Customer Reviews

Toshiba e740 Pocket PC

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(67)

 

 

I used to own a Casio BOSS and loved it.
I had a Palm and loved it.
I had a Blackberry and loved it.
I had a Jornada 565 and loved it.

I bought the e740, and well... I hate it.

It was reassuring to read these on-line reviews, because it appears that everyone has the same problems that I do.

The sad thing is, at this point in time, there is no competition for the device. None.

If you want built-in Wifi, 64 megs RAM, and room for extra memory (SD card) AND have a free CF slot for GPS, Modem, etc., this unit delivers.

BUT what terrible design!

It's akin to a prototype that is not ready to be manufactured.

Some examples:

Battery Life - One hour of wireless surfing! Terrible. This is a joke. It's so easy to run out of juice, even without wireless.

Speaker - Worst of any Pocket PC I've seen.

ActiveSync - Drops connections. Very disappointing. I've had more dropped connections in 1 week than in 2 years with my other PocketPCs.

Built-in features - Severely lacking. Look at the Jornada.. you could program each button to do different things when they are held down for three seconds, and other such goodies. Not here.

Fragility - Really bad. EVERY other PDA nowadays has some form of screen protector. Not this. It's only matter of time before something nasty happens.

Ergonomics - Hard to hold. Not very comfortable. What a bizarre design. Awkward.

Speed - VERY disappointing. Movies played FLAWLESSLY on my 565. They have TONS of dropped frames on the e740. So much for the 400MHz CPU!

CF Card - Seems to be slower than the old Pocket PC's. Also a huge pain to insert. You actually need the stylus!! What's with that?

Record button - BEWARE! As a volunteer ambulance tech, I keep this unit on my belt in a case, next to my cell phone. I went to use it midway through my 6 hour shift to write some patient info, and... the battery was DEAD! Reason? That darn record button kept getting hit on my belt. There is no way to disable it. I spoke to Toshiba today.

Software stability - None. Seems like I'm always doing a hard reset for one reason or another.

Screen - Not as bright as the others, and not uniform. Look closely at night. There is noticeable half-inch vertical striping.

Did I mention the Record button draining the batteries?

So, my bottom line advice to those people looking to buy a PocketPC.......:

If you NEED one now, go for it. However, you WILL be annoyed. You WILL envy your friends who buy one 5 months from now. You WILL agree with me that this is a work-in progress. But, like I said, there is simply no competition when it comes to two card slots and Wi-Fi.

If you already have a working device - Please wait!! Please! I HAD to buy this one because I sold my Jornada. So I am pretty much stuck with this annoying Toshiba. But if you have a trusty Palm or Ipaq or Jornada.. W A I T ! Don't run out and but this flawed unit! Wait for "version 2.0"!!

I hope this review was helpful to you.

When I first saw this product on the market I was very excited. It boasted integrated wifi, the new 400 Mhz processor, a sleek form factor, both compact flash and secure digital expansion slots, and all at a very competitive price. I've been using my pda for four months now, and here's my opinion:

- Frequently drops active synch connections with the PC even with the cradle.
- Extremely short battery life.
- Fragile device - I'm on my third one now even though I treat the device very carefully.
- Easy to bump battery locking switch makes it easy to loose all your data.
- Very poor wireless range - makes the wifi practically useless
- Very few accessories available - Toshiba should have worked with third parties on this prior to launch.
- Toshiba service is abysmal - Takes a long time for them to replace a defective pda, and even then you'll receive a partially repaired unit.
- Record button on side is very easy to accidently push.
- Having the IR-port on the side is VERY inconvenient.
- No ability to set long-push options for the command buttons. Other pdas allow you to assign different commands or functions if you hold down a button for a few seconds. This one does not.
- No ability to use a command button to toggle the state of the wifi connection (which would have been convenient considering how much wifi drains the battery.) All they needed to do to make this work is supply an executable that toggles the wifi, but they did not.
- The device's functionality is geared towards power-users, but the lack of customization options in the product seems as if it is geared towards novices.

Incidentally, I am a computer engineer who has owned about a dozen other PDA devices, so I have tried everything conceivable to resolve the above problems on my own. It may seem like a bargain at first, but the headache is not worth it!!

Having owned several PDAs (Sharp OZ-9500, 2 Palm OS Devices, a Cassiopeia A-11 (Windows CE HPC), and a Cassiopeia E-125) I find it difficult to become terribly excited when an new model hits the market. This unit is an exception

In a nutshell, the e740 lives up to its claims without a hitch.

Battery life is excellent with the WiFi disabled, and acceptable with it enabled (I haven't complely drained the battery and have ran the 802.11b and the frontlight concurrently for over 2 hours at a time), DHCP works nicely and I have no issues migrating between multiple access points.

Wireless synchronization seems to be quicker than through the USB cradle, and eliminates the need to buy multiple cradles if a WAP is available.

The screen is on par with the iPaq, wonderful outdoors, but is not quite as crisp INDOORS as my Casio E-125. (The E-125's screen is completely unreadable in bright sunlight)

The Windows Terminal Services client is an interesting novelty, but its usefulness is a bit limited due to screen size. It could, however be useful to connect and kill an errant process on an XP box remotely...

