will have more than enough free access to ArabLounge.com to make an informed decision on its worth. As a free member, you can surf and sort through members with no limitations. You can even receive and respond to members who contact you. What you can’t do without paying is initiate contact, post on the message boards or see who has viewed your profile. Although important and interesting features, the limitations imposed by ArabLounge on its members are few and inconsequential to the decision making process.

Arab Lounge is certainly one site that seems to have its act together. It gives you all the tools and information you need to make an informed decision about how much it has to offer and that goes a long way to suggesting that this site is even worth the extra money they’re asking you to pay.

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Cupid .com

Despite our natural affinity for its aptly named domain, we appreciated Cupid.com for slightly deeper reasons. For starters, it’s a popular site and once you see its professional user-friendly design, you’ll understand its broad appeal with folks. However, let’s look a little closer to see how well Cupid lived up to its mythological namesake.

When filling out a profile, Cupid immediately encourages us to add a photo and to complete a series of in-depth questionnaires. Sure, we can skip the forms to get in faster but each time we return we’re prompted to complete the missing info. Perhaps, the site hopes to encourage more complete member descriptions by the constant reminders.

“…with all the free access you can get for just signing up, you can be sure that Cupid is worth a tour at the very least.”

Nevertheless, despite the prompting we found that the number of descriptions that include pics varied from as low as 25 percent right up to as good as 60 percent depending on what search criteria was used. There also appeared to be a positive correlation between people with pictures and the amount of pertinent details they filled out on their profiles.

Cupid.com has search options down pat. Besides allowing us to search from typical criteria such as education level and religious faith or as unique as what pets a person owns, it also has a gallery mode to view results by photos. The text-based method reveals more profiles at once in detail, but either way you can see right away a member’s approximate last login date.

Cupid is exactly on target as far as free access goes. It lets you build a profile, search for members and even respond to members that send you messages – all without dropping a dime. That makes it a great choice for anyone new to the online dating scene who just wants to try the site out to see if it fits.

As far as contact methods go, besides email, Cupid.com only has one – instant messaging. Quick contact can be important, but as long as there’s at least one way to reach out and touch someone, that should be enough. Besides, what’s great is that paid members can initiate conversations even with non-pay visitors who are online.

Cupid has a solid selection of extra features to advise and entertain you. They have a dating advice section and blogs, which seem quite active. The site sets up speed dating events in a number of cities in North America, too. Finally, as far as the matchmaking system goes, you can turn it on after you’ve filled out your profile details and see what results come back for you.

Overall, Cupid.com has scored well. As with any site, it will come down to how many members are in your area. However, with all the free access you can get for just signing up, you can be sure that Cupid is worth a tour at the very least.

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Wealthy Men

Wealthy Men promotes itself as web personals designed as a place for people of a higher caliber to meet. I’ll say straightaway that I had to lie in my profile since the lowest income range starts at over $100,000. That’s a little more than I can boast that my reviewer’s post pays. All is fair in love and war, I suppose.

I’ve often heard that the hallmark of truly refined taste is its simplicity. Simple is exactly how I would define the interface of WealthyMen. You provide few physical details beyond height and body type. You do include your profession and salary, of course. Then you describe yourself and potential date, in essay form. Whether you’re male or female, the same process applies.

“Not seeing profile details before upgrading makes one hesitant to join WealthyMen.”

WealthyMen.com has a few extra features related to verifying the info you provide. You need to send in a letter from your accountant or even an old income tax form to prove your wealth. You can verify your employment or your photo through other processes as well. That’s as fancy as the site gets, since otherwise it offers little else as far as advanced features go.

Browsing is limited to US zip codes, Canadian postal codes (enter it without spaces where it states US zips only and it does work) or a few major American cities. Outside the United States or Canada, one is out of luck as you are stuck browsing entire countries. I thought that WealthyMen should be more sensitive to the needs of the globetrotting elite that are supposedly its niche.

Moreover, until you upgrade, you can’t see anything but a few basic profile details. You can’t tell whether a member has recently visited the site even. However, what is perhaps odder is that even as a premium subscriber, there doesn’t appear to be any advanced search options. There is no online chat or even instant messaging, just email.

Silver membership allows you to see detailed profiles and to use email. Gold level subscriptions, besides being listed first on browsing results, allow correspondence with non-paying site members. Overall, in comparison to most online dating sites, Wealthy Men seems overly simplistic. Its most redeeming quality is providing verified details regarding what might otherwise be exaggerated claims made by members.

I may not be well off, but I do know that generally rich folks enjoy free samples before deciding to shell out any cash. Not seeing profile details before upgrading makes one hesitant to join WealthyMen. Having to decide whether it’s worth its monthly fee based solely on verified income status and a picture doesn’t seem to scream a higher-class of dating.

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Wealthy Dating Site Review

Wealthy dating brings together successful people sharing similar lifestyles and goals. Money can’t buy you happiness or love, but making a decent living shouldn’t stand in your way to making genuine romantic connections online. There are specific sites that connect well off singles allowing them to enjoy each other’s company and to share in the privileges of having achieved financial success. Any reputable millionaire dating service makes sure that only high-quality profiles carefully screened and verified are allowed to be posted thus insuring members make worthwhile and appropriate love matches. Why settle for anyone less than ideal when you can browse through ads tailored to your specific expectations and dating needs? Our reviews explain the signup process, contact methods each one includes as well as letting you know, which sites seem are the most popular. Keep reading to find out more to help choose the site that’s right for you.

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