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The Toshiba e740 is loaded with 32 MB SDRAM memory and 32 MB of flash ROM (for future upgrading). It's powered by a built-in lithium rechargeable battery that recharges via the included USB cradle.
Operating System
Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 operating system, released in late 2001, offers many enhancements over the previous OS. You'll get improved handwriting recognition, more reliable synchronization, increased security, and the ability to chat using MSN Messenger. It also features new Pocket versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, and Internet Explorer.
Display
The Toshiba e740 delivers brilliant images with its 3.5-inch TFT display. It supports over 64,000 colors and has 240 x 320 resolution. Active matrix, also called "thin film transistor" (TFT), is the brightest, sharpest, clearest, and most expensive type of LCD flat-panel display that is practical for handhelds.
Expansion
Expanding your expansion possibilities, the Toshiba e740 features integrated slots for both Secure Digital and CompactFlash cards.
With Secure Digital (SD) and CompactFlash (CF) memory cards, you can easily store and play your multimedia files and carry your important documents wherever you go. You can add functionality with optional CF cards, including wireless and land-line connectivity, Ethernet networking, bar-code scanning, and much more. You'll also be able to add more functionality using optional SD cards, which will become available soon.
Multimedia
Play digital audio (both MP3 and WMA) and video (MPEG-4) files using the Windows Media Player software. The Toshiba e740 is also compatible with audible.com files, for listening to audiobooks, radio broadcasts, and more. Record your thoughts with the built-in microphone and voice-recording software. You can play back using the small speaker on the front or via the stereo headphone jack. You also get Microsoft Reader e-book software.
In the Box
The Toshiba e740 comes with a USB cradle, AC adapter, stylus, soft slipcase, quick-start card, and warranty card. It is backed by a one-year limited warranty.
Their answer was to give you a $40 credit towards their old defective E740. Good customer relations - Toshiba
All in all, it's been frustrating to see poor reviews and then see Toshiba not support the e740 any more. However, with proper management, you can get a WiFi enabled PDA with SD/CF slots for cheap and be pretty satisfied with yourself!
Pros:
Wi-Fi!!! You can't find a PDA with integrated Wi-Fi in this price range.
CF(compatible with both type I/II) and SD slot. It really offers you a lot of upgrade options with both the CF and SD slot. I personally use a 512 SD card and leave the CF slot for a 56K cf modem.
User replaceable battery
Cons:
Windows Mobile 2002, and Toshiba does not offer upgrade to the WM2003. THis is a big deal, since Microsoft change the database for WM2003, which means new programs will not be compatible with WM2002. Also, Windows 2003 is written to take advantage of the XScale processor in the E740, which supposingly will boost up system performance and increase battery life.
It crashes, but in my opinion is is acceptable. It doens't crash all the time, but occasionally.
THis is pretty much it. In term of battery life, I think most other Windows based PDA offer identical battery life. (Well, except some big PDAs like Dell X5, it offer better life, but it's very bulky) I think the PDA deserve anywhere from 50%-60%, since it does offer a lot of features, and at a relatively low price. So if you can find a E740 for a reasonable price, it will be a great gaget to have.
At both fronts Toshiba e740 has performed as advertised. Syncing with Microsoft Outlook is effortless and cruising the Internet on my wireless Linksys home network is flawless.
What I didn't expect was such a short battery life, and the poorly designed stylus and its holder.
I believe that the poor battery life is due to both high consumption and frequent inadvertent turning of the devise on rather than due to insufficient battery capacity. (The standard battery is rated by Toshiba at a decent 1000 mAh).
Even after checking address book and calendar only a few times during the day one may drain the battery to 60% of its full capacity even with moderate screen brightness.
Toshiba support staff gave me several explanations for this high battery consumption mainly that the unit uses electricity to communicate with the add-on storage cards even when e740 is off.
