Customer Reviews

TwitterPeek Mobile Tweeting Device with 6 Months of Service Included (Gray)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

In an era when the trend is the "all in one" device that does everything, Peek has gone the opposite direction and created solid hardware and a dead simple device. With super cheap monthly fees or if you're willing to up front more cash, unlimited "lifetime" data. If you browse the getpeek website, there really is a strong following of Peek.

The device is very good at tweeting. It gets push updates, is simple to use, fast and dead simple. It's designed well and is durable/attractive. While the screen doesn't match up with the latest precision screens like the Nexus One or other smart phones, it's very bright & readable.

This device could be good for:

1. Kids who you don't want wandering around on the internet or racking up charges without knowing
2. Senior citizens who are easily confused by technology but want to keep up with a few family members via twitter
3. Someone who is willing to front the higher cost in order to not ever pay a monthly fee, assuming the service is around forever.

This may or may not be the device for you. It runs on the T-Mobile network and in many areas where T-mobile doesn't have towers it works on AT&T (I'm using it on AT&T). You have a couple weeks to try it out with Amazon's return policy, so I wouldn't hesitate to give it a try. Most people are able to self-select if this device is for them beforehand. One limiting factor is that you can't unfollow people with the device, and you can only view photos if they're posted with Twitpic. Those being the only skeletons, it's a really nice device with a single purpose in mind.

I have had my TwitterPeek for about 2 months now and I think that it is plenty of time for this review. I also have a Peek so first, the TwitterPeek did not come with a case like the Peek does. Not too much of a big deal, but would have been nice. The graphics are a bit better than the Peek, well I guess different than better. The software is pretty slow. It is about as slow as the original Peek software was. It scrolls slow and takes a little time to switch screens. It says that it is fast, but sorry to say, far from it. I never get my tweets in real time, I usually get them about 5-10 min from when they were tweeted and if I get a lot, which happens often, I get a message that it could not deliver all of my tweets and I need to go online to see them. Not a fun message to get when not near a computer and you are waiting for an answer from someone. If all you do is tweet then this is a nice gadget, but it really needs improvement. Since having a Peek and they have upgraded the software, I suspect that they will have software upgrades for the TwitterPeek soon as well.

FIRST OFF: Unlike at least one reviewer, I actually OWN THIS THING. I urge you to ignore people reviewing it based on the concept alone.

VERDICT: Great device for anyone who likes Twitter even a little bit, because within a week you'll love it even more. It's not very expensive, and it's addictive. It may not be worth it if you always want the brand new Twitter features, or if you already have a smartphone, but if you want *just* solid Twittering and won't pay for a smartphone and data, this thing is great. It's far more elegant than Twitter-by-SMS and a good competitor for other Twitter clients.

FULL REVIEW:

First thing I noticed was, if I don't have a Twitter account, I'm directed to [...]. This is inefficient for a device that should be able to help me register on its own, without the net.

Next, I had a validation error and had to call Peek. They were very nice, but said I had to wait until Monday. I gave them all the info they needed and then, time to wait.

Once I got the thing going, I noticed that it took a minute to get my list loaded and ready. Some things were a bit confusing, coming from the Peek Pronto, such as keyboard shortcuts. I kept trying to use 'T' to scroll to the top, and on TwitterPeek this opens a new tweet. The shortcuts are there, they're just different.

Once loaded and going, I liked the layout. It looks like an email inbox, honestly, but it works well, I think. It seems a bit slow - when I'm at my computer and get an email, by Pronto alerts me almost as fast as I see it on Gmail, but when a new Twitter post happens, TwitterPeek seems kind of behind. For example, it's 2:23pm as I write this and the thing just whistled for a 2:19 post. At first I thought it was actually having some delay. As it turns out I think it's polling about every 5 minutes. So, you'll get your average Twitter post after 2 and a half minutes, worst case 5 minutes (best case instant). Of course, this is my rough estimate based on my experience.

One thing I wasn't relying on was this: It's addictive. It's really a great device. I use Twitter tons more with it than I did with my cell phone or my Pronto and an email-to-Twitter bridge program. It's convenient. I love replying without typing the full username out. Sure, I can on the web, but not on-the-go, at least not without a smartphone I can't afford.

It also gets much better battery life than Pronto, and far less glitches seem to happen. I love Pronto, but it has bugs (server and client side). TwitterPeek seems to get less. There is currently a bug where users on your Following and Followers list are repeating, but they're fixing this server side and it's the first I've seen since I got activated.

Battery life is great, I get several days of use on a charge.

You can only have one account on the device at a time, but I never saw a reason to have more than one Twitter account anyway.

