Rating: 
Summary: Mind of its own or no mind
Review: Very frustating device. Constantly drops my Audible book program so all the software has to be reloaded. Feel like you have to handle with tweezers so as not to turn something on or off. Full of surprises. Very slow downloads. Nice screen. Looks good. I bought the spare battery which is a tight fit but after inserting it may crash machine.
Rating:
Summary: Great when it works- frustrating when it doesn't
Review: Got the e740 for Christmas this year and was really looking forward to using my first Win CE device (I had used a Palm Vx previously). The built in WiFi with a CF & SD expansion slots met all of my requirements. Unfortunately, this thing has been a huge disappointment, mainly due to the poor product design by Toshiba. My main problems have been:1. The Master Clear (Erase Everything in Memory) switch is right next to the WiFi on/off switch. On two occasions I have accidentally wiped out all my files & software by accidentally flipping the Master Clear switch instead of the WiFi switch. I'd love to meet the *genius* on the design team who made the call to put this where they did.
2. The battery release button is tripped when pulling the device from the Toshiba leather case. I've had to put tape over the switch to keep it from releasing the battery when I take the e740 from its case. And yes, this has also led to accidental draining of the internal battery and loss of all personal files.
3. Back up program stinks. Losing all of my files wouldn't be so frustrating if the backup program worked. Unfortunately, the ActiveSync program doesn't work well and I often end up with corrupted files (can't totally blame Toshiba for this but their included Data Backup program doesn't work either).
4. The voicenotes button is constantly getting pressed by accident. This is annoying but I changed the button to be inactive so it's not a problem anymore.
5. Inaccurate low battery. Occasionally, the low battery alert comes on warning me that I am about to lose all my data when the battery is charged. Invariably this happens in an important meeting and I want to take notes. Very frustrating. Overall, I think this device had alot of potential but Toshiba did a lousy job designing the device. A little bit of forethought or possibly some human factors research could have prevented this. In any case, I have warned friends and colleagues to avoid this flawed product.
Rating:
Summary: Return, Repair, Recall Nightmares
Review: I bought the Toshiba Pocket PC e740 on March 24, 2003 from Shopharmony.com. I received it via UPS on April 1st, 2003. My serial number begins with a "2". When I received the PDA, it appeared to be working fine for one day, so I sent in the rebate (big mistake). Right after I mailed it, guess what? The PDA is now officially [not working]. THe screen would start flashing all over the place when I charged the PDA overnight, and I constantly saw "low battery" messages all over the place. Turning off WiFi did not help. My BIOS version is "1.0604..." Now, if I remove my battery for any period of time, the data is lost. Completely. Hearing all the reports of faulty repairs by Toshiba, I would suppose that sending the PDA to the company would be a bad idea (I already talked to the Recall center representatives). Now, I can't use the PDA properly, let alone CHARGE it. I can't return it to Shopharmony.com, since I already sent in the UPC code for the rebate. Am I officially [out of luck]? Someone who is/knows a lawyer, please consider a small-case court against Toshiba, if this is feasible. The number of defective Toshiba e740s is staggering, all over the place. Toshiba will not honor a e750 exchange, neither will the place where I bought my PDA. According to the other posts, returning it to [the store] is useless, since they have to same exact problems. Is the Toshiba e740 model [out of luck]? (it probably is). Toshiba has removed the e740 from their website, and even the recall information.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally
Review: I bought my Toshiba back in December of 2002 and had some problems with it. It was sent back for service ( and I'll admit the service was good) I now have a brand new Pocket PC and it's great. I especially like the WiFi feature.
Rating: 
Summary: A great product, only a better one is almost here
Review: e740 is packed with great features and has a nice form factor. I've experieced none of the problems its distractors claim. Maybe those guys work for Palm. You should know that a newer version, e750/755, is already here, and it has a newer/faster processor, more memory, and slightly improved screen, all for about the same price.
