Pocketmail

Keep in touch on the road without a PC

Many of our friends who travel without a computer have raved about Pocketmail for accessing their email while on the road. This low cost device is sold by Radio Shack and in many kiosk electronic stores across Canada. Bob Rowlands, the national sales manager for Pocketmail, loaned us a unit for use on our trip this summer around North America, using their Composer and 800-number service. One 800-number is used to access pay telephones, and another for regular phone service. This service is available from most telephones in campgrounds across the country, allowing you to send and receive your email. We have friends who have even used their Pocketmail systems in Scotland, using the appropriate access number for the phone system there. The Pocketmail system can be accessed in Europe and the UK, South America, East Asia and Japan, Australia, Africa, the middle east and much of eastern Europe for the cost of a local call. It's really quite remarkable.

The Pocketmail Composer is a small handheld PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) that allows users to send and receive emails. It has a 512KB organizer, which includes a calendar, address book, to-do list, memo pad, calculator and various alarms. It can link to a PC if you choose, through Microsoft Outlook. We have talked to several users who sign up for the months that they will be travelling without access to a computer, then simply use the Composer as a pocket Personal Digital Assistant during the rest of the year. Once you have purchased the Composer, it can be activated via the Pocketmail website at www.Pocketmail.com, or by calling Customer Service at 800-390-5034. This allows you to activate your device even if you don't have access to a computer. You can set up a plan for anywhere from three months to two years. If you are going to be away for six months and want to stay connected, your monthly cost will be $15/month ($90 for the full six months) for unlimited usage. You can send and receive as many emails as you want using local telephone service or your cell phone.

Cell phone performance varies with the local carrier. If you use your cell phone in an area serviced by Verizon or Sprint, which uses CDMA compression mode, the device must be set to analogue service - not digital. It seems to work fine in digital areas served by T-Mobile, Cingular, AT&T and Nextel.

After activation, your Pocketmail Composer will include one Pocketmail email account, and you can store three alternative 'Reply-To' addresses to...
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(Read full article in the magazine)