Can anyone confirm that? I like the emailers for the combination of easy to use address book and the digital answering machine - I've not seen anything else that combines the two so well. I don't use the email at all - even if it wasn't overpriced, I've got my own mailserver at home, so... I'd like to upgrade to the E3 at home, and also buy one for work, but at home I refuse to pay for so frequent calls for a service I'm not using, and at work premium calls require going through an operator. The emailer I've got at home certainly does involve paying for the email checks, and I was under the impression that the E3 was the same, except with a more frequent minimum period for calling home. I realise the cost of the E3 is subsidised, but I for one would welcome the chance to pay more for a version that didn't have the limitiations...
Kevin
-----Original Message----- From: David Given [mailto:dg@cowlark.com] Sent: 16 July 2006 01:35 To: Discussion of the Amstrad E3 emailer hardware/software Subject: Re: [E3-hacking] E3 Emailer
Gerard Jemitus wrote: [...]
*I know you're mainly into more esoteric hacking on this phone, but as a starter..... is it possible to get rid of the automated daily email calls, and just use it as a phone, forget all the overpriced email, sms etc...... **I know you can reduce the frequency of the calls, but how about getting rid of them completely??? Any ideas??*
Nah, we tend to just rip out Amstrad's software completely and replace it. You could probably set something up involving another computer and a modem which pretended to be Amstrad's server, but I doubt it would be worth the effort.
Incidentally, the daily call is to a freephone number --- IIRC, the emailer will never charge you money unless you press the Send/Receive button. The email notification flashing light is done using a nifty caller-ID trick which doesn't involve making an actual telephone call. So provided you let it download its advertisements, it should go on working as a simple phone indefinitely.