by leaftye » Tue Sep 14, 2010 1:46 am
Since you asked about using it in towns... I only used it in socal. It did not work at Lake Morena. It didn't work at the Laguna Lodge or most of the Lagunas, although I got a bit of a signal as we descended. No signal in Santa Ysabel, but got a strong signal for a couple blocks in the main part of Julian.
No signal at Warner Springs. Weak signals in and around Idyllwild. A range of signals in Big Bear.
That was disappointing to me. I can't see the situation getting much better further up the trail except in Ashland.
I was getting so much junk mail that I had to keep it on a while to process its slow data delivery. For some reason it must download anything that hits your inbox. Even if you have someone at home deleting all your spam, your Peek will still download it. One other problem is that longer emails are truncated. Those parts must be downloaded as you read. You might download your mail to read later, only to find that the good parts are not available. This necessitates the device being on longer, which can eat a good bit of battery life.
If you get one, also set up a brand new email account to minimize spam. Consider carrying a spare battery or solar charger if you intend to journal every night, especially if you want to try connecting between towns. Journaling without a signal is how I believe I lost some messages. I typed my emails offline and then tried to send them when I got into town. I think the device goofed up, and unfortunately it doesn't let you know if it's been successful or not.