The biggest downside is this: the client-side software is firm, and we likely won't see updates more than once per quarter. This means the software is extensively tested, but it means we don't get the new features the minds behind something as dynamic as Twitter implement until much later. Examples include things as trivial as the rewording of "what are you doing?" to "what's happening" as well as things as exciting as officially-sanctioned API-based retweets. API retweets don't even show up, and there's no way to retweet from the device (except the old-style RT, which works great).

If you Tweet a lot and that is all you want to do then get one of these. My tweets with it were almost instant. Coverage area is great if you live in the city, pretty good everywhere else. Has a clean interface, a character count right on top and makes it super easy to tweet and re-tweet. Are there better devices, NOT if you JUST want to tweet. I would say if you want to do more like email, facebook, tweet etc. Then you can pick up a Peek Pronto and use several email to services apps with it. I will post about those in the Peek Pronto page. Overall it did exactly what it said it would. TWEET Oh and the screen and keyboard are fine for me. No problems. Who needs a high definition screen to tweet?? The only thing that kept this device from 5 stars was not making the new tweets received BOLD. If all you want to do is TWEET, then pick this up. Want to do more.. Check out a Peek Pronto.

First of all, unlike several reviewers, I actualy own the TwitterPeek. TwitterPeek is a very innovative device for people like me who use Twitter but do not have a smartphone. The device was easy to set up. all I had to do as call them to activate the SIM card, turn on the device, enter some basic imformation including my Twitter credentials, and was up and running. The device has several very useful keyboard shortcuts, sich a T for tweet and D for direct message. The user interface is very snappy (at leat on my unit, your luck may vary.) Overall, I would recommend this device to anyone who has a phone that does not Twitter well or just wants a better experience.

This is the most useless piece of electronics I have ever used, I already returned and cancelled the transaction through my credit card.
Any new cell phone can let you tweet, any wireless hotspot will let you tweet as most smartphones have wifi built in
why would you spend a dime on this just to tweet, can't check email, can't read ebooks can't browse the internet.
And its $100
DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY

I am a current Peek customer and have had a regular Peek for a long time. About a week ago I got my TwitterPeek and I love it! TwitterPeek is the only device in thw World made just for Twitter. Here is what I like about the TwitterPeek Device:
1) Made with quality and the keys and scroll wheel are easy to use.
2) The battery life seems to be 4 to 5 days depending on the amount of use. Battery indicator lets you know when to charge the device. Fast battery charging!
3) I have been everywhere and never lost my signal.
4) Device can be set to vibrate and has several alert tones.
5) Easy set-up; just turn it own and follow instructions on activation. Enter you Twitter info. and your Tweeting instantly!

As far as Twitter use with device:
1) Uploading followers and followed is as easy as a click of a button. Super fast download of new tweets.
2) New tweets can be entered instantly.
3) Send direct messages is just as easy as a new tweet.
4) You can view your new tweets and view the links as well.
5) You can Retweet and reply to Tweets

My Dislikes:
Honestly I don't have any yet! I love the device; it's everything Twitter! Thanks Peek for selling such an amazing product. [...]

This device serves no purpose other than to fill up our landfills with electronic waste.

Totally a one trick pony. Why would Peek make this ?

The screen is too small and too low resolution
It looks like a toy calculator
The keyboard feels like a toy calculator
Requires too many clicks to do anything
Slow and unresponsive
Tweets take a long time to show up

I do not recommend it at all. Avoid !

I have had my Peek classic for a while now and use it everyday. For the price it does everything I need. I just heard about the TwitterPeek in todays NYTimes and decided to look it up. At first I was interested. Because the Peek already has unlimited E-mail and texting, adding in Twitter would only sweeten the pot, right? I was apparently wrong. This device only does twitter? WTF. Like I am going to carry around 2 Peeks. Not to mention Twitter is getting bigger and biggger, has no revenue and could disappear at anytime. Not to mention Peek is always bragging about how green they are, such as upgrading your Peek Classic to Peek Pronto for free (eliminating the waste other comments were complaining about) and even including a case with it made from recycled plastic. If they want to keep expanding, they better come up with an all-in-one device.

I cannot believe that someone would waste their money on this single use device.
Twitter may be useful to many people but in my opinion I think this is going too far. As for the device.. the product description from the manufacturer talks more about how useful Twitter is and how everyone uses it in their daily life. They make it sound like it's the greatest thing. However I do not waste my time using it. Finally when you scroll down the page and get to the Product Description... again it talks a lot about the use of Twitter and little about the device.
People of America... the choice is yours. For $99.95 you can own one of the worlds first Twitter Mobile Device.