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Reviews Written by
Cristian Ioan Tiu "Real name" (Buffalo, NY USA)
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Peek Mobile E-Mail Device - Gray (PK-KIT-001)
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
 Slimy and overmarketed - keep away, it does not work, June 13, 2009
As many other people I obsessed over missing an email that may be important. Unlike others, however, I do not travel that extensively and most of the time I am in front of a computer. Therefore, in order to keep plugged, I don't need a full-fledged mini-computer when I am on the road (read Blackberry/iPhone), but only something that will tell me if I am missing anything important. I thus wanted to give a try to the Peek.
The Peek only has email capabilities and for that I like it. There is nothing to distract you like a camera or a web browser. When you are on the road, you can look at the "new email" led ... if it blinks then you have new email, if it does not, there you have nothing to worry about. The simplicity of this device is a virtue. Unfortunately, as I detail below, the Peek is plagued by software bugs and plastered with marketing cover-ups.
1. The peek lost its signal; this is quite normal and it happens to my cell phone too in certain areas. However, when back in an area with strong signal, the Peek did not find the signal anymore. I asked the Peek to send/receive, and it froze. Nothing was able to stop the freezing, not even the on/off button. The only thing I was able to do was to remove the battery -- then the Peek was ok after I put the battery back. Even on the WORST cell phones, the on/off button did not fail; yet, on the Peek it did. Very sloppy programming.
2. The Peek touts that it's possible to have up to five email accounts. This "functionality" seems like a marketing trick ... most traditional email providers offer forwarding ... thus having FIVE accounts on the Peek does not mean much, other than something clever to say marketing-wise.
3. I nevertheless decided to check this "functionality". I added a yahoo account to it. I sent myself an email ... read it ... then, surprise! the new email led NEVER turned off afterward. It continued to blink although I had no new emails. In fact the only thing that stops the blinking is turning the Peek off after reading email then turning it back on. Another example of great software!
4. I wanted to set the time -- the Peek did not find the time immediately like any cell phone does. The Peek has two settings ... Manual and Network. The Network setting simply does not do anything ... or at least the time it keeps is completely inaccurate. The Manual setting does not do much either ... the only thing I noticed is that when I am switching from Manual to Network, the hour is moving forward by 1 hour. That is how I set my clock. Again, another example of great software!!
5. Peek says push email is offered, and email arrive instantaneously. Everyone in front of a computer will see this is not true - there is a delay of 1-2 minutes (I tried various things; minimum delay was 1 min 9 seconds, maximum delay was 4 min 48 seconds). You cannot say "push email" but deliver only every now and then.
6. Peek says the Pronto has pdf support. However, all I was able to read were not pdf files, but files one would get if text would be selected in a pdf file and pasted in Notepad. No figures, etc., no pdf functionality. Bait and switch all over again. I have not tried .doc files. Images work.
7. Even worse, despite clearly the Peek not working, you will still have to pay for one month worth of subscription. Thus, you may end up paying one moths regular subscription for absolutely nothing. Let me say it again: you pay for something that does not work.
In conclusion, this is a gadget that is based on a great idea: a tool offering email only. I would welcome a thing like that. I feel sorry that it does not work, for no other device out there offers ONLY email. The hardware seems sturdy and feels good to hold in hand; I cannot speak of the insides of the Peek though. Unfortunately, the realization of this idea is way subpar. The email retrieval is SLOW -- this is NOT push email the way I understand it. The software seems overly buggy and problematic. You never get your subscription fees back entirely, which seems shady for a start-up. Therefore, this being a simple device, all these deficiencies spell over-marketing, not to call it a bait and switch strategy.
UPDATE: I returned it, canceled my account as well. Meanwhile the Peek help desk answered some of my questions ... e.g. why would the new email led not stop blinking. The cure is to not select the battery saver mode. This is NOT a software which is working, but at best a beta release. Seems impossible to get the entire amount of fees back even though the Peek did not work.
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