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Content
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| Quality : |
17.5 / 20 |
| Quantity : |
15.0 / 15 |
| Entertain : |
12.5 / 15 |
| Updates : |
8.0 / 10 |
| Exclusive : |
4.0 / 05 |
| Download : |
2.5 / 05 |
| sub-total : |
59.5 / 70 |
| Navigation |
| Easy : |
7.5 / 10 |
| Features : |
3.5 / 05 |
| Design : |
4.0 / 05 |
| sub-total : |
15.0 / 20 |
| Other |
| Originality : |
4.0 / 05 |
| Hard Facts : |
3.5 / 05 |
| sub-total : |
7.5 / 10 |
Scoring Criteria New
New Update!
As of Aug 15th, 07, price of a site is no longer factored into the overall score/rank. |
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1. Huge archive of magazines.
2. Large collection of photos and vids.
3. Good quality content.
1. Organization somewhat confusing.
2. Videos DRM protected.
"Private is a huge site that's sure to please its magazine fans." |
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Private.com is the website for Private magazine, which has been wowing horny guys the world over since 1965. I know! I wasn't even born yet! Anyhow, needless to say we're dealing with a pro site that has already been established and obviously has some serious staying power in this industry of fly-by-night vagabond websites. Private is a publicly listed company that is traded on Nasdaq and has been choosen by Forbes magazine as one of the best small companies in the world in 2002. They've received countless accolades including 9 awards at the 2003 AVN awards show. I'm a little intimidated begining this review. Private is no small fish and they clearly know the secret to success. However, expectations are lofty for such a highly acclaimed website and whether or not they will live up to their reputation remains to be seen.
Stepping inside, the design of the website is quite nice. It's professional and attractive without being lumbered down with weighty graphics. I will admit, it is a little overwhelming. There were so many links that I was somewhat unsure where to begin. The site is organized in sections so I'll briefly describe what you will find in each one.
The first section is Stars. Here we see all the Private models in exclusive photosets and interviews. Most of the content is quite hardcore. The main theme is guy-girl sex but they get creative from there. You'll find sets with 2 girls and 1 guy, 4 guys and 1 girl, girls using toys on other girls while getting pounded by guys in the ass, etc. It's all pretty explicit, lots of bj close ups and facials, but none of crosses into really kinky per se. I read in the forum that some old watersports sets were deleted because they were counter to the new direction of the site. So basically expect some good old sex here. I didn't care for the organization at first but once I figured out there key and got the hang of things there was no problem. Galleries are viewable chronologically or you can search them by model or category. Quality is, as expected, excellent. The default picture size is 350x600 but don't let that fool you. There is a small enlarge button at the bottom of each photo page. From there, the pictures balloon to 750x1200. All photos are professionally shot and exude quality. There are currently about 400 galleries available.
Next comes the Live Sex Show. At first I thought these were all cheapie upsell feeds but now I'm not sure. Well, half the feeds are Flirt 4 Free so you do have to pay to see the good stuff, but the others are full on hardcore. They really are live and the ladies really are chatting. You're supposed to tip if you want something specific done but when I logged in they were having sex which works for me! Pretty good quality here though not really remarkable.
The next section is the most unique, the Magazines. They have managed to scan 371 magazines from the last 35 years into their website! Private publishes several magazines and the complete collections of all of them are viewable here. The magazines are ordered chronologically. This isn't the best organization but I imagine it would be difficult to come out with a feasible layout for such a large collection of unique media. It would be nice to be able to search the magazines or view thumbnails of all the different pages but overall the setup isn't bad. Upon choosing a volume, you are presented with the cover of the magazine and links to all of the pages inside. Unfortunently, the pages don't enlarge all that much, at least not to the point where you could read any of the stories or articles, but you can definitely see breasts and that's good enough for me. The little next button on the bottom makes it seem like you're actually thumbing through a magazine. Also, some of the newer magazines are available in PDF, so they are much larger than the old ones but it's a bit of a hassle to open Acrobat every time you want to look at a page (no next button here). But maybe I'm just lazy. :) Access to this large collection is really a great feature of Private.
Next comes the XXX Movies. Here you have access to Private Movies and Private Channels. There are around 80 videos currently available. They are each broken into 5 or so clips, each about 20 minutes long. It's really nice to have access to full length movies! The quality is good, but not great, and the reason is that they have a separate site for their broadband videos that you have to pay extra for. Something to keep in mind. The Private Channels bring you hundreds and hundreds of full-length movies and clips. The quality is pretty good and while it's viewable at full screen, it does get choppy.
The final section is Sextras. Here you'll find stories, a member forum, greeting cards, wallpapers, comics and JennaMaxx. It's all fine stuff and worth mentioning.
Private.com is really a huge website with a lot to offer its members. For those who are fans of the magazine then you really need to check this site out. They update once a week with eight or so new photosets and videos. Overall I enjoyed this site and think that many people out there looking for some hardcore mainstream porn will enjoy it, too.
| 1st Follow-Up Review |
Review: 02-04-05 |
Looks like Private has had some nice growth since our initial review! The number of galleries is up from 410 to 602 and the magazine count has increased from 371 to 411. Though it may take time to get used to the magazine setup, it remains a very cool feature on the site. The number of videos has increased from 80 to 100 and it looks like they've upped the quality from 100k to 300k. However, all is not completely rosy in the video section. It appears that these videos are now DRM protected so once your membership to Private expires you can no longer view them, even if you downloaded them to your computer. Bummer. You'll also find hundreds of Private clips available in their Private Channels section but these videos are streaming only so no dice here for those of you that like to save your movies.
I'm adjusting a few of my scores but my total remains the same. I'm a little disappointed with the direction the videos are going in (they're really just here to lure you into wanting to purchase the video from them) but with the huge magazine archive and quality picture collection I won't completely knock the site. Just keep in mind that Private will probably best be enjoyed by a picture fan.
Score decreased from 83.1 to 82.5.
| 2nd Follow-Up Review |
Review: 11-30-07 |
It's been over two years since our last review of Private so it's definitely time for another look. They've grown a lot and now have nearly 1,000 galleries, over 450 magazines, and more than 340 DVDs. I was pleased to find that they've upped the video quality quite a bit, with movies now offered in three settings up to 1500k. That's a big jump from the 300k that was standard at our last review. Unfortunately, they're all still DRM protected. The pictures still look great, as expected. It doesn't look like navigation has changed, so the organization is still a bit confusing at times, but overall it's not a significant problem. Private offers a special initial price to readers of The Best Porn of just $20. This large, great looking collection is well worth that, for photo and video fans alike.
Score increased from 82.5 to 83.0.
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