The performance is excellent, though it does not appear to be twice as fast as it's StrongARM competitors. Windows Media Player video is far superior on this device than any others, but not quite up to par with the claimed 30FPS from the ATI description of this unit's internal video hardware. (This might simply be that WMP does not support the video accelleration).

The unit seems sturdy, and is primarily metal. The application buttons are embossed, and well placed. The stylus is acceptable, but a bit difficult to remove from its holder. There is no cover on the bottom connector, though the cover on my E-125 is usually open anyhow.

The unit's only weaknesses are mostly superficial annoyances. The IR port is on the lower lefthand side and is easy to cover with your hand. The note/record button on the left hand side is the most serious design flaw, as it extends slightly from the case. I have recorded many worthless audio clips of ambient noise, random conversation, passing busses, etc, simply because of this questionable button placement. The speaker is a bit weak, but this seems true of all PPC 2002 devices, excepting the iPAQs. Also, pressing the thumbwheel no longer brings up the start menu as it did on the E-125 (perhaps a PPC 2002 issue), making it ultimately less useful. Otherwise, I find no real weaknesses.

Software compatibility is acceptable, as this PDA runs nearly everything intended for an iPaq, though some key mappings in games may need changes. Some games, such as Rayman will not run on this device yet due to the new video hardware, however, when games specifically for the new ATI chipset and the XScale processor are released, this will be the ultimate gaming PDA.

Overall, this is a sleek, quick, powerful and well designed device. Though I have typically favored Casio's devices, Toshiba has impressed me. I chose the e740 over the Sharp Zaurus ZX-5500, a tough decision since the idea of Linux and an integrated Keyboard on a PDA is quite appealing. Comparing with a coworker's Zaurus, I believe I made the correct decision.

The upcoming X-Scale iPaq, aside from its new transreflective screen, seems overpriced ($100-$200 more depending on bluetooth integration), clunky (it still has the form factor of the current iPaq 5800s, requiring a sleeve for CF), and still lacks the WiFi. Also consider, no insult intended, Bluetooth is generally useless due to its short range, and has generally flopped in the US market. If you really need it, there is an SDIO card for the Toshiba already available.

If you can justify the price, buy this PDA. If you are still clinging to your PalmOS device, borrow someone's PocketPC and you will realize that Microsoft's Department of Annoyance apparently overlooked the Windows CE/PocketPC world, and in comparison, the PalmOS devices seem like children's toys (even the high end Clie w/camera) -- no insult or flaming intended (I loved my Palm III, but times have changed). This PDA outclasses its nearest competiton by a tremendous margin, and with only slight shortcomings has ushered in what seems to be the first in a new era of wireless PDAs.

I have just replaced my iPaq with the e740 and am delighted with it after a week of use. Here are the pro's:

1. Easy to set up the WiFi on both my home and school LAN's. Easy to use and great reception (better than my laptop).

2. The dual CF/SD slots are great. I still can't believe I have all that extra memory on such a thin device.

3. So far the battery lasts twice as long as my iPaq. I hope I don't experience some of the issues described by other reviewers.

4. It's the only device on the market that has all of the above and it has delivered on the criteria I used to buy it.

Now for the cons:

1. Record button is in the wrong place for use with a sleeve but I solved that by buying a flip top case since I don't like sleeves anyway.

2. The issue with using a Microdrive at the same time as the WiFi should be better explained. There was a single sheet warning not to use the 340MB microdrive with the device while the WiFi is turned on. I have a 1Gb microdrive so I ignored the warning. Since then the WLAN software has been a bit unstable but I don't know if that was an issue with it already or it was caused by the use of the microdrive while the WLAN was turned on.

3. The screen is not great but I only use it indoors and never read on it for too long at a stretch so I don't really mind compromising in exchange for the other functions.

All in all I am getting exactly what I expected out of this device with a few minor bugs which I hope Toshiba sorts out with the service patch.

I just picked up an e740 and I think it's awesome. I previously had Palm and Handspring and was going to get the new Sony Clie when I saw this thing. Apparently, CompUSA just received 2 of them that same day.

The screen is crisp and bright, and the chip is fast. Great features. I have not gotten the WiFi to work as I haven't been in an area with such service but it looked like it works great in the store with the demo model.

The only bad side was that it stopped syncing with Active Sync after a day or so. Tried different things and finally broke down to call Toshia hotline. Great service and a real live person picked up right away. Shocked! Had me back up and going in about 5 minutest. Defintely recommend if you can find one.

I purchased the Toshiba e740 after the screen on my old tried and true Palm 3 went south. I always liked the Palm and it served me well for over four years, so I was a little apprehensive about switching to the PocketPC world. However, I've been blown away by all of the advancements in the PocketPC operating system. It integrated with Word, Excel and Outlook seemlessly and it also offers the Window Media Player and a host of other Windows functionality. Overall a thumbs up on the Pocket PC operating System.

Now for the 740, I like the unit a lot. So here is what I give a thumbs up to: The size and weight is about the same as my old Palm. The color screen is great. Indoors and out it works well. Having a compact flash and smart media slot is the only way to go.

