Rating: 
Summary: Good but could use some improvement
Review: Overall it is not a bad pda. The concept of having integrated wireless (802.11b) was quite appealing to me. I liked this solution as opposed to having an iPAQ with a PCMCIA sleeve and then a wireless card.I also could not get it to work properly with my linksys access point, supposedly new firmware is supposed to fix it, but I have the...step child of linksys routers (BEFPW11S1), so I don't think it will ever work in my situation. However, it does work fine with the access point at my work. The battery life seems to be ok for doing every day stuff but if you are playing games the battery gets sucked down pretty fast. I wonder if this is any better with the extended life battery. I believe the standard battery lasts about 3 hours or about 1 with wi-fi on. I am not sure if this is standard for a Pocket PC or not. The voice recorder button is in a bad spot and I constantly bump it when it is in my pocket or I am pulling the PDA out of its case. The XScale processor doesn't seem to be much faster than the ARM processors in older iPAQs. This may just be that software is not optimized for it. I don't know. Overall, the PDA is pretty comparable to any other one. It is definitely a step in the right direction, but it will be interesting to see how other PDAs improve on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Overall I like this unit alot it has a lot to offer
Review: I actually bought two of these. the first one seamed to have short battery life and would lock up. I went to exchange it and they were out. This was about 5 weeks ago. now you can get them everywhere. WI-FI works great I can connect to the wirless network at work, in the airports, and at home. I did notice one the first one that the Batterylife didn't seam to last very long if I had it playing MP3's seamed to only get a couple of hours.. with the Wireless network activated. I have since read a couple of articles about this and seams like that is what I should expect from a color pocket pc. I liked the built in 802.11b wirless _ I use the heck out of that. I liked that I could put compact flash and SD cards in it. I have mine loaded with a 128 SD Card for programs and a 512 compact flash for data files. this thing plays my powerpoint pressentaitons fine. looking for the infocus adapter. this second one I have I haven't had any issues.. the only other thing I didn't like was it seams to power on very easy if one of the buttons gets bumped or pushed. otherwise. I Like it alot.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing compared to the "slower" Jornada
Review: ...ActiveSynch seems faster on Toshiba [than another machine]. PocketStreets map program is 3 times slower on Toshiba!!!!
Turns out it's because the Toshiba is extremely slow at reading the CF card. I found out by copying the map from the CF card to the internal flash ram. Adobe PDF viewer is a bit slower on the Toshiba. Again likely because of poor CF card read speed. I am noticing that the Toshiba's stylus seems to lose alignment after a while- not sure why. I don't like the ejection button for the Toshiba's CF card. The only way to push it back in is with the pen. Toshiba does not have a photoresistor so doesn't know how to adjust screen brightness dynamically. You never know how much you miss a feature until it's gone. Lack of backup battery on Toshiba is not good. Wireless works fine but I hear that the battery life is about 1 hour with wireless on. The graphics is reportedly faster with ATI's Imageon chip - but no way to tell so far. Default mediaplayer does not play MP3s. Have to install version 8 from the CD. Then reboot (they don't tell you about the reboot part). No scientific calculator on the Toshiba. Speaker on Toshiba is poor... So far it seems the main reason for getting the Toshiba is that it has built in WIFI which frees up the CF slot and provides an additional SecureDigital slot for memory...
Rating: 
Summary: Too many growing pains
Review: This is an update to my previous review (below). I ended up returning the unit because it is too unstable. Weird things continue to happen like File Manager not letting you select and open files (which happened many times and required a soft reset). Trying to use it as an MP3 player on a cross country flight, I eventually gave up because it is too loud (even on a plane) and would occassionally just stop for no apparent reason. The MP3 player continually loses my shuffle play setting which I find extremely annoying. Navigation (which I assume is the same for all Pocket PCs) is a pain, there is a programs area, a start menu, and a Home area with more programs, yet they all contain different stuff and it is too much trouble to remember which area something is in. The fact that the voice recorder button gets pushed and starts recording everytime I pulled it from its case got more and more annoying. Battery life was really poor, with it sucking down the batteries in a couple days even when it is turned off... This means if you leave it for a week or so without charging it you will lose all of your data. Video playback, even with the video they give you as a demo and thus should be good, was atrocious, do not buy it to watch videos on! In the end, there were too many problems for me to justify the price compared to the less powerful but much lighter, smaller, and more stable Handspring Treo 90 which I am getting ready to order. If you must get this, wait a while until they have a chance to iron out the wrinkles and for the price to drop. **** Being an early adopter is often painful. I just bought the e740 a couple days ago. I got the WiFi working quickly, but as with all WiFi, you need to know a little about what you are doing regarding setting up a network. Also, it got an IP address from the DHCP server right off the bat and worked, but then it stopped working and there is no way that I can figure out how to get it to retry getting an IP Address. I eventually had to give it a static address. This is not particularly good! But being able to synch from afar without docking is a nice feature, as is being able to check email on the thing from anywhere in my house or office where I have WiFi network set up. The volume using headphones is way screwed up. Playing an MP3 through WMP you either get your ears blasted off or you get mute, with nothing in between. Since having an integrated MP3 is one of the major reasons I bought it, I am pretty ticked about this. It appears to be a Microsoft problem as I have now read many complaints about it for different Pocket PC models dating back for over 6 months with still no resolution. What's up with that? The stability leaves something to be desired, I have had to perform 3 soft resets today already for a variety of reasons. The only thing that would cause that on my old Handspring was if I used poor 3rd party software. Unfortunately this is a Microsoft product and Microsoft can never produce stable software, so even the built in stuff breaks. On the plus side, the screen is nice. The unit's size is rather large and bulky compared to the Handspring Treo 90 I was also considering, but it does pack a lot more punch. Having both CF and SD is a plus. I have purchased a 256MB CF and 128MB SD for under $... total and can use them both at the same time. The jog shuttle/voice recording button on the side get pushed every time I pull the thing out of its case, that is a pain. The switch to turn the WiFi on/off and the switch to wipe out the units memory are the same type of sliding switches and are right next to each other on the bottom, so you have to pay close attention to what you are doing or .... ouch. Battery life seems a little better than what I have been reading from others but I haven't run the battery all the way down without recharging yet so they could be right. Certainly it is no Palm as far as battery life goes. The jury is still out. I have carefully saved everything so that I can return it if I so decide in the next two weeks. I feel it is an awful lot of money for a PDA and so I expect it to work properly and so far it leaves a good bit to be desired in that regard.
