Before I started sending handwritten letters requesting test products from companies, I did things the old-fashioned way: I sent an email request. Just before the end of 2009, I sent an email to http://www.cherrypal.com and I didn't hear until a year later.

Below is the conversation between myself and someone from Cherrypal.
(damn top posting)

Hello Max,   
While I certainly appreciate your Holiday greeting, I found it rather  
perturbing that you would decide to respond to my initial request for a  
review unit a full year after I had made the request. Similarly,  
nothing in your response remotely touches on the subject of my initial  
request. Hopefully this slight oversight will be rectified shortly, and  
I look forward to reviewing one of your products.  

The review unit should be sent to   
Jezra  
P.O. Box 933  
Petaluma, CA 94953  

Stay solid,  
Jezra  



On Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:06:15 -0800  
Max Seybold  wrote:  

> Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year from all of us  
> here at Cherrypal. Please also read the attachment.  
> http://www.cherrypal.com  
>   
>   
>   
>   
>   
> On 12/17/2009 2:02 PM, jezra lickter wrote:  
> > Hello,  
> > My name is Jezra Lickter. I am a jack-of-all-trades computer  
> > enthusiast and I am interested in reviewing the Cherrypal Africa;  
> > specifically the Linux version. What I propose, is that I be sent a  
> > unit for review. The unit will be used as much as possible over a 2  
> > week to one month period. After the set time has expired, I will  
> > send the review unit back to you and I will write my review, which  
> > will be posted on my Blog as well as various computer forums that I  
> > am a member of.  
> >  
> > During the review process, I will be taking the Africa with me  
> > where ever I go. This will test battery life, durability, and  
> > usability. Aside from trips to my Linux User's Group meetings,  
> > most of my traveling is by bicycle, and the Africa will be stowed  
> > in my backpack at this time.  
> >  
> > If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact  
> > me.  
> >  
> > Thank you for your time,  
> > Jezra Lickter  
> >      

It has been two months since I wrote back to Max and I haven't yet received a device to review. Obviously something is amiss.

Having checked the user-agent headers of the email that Max sent to me, I discovered that he is using Mozilla Thunderbird ... on Windows Vista.
Well that explains everything!