- E-mail (send and receive)
- Calendar
- Address book
- Memo pad
- Alarm clock
Product Details
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Product Description
Amazon.com Review
Send and receive e-mail using an ordinary telephone and the Sharp TM-20 mobile e-mail device with its built-in acoustic modem. Just pull the TM-20 from your pocket, place it against a telephone handset, and press one button to get your messages. No additional computer or Internet service is necessary.
The Sharp TM-20 is a stand-alone portable e-mail editor designed for travelers or anyone lacking a portable PC or access to the Internet. Setup consists of inserting the batteries and setting the clock. You must also sign up for the PocketMail e-mail service by calling a toll-free number or filling out a form on the Internet. The payment plan (either monthly or annual) permits you to receive unlimited text-only messages that are each no more than 4,000 characters long.
The menu prompts are not entirely intuitive, but by following the Quick Start instruction sheet, we set up the unit and the PocketMail account and sent our first e-mail message in about 30 minutes. The TM-20's complete alphanumeric keyboard and buttons are small, making touch-typing impractical, but our short test messages were easy enough to compose.
To send and receive messages, you open the acoustic modem "earpiece" mounted on the bottom of the unit, dial PocketMail's toll-free number, listen for a prompt, press the TM-20 against the telephone handset, and push one button. Reassuring LEDs let you know that the sending and receiving processes are taking place. We successfully sent and received several messages through different ISPs and desktop e-mail programs. We also sent an HTML e-mail message to the TM-20; the PocketMail system stripped out the HTML code but preserved the message itself.
The organizer functions are primitive, useful mainly for tracking names, addresses, and appointments. You can make backups of your TM-20's organizer and e-mail messages by connecting it via the included serial cable to a desktop PC. In our test, the backup program took a surprisingly long 15 minutes.
If you need little more than an alarm clock with your e-mail on the go, then the inexpensive Sharp TM-20 may be just for you.
Pros:
- Works with almost any telephone
- No cables or connectors
- No computer or Internet access required
- Inexpensive
Cons:
- Requires monthly or annual subscription fee
- Limited memory, not expandable
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
80 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best use of low tech in a new device in years!!!!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sharp TM-20 TelMail E-Mail Organizer (Office Product)
I recently got my TM-20, and I am glad not to have to lug a heavy, bulky laptop around just to read my email on the go. I have my regular email account set up to automatically forward to my pocketmail account. I also have my regular email reader (MS Outlook express) set up to grab mail from pocketmail when I am in the office. This works very well. If i get an email on the road that has an attachment I get the attachment from my regular email reader when i am at the next destination using a desktop PC or my laptop. Having the pocketmail device on the go at airports and etc. is a great luxury. I strongly encourage anyone who depends on email and who travels even a moderate amount to get a pocketmail device. For about $100 for the TM-20 and $99 for the pocketmail service for a year anyone can afford this.
56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Product, Superior Email Service,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sharp TM-20 TelMail E-Mail Organizer (Office Product)
I have had a TM-20 for some time and it is a very useful tool. If you communicate at alll via email and are ever away from your desktop, or don't have a desktop and wnat to keep intouch with friends using email, the PocketMail organizer is great. No need to find phone jacks, I can use ANY PHONE. Pay phones are everywhere and it even works with my cell phone. It is quick enough that I can send and recieve email in under the one minute billing unit. PocketMail is a great value at about $8.00 a month. I highly recommend these!!
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great for people who want email but can't afford a computer!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sharp TM-20 TelMail E-Mail Organizer (Office Product)
The Sharp TelMail TM-20 is a great gadget for doing what it claims. It gives you a very inexpensive way to send and receive email for only about ten bucks a month. Like the advertising says, you really can use just about ANY phone to check your email. U.S. users shouldn't have any problems using their home or work phones. I highly recommend this product.When I say any phone, I mean just about any phone. Pay phones in restaurants or airports, analog cell phones, cordless phones, the corded phones in your house and so on. There probably will be some exceptions to this rule but I've never encountered one. I don't think it works with digital phones but I could be wrong. And you don't have to buy or learn how to work a modem or any connection cables either.All you do is dial Pocketmail's toll free number, follow the recorded instructions and hold the device up to the mouthpiece and press one button. You can't miss the button either. It's the only one to press and it's big and blue. You'll be a pro at this by the second or third time you dial Pocketmail's number. You'll appreciate how really fast the TM-20 checks for messages too. I've been done in about thirty seconds most of the time.Also, you can build up a list of email addresses very easily. The TM-20's controls are very well marked and easy to learn. Very easy for experienced computer users but not too hard for people who have never used email. The low monthly fee makes this affordable for people who just want to try out email without commiting to a year of Internet access on a computer. The service is month by month so there's no long term commitment. The owner's manual is also very clear and easy to read.The TM-20 Telmail device can only work with the optional Pocketmail service but this isn't a problem really. Other email accounts can usually be set up to forward to your Pocketmail account automatically. The TM-20 runs on 2 AAs (which you can buy just about anywhere) and weighs about six ounces. Don't stick it your pocket though. This is more of a bookbag gadget.The TM-20 even comes with a Word List of frequently used words and phrases so you don't have to keep typing them in over and over. I found this feature to be one of the most useful things about it.Even though students and gadget lovers will probably go for the TM-20, I think it would be a better idea for older people who just want to try out email without all the hassle of a computer. As long as you don't expect to get pictures of the grandkids on it, this is a great way to introduce a non computer surfer to the world of email. Just looking at the large keyboard and yet the overall small size of the device will reassure some older folks. No stylus to fuss with, no commands to learn, the buttons are even color coded too.All in all, a very useful gadget. It does what it claims and doesn't cost very much to use. Cool enough for gadget lovers but also easy to use by computer newcomers. I strongly recommend the TM-20 to anyone who wants to try out email but doesn't want to have to learn a lot about computers to do so. Also, it's very light and can easily be tucked out of sight in a purse or bookbag. No one will know you're now emailing people unless you show it to them!
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