Before we start a word of caution. These phones are not designed to replace your home PC. You can't surf the web, or edit spreadsheets, or create your own web site. What you CAN do is send and receive email -- the most vital part of being online.

First, lets take a look at the Intelifone. It looks like a regular business phone with a small backlit screen at the top. Underneath the normal phone keypad is a lid that when folded back reveals a small keyboard for typing email and address book entries.

Setting up the Intelifone is simple. I hate reading directions, and still I had the unit up and running in a matter of minutes. Through a combination of voice and on screen prompts, the phone guides the user through the set up process quickly and easily. Even novice technical types should be sending email minutes after opening the box.

In addition to email, for about 7 bucks a month you also get on- screen forecasts from the weather channel, horoscopes, stock quotes, and my favorite -- a national online telephone directory. The phone's caller ID function -- which costs extra from your phone company -- works great and since it keeps a log of who calls you, it provides a fast way of creating your online address book. You add names to your rolodex using the hidden keyboard -- which brings me to my biggest criticism of the phone -- the keyboard is too small for touch typing ancl you have to hit each letter hard enough to register on screen.

Aside from that and a few quibbles with the interface in some areas, I found myself really liking the Intelifone. It seems perfect for those people not online yet and not willing to plop down 1500 bucks for a home PC. The Intelifone is about 200 dollars retail, but if you pay for a year of service in advance -- 70 dollars -- you get a special deal and the phone will set you back only 99 bucks. A real steal for a caller ID phone that also does email.

Two other quick points in favor of the Intelifone -- it is bilingual, supporting english AND spanish... and is available in off white and black.

The Axis email telephone from Uniden only comes in white... and at about $300 is priced a bit higher than the Intelifone... but as you might imagine, it does more too. 2:00

The Axis is spiffer than the Intelifone and looks like a futuristic laptop... its clamshell design sports a large screen that can be read from across the room.. The keyboard is slightly bigger than the Intelifone's but not much more responsive.

The Axis allows you to easily set up a new email account through a friendly painless sign up process, although you have to call a separate phone number to get services like sports scores and weather. Email only is about 5 dollars a month, the additional services double that price. While these phones are apparently targeted at new email users, the Axis does allow you to check many existing email accounts. America online users are out of luck since AOL's mail is non standard, but just about anyone else can use the Axis internet appliance (as they call it) to get their email. Fair warning, though, you have to be a bit knowledgeable to configure the Axis to grab your existing mail.

Sure you can buy WebTV for about the same price as these email phones ... but for me email and the phone are both ways of communicating... the TV's not. so if you're tired of people buggging you about not being on email, the Intelifone and the Axis may be the fastest way to get yourself wired.