Peek Pronto - Mobile Email Device

Peek Pronto Mobile Email DeviceI could live without a cell phone 99% of the time. Unless I need to have a conversation, most of the communication in my life can be handled via email or a short text message. So the idea of the Peek Pronto really intrigues me. It's got all the email and texting of a cell phone without the bother of ever having to answer the a call. Think of Peek as the push email functionality of a Blackberry unencumbered from all the other stuff Blackberry piles on in the way of features.

Peek actually makes two devices, the Peek Classic, which is available for free after rebate from Radio Shack, but lacks some of the best features, and the Peek Pronto, which is the device I'm talking about here. Both Peek devices are designed for non-techies, with easy setup and simple features.

The Peek Pronto shines because of it's paired down nature. It does email. You can send text messages. It handles a few attachment types, like PDF, DOC and photos. Based on my own frustrations with PDF on my T-Mobile G1, I'd say the PDF handling on Peek Pronto is better than what Android is currently supporting.

Mobile email access does come with a $14.99/month price, which is far more reasonable than a $60/month cellular data plan and less than the all you can eat data plan for the iPhone or T-Mobile G1.

The one place the Peek comes up lacking is in providing Google results. I realize the Peek devices intentionally leave out browsing as a feature, but that's the one feature I find myself unable to do without. There are too many times when I want to find the phone number for a restaurant or directions to the nearest business to give up my cell phone which builds in search functionality. Still if you can live without search, I'd give the Peek a solid recommend for what it can do.

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