Portable, Private Internet Access

Need a prepaid calling card for the Internet? Try Slingshot, an ISP that provides portability and anonymity.

Slingshot works best for people who use the Internet sporadically or when traveling. It should also appeal to privacy fiends, since you need not reveal any personal data to purchase or use it.

Slingshot's software comes on a CD-ROM that's available from retail vendors for a list price of about $10. The disc entitles you to 600 minutes of access--that amounts to less than 2 cents per minute--if you use Slingshot's local connection numbers; and the company's Web site lists plenty of U.S. numbers.

If you use Slingshot's toll-free number, however, your total access time is reduced to as little as 200 minutes per disc, raising the cost to about 6 cents a minute. Also note that obtaining foreign access via toll-free numbers currently is not available.

Once you have exhausted the minutes--which are good for up to 18 months from the time you first log on--you can buy more time online from Slingshot or toss the CD out.

The program installs easily from the CD--simply enter the access code supplied, and the software dials an 800 number. Choose from a list of local access numbers Slingshot finds for you based on the phone number you are using, and you're up and running. Completing the setup process with a shipping copy took me less than 3 minutes.

The service also provides e-mail, both Web-based (like Hotmail) and POP3 (like Eudora or Microsoft Outlook). You get a yourname@slingshot.com address that you can use even after your minutes expire. (The address will be suspended if it goes unused for six months.)

Your Slingshot address will receive e-mail forwarded from other ISPs, but the company doesn't currently forward e-mail. To retrieve e-mail held at another ISP, you must go through another Web-based e-mail service like Hotmail.

Slingshot makes getting online easy and will be particularly attractive to travelers who use a local ISP for their home Internet access. But if you have a national ISP, Slingshot may not offer you much that you don't get already.

SUMMARY

Slingshot PRO: Prepaid Internet access; very easy to set up and use. CON: Unused minutes expire 18 months after first log-on. VALUE: Cheap, easy access in a portable package. List price: $10 Slingshot 800/567-7153 www.slingshot.com