Email address

[gumboot]

I'd like to change my email addresss to something classy for business purposes. I'm thinking along the lines of something like [email protected] or [email protected].
I've had many email addresses over the years, but apart from webmail ones such as [email protected], they've always been linked to the isp such as [email protected]

How can I set up an email address along the lines I've mentioned. Am I correct in thinking that to do this I need to join a website hosting service such as bravenet or 1and1.co.uk? I don't really need a website myself just an exclusive email address. I assume that if I join a web hosting service, I will need to log into their servers to access my email? I also assume that what follows the @ sign in my email address could be anything of my choosing and not something like [email protected]?

I am willing to pay a nominal amount for the service but is there anything free out there? I'm only looking for support for one or two email addresses. Who are the best providers for this type of service?

Apologies if I've not used the correct terminology, but I know next to nothing about this sort of thing and I'd be grateful for any advice.

Thank you

[rojash]

Have a look at namesco: http://tinyurl.com/mtyrlu
I'm not recommending them, but they are an example of hundreds of companies that will register a domain name (such as joebloggs.co.uk (althought that's already taken!)) for a few quid and provide e-mail services and hosting. You don't need to actually use the web hosting, if all you want is a mailbox or two.

[rojash]

sorry - meant to say: you can find loads more by googling Buy Domain Name

[Buenchico]

As you seem to realise, you'll need to register a domain name (= the bit after the @ sign) and you'll also have to get someone to host your mail server. You never really 'buy' a domain name, since the registration has to be periodically renewed (so you're effectively 'renting' it).

Domain names ending in 'uk' are controlled by Nominet but (unless you have specialist technical knowledge) you have to register via a registrar:
http://www.nominet.org.uk/registrants/
Since Nominet charges a (small) fee for registration, this is nearly always passed on by the registrar. The only exception will be when you sign up for a package which includes the fee.

There are a few 'free' email services, which include your choice of domain name, but they can be unreliable and also tend to pay for their services by appending advertising material to your mail. (That doesn't look very professional when used for business purposes).

Your best option is to sign up with one of the 'big boys' who'll provide exactly what you want. The UK market leader (which is used by many major companies, as well as private individuals) is 1&1. They'll provide you with your choice of a .co.uk domain name for £2.49 (+VAT) for the first year, and £2.99 (+VAT) thereafter. They'll also host your email for just 69p (+VAT) per month:
http://tinyurl.com/yfn92rv

Chris

[ChuckFickens]

Just to throw another company in I use http://getdotted.com/ for domain names, they will host any email for free on domains registered with them.