Rating:
Summary: e740 - Pretty good *IF* you get the updated version
Review: Hi, So I got one of these things a few days ago, despite reading on here that it had a myriad of problems (e.g. Wiping data/Freezing/No Back Up Battery), because the one I played with at the store seemed to work fine, and after reading on ..., it appeared that only the first production units were affected by the issues listed here. If you go to Toshiba's Website, specifically... They are now fixing, free of charge (including shipping), any of the earlier models that fall within a certain serial number range. I checked the Serial number on the box of the machine I bought, and made sure it wasn't one of the affected machines, and sure enough, over the last 4 days of use, it has performed almost flawlessly. I say almost, because using ActiveSync over the Wireless connection proved impossible, until I downloaded a program called "Pocket Hosts" (not from Toshiba, but a third party Freeware application). This lets you list your desktop PC's IP address in the PDA's "Hosts" file. Once I'd done this, Activesync works everytime wirelessly - as long as you remember to turn on the built-in wireless card!!! :) As for the unit itself, it feels good in the palm (no pun intended!!) of your hand. Easy to use. The only problem I have right now is that the hardware action buttons on the lower face of the unit are in a different order to my previous PDA (An HP 548), so I keep pressing the wrong one. They are configurable though, so I could reorder them if I wish. The PDA seems blindingly fast, but that may be because my last one was the HP 548, which isn't the quickest of units. Also, the screen seems fine to me, and I'd have to disagree with people that say they can't read it in sunlight.... mine is fine. I had to increase the brightness one level higher than the default to read it properly, but it's now readable outside, in bright sunlight. It's also handy having built in Wireless AND both CF-II and SD slots... because I can use my old CF-I 256Mb memory card in it, and now also use the MMC card that came free with my laptop while still being connected to my wireless Network at work or home. All in all, I'd say if you've been interested in this unit, take the plunge and get it... if you're unlucky enough to receive one of the early batch, then Toshiba will fix it for you. Once that's done, or if you get a later one (like I did), then you'll be the happy owner of a powerful PDA. Hope this helps you all!!! :) Steve
Rating:
Summary: Listen to the Warings!!!!
Review: I used the e740 for 1.5 months. During that time I had to reload all my data at least 4 times (it's easy to hit the battery release on the side). As others have noted, I was constantly hitting that stupid record button on the side. I had a Handspring Deluxe for 3 years and had to reload maybe twice during that time. Battery life is terible. You will have to lug the charger anytime you go away for a weekend -- totally ridiculous. Even though I was able to get a great deal on the unit, I grew to hate it very quickly. I've now sold it and purchased a Sony Clie SJ33 and simply love it. It is an asset. The toshiba was a liability -- just bad engineering.
Rating:
Summary: really bad technology
Review: So how do you make a worse product? Put a lot of good things in and then have it not work. I've owned the 740 for four months. It's battery has gone dead a dozen times despite my best efforts to keep it charged. Buttons in the wrong place. No back-up battery circa 1990. Makes you give it a new name and go through set up again every time the battery goes dead!!!! All this led to syncing problems. And Toshiba is of absolutely no help. A very very bad product. Anyone thinking of buying one should immediately look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible...F
Review: I too read several reviews of this product and thought I would take a chance even though there were some criticisms. Now I wish I would have listened to the critics. Battery life off the charger is about 6 hours. If it sits overnight and is not on the charger, all data is lost. It is easy to accidentally turn on, which shortens the battery life even more. At first I spent more time synchronizing and doing back-ups than actually using this thing for fear of losing something. Now I realize that if I have any critical information I am not going to enter it in this PC because it will be gone in a flash. In 2 weeks I have already lost data 4 times. Bottom line - if you want an expensive cuttin edge toy, it is o.k. If you are one of those people that has to have the latest computer gadget then go ahead and buy one. If you are going to use this for any kind of critical information, definitely look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Toshiba has a conditional warranty. Be warned!
Review: My company bought eight of these and for the most part they have worked as expected. We really like the small size and the built in 802.11b. Most other brands require additional bulky adaptors to get wi-fi. It's all in one small package with the e740. Where we got the bad taste in our mouths about this product is when we needed warranty service. One unit was issued to a highly reliable employee who returned the unit two days later with a cracked LCD. "I pulled it out of my pocket this morning and that's the way it was." he said. The unit was not dropped, just put in a jacket pocket overnight. There was no evidence from looking at the PDA that it had been droped or stressed in any way. It looks as though the LCD may have cracked due to some kind of pressure left over from when the unit was manufactured. Sad state for toshiba... We were considering this units as the standard PDA for our employees if the initial eight units worked out well. I'm glad this came up. It sure would have been a rude awakening to find out after we equipped our 300+ workforce with these units! I supose toshiba is diong so well they don't need our business.
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