Passing Notes, Internet Style

Mobile phones and PC-based e-mail may handle most of your daily communications needs, but at times they don't quite work. You wouldn't want to talk aloud during a lecture or meeting, for example. And you may not always have access to a wired PC. But with the WebLink Wireless two-way messaging service and petite Motorola T900 Talkabout pager, you can discreetly send and receive brief text missives to and from friends and colleagues via e-mail, pagers, other wireless messaging devices, or a PCS cell phone--from just about anywhere.

A Small, Compact Pager

We've reviewed similar packages offered by Yahoo and AOL, but WebLink Wireless is more versatile, offers more flexible pricing, and works with the sporty, $180 T900 Talkabout pager. (The service also supports three older models, the Motorola Timeport P935, the Motorola PageWriter 2000x, and the Glenayre AccessLink II.)

At 3 by 2 by 1 inches and available in several Gummi Bear colors, the soap bar-shaped, 3.9-ounce T900 has a skinny clamshell lid that flips open to reveal a tiny keyboard reminiscent of those on Blackberry devices.

The keyboard is hardly suitable for touch typing, but I found it fine for tapping out one or two sentences in two-fingered mode--and because messages are limited to no more than 100 characters, that's about all you'll have space for.

The monochrome LCD inside the lid displays four lines of quite readable text, and a single AA battery powers the T900 for a couple of weeks. The T900's internal address book can hold up to 200 entries and has a search feature to speed finding a contact and addressing a message.

Pricing plans range from $14.95 a month for 250 messages (6 cents for each additional message) to $29.95 a month for 1000 messages (5 cents for each additional message). As wireless services go, those are reasonable prices.

E-Mail From Anywhere

Weblink Wireless assigns you a numeric e-mail address, but your friends don't have to learn it: On WebLink Wireless's Web site, you can configure the service to forward mail from up to six existing POP3 accounts at many popular Internet service providers (unfortunately, it does not support AOL, MSN, or Juno).

Don't worry about overloading your account; you can set up blocks and filters so that the pager's in-box isn't overwhelmed by nonurgent messages. There's even a way to make your replies look as if they come from the accounts that received the original message.

To bypass e-mail, people can send you messages directly over WebLink Wireless's pager network by going to the Web site. You can also choose to receive headlines, weather forecasts, and other informative messages (of course, they'll count toward your total number of messages received).

If you're frequently on the go and tired of trying to manage text messages on a Web-enabled mobile phone, WebLink Wireless and the T900 could be a winning combination.