[pct-l] Pocket mail alternative

[David Thibault]

The peek only searches for cell towers when it is on as it requests your
email only after you turn it on.  When it is off it is truely off - it
doesn't have to be on like a cell phone to get incoming calls.  It has an
airplane mode that shuts off the receiver and saves battery life - I used
this when I was out of service area and composing journal entries.   I found
that I could use it about a week before I had to charge it again.  I used it
about an hour a day for reading email, writing in my journal, and general
reading.  I carried a spare battery (they are $15) but only used it once.
With care you could do the whole PCT without a spare battery and I would not
take one if I do it again.
I used dailylit.com to send me chapters of a book that I read on the device
and used it to get the occasional weather report also.

Day-Late



On Sun, Sep 27, 2009 at 5:32 PM, Kea <keahiker at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have hesitated about getting a Peek because of the question of battery
> life.  For most of the PCT, there will be no signal so presumably the Peek
> will keep trying to connect.  With cell phones I have used, this kills the
> battery in no time fast.  The only solution is to turn the phone off when
> there is no signal; but of course this does not work when typing in one's
> journal.
>
> So my question is:  how does the peek handle no signal and how does this
> affect the battery life?  I could find no answers in the Peek web site.
>
> Thanks,
> Kea
>
>
> 2009/9/25 David Thibault <dthibaul07 at gmail.com>
>
>> I used a peek for journaling on the PCT this year with great success.
>> If you want to just journal, the peek is a much better option than
>> pocket mail.  It
>> costs and weighs less and is easier to use. Worked great with
>> postholer as they support email updates directly to journals.  Myself
>> and Ice Axe used them this year
>> and we were both very happy with them.  They are $20/month and I think
>> you can now find the device for about $20 also.  I did go about a week
>> without service at times
>> but you just save your entry and send them when service is available.
>> I carried a spare battery and only used it once (this could have been
>> avoided too).
>> I would not carry the spare battery again as it wasn't necessary.  The
>> keyboard is bigger than most phones and that made a big difference for
>> me as I had a phone available
>> to use but could never get comfortable using the too small keypad.
>>
>> Day-late
>>
>>
>> Ruckman wrote:
>>
>>
>> in reference to the pocketmail. i know what you mean about having so
>> many devices. pocketmail was a good thing to have when i did the AT in
>> 03,
>>  but nowadays theres a lighter option that i saw another hiker using
>> that he raved about called the PEEK 2 ( think thats what it was
>> called).
>> the device was about $60, and $20 a month for service. thats all its
>> used for is writing, sending and receiving emails and i think you may
>> be able
>> to directly send it to trailjournals. but the guy who had it was on
>> postholer and he could directly send it to that. you dont need a phone
>> to
>>  send the messages either. it just sends them when it gets a signal.
>> wish i had used one this year on the PCT. live and learn.
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>
>