The more important reason for the poor battery life, in my opinion, is the unintentional turning on of the device in my pant's pocket. Along the upper left side of the devise sticks out the Recorder button. Pressing the button turns e740 on and launches the Recorder function.
The button cannot be deactivated and it is almost impossible not to depress it while having the PDA in the pant's pocket.
I tried several leather cases: (1) Toshiba sleeve shipped with e740, which is ugly and useless; (2) Belkin SKU 772053 leather case (which is compact but ineffective in stopping inadvertent activation of the Recorder button), and (3) Toshiba zipped case PA1313U-1PCS (which is effective but so bulky that there is no pant's pocket large enough to accommodate it).
Another annoying feature is the flimsy plastic stylus that won't stay in its holder because the only thing that is supposed to keep it in is the friction between the very top of the stylus and the top of the plastic-lined holder. Buying replacement plastic styli from Toshiba (PA3182U-1ETC) will only waste your money as these styli won't stay put in e740 either. If you ask Toshiba support staff for help, they will tell you to put some Scotch tape around the stylus. Wow!
Through trial and error I have found these two solutions for above problems: (1) aluminum case from Rhinoskin (here at amazon.com), and (2) metal stylus from pdapanache.com. Finally I can now enjoy all the wonderful things that come with e740.
Ever the optimist, I will begin with the good news. When it works, the WiFi is a GREAT thing to have. I am a university student, and they have a wireless network there. In my experience the WiFi has been pretty fast, but that will vary from location to location.
One of the things I love most is the dual expandability via an SD slot AND a CF slot!!! which means you can use a memory card in one while using a peripheral! Or you can share cards with various digital cameras and other such devices.
I used to have a Jornada 568, good device but the screen was unevenly lit. However, the screen on the e740 is much more evenly lit, any lighting gradient is almost imperceptible.
Of course it is always great to have 64Mb of memory a nice metallic casing and relatively sleek styling.
Here are a few little pet peeves before I get to the meat. It is slightly heavy. Compared to my jornada, which I could use for days, the battery life is a little short although longer than t he ipaq. I was also a little disappointed that not all 64Mb was available as storage as it is on the Jornada.
The e740 does not have a backup button battery, as does the Jornada, so that means if you remove the battery, you lose all your info. I did however take it to the repair center and they somehow fixed that for me under warranty. I don't know how they did it, but now I can remove the battery without losing my info. But we need a backup battery!!
Of course this would not be much of an issue if the battery-securing system was better designed. It was so bad that Toshiba had a recall on it, and so I went to get that face but after a couple days, the battery was ALMOST as loose as before. It is just a horrible design in general, I strongly suggest Toshiba rethink that because it is crucial!
The battery indication software has the annoying habit of instantaneously "discharging" to and holding at 60% or 1%. This is aggravated when the WiFi is engaged; it's almost guaranteed to happen. It is a very annoying problem because the device automatically turns off the device, believing there is n o more power and it becomes useless unless you have your AC adapter with you. I sent it in once again for repair and Toshiba replaced my motherboard AND my battery under warrantee, and the problem has not reoccurred since, but it's only been a few days, we will see.
My most recent project has been to discover why sometimes my device cannot detect an ip on a DHCP network. I talked to a supervisor today (the only helpful person in the place) and he told me to download an update on their website that apparently deals with that problem. We will see how that goes.
My biggest pet peeve has to be that 75% of the staff at their tech support center a) don't speak great English, which complicates communication, and b) they know very little about the pocket pc. One guy kept me on hold for 20 minutes using up my precious cell phone minutes, when he returned he told me he had been doing research, that led him nowhere. All I wanted to know was what the man's supervisor was able to tell me in 5 minutes without putting me on hold. Time is money and I am sure Toshiba's customers have better things to do than wait while the tech support guy fumbles around doing things we ourselves could be doing.
Sorry for the length of this review but I thought fellow e740 owners might appreciate my "wisdom" and learn from my problems. It was all worth it though because all in all, the e740 is a great device. I'm sure no device is perfect and that they all have their problems.
