For word processing in black and white on a small screen, you really cannot beat a stock SE/30 running Word 5.1 and System 6.0.5 or 6.0.8. System 6 will give you more than sufficient speed for word processing, gaming, printing and utilities. I even run Canvas 3.5.6 on my System 6.0.8 SE/30 and it works great. So graphics apps will work too.
But because you mentioned email AND internet, you would need System 7.x for that. And once you start talking about System 7, you always can use more CPU power and a faster hard drive (because System 7 is so much slower than System 6). For that reason (I run System 6 & 7), I bought a DiiMO 50MHz PDS accelerator for my SE/30 which makes everything in System 7 all the more usable, including the internet, without sacrificing compatibility (unlike Daystar 040 cards that do kill some apps and cause crashes).
If you decide to run a setup like mine, I strongly suggest Netscape 2.0 for browsing. No "modern" graphical browsers available are faster than this. However, graphic browsing even on my accelerated SE/30 is still much slower than a PPC Mac. So I can only recommend a compact Mac for you if you really will do MOST of your work in Graphics or Word Processing, Email second, and graphic web browsing dead last. That order of priority is important. Otherwise you need to take the previous poster's advice and go with a newer Mac.
Currently, there are currently a few SE/30's for sale on EBAY. Prices vary wildly. I doubt you will fetch one in good condition for less than $80, and shipping will be on top of that. Also keep in mind that many SE/30 logic boards need to be cleaned at the very least with Ethanol alcohol, or better, have their capacitors swapped out with new ones. Soldering in new capacitors sounds like work, I know, but once you do it, it's done for as long as you're likely to own that machine (many, many years). I've done cap jobs on two SE/30 logic boards myself. New capacitors restore sound volume and fix crashing and booting problems. Almost all SE/30's need this kind of capacitor work in light of their age (and in light of the SMD capacitors that have leaked over time).
Hope this helps.
But because you mentioned email AND internet, you would need System 7.x for that. And once you start talking about System 7, you always can use more CPU power and a faster hard drive (because System 7 is so much slower than System 6). For that reason (I run System 6 & 7), I bought a DiiMO 50MHz PDS accelerator for my SE/30 which makes everything in System 7 all the more usable, including the internet, without sacrificing compatibility (unlike Daystar 040 cards that do kill some apps and cause crashes).
If you decide to run a setup like mine, I strongly suggest Netscape 2.0 for browsing. No "modern" graphical browsers available are faster than this. However, graphic browsing even on my accelerated SE/30 is still much slower than a PPC Mac. So I can only recommend a compact Mac for you if you really will do MOST of your work in Graphics or Word Processing, Email second, and graphic web browsing dead last. That order of priority is important. Otherwise you need to take the previous poster's advice and go with a newer Mac.
Currently, there are currently a few SE/30's for sale on EBAY. Prices vary wildly. I doubt you will fetch one in good condition for less than $80, and shipping will be on top of that. Also keep in mind that many SE/30 logic boards need to be cleaned at the very least with Ethanol alcohol, or better, have their capacitors swapped out with new ones. Soldering in new capacitors sounds like work, I know, but once you do it, it's done for as long as you're likely to own that machine (many, many years). I've done cap jobs on two SE/30 logic boards myself. New capacitors restore sound volume and fix crashing and booting problems. Almost all SE/30's need this kind of capacitor work in light of their age (and in light of the SMD capacitors that have leaked over time).
Hope this helps.