Customer Reviews

Toshiba e755 Pocket PC with Win PocketPC 2002

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

(Note: The only difference between the e750 and e755 is that the latter e755 comes with a photo viewer software title on the companion CD. In fact, the machine in the e755 packaging is labeled "e750," so I'll refer to it as e750 in this review.)

Featuring a new mobile processor, the most internal memory of any PDA (64MB RAM plus 64MB non-RAM for a total of 128MB), built-in 802.11b wi-fi, the best PDA screen from Toshiba so far. and good battery life, the e750/e755 is close to being perfect. The compact (0.6 inches thin) and attractive form factor is a huge plus, as well.

The new Intel processor (PXA255 running at 400Mhz) is without doubt the star of the new line-up. It's an updated version of the first-gen Xscalar processor, which wasn't getting good reviews due to lack of optimization options. The e750/e755 *is* optimized for the new processor, which results in speedy application launches and operations. Nothing gives a Pocket PC user more pleasure than seeing his/her favorite app come up instantly. The e750 also allows you to switch between two speeds, hence you can choose between higher speed or better battery life. Even at the lower speed, PPC apps feel quick and responsive. The LiIon battery is user replaceable, and an optional "extended" battery is available now from Toshiba.

What's left to improve for Toshiba is their lackluster customer support. Also, because their PPCs are made by an OEM in Taiwan rather than in their own plants in Japan, the build quality is still a bit lacking, but the e750/e755 seems to be better made than the error-prone e740.

Update with more details:

The e750 is indeed a joyful PDA! The high price and the lack of a built-in camera aside -- but who really needs the latter, right? -- it really comes close to being a master-of-all-trades device. I haven't tested the wireless features as much as I had hoped, due to the fact there just aren't many free hot spots around these days. But I'll update this review when I get more hands-on experience in this area.

In terms of everyday use this is a true workhorse. I'll talk more about the specs below, but the numbers don't really reveal how pleasant using the e750 is. The hundreds of annoyances that plagued the e740, its older cousin, have been fixed. There are far fewer crashes and syncs go more smoothly. At just 6.5 ounces, while not the lightest Pocket PC, you get something very close to a handheld computer, especially when you get the foldable keyboard!

The e750 has a total of 128MB of RAM, 32 of which is ROM, 32 is flash-ROM (which means content stored on it won't go away even if the battery is completely dead... think of it as a small hard disk without moving parts), and the rest 64 is true user-accessible RAM. Having a real 64MB to play with is a bliss, especially for someone like me who started out with 16MB on the Casio EM-500 and last saw 46MB on the HP iPaq 1910. The extra 18MB makes a big difference. Now I can play Doom and Quake at the same time!

Given the thin form factor of the e750, it still amazes me how it can feature both a Type I/II CompactFlash (CF) slot as well as a Secure Digital (SD) slot. Since wi-fi is already built-in, both can happily be used solely for storage expansion. The highest capacity for SD right now (as of April 2003) is 512MB, but that costs a small fortune. The best value belongs to 256MB cards, and I highly recommend the one from Lexar (see my review there). If you put in a 512MB SD and a 512MB CF, you'll get 1GB of extra storage for under one-hundred-fifty dolrs! The CF slot can probably be used for other peripherals; but the situation is not clear right now as to which CF peripherals will be supported in the e750.

The 3.8-inch (measured diagonally) screen is the largest among Pocket PCs on the market today, and the best from Toshiba so far. I personally like the screens on the iPaq 1910 and Viewsonic V35 better, but this screen is more than "good." The resolution is still PPC's standard 240x320, so it would be nice to see someday PPC manufacturers would go higher than that. I'd love a PPC the size of the e750 but with a 4" screen and 320x480 resolution!

There are a lot of optional accessories you can get for the e750, including the foldable keyboard and extended battery mentioned above. This is truly an exciting newcomer to the PPC family... one that looks and performs like a winner.

NOTE: e750 is the same as the e755

I've owned various Pocket PCs (over 12 models) since the original iPAQ was available, and the Toshiba e750 is the closest the perfect as they come! Having come from an iPAQ 3970 (which was also near-perfect), I had very high standards for my next Pocket PC. And I'm very glad to say the e750 has met that criterion thus far. Note, I did own the e740 but contrary to the e750, I thought that was near-garbage.

The e750's screen is excellent and comparable to the 3970's (I will not settle for less). It's bright and sensitive (unlike the e750). Sound quality is excellent through headphones and good through the internal speaker (the iPAQ's is by far clearer and louder through the speaker, but quality difference is not discernible).

The WiFi range is something I was quite surprised with...the e740 did not extend beyond about half my home in Ad-Hoc setup, however my e750 covers my entire home and even up to across the street (the card in the computer is a Lucent Orinoco Silver PCMCIA card). WiFi works flawlessly and was quite simple to set up...definately a step above the e740's poor manager.

Video playback, which utilizes the ATI Imageon 100 chip inside the e750, is also FLAWLESS and surpasses all units I've owned (I didn't keep the e740 long enough for players to become available that took advantage of the chip). I have videos encoded at 29.97 fps that play full-frame using PocketMVP ...P>The extra 32MB of ROM is quite pragmatic, and I've utilized it to the fullest...I've never had so many eBooks and programs crammed onto my unit's internal storage.