Here's are the thumbs down: The built in speaker is a joke (but who really expects audiophile sound from a PDA anyway. So plan on buying a set of headphones). The voice record button on the side of the unit is way to easy to set off without knowing it (this runs down the battery and gives you a bunch to screwy recording to delete). The main manual is terrible, there is no index in the back to cross reference anything so if you have a problem good luck. Last but not least, the battery life is only average, so if you travel, do yourself a favor and buy a back-up charger.

Overall, I'd recommend this PDA. The features are better than the iPaq. And, you've got to wonder, how long has anybody ever effectively competed with Microsoft. I was a diehard Mac guy and also and owner of a Beta VCR, neither could effectively compete with stronger rivals. This time I didn't want to be the last guy swimming up stream.

I read the reviews, thought I'd take a shot. Built-in WIFI was the seller for me.
Got the unit, and despite some of the reviewer's luck in using the wireless, I found it to be flawless. Worked beautifully, good range and good strength compared to my notebook computer.
Battery was the problem, though. It started out like the "good" reviews - lasted a while (2 hours only used 25% of it w/o wireless), and with the wireless going, I could surf, remotely control my servers, or do email and messaging for over 2 hours and still have battery time left over.
Then suddenly it would go from full charge to 1% and give me warnings about imminent data loss. I contacted Toshiba Tech support, who made me jump through some hoops I had already jumped through on my own, and they offered to replace the battery. But they're backordered - 2-4 weeks *minimum* wait. The battery issue is a *known* issue and isn't a guaranteed fix. There *is* no guaranteed fix for this known issue... So rather than wait to see if the battery fixed the problem, I'm returning the unit before it's too late.
Unit was great, but as long as Toshiba is pushing things out the door that they know are defective, it's going to be tough for them to compete.

I've had one of just about every Windows CE device since day one (as well as PalmOS devices), so when I say that the e740 is a fantastic new Pocket PC you can trust me! I have a 802.11b network in my house; it took NO time to get the e740 working with it using the defaults. The design is a bit stark compared to the HP Jornada 560 series, but the e740 makes up for it in features. The two expansion slots (SDIO and CF Type II) make expansion sleeves a thing of the past and the ability to swap battery packs (unlike the iPaq) gives the e740 virtually unlimited battery life. Any of the XScale devices like the e740 will be MUCH faster once the OS and other apps are written to take advantage of the chip, but this is still a fast little machine. The final advantage is the price - for ... less than what you can get a Bluetooth enabled iPaq XScale Pocket PC for, you can buy a fully equipped e740. You still have to buy an expansion pack for the iPaq if you want to use a CF card, and you'd still need to buy a ... CF WiFi card for the iPaq. The Toshiba is a bargain and a wonderful Pocket PC.

First the PROS of this Product:
You will NOT find as many features packed in ANY OTHER PDA today on the market. The fact that it has BOTH type of Memory slots, the built-in Wifi and the removable battery - yet 1/2 the thinness as the Compaq, would make this unit the BEST unit on the market. HOWEVER....

The CONS:
- Battery life is extremely short. 1 Hour if you are using the Wifi - 3 Hours at the most for everything else
- The display really sucks, especially when you compare it to the Casio E125. Forget about using it in the Sunlight.
- TOO many lockups. 2 to 3 times a day I have to reset. Toshiba is well aware of this problem. No service pack available today and no date for the release.
- The buttons are too easy to touch and turn on the unit by you just "blowing" on it - so you take out your unit ... and the battery is DEAD
- The Record button is in the WRONG PLACE. It is EASILY turned on every time you take out the unit from the sleeve.
- USB Problems with Synching.

Overall - this is a BETA unit with WAY too many problems.
My recommendation is to WAIT till Toshiba has posted the Service Pack - then re-evaluate. I personally am NOT happy with it...

This is such a great value. For [price](on AMAZON Now) YOu cant beat it. I paid [price] and I still think its great. The functionality of this PDA is awesome. I have a wireless network at home and its great how I can sync my PDA anywhere in the house and even access my computer from anywhere in my house. Also I love the internet on this thing. The greatest feature is the fact that it accepts both compact flash and secure digital. I have a 256 mb compact flash for music and video files, and I also have a 64 mb secure digital for apps (cause its faster than compact flash). Did I mention that it takes microdrives?!?!? The screen is also great. I had a Compaq and it used to have a backlight, but whenever lights were dimmed in teh room, it would glare light and everyone would stare and look it was so bright. This has a front light, so light is emmited ONLY on the screen. THe only picky thing I have about the screen is that if you touch it with your finger, it smudges easily. Another great feature is the scroll wheel. What a great feature when you are walking and/or reading a news article. But perhaps the best feature is the ability to replace the battery. I love this feature. Especially when the battery stops working, you dont have to send it in, you can just ask for a new battery. Overall you get a bang for your buck. I had a compaq Ipaq, and compared to this quality wise, they are both the same and feature wise the toshiba is better. I would recommend this over the Ipaq anyday. O, I also realized many people were having troubles synching wirelessly, you have to change from connect to internet to connect to work in the settings.