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Content
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| Quality : |
17.5 / 20 |
| Quantity : |
15.0 / 15 |
| Entertain : |
13.5 / 15 |
| Updates : |
8.5 / 10 |
| Exclusive : |
4.0 / 05 |
| Download : |
3.0 / 05 |
| sub-total : |
61.5 / 70 |
| Navigation |
| Easy : |
8.0 / 10 |
| Features : |
3.5 / 05 |
| Design : |
3.5 / 05 |
| sub-total : |
15.0 / 20 |
| Other |
| Originality : |
3.5 / 05 |
| Hard Facts : |
3.0 / 05 |
| sub-total : |
6.5 / 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. Large archive of 4 different magazines.
2. Very good organization.
3. Nice quality content.
4. Many download/stream options.
1. Older content is lesser quality.
2. Videos are DRM protected.
"Decades worth of racy magazines archived in a very user friendly way." |
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Private.com, XXX Exclusive Photosets, Private Video Productions, All Private Magazines, and the self proclaimed "Best Livesex Provider". Private Media Group looks to be an industry leader when it comes to content. Starting way back in 1965, they were the first to produce a full-color adult publication. Since then they have changed ownership and taken their role in the adult industry to a whole new level making Forbes Global as "one of the Top 20 Best Small Companies in the World for 2002", I'd say they've come a long way. Just looking at the tour, it's a little overwhelming, the amount of stuff they have going on here.
Inside the member's area, the main menu is at the top of the page and features: Home; Stars; Live Sex Show; Magazines; XXX Movies; Extras; and Shop. The "Home" page has just as much going on as the tour and features its "New Magazine", "Special Feature" and "Stars Photosets", as well as an updates section, links to different "Private Movies", and a chance to "tell them what you think". In fact, there are fun little polls all over the place. First things first about this site, though. Like I mentioned previously, Private has been around since the 1960's, this website, though, has only been up since 1997. From 1997 to now, it is apparent that Private has been updating and archiving all of the following magazines from cover to cover, some of them, since the 1960's: Private; Pirate; Triple X; and Sex. So since this is Private.com's main product, this is where I'll start. Each magazine has its own category and since all of them are numbered, they are listed in ascending order and separated by decade. Unless you're deciding on the most recent issue, or the magazine is a featured one, it kind of feels like choosing one to view is a shot in the dark (since each one is only numbered, there is no cover preview). Once you chose a magazine, though, you are taken to a page displaying the cover of the magazine and to its right is a list of page numbers. You can jump ahead to any page you like or click on the cover to view it in a larger size. Even this larger size is only 362x511 though, so if you see an article you want to read or just see the picture in a larger size, you can view each page separately in a PDF file. This gives you the ability to zoom in as much as you like, either way, the quality is very good. It's actually kind of funny to see the change from the full-blown bush of the 60's, 70's, and 80's, to the bare down there of today. The 80's magazines are actually the most humorous to look at. You can't help but think, "what were we thinking!?"
So you want to see some actual photos now, eh? Well that's easy, just go to the "stars" section of the site and click on "Stars Photosets". Here, you'll find each girl listed by date from most recent and archiving all the way back to June of 1998. From what I can see, they update photo galleries every Tuesday or so with sets for 3 different girls- very attractive girls, I might add:). These photo sets are very cool, not the norm "here I am, now I am undressed, see me act like I'm enjoying touching myself". No, these photo sets are breathtaking, raw, and often highly artistic with many different picture angles, shadows, and ranges in focus. Browsing them is cool too. Thumbs are displayed 15 at a time and when clicked, the picture shows up small at first (582x420), but when enlarged by clicking a link at the bottom, they can be as big as (1200x867) your whole damn screen! You are even given an option to "Add to my photos" so you can easily access it again later, very nice! You can also view sets as a slide show, but I didn't use this option since I don't like it.
All right, finally, on to the movies! Movies are separated into 4 different categories: Private Movies; Private Channels; Featured; and Backstage shots. Private movies are archived in alphabetical order, starting with "Anal Introductions", and ending with "Xtreme Desires". Some movies offer a DivX download option, which is actually more like a subscription since a 3 day rental with cost you $8.95 and a 30 day rental will cost $12.71. So when you click on a movie (they are displayed with their box-like cover picture), you have the option to play each scene separately (there are usually 5-10 of them), or as a full length movie. Each movie also comes with a description, list of stars, and a listed movie length. To watch a scene you need Windows Media Player, and the clips play fairly small since they are only being streamed at 117k. Try and make the viewing size any bigger and the scene gets real choppy. The quality and sound is good, the size is just so small. Private Channels, on the other hand, features full length movies and Channels, or short clip scenes viewed by "tuning in" to a certain channel. Each channel represents a different niche, such as DP, doggy style, anal, facial, and girl on girl. The channeled clips appear a little dated and the quality is just mediocre (they offer the option to view full screen, don't bother). Full length movies are searchable by video series (Black Label, Film, Video Magazine, and Gold), most popular, or alphabetically by title. These movies are the same size, if not smaller and it's somewhat disappointing. Backstage Shots are simply photographs taken along with a movie and can be searched by film scene using a drop down menu.
Ahh yes, and the extras (or the "Sextras" as Private likes to call them), there are so many extras here. Included in these are sex stories, calendars, greeting cards, comics, wallpapers, and more. To sum it up, the movies could have been better, but this site and all the cover to cover magazine files are awesome! The site design is superb and though there's so much going on it might feel a little overwhelming, no need to worry, it's actually all very easy and all the extras just added to the overall appeal to the site, for me. The price is a little expensive, at $29.95 per month, but I'd encourage every one to join, check it out, as you won't find much else like this or so well organized.
| 1st Follow-Up Review |
Review: 02-04-05 |
It’s been over a year now since we've taken a look at things here and it looks as though the consensus is one of slight disappointment. While the content numbers are definitely up from where they were a year ago and videos are no longer being streamed at the poor quality 117k, the rather difficult site design is still in affect here, though, once you get the hang of it, it's not all bad. And while the video quality has actually gotten better, to the point where they are more average quality streams, the overall take on the videos here is still one of an up sell. This fact has only been exacerbated by the fact that the videos are now DRM protected, which means that once you let your membership expire, so does your ability to watch any of the videos you've got downloaded on your computer. This is an unfortunate change to the site and will probably affect the final score. The magazine archive is still a great resource but i have to admit I've lost some excitement for the site.
Score decreased from 85.2 to 82.5.
| 2nd Follow-Up Review |
Review: 11-30-07 |
Clearly it's high time we take another look at this attractive Magazine site as more than 2 years has passed since our last visit. Private.com continues to add high quality, racy magazine content with multiple weekly updates. Currently they're up to almost 1,000+ Magazine image galleries and more than 350+ full-length DVD's. Quality has been increased to todays' standards of around 1500k-2000k for streams, but unfortunately the files are still DRM protected. They do offer a reduced initial buy-in for The Best Porn customers for only $19.95, which is definitely worth it for a look inside the Private.com member's area. I do wish the recurring fee would drop some as well though.
Score increased from 82.5 to 83.0.
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