The only thing I can complain about is the unit's battery life. While it is removable, I'd really have liked it if Toshiba had included a larger battery. As it stands, battery life is good without WiFi, but only about 2 hours with WiFi enabled.

Nonetheless, the unit is excellent and I would reccomend it without qualms, especially if you have a WiFi network. The CF and SD slots work well to load this device with memory (I have 1.5 GB of storage in addition to the internal...512MB SD and 1GB CF...1.5GB of storage and WiFi...what more do I really need?)

I've recently made the decision to purchase a 755 to replace my
aging Palm unit. I'm still in the learning phase of using the
755/Pocket PC and so far I'm mostly pleased. So, instead of
reiterating the specifications of the 755 I will offer a
comparison to my old device and some observations:

- The 755 has 48 times more memory than my 2MB Palm. Great.

- The 755 has 2 memory card options. My Palm is ancient in this
respect, but more modern palms address this via SD.

- The 755 uses a lot of juice (color screen/fast processor).
I get about 2.5 months of service on my Palm on two AAA
batteries (using the backlight on rare occasions. I
haven't tested how long the 755 would last on one charge,
but have seen the battery indicator go to 80% after an hour
of trying a load of things (browsing, music etc).
One item to note: after a few days of use I'm getting an
incorrect 99% charged battery on the Settings/System/Power
application. I'm not sure if I'm getting this because I
upgraded to ActiveSync 2.6 - doesn't budge from 99%.

- The 755 has WiFi built in. Did I really need this? Not really,
but I now can say - Hey check this out man! So far I haven't
had any problems with JavaScript or formatting while viewing
my favorite sites. The only problem is the amount of scrolling
you will need to do to view the entire page.

- Images look great on this unit. I used Photoshop Elements,
in batch mode, to downsize a folder of images to the screen
dimensions of the 755 and created a neat little slide show in
PhotoBase, an application that comes with the 755 (not the
750). You can imagine how thrilled I was to see color images
after using a Palm mono unit for almost 5 years.

- The Windows Media player works better than I thought with MP3s
(I haven't viewed any movies with it yet). The music plays back
smoothly even when I am doing other things (eg File Explorer,
slide show). Okay, I'm lying, I got a couple of blips while
resizing a pdf document in Acrobat - no big whoop.
This is one great feature - now I can wait for the 40MB iPod
to come out.

- Graffiti (Palm) vs Block Recognizer (Pocket PC).
I started using Transcriber for entering text - I was
heart-broken. I couldn't enter text correctly, fast enough.
I exclaimed "Hallelujah!" when I discovered Block Recognizer.
It allows Graffiti input. Great response time and nifty
special character entry assistant.

- Synchronization. Yikes! I'm going to have to get use to this.
With Palm, 95% of all applications/data get Sync'ed via Hot
Sync in a pretty standard way.
With Pocket PC there are number of ways this could happen. So
far I have come across:

* Drag and drop to Pocket Device directory
* Custom app install
* For media, creating a Playlist in Windows Media Player
and then requesting a sync from within the player.
* Copy application to device and then execute to install.

I won't enter my contacts or other "precious" info until
I fully understand syncing with ActiveSync and without first
coming up with a back-up plan.

One sad item...I can't sync up with my beloved ibook - Windows
only! Real easy with Palm.

- Software availability: Palm beats Pocket PC hands-down. There's
tons of software for the Palm, a great percentage free. I'm
not really complaining - I just need a really good version of
Tetris and I'm happy.

- The 755 has a very nice solid feel to it. I wish the sides
were rubberized though. I've dropped my palm a number of
times, thankfully it wasn't fatal. I'd hate to drop a ...[undisclosed dollar amount]+
device.

- The sync base for the 755 is built extremely well - nice
heavy metal with rubber feet. Unit slides in easily.

- Reading books on the 755 is a pleasure compared to palm. Bigger
screen, nicer fonts etc. Also, I found mBook Reader (freeware,
downloaded it from the internet) to be good alternative to
Microsoft's Reader - can read Palm format files!

Things I'm not thrilled about:

- During the lifetime of my Palm, I've never turned it on
accidently. The Toshiba's record button is the first thing
that gets pressed when I take the unit out of it's sleave.
I believe this button can be remapped to some other function.

- After inserting a CF card (Type I) there is a smidgeon of
space left over in the slot. I'm assuming that type II cards
are fatter. I'm worried about this - if I can see the
contacts inside the unit, then a little drop of water can find
it's way in there also (think rain - I keep the 755 in my shirt
pocket).

- I had to reset the unit, using the stylus hole a few times
already. My palm is very stable, as long as I don't install
hacks that misbehave. I'm not sure who to blame yet (Toshiba/
Microsoft).

After one week of use, I'm pretty happy with this purchase.
I just hope I can get the battery indicator issue and sync'ing
procedures squared away.
If you just need a device to keep track of contacts and maintain
your schedule this device may be overkill - go for a Sony SJ-33
instead (...[undisclosed dollar amount]). I just bought one for my wife.

