Peek...
 

http://www.getpeek.com/

What do you think? $99 for the device, $20/month for the service...

I've had one her for a bit, and I'm really impressed with how they tackled this thing, it feels great, it seems reliable and the keyboard is awesome.

It won't replace my Blackberry, but it's a fun little device to have as a backup in my carryon bag.

I dunno Scott. I think I'd rather use the $99 for a better phone and the $20/mo to "pick up the tab" for internet service with my cellphone provider.

I think it's going to go the way of the dedicated email devices for the home.

You must have more money than me or a greater need for redundancy. :-) I carry a cellphone and a laptop, both of which give me email access. I don't need a backup device on top of that.

What is the advantage over a feature phone?

I don't use my cell phone that much so a while back I switched to prepaid to save money, so might consider this for a lower cost way to check email on the run.

Of course $10-$15 would be better.

But the real killer for me is that the password button in no way locks the device-- no password, no pin. I can't risk losing a device with all my personal info on it. I'd reconsider after a firmware update adds that.

I see it as being a fairly expensive tool for what it is. In today's world, it just becomes yet another device to carry. A basic Blackberry -- even an older model -- effectively fills this role and means you don't have to carry a phone with you as yet another device.

Steve

I would love to know if this has a sim card... (stares suspiciously at EDGE express card)

Yes it does, it has a T-mobile SIM card.

Purchase and a years worth of service is $339 or so. That's way too much money for something to just get e-mail on. And according to the CNET review, only text mails, not even HTML mails.

They also said:

Peek only works with Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, and AOL, with more e-mail providers being supported in the near future.

Peek's e-mail system appears to work via POP and not IMAP, meaning you might have to do some juggling between in-boxes. For example, deleting e-mails on your Peek will not delete the e-mails in your e-mail account, and vice versa. A minor detail for those who don't care about such things, perhaps, but we found it highly irritating.
As to the SIM card question:

Also, do note that the Peek receives its signal from regular cell towers (we found a T-Mobile SIM card in our device), so you do need to be in a good signal strength area to send and receive e-mails.

It may fit a very tiny market niche, but I would not see myself as one of thost people. It's just way too much money for way too little.

hmm $20 month data card...

If this were 5 years ago, maybe. Now, not a chance.

Nah. I pay about the same for my BB unlimited email and it works worldwide. If it was unlimited email $20 worldwide, I just might consider it for a data card for the laptop

If i got that many emails on one of the email providers listed or even had an account with one of them then great. It would be better if it worked in the UK and would work with my personal domain email, which I don't check as often as I should, especially if out all day. £140 a year for service isn't cheap, but also not too expensive to totally put me off.

This reminds me of the email only blackberries of about 8 years ago. The price isn't bad for what it does.

Apparently there is "a special offer. You just have to get the email from a Peekster. Ask!"

Any Peeksters willing to share the special offer email or at least the details? :)

One thing that's not clear from the docs, does it automatically POP the mail to simulate PUSH or do you have to manually PULL the mail?

i don't think it's manual but i believe their servers only pull every 4 to 5 minutes, so it's not as instantaneous as a blackberry.

I think you can even get ATT PAYG data for $20 a month. I remember reading something like that not so long ago as people were looking to get an iPhone with out a voice plan.

NM, I found it on the site.

"Here’s the special offer. Buy a Peek today online (we’ll see the order date in our system) and send us a picture of you with your Peek at Target…and we’ll give you 50% off for 3 months on the service." That was on 9-11, so apparently it was a 1-day deal.

I tried the Peek on the display at Target this week and I thought the click depth on the keys was way too long. The Peek keyboard seemed thoroughly rubberized and rugged, but the depth of the keypress bothered me. I guess I'm used to the QWERTY chiclet keyboards on the Motorola pagers and my Kyocera M-1000. Do you think it feels odd that way?

It has about the same travel as my Blackberry, the only thing that annoys me on it is the spacebar. Other than that, they managed to make a good keyboard. I wonder if the display unit has a different keypad (was it working model)?

Looks like there is a new firmware out there that adds SMS and image support.
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/1...mited-e-1.html

Still not compelling to me as a product, but it is better now than it was.

Wow - even 2 or 3 years ago...but not now. Or, maybe good for Mom/Dad type technophobes.

As for me - I'll take a cellcard for the laptop, or a Crackberry...

RFTraveler :td:

You can prepay for 12 months of service for $199. That's $16.66/month. :)

I just took delivery on a Peek today. It was on sale at costco.com for $70 with free shipping. Thanks to Costco's generous return policy, I hope to give it a good, long tryout to decide if it will meet my needs. ^

Like meerkat9090, I'm one of the holdouts on smartphones who uses prepaid. Using 20 minutes/month of voice, I can't justify the $30/month voice plan that seems to be required with all of them.