[$79.95 + $19.95/month, Peek]

The concept itself was so promising...a standalone e-mail device, much cheaper than — and without all the bells and whistles of — smartphones like the iPhone and the Blackberry. That was something I could get behind.

After all, I couldn't bring myself to spend the money on the iPhone, despite the fact that my eyes glazed over with lust every time my friend Nicole pulled her's out. And I didn't think that I really needed constant access to the web (despite my propensity toward obsessive-compulsively checking both my Google Reader and Twitter feeds for updates).

So I was fully ready to embrace the Peek, ignoring everyone's judgments over its obsolescence in a world of smartphones.

When my Peek Pronto arrived in the mail, I just about flipped my shit with excitement. Finally...I would be able to leave my condo without missing an e-mail beat. (Note: I don't actually leave my condo. Ever.)

And in powering up my Peek, my excitement only grew. Getting started was as simple as inputting my e-mail address. Once my Peek and my e-mail account had synced up, the e-mails started rolling in. And with each new e-mail, the tiny envelope in the upper-left-hand corner of the device flashed blue, and the Peek chirped. For a (brief) time, this satisfied me.

Strike One:

The first twinge of doubt occurred when I left my Peek turned on overnight. When I awoke the next morning, eager to check my new e-mails without actually leaving my bed (my laziness knows no bounds), I found that the device had gone dead, despite the fact that I had charged it for a bit the day before. Isn't the battery power supopsed to be better? Instant gratification FAIL. I plugged it into the wall for the rest of the day.

Strike Two:

Later that night, I had to leave the condo (horrors) to drive to an exercise class a half hour away. I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to try out e-mail-on-the-go and, by that point, the device was fully charged. So I powered it up...and waited.

In the end, it took at least a half hour for my Peek to catch up on my e-mails. Every time it beeped for the next 30 minutes, it was an e-mail I had already received, read, and deleted hours before. I felt as if I had stumbled into Back to the Future, and I was not impressed. Lesson learned: NEVER turn off your Peek, even if you are charging it. (This also brings up another annoyance: I wish it knew which e-mails I had already read and deleted; I wish there was a greater interactivity between it and my e-mail account. It's also so frustrating to read an e-mail and be unable to click on the link therein!)

Strike Three:

I believe that the point of the Peek (and all smartphones too, for that matter) is to make it possible for you to be more mobile. Am I the only one who found herself becoming more immobile? Example:

Doo-be-doo. I just heard my computer beep in the other room. That means that I have a new e-mail! Yay new e-mail! Even though I prefer reading e-mails on a big screen, I will instead check my e-mail on my Peek, because god forbid I leave the bed. I mean, my slippers are just too far away.

And in fact, this is the problem I see with all e-mail devices and smartphones. It drives me crazy when my man and I are watching TV and suddenly he'll feel compelled to check his e-mail on his BlackBerry, with its TINY screen, despite the fact that his computer is two flippin' feet away. I feel as if these devices make everyone a heckuva lot lazier, a heckuva lot more OCD, and way too plugged in.

...

Um.

Okay. Now that my rant is over...can someone please give me a free iPhone?

Some features of the Peek Pronto:

• e-mail delivery
• unlimited texting support
• search function
• 5 e-mail accounts supported
• can view .pdfs, .docs, and pictures
  

Related Posts: Gizmodo's Peek Pronto Lightning Review, Crave on the Peek Pronto, Oh Gizmo! on the Peek Pronto

Related on MM: Take a Peek At Your E-mail. Every Five Seconds.