If you need a new toy to play with on top of the usual PDA functions this unit looks promising.

I found this handheld device to be one of the best so far. With its new Xscale PXA255 CPU, the speed is amazing (nearly doubled in some tasks) and it also uses about 30% less battery power (1.3V instead of 1.5V for PXA250). The new 3.8" transflective LCD makes it the largest and one of the best screens in the U.S. Market (not including e550G from Toshiba Japan. The reflective LCD screen was one of the major draw-backs for the e740.) To correct viking632, the e750 has 64MB RAM + 32MB NANO RAM + 32MB for the OS. Most of the issues e740 had (1% battery, ActiveSync drop) have been resolved for the e750/755. With the added value of Wireless LAN, USB, (VGA with expansion pack) and removable battery, this is the BEST Pocket PC in the US market right now (Q1 2003). Highly recommend!

After only a few days use, the Wireless Lan stopped functioning and I recieved an error of "ENUM Interface Failed". I called customer service at Toshiba only to be told that "this is a known problem and a software fix will be available in the future". Well the future can be a LONG, LONG time. From the number of used e755's for sale on E-bay, I don't think I am the only disatisfied customer!

It is no wonder that the price is dropping on this model!

I did a little research on a comment made about the wireless networking not working with 128-bit WEP. According to one person here the e750/755 incorporates a Lucent Orinoco Silver wireless card.

The reason it doesn't work with 128-bit WEP is simple. The Orinoco Silver version only supports 64-bit WEP, its the Gold version that supports 128-bit WEP.

I'm both surprised and disappointed that Toshiba decided to save a few bucks and use a card that doesn't support the highest level of encryption.

Not as light, not as sharp, not as fast, and not as powerful as some other devices out there, this version of the Toshiba Pocket PC takes the features out there and combines them into a package that actually is better than the sum of its parts.

It's got the latest CPU and OS which, while promising a lot, are actually slower and less capable than they ought to be. It's got a new screen, while bigger and brighter than its e740 predecessor, is not as bright and sharp as other devices such as the Sony Clie.

It IS quite expandable what with its SD AND CF slots (important for someone who already has several CF devices and memory from other PDAs and cameras!) Not to mention the built in Wi-Fi which means I no longer need to carry a CF network card.

Only issues I have are that I also bought a couple SanDisk 256MB SD cards which seem to be incompatible with this device for some reason and Toshiba merely said to check the SanDisk site for compatibility. Seems that SanDisk doesn't certify this combination so be aware of that. Also this device still has a one touch record button that always gets pushed accidentally keeping the device on and taking up memory with nothing. They really ought to remove that.

Otherwise, it's probably the best Pocket PC out there.

The e755 has an outstanding screen, fast processor, tons of memory, both CompactFlash and SD/SDIO expansion capabilities, but the Wi-Fi is not quite fully functional.

When using the e755 Wi-Fi with a Netgear WG602 802.11b/g access point, the e755 handled the wireless linkup and communication very well, as long as I only configured the access point for MAC filtering and didn't activate either the 64 or 128 bit WEP. As soon as I turned on the WEP the e755 wasn't able to maintain a connection with the access point (which was within 10 feet and clear line of sight).

If you're looking for a powerful and flexible PDA with unsecured wireless access, then the e755 is an excellent choice, but if you also need to have your wireless communication encrypted you'd be wise to look elsewhere.

I just got the new e755 yesterday. I was the proud owner of the e310 so this is a bit of a jump for me in models. So far I like the unit, as far as hardware goes I am impressed. With a little fumbling around with settings and WEP I was able to get my PDA online with a few minutes. The speed of the WiFi is great, though loading graphically intensive websites can really slow it down. Java Script doesn't seem to work well on IE for PocketPC 2002 OS, but that's not Toshiba's problem. I don't see the need for the CF slot. The CF slot is taking up a lot of room and making the unit more bulky. All in all the Toshiba e755 makes for a great portable PDA. With its fast Wireless connectivity, 400 MHz CPU at 200 MHz bus, and 96 Megs of ram (32 for os) I think it's fair to say the Toshiba e755 is a powerful PDA.

I spent a week or so trying to find the right PocketPC to buy for the limited amount of cash I had, and for a while I thought about the Toshiba e740 - after all, it is the same thing as the e755 but without the 32mb of never-deleted, ultra-secure Flash RAM. However, after reading Amazon reviews of the e740, I decided to spend the extra money and buy the e755.

Well, I can't say if the e740 has all the problems listed in its reviews, but I can say that the e755 has none of them. I have had my unit for over a week now,a nd have never regretted anything about the purchase. The unit is incredibly fast, has ample memory (the secure Flash memory, especially, is a blessing), does all the things a PocketPC is supposed to do, and more, and has yet to cause me a problem. It even runs games well (game versions compatible with the iPaq system seem to run perfectly on my Toshiba, especially Doom), and the buttons, no matter what anyone says, work just fine. While I haven't had a chance to try out the wireless internet yet, I expect the same flawless operations that I've experienced so far.

So, if you're out to buy a PocketPC, make sure to get the Toshiba e755 - you won't regret it.