WHAT WE FOUND: PleaseBeMine.com has the features that make a great online service. The featured free membership allows you full access to everything, including replying to messages you receive without paying a membership fee. Premium membership is available and it allows you to initiate contact with someone you find interesting. Registering and completing your free profile is fast and you can add up to 5 pictures with your profile too. Take your time with the 2 essay questions, remember, this will be your first impression on someone new. Once you've joined you will want to try the search system to find some interesting members to meet. We like the categories available for searching and the added feature of finding people that have searched for you. You are able to search America by state, Canada by province and the rest of the world by country. Messages are sent and received anonymously through the online email system with you receiving a message to your registered email address letting you know that you have a message waiting. Safe, secure and free, you'll can use the chat room and even get a free email address. Features include a suggested gift list and "Ask Sheila" and "Ask Rob" advice columnists

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: Free membership, reply to message you receive without paying a membership fee. Chat room, gift list, free greeting cards and advice service on the site. Straight and same sex personals available.

WHAT WE FOUND: Planet Personals is possibly the biggest and fastest growing (October 2003) UK based dating service. Start your visit with the tour, which is actually a free trial signup. We’re not keen on that, but if you want to check out an online dating service, the best thing to do is join for free, and this is how you’ll start at Planet Personals. They have all the features that contribute to being so popular which includes an easy to use navigation system, picture ratings (rate the face) that you can play as a trial member, fast searches and lots of people always online ready to trade messages and chat. Joining is fast and secure, you’re in as soon as you click (your password will be sent to you) and you don’t have to relogin once you’ve selected a unique member name, but you do need to enter the activation code that is sent to you before you can contact other members. (Ours didn’t work on the first try, be prepared to have the code resent to you.) The control panel (the “my info” link) lists all the areas that you should complete for people to read about you and the important things in your life including describing your ideal partner as well as letting the personal search feature work for you. Also showing on the control panel page are lists of people that have viewed your profile, who the new members are, who’s birthday it is and the recent chats you’ve had. You do have to become a paid member to chat and send/receive messages, but it’s one of the cheapest monthly memberships we’ve seen in a service that has so many features. The search features has two ways it works but both methods are dependant on you having completed the questions on your control panel page, so take a few minutes and complete the questions to see who matches the person you’d like to meet. Overall, be prepared to spend a lot of time completing your profile, searching and, once you’re a full member, chatting and trading messages. You’ll like Planet Personals, we do.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: Free trial allows you to join, rank other members photos, complete your profile and search, become a paid member to send/receive messages. Straight and same sex personals available.

CHANGES WE'D LIKE TO SEE: (Suggested Oct 2003) Add international postal/zip codes to the search. Add metric and imperial weights to the weight question. Add a text navigation to the page (the navigation image doesn’t always load). Some, or any, contact as a free member allowed.

WHAT WE FOUND: Joining for free is a fast way to find other members that are in your area. Our test membership signup showed 17 matches in my small town from my basic profile questionnaire being completed. I’m sure that you’ll likely find more basic matches when you post your own. You’ll need to be a premium member to start sending someone messages, but all members can reply to messages, so it’s worthwhile for you to post your profile even if you’re not sure you’ll upgrade. There are a variety of searches you can do to narrow your search down for a compatible date as well as the “Who’s Interested” feature that let’s you know who’s been viewing your profile and the even more popular “Just My Type” feature that lists new members whose profile is similar to your own. You’ll find dozens of reasons to join and check your message center every day. Premium members also have access to the phone center to make safe untraceable phone calls to other members.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: Free to join and reply to messages, premium members can initiate contact. Online games, fast searches. Three areas of dating : Dating (casual meetings), Romance (For those seeking serious relationships) and Intimate (for party people into exploring their sexuality).

WHAT WE FOUND: You don’t have to be 50 (or even 40 for that matter) to be on this site. We found some people in their 20’s looking to date older men/women. Create your free profile in 2 minutes, including what type of relationship you are looking for, such as A Date, Friendship, A Pen Pal, Marriage, Marriage and Children. Basic profile information includes body type, ethnicity, education, occupation, smoking/drinking, etc. After you have completed your profile you can then elaborate more about yourself, such as Fun Facts, My Ideal Match, and an introduction about yourself. You may also add photos to your profile. There are a vast number of searches, such as Quick Search, username search, an advanced search, who’s online, a photo shuffle, recently updated profiles, and a list of the latest photos posted by members. There is a Click feature to find out if someone you’re interested in is also interested in you and then Prime Singles will introduce you with a Click Alert. And you can also find out whose birthday it is. Once you have clicked on a profile, there are many options to choose from. You can use the Click feature, send mail, cards and smiles. You can also add as a fave and as a friend. Prime Singles also offers many connection features, such as message boards, an instant messenger, a chat room, and a favorites list. You can even see when your friends are online. For an added fee, you can upgrade your instant messenger so that you can get a 30 day history of your conversations. Otherwise, you can only view the history of your last IM conversation. The message boards contain 8 different topics and Prime Singles even lets you know how many members are online on the site. Prime Singles also has a 24 hour customer care line for expert assistance from friendly customer care staff.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: A very in-depth singles site that is free, easy to use and navigate and offers instant messaging, online chat rooms and a multi-topic public forum. Your private mailbox enables you to exchange personal messages with other members while keeping your real email hidden. Prime Singles also offers Profile tips which you can look at right on the home page.

WHAT WE FOUND: This is a great service for you to meet Filipina women. Browse the picture gallery and become a member to receive the addresses, and phone numbers where available, of the women you'd like to correspond with. Ordering is by postal mail, individual addresses in groups of 5 or more, or online with an inexpensive 1 year membership that allows you access to all addresses of the women, current and new women as they are added to the service, for 1 year. Travel tours can be arranged and soon to be added are immigration information pages and Taglog language lessons. Read our interview with Analyn of Philippine Connection.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: A large gallery of women in the Philippines looking for men. Order addresses by postal mail or become a 1 year member for complete access to all addresses by joining online.

WHAT WE FOUND: IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR MAIL-ORDER MARRIAGE, LOOK NO FURTHER THAN 'A PRETTY WOMAN'! With many successes, when you get serious, A Pretty Woman is here to help you get what you want out of life, a woman that loves and respects you, that is interested in YOU and not the car you drive or the clothes that you wear.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: Paid personal listings, scheduled romantic tours, voice contact option, this is a European women marriage site but includes profiles from everywhere.

WHAT WE FOUND: Start your visit at Platinum Romance by joining the free trial. It lasts as long as you want and allows you to look around and see everything they offer, you can add up to 10 pictures of yourself and even add a voice greeting right away. I like the "Who's Online feature". You can check to see who's visiting Platinum Romance right now and view their profile, maybe even join them in one of the chat rooms, once you become a full member. Full members can send messages to anyone, but you have to be a full member yourself to respond to messages you receive. Your safety is assured since you have the Platinum Romance mail system protecting your privacy. The only thing revealed about yourself is what you say and the pictures of yourself you add to your profile. There is also a profile stats page so you can see how many times your profile has been viewed and how many messages you've received and replied to. Many other features include the Horoscopes, the Riddle of the Week, the Platinum Puzzle, Best Date and Worst Date stories and my favorite, the Worst Pick-up Lines Ever! You will receive emails from Platinum Romance when someone sends you a message, so you don't have to log in every day to see if you have any messages.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: Free to post your personal ad and add pictures and a voice greeting. Great stories and features including "Who's Online" and Chat rooms. Become a paid member to make contact and join the chats.