Arabium Reviews

Editor's Star Ratings:

Costs:

• Basic Membership:
  • Free
• Premium Membership:
  • 30 days: $19.95
  • 90 days: $39.95
  • 180 days: $69.95
  • 360 days: $89.95

Options for payment include Credit Card, Check - online (U.S. residents), Check - mail, Money Order, PayPal, or Western Union.

Features:

• Create free personal profile.
• Create description of your perfect match.
• Browse profiles and photos without paid subscription.
• Detailed home page offering:
  • Blog option and ability to browse others' blogs.
  • Browse recent forum threads.
  • See who's available for IM
  • Link to Who's Online
• Detailed search capabilities.
• Upload up to 3 photos - with option of making your album private.
• My Friends list.
• Tools link for helpful answers and tips.

• Basic Membership:
  • Detailed personal profile.
  • Read and reply to messages.
  • Reply to Instant Messages.
  • See who's viewed your profile.
  • See how many times your profile has been viewed.
  • View discussion forum.
    
• Premium Membership (all of the features of basic membership, plus the following perks):
  • Initiate messages.
  • Initiate IM.
  • Audio/Video chat (new!).
  • Discussion forum participation.
  • Block unwanted users.
  • Compatibility test.
    

Performing a Search:

When searching on Arabium.com there are two options:

• Search by Username
• Search by any or all of the following criteria:
  • Country.
  • State.
  • City.
  • Gender.
  • Age Range.
  • Marital Status.
  • Ethnicity.
  • Religion.
  • Height.
  • Body Type.
  • Origin.
  • Education.
• Additional Search options allow you to search based on:
  • When profile was created.
  • How recently a profile was active.
  • Showing only profiles with photos.
  • Remembering the search.
    

Editor's Verdict:

Arabium.com provides its members with the option to keep a blog. There's no doubt that reading someone's online journal can be a useful window into their world. However, blogs are most powerful when they are regularly updated and this can be time consuming for the writer. It also assumes that the writer is happy to share their thoughts, hopes and fears with all of the website's members, while other forms of communication such as winks, emails and IM can be reserved for a subset of members with whom they've made a particularly strong connection. Blogs seem to be much more common on free membership dating websites than fee-based websites, such as Arabium.com. We're not sure why this is. Perhaps the fee-based sites feel that the range of features they have makes a blog unnecessary. Perhaps they place a very high value upon their members' sensitivities and find blogs too difficult to police.

Like most online dating sites, Arabium.com are quite safety conscious however. For example, they make it clear that you should not include personal details such as email address or phone numbers on your profile, and they check through each profile to ensure that members are adhering to these guidelines. The screening process for the site asks members if they are a citizen in their country of residence. This can make for a lengthier sign-up and approval process, but is well worth the wait!

Aside from these two, the site offers many conveniences that are a must for online dating sites. With IM, Audio/Video chat, email messages, and an easily navigable site, Arabium.com easily makes it in to our top choices. With 40,000+ members, and growing, and many countries represented, you virtually have the world at your fingertips while searching for that special someone.

Not only does your individual home page (or profile page) offers necessities like message inbox and who's viewed your profile, it also provides you links to World News (useful for striking up that first conversation) and a daily Horoscope (if you're into that kind of thing). Your home page also offers lists of recent blogs, those members who are available for instant messaging, and featured forum posts for quick access to what's happening now on the Arabium.com.  The home page also allows you to change your settings, giving you have the ability to appear on or off-line for IM, find who's been viewing your profile, and looking over messages you've received.

Upgrading to Premium Membership is a snap! Click the link under the My Account tab, or the conveniently located link on your home page, and after a short online form has been filled out, you can begin sending messages to members that may not have contacted you yet. And with so many options for payment, it couldn't be easier or faster. If you have any questions as to the billing process they have a Contact Us link on their help page or a toll free number to call.

The Help page is divided into questions relating to logging in, making changes to your account, making payments, and general questions like how to use the Video/Audio Chat facility. If you can't find your question here you can contact the site via their online form.

For encouragement and a feel good read, the Testimonials page indicates the success achievable using Arabium.com.  With many stories of blossoming relationships and anxiously anticipated weddings, you can't help but feel enthusiastic about trying online dating.

All in all, Arabium is a decent site with a range of good features. However, it does not quite match up to our top ranking site. If something about Arabium really appeals to you and you can't decide between our top ranking site and Arabium.com, you can always sign up for the basic membership with both sites and see which one seems to have the most potential for you.

Click the button below to check out Arabium.com for yourself...