Where Have All The Comments Gone?

Okay, so it took me a little while to notice, but did you know that Haloscan archives comments older than 4 months and holds them for ransom?

"Yeah, we gots your comments all right. You's wanna see 'em again? Then make with da money, or we start sendin' 'em back... one vowel at a time."

That's right, until I pay the $12US to become a Premium Member (there's a dirty joke there somewhere, but I'll leave it alone for now), nobody can access the brilliance you fine readers wrote as recently as July. That's ridiculous!

I understand that Haloscan is a free service, and that they can't exactly keep up a high level of service without donations, so I won't argue the point. However...

I've noticed a lot of other bloggers have started using the comments feature offered by Blogger. I was wondering what the ups and downs of it are. Should I switch? Should I stay with Haloscan? Are there better options out there that I just haven't discovered yet?

Help me out people... You are my eyes, ears, and left frontal lobe. Tell me what you think. You just better hope I actually get around to reading the comments in the next 4 months!