My grandmother has been using a postbox companion from Vtech with an
e-mail service provided by Yahoo for several years now.  She was
recently notified that this service will be discontinued in March
2006.  I'm looking for a replacement product that will provide a very
simple way for her to send and receive e-mail.  She does not want to
deal with the hassles of a computer, a simple e-mail appliance similar
to what she was using would be the best option.  She needs to be able
to print the emails easily, or possibly to be able to view them using
a television.  Also the service will likely need to work with a
toll-free access number.  We have never seen a service with a local
phone access number.  The only option I have come across so far is the
MailBug by Landel.  This looked like a good option, but it says the
e-mails can only be printed using a fax machine.  Please provide a
list of any companies that provide an e-mail service with out a
computer.  Thank you.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 28 Oct 2005 13:07 PDT

Have you looked at the Pocketmail Composer?

http://www.pocketmail.com/us/products/composer/

Here's a review:

http://www.pocketmail.com/us/press/apr_2004_frommers/

Please let me know what you think.

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Clarification of Question by jaygoodell-ga on 28 Oct 2005 14:57 PDT

This type of product is the right idea, I hadn't come across these. 
However, we were really looking for something larger that can easily
rest on a table.  Being a handheld, the buttons on the Pocketmail seem
pretty small.  The person using this is nearly blind, so larger
buttons are a plus.  Also what she uses now can plug directly into a
phone line, so there's no need to pick up a phone and dial each time
you want to check mail.  I think that's a feature she'd need to keep. 
It didn't look like the Pocketmail has any way to print e-mails, which
is also an important featuer for her.  Thanks for your help, let me
know if you have more questions.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 28 Oct 2005 15:01 PDT

I haven't found any device that meets all your requirements. I hope
another Researcher will be able to help you.

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Clarification of Question by jaygoodell-ga on 29 Oct 2005 07:03 PDT

Thanks for your help.  There may not be a replacement product on the
market anymore.  It seems most of the companies that sold these are
going out of business.

Not sure if the Amstrad Mailer (http://www.amstrad.com/) would be able to help you.
It's primarily a UK product but there may be a US importer or tweaker who can help

I am looking for something similar for my mother-in-law and saw that
the postbox companion service is "going away."  I came across
www.landel.com (mailbug) which looks good, but I cannot vouche for it.
 Might be worth looking into at least.  Good luck.

Yeah, I've seen the Mailbug, I think that's what we'll be going with. 
I just hoped to find something that could easily print, it sounded
like the mailbug only worked with a fax machine for printing.