Save money on a .Mac account

We've been running all sorts of posts that offer .Mac workarounds like Jungle Disk (to replace iDisk), and MySync for keeping your Macs up to date with each others' data. But what if you still prefer .Mac - just not its price?

There are a few ways to save money off the purchase or renewal of a .Mac account, and the first two on my list are Amazon and Buy.com. That's right boys and girls, the Apple Store isn't the only kid on the block pimping .Mac retail subscriptions. As of this writing, these sites are offering a current .Mac membership (good for either new signups or renewals) for $79.99 and $82.99, respectively, both with free shipping. That's a nice chunk of change off of Apple's rock-steady price of $99 (yes, we know .Mac is sometimes offered at $70 with the purchase of a new Mac). Amazon also offers the .Mac Online Service Family Pack (5 accounts) for $149.99, down from Apple's $179.99. These prices should also hold relatively steady, as I've been purchasing my .Mac renewals for a couple of years now from Amazon, always around the $80 price.

While these prices obviously don't match the 'free' price tag of some of the workarounds for one .Mac feature or another, these should help make buying or renewing a .Mac account at least a little more attractive for those who've been on the fence about Apple's much-debated suite of online services.