Amstrad EMAIL2001+ > Reviews > Amstrad E-mailer plus could have been better

Author's product rating:   

Reception & Clarity of speech	Excellent
Range of features	Good
Reliability	Poor
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	Big LCD screen, Answering machine,fax,sms
Disadvantages:	Not good for power failure, expensive services

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

..:: Amstrad e-mailer PLUS ::..

i will start by saing that the phone is corded and cannot be used while doing other jobs around the house.

the reason i started like this is because the phone althou its corded it still needs to be connected to the power socket and cannot be used otherwise, the plus in the name for my opinion is because plus it has to be registred to perate and if you dont accept the terms and conditions of the legal binding of the unit then its money wasted as it cannot be used without a registred user and althou the power is on the unit wont give you a call tone making it impossible to make calls telling you to register to use.
althow with this introduction the product doesnt sound to be very good its the actual opposite because the unit is packed fuul of features infact its able to give you the following featuser and services.

1. e-mail
2. FAX (only send not retrival)
3. SMS composer (sms cost 50p)
4. Answering Machine
5. ZX Spectrum Games
6. Call Log
7. Address Book
8. Internet
9. Hands Free speaker
10. Dictaphone
11. USB connection (printer only)
12. Calculator

..::Description of Features and Services ::..~> e-mail <~
the emails can be sent and received trough the e-mailer thanks to the phone line .
the emails can be typed by the keyboard situated on the top of the phone or by the keyboard situated inside the emailre that puls out from the front.
emails cant have any attachments as the cant be opened on the unit but can be opened on a pc by going to the isp's website.

~> FAX <~
the fax is a bit of a dissapointing feature as email is better for the job that can be done because with the emailr the only thing that you can send trough the fax is just text and even worse making this feature pointless is the inhability of receiving faxes the faxex are typed in the same way as emails and can be sent o multiple numbers.

~> SMS <~
the sms feature is ok for a landaline but pointless as now everyone owns a mobilephone (even my Grandma! :-)
but thats not the main reason because each sms costs 50pence and you cant receive sms as the services runs from a premium rate number to pay and email adress to send the text.

~> Answering Machine <~
the answerin machine is a good feature to be included in the emailer even if limited .
it has the ability to receive voice messages and a pree recorded greeting is alredy installed
making it a batter Plug and Play device.
its limited because of the memory which can be expanded by a Smrt media card (sold separately)
the sound id crisp clear and easy to access so there should be no noise problems like the analogue recording on old answering machines.

~> ZX Spectrum Games <~
there are a couple of let downs with this feature making it pontless, infact by my opinion there is no point on putting games on a phone like this because ist going to seat on the table in your entrance and not many people go in the entrance just to play games especially that the screen is only two colours and the games look orrible but the main point is that its not like a mobile phone that you can take on the bus to play the games while youre bored so again for my opinion POINTLESS but the main of all of the let downs is that the games have to be downloaded and will cost around £1,50 plus connection charges.
but i suppose that if you want to paly that game so bad you would do that but youd never think that the games are like demoes because they can only be played for a periond of time infact only 4 days or 4 weeks after that you have to delete the game or buy it again!

~> Call Log <~
the call log is very usefull to find out what numbers have been dialled and what numbers called (need to be subscribed to Caller ID with service provider) but still a good feature telling you answered and unaswered calls althou it doesnt show cals made but not connected.

~> Address Book <~
the address book is very intuitive giving you all the spaces needed for fax mobile and email but even home or office address.

~> Internet <~
the internet on the emailer its ok for a fir time internet user or just to check the lottery numbers, dont get me wrong it is not like wap that only give ou text but its more like XHTML because it allows you to view real webpages with images but in grayscale mode and with no other feature of the page e.g. no sound or flash animation.
othr than that its ok althou connection is 12p a minute plus local call charge

~> Hand free Speaker <~
the hands free speaker is usefull for group conversation and has a very good distance pick up making it perfect to talk over 2 meters away from the unit.
the speaker is very loud but if too loud a the volume control option i available giving you the conrol of the voulme plus a mute function is available and its perfect if you want to listen to a conversation without beign caugt.

~> Dictaphone <~
this is a simple feature letting you record short voice memos.

~> USB connection <~
the usb connection is only to be used with a printer althogh it does give a voltage out and a usb power accesorie like a phone charger can be used
it supports virtually every mothel of USB printers currently around.

~> Calculator <~
a simple program that tells you the answer to a problem that everyone asks : 2+2 ?
: 4
in other words a CALCULATOR

there are many other features like pizza ordering and online dating but these are subject to change so wont always be there for you although you get free adverts on your screen that at times can be a bit annoying and can be anything and at times you get adult contens ones teling to to phone live chats.

last of all is that in the previous model the (E-mailer)
in the package you got a Poket organizer to store all your numbers on the move and the sync with your emailer by just sliding it in the unit and on this version this option is available but has to be bought at a stupid price of £20

the cost of this unit varies from the £29 - to the £59 making it the cheapest gadget around.
i also look nice as a house fashion gadget .

durability is not very good being quite fragile as being too much digital