Peek Mobile E-mail Device (Cherry) - AB01CH

Remarkable Value

1/29/2009

The Peek offers really remarkable value for the price. It works exactly as described and I have yet to find a location in my area where there is no service. But more importantly, the Peek customer service staff is second to none. They have answered my questions immediately with honesty and candor that one only wishes would be the case among other wireless providers.

Good value, but some users may have problems with..

1/23/2009

the keyboard, which can be difficult to manipulate. You need good manual dexterity to use the device. Setup was fairly easy and it did work right away. I purchased to use while on the road and haven't had a chance to test the coverage areas yet. This seemed like an affordable alternative to a laptop or netbook. It doesn't display graphics and the text is small. Still, for a limited use device it seems like a good deal.

Mature user

1/19/2009

As a mature person it took exactly 6 minutes to set up, including reading the instructions. I do have problems turning it on-off. The button is to small and indented. Other than that it is perfect for getting and sending email, even for the mature person, like myself. It's slim, but the keyboard is easy to read. I love it.

Warning - This device can be addictive

1/18/2009

Just used for two weeks but it becomes the device I use first thing in the morning. I just want to check out this device for fun in the beginning. I have more than 20 PDAs, 3G smartphone, Laptop, Netbooks, internet tablet ... etc. I have all kind of cover, porch, case for all the different devices but I don't think I need any cover to protect this device. It is a well build and solid device. The device is much thinner than BlackBerry. Much solid than Ipod touch.

It is great device to browse eMail when I exercise. No need to touch anything to get inside eMail system, it is so convenience. Gmail's forward email function can forward all your Gmail accounts into 1 account then you just put that account under Peek. You can totally put 3 accounts under Peek.

Peek paid to T-Mobile data service and pass its service to subscriber for unlimited data service (email and text message). Not bad for $20 per month or $50 for 3 months. (I am not working for Peek, I found those information from Google search). You can't hack this device to use T-Mobile voice service.

Black color is too business for me (I have Blackberry and black pagers). I don't need another black device to remind me about work. :-)

No need to turn on computer or smartphone or wireless router and PDAs to browse my every personal eMails in the morning. I just quick browse my Peek and save me at least 10 minutes. This time saving feature makes me addictive to this device. I thought I will cancel the monthly service at end of this month but I think I will keep this item since $16.50 per month is much cheaper for my 10 minutes of time saving every morning.

Nice concept, not ready for prime time as yet

12/8/2008

This device is a great concept that's poorly executed. I was looking to move away from BlackBerry to a separate phone and email device and this seemed like the perfect solution. I used it for a few months but the shortcomings were too much for me to justify the monthly service charge and initial investment.

Positive aspects
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- Email only device: just what I was looking for, an email only device that does not tie down my phone when I don't need email. This way I can throw it in my briefcase or coat when needed and leave it back at other times
- Keyboard: this device has the best keyboard of any mobile device I've used (which aren't too many). It's certainly better than the one on either the iPhone or BlackBerry. It's a full keyboard and you don't need to use the shift key for the most commonly used keys and numbers.
- Screen is bright and clear even outdoors. Font and layout is good as well. Much more soothing to the eyes than comparable devices.
- Can automatically download your address book from your online email service! (a first?)

Neutral aspects
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- Only allows you to download email from 3 email accounts (vs 10 for BlackBerry)
- Setting up a custom email server to download cannot be done automatically, you have to call customer service. I have not tried this, but bothered not to after finding out.

Negative aspects
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- Polling speed, 10 - 60 minutes: coming from a BlackBerry I was used to instantaneous email notification, if you haven't used one, it's true, the email may show up on the device even before it's in your email client on the PC! I was willing to compromise on the polling speed but the peek gets nowhere near this. Their official line is 'gmail is updated every 5 minutes and the rest every 15 min' - the best times I got was 10 min and worst ranged upto a few hours (combined with the next issue below).
- Unreliable signal: service for Peek is offered on the T-Mobile network, I would get unreliable signals on the device (i.e. the device could not connect to peek servers) even in areas where other T-Mobile devices worked just fine. At times the device would be offline for hours - especially after getting out of a NYC subway (which almost always required a reboot to get any sort of signal). This combined with the above issue meant not seeing your emails for hours in some cases. These first two issues were deal-breakers for me!
- Slow device: the processor (or OS) on this device is slower that most new cell phones. While checking, deleting email it would just become unresponsive. The processor is not the fastest, but it may also be a firmware issue with the device. Anyway, if I am paying the asking price for this device, I would like it to be responsive. When you buy a BlackBerry or iPhone you're getting you money's worth. With the Peek you're overpaying for a very underpowered piece of hardware.
- Service cost: Monthly service charge is too high for just 3 (unreliable) email accounts and no internet access
- Offline use: device does come with built in memory that should be enough to download and store 100's of emails, but this does not seem to be used optimally. If you happen to be off the network (eg: in a NYC subway) you won't be able to read long emails, only the first few screens a downloaded, the rest are accessed when to scroll to them. BlackBerry has a setting to download entire emails, also if you've already read an email, it will store the full content on our device. The peek has neither option. Particularly annoying is an email you've fully read will get truncated in the subway as there is no network. All of this with an email traffic of less than 50/day for all my accounts.

Recommendation
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For me, the negative aspects far outweigh the positive ones. I would not recommend this to anyone considering the long delays, unreliable network connectivity and sluggish device, not even to a casual user. If you must try the device, then buy from Amazon, Target or getpeek.com - they all have at least a 30 day refund policy so you only stand to lose the first month's service charge in case you are not satisfied.

Alternatives
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- Email only: considering everyone has a mobile phone these days, adding email is as simple as getting a blackberry from your service provider. T-Mobile (who also provides this service) will add BlackBerry email to your plan for half of what the peek will cost you on the monthly basis. If you want usable email this is the best option. The only downside is paying up a little more for a BlackBerry device. If you don't want to sign a contact, just buy a used BlackBerry on eBay or craigslist for not much more than this.
- Email+Web: there are too many options out there that don't cost much more than what you'll pay for Peek. iPhone, Google Android or full BlackBerry service come to mind. Any one of these would be a better option.

As of my review date, there are 26 reviews of this device for the 3 different colors it's available in, as you may notice all feedback before mine is 5-stars! This is very unusual especially considering my experience with the device and the fact that they are available used on eBay for half the list price here (my guess is from other unsatisfied users). It looks like many of these stellar '5-star' reviews are by employees of the firm itself; you can also confirm by looking them up at getpeek.com.