testdrive: Amstrad e-mailer

GADGET junkies will love the look of the Amstrad e-mailer, a veritable little bundle of technological joy, at least at first glance. The personal communication centre, as it is branded by its makers, just cries out to sit in the living rooms of the design- conscious, along with their WAP phones, Palm Pilots and MP3 players.

An e-mailer, handsfree telephone, voicemail and fax machine rolled into one, it is all black and silver, with a slide-out keyboard to type your messages on. Its dinky little pocket dock-it - for storing telephone numbers and email addresses - slots neatly into the side of the machine, and has a little black wallet for carrying it around in.

As if that wasn't enough, you can send SMS text messages to compatible mobile phones, and by linking the e-mailer to a printer, print email and fax messages.

For me, the e-mailer's main attraction is its tiny little screen, which glows like something out of the X-Files, reminding you to check on it occasionally. One glance at it across the room will tell you the time, date and whether you have any messages waiting for you. All that, and the instruction booklet assures it is easy enough for your granny to use. Whether you'd let her anywherenear such a desirable object is another thing.

After living with the e-mailer for a few days, though, the shine begins to wear off. For starters, it costs 12p a shot to access your e-mail - powered by BT, it uses a dedicated mail service, Amserve - although admittedly you can send as many messages as you want during each session. But it is indescribably annoying when, just as you are negotiating your first spoonful of cornflakes, you look up to see advert after advert beaming out at you from the e-mailer's screen. No one wants to be sold anything by their phone, however flash it is.

The e-mailer is cheaper than a PC, and saves you the bother of logging on if you do have a computer sitting in another room. Its strengths are its simplicity, its compact size and its versatility. But despite it being a must for gadget junkies, you can't help thinking it will soon be replaced by something far dinkier - and cheaper.

Kathleen Morgan Available at all major electrical stores, at around #80

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