Rating:
Summary: A great pocket pc pda
Review: I am a palm os fan and will prob always prefer that OS to pocket PC. But for a pocket PC device, I have been very pleased with this machine. Its faster then my Palm OS device and I love the bright color screen. WiFI worked for me though it was pretty slow which I found annoying but I can't say if that was an e740 issue or a problem with my WLAN. I previously tested out an Ipaq PDA and I think this PDA is much better then that one. Its sleeker and sexier for sure and the lack of bulky expansion sleeves is a HUGE plus. Now IPAQ is coming out with a an Xscale based PDA in August and its supposed to have some improved screen technology. That is a big temptation for me since I like a nice display however the cost is listed at $750 and it still uses the expansion sleeve. I'm sure more xscale pdas will be hitting the market soon but so far I think Toshiba has come up with a great product.I don't think you will be dissappointed.
Rating:
Summary: First of its type and it shows.
Review: The Toshiba E-740 is a breakthru device with its new processor and its built in Wi-fi. It goes many places where PDA's haven't gone before, but the growing pains from that trip can be visable. Ignoring the Wi-fi for a moment lets compare it to the E-310: The new processor has twice the rated speed of the E-310, however like the first Pentium chips, it runs afoul of the fact that many pocket pc applications were optimized for the previous chip. The software will catch up but many will not like waiting for that. LONG TERM ADVANTAGE E-740 SHORT TERM ADVANTAGE E-310 64m ram vs 32m Ram ADVANTAGE 740 Support: Available via phone, chat & e-mail EVEN A CF slot and a SD slot vs just an SD slot ADVANTAGE 740 Accessories available to plug in a usb keyboard and a direct link to a monitor ADVANTAGE 740 Battery: Replaceable battery and a battery pack. ADVANTAGE 740 Size: all that stuff makes the 740 bigger and bulkier ADVANTAGE 310 Soft reset vs hard reset: On the 310 the soft reset button is on the back making it impossible to soft reset in the cradle which wreaks havoc, the 740 with the back and bottom covered put it on the side, not much choice. In addition on the 310 hard resets are done from the battery on the bottom, on the 740 it is done with a soft reset + the power button, easier to mix up. ADVANTAGE 310 Install instructions: MUCH clearer than the 310. ADVANTAGE 740. Price: All those extra goodies cost money. ADVANATAGE 310. As for the wi-fi, It works and is wonderful, however you may need to flash the firmware of your access point (fairly simple) and you may need to download the 128 bit encrytion pack from the pocket pc site (even simpler) but you will find it worth it. Some users may need to disable power saving on the Wi-fi as well. There are two weakness that should be mentioned. Many people have the false impression that built in wi-fi means you can connect to the net from anywhere, (driving walking etc) as opposed to a 802.11b access point. This is a problem with customers and sellers understanding wi-fi, however if I am paying hundreds of dollars for something I am going to make sure I know what it does. The second weakness is it is first. This means others will follow and try to improve on it and learn from the growing pains. That is fair game, but Toshiba I'm sure will be doing the same. In the end it is an inovation, Worth the money if you want or need the features, if you don't well the 310 is a dandy machine....
Rating:
Summary: WOW 802.11b great idea flopping on its face.
Review: Strengths: Looks Great. Great Idea. 802.11b integrated! WOW! Weaknesses: Looks don't matter. The idea fell on its face. 802.11b failed. No more wow. Summary: I have a running DHCP 802.11b network access point running infrastructure mode on channel 6 with an ssid called lynksys. All settings were carefully dynamically configured and then manually entered with no success whatsoever. none. nil. poop. Sooo... So anyway, all my other 802.11b network interfaces/machines work flawlessly. Sigh, what a headached. If the technology is not ready yet, then Toshiba don't market it.
Rating: 
Summary: Toshiba e740: The Wave Of The Future
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: WiFi sucks battery
Review: I bought this for the integrated WiFi feature.
Worked great, but the battery lasted a little over an hour. With the WiFi switch turned off the performance was in the range of three hours. I guess I was expecting at least a couple hours of use with the WiFi enabled. I wish Toshiba would have been straightforward regarding the unit's battery consumption with WiFi enabled.
I ended up returning it last week and will continue to use a laptop for meetings.
Rating:
Summary: Great Product!
Review: 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.
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