HP Internet Appliances E-mailBasics, What Is E-mail, Help, e-mail, snail mail, Take a Tour, Your MSN™ Companion mail service looks like this:

E-mail Basics

E-mail (electronic mail) is very similar to the mail the postal carrier delivers to your home or office— except it arrives much faster.

E-mail saves time and helps you communicate more frequently.

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For more information on e-mail, see online Help and also the MSN e-mail tutorial. Access the tutorial from the Start Page. Click Help, then select Take a Tour, and then choose e-mail.

What Is E-mail?

When someone calls you on the telephone, you pick it up and you have a conversation with the caller. It's an immediate exchange with the caller. With a letter sent by the post office, someone writes the letter, puts it in an envelope, puts a stamp on it, and puts it in a mailbox. You get it days later. You read and respond to the letter at your leisure, a process that takes days.

E-mail is a little like both. Electronic mail is delivered almost at the speed of a telephone conversation but doesn't require immediate attention like a telephone call. E-mail is delivered more quickly than post office mail (often called snail mail because it is slow in comparison) and it’s closer to the informality of a telephone conversation.

With e-mail, you use your keyboard and telephone line instead of a pen, paper, and stamps. You type a message to the recipient and send it through the Web. You can send and receive e-mail to and from anyone in the world who has an e-mail account.

Your MSN™ Companion mail service looks like this:

5-2 E-MAIL HOME INTERNET APPLIANCE–GETTING STARTED