Finally, I just stopped using it altogether, and my kind hubby got me a sony clie' to replace it with. I couldn't be happier...nice color screen, batteries that last over a week w/o recharging, no lost data, no record button to accidentally record with. Oh, and half the price too. With all the rebates on that, it came out to $85. Although the e740 did mp3's just fine, I never used mine for that purpose, so the clie' was a good replacement for me.
If you need an expensive mp3 player that might do other stuff for you, the e740 would be a "good" choice. Otherwise, look into sony's line of pda's...much more reliable. :)
I would consider Dell Axim x3i for the low budget (<$300) or the HP 5550 ($600) for the higher end folks.
The wireless networking works so-so, if you don't mind pathetic range and constantly resetting the system.
It plays mp3's well enough.
It does Ebooks well.
I've gotten a couple games to play ok.
It doesn't sync worth a damn, so I end up using CF and SD cards for updating and such. The battery doesn't last worth beans, so I bought two high capacity batteries for it. This makes the device very bulky, and takes many hours for it to charge, which is odd, as my 18v power tools can fully charge in less than an hour. At first I lost much data, time, and effort when this device had it's data loss issues. I ended up installing a very minimum amount of software and programs, and for the past 3 months I haven't lost anything, which is a sorry thing to be grateful about, considering how much I paid. Often, even with undemanding applications such as MS Reader, this thing will lock up for several minutes while it does it's thing. When pulling the device out of it's supplied case, it's all too easy to hit the record button, in fact, it's difficult not to hit it.
The high capacity batteries went through a recall, which Toshiba handled well, my only complaint having to wait 4 months for a replacement.
Toshiba has decided not to offer the upgrade to PCP 2003. I consider this a rip-off. The ability to upgrade this device was why a lot of people bought it in the first place, and also why they kept it despite finding out the performance was hampered by the OS. Both Microsoft and Toshiba are to blame. After all, aren't this things supposed to be somewhat standardized?
In the past, I've had nothing but great experiences with Toshiba products, which was at least half the reason I chose the e740, despite this being a brand new product.
It seems Toshiba has learned a thing or two from their unofficial 'beta test'...the new 800 is a huge improvement, at least in looks, button placement, and screen. However, I'm not about to throw away an $800 investment in batteries and such, cough up another $800, just to become another paying beta tester. I'm hoping this isn't becoming standard practice for Toshiba. I hate to see a good company go in the crapper, like HP, Compaq, Apple, and so on.
1) is the battery life is not the best one, and if you don't charge it frecuently you can lose all your data, it had happen to my just twice in the 9 moth that I had own it
2) It is big,
3) you can not upgrade it to Windows Mobile 2003
4) it has the worst sound
Pro.
1) the USB/VGA expansion pack is great
2) the Wi-Fi integrated
Also I lost the stylus pen, so I bouth from Toshiba the pack of 3 stylus pen, for my soprise they where Belkin pen's in a Toshiba case. and they are really bad because they scratch the screen.
I use screen protector, and I have to change it every 3 weeks becouse the replacement stylus pen scrach it.
I've tried upgrading firmware, software, OS and still I have a $600 piece of junk on my hands.
I DO NOT recommend this product - spare yourself.
Compaq did it and did it right the first time, and they support their products, sometimes even after they've been discontinued. They said they would release a PPC 2002 upgrade and they did - even at a reasonable price, too bad PPC 2003 won't fit in a 16 MB ROM, otherwise I think they would have released that too...
I'm in the market for a smaller, faster unit with built-in WiFi (and preferably also Bluetooth) and built-in CF slot - too bad the DELL Axiom X3 doesn't have Bluetooth and CF, otherwise I would go for that - any recommendations? (same features as the Toshiba, only reliable and equally aggressively priced).
Good luck to all you unhappy Toshiba users...
Toshiba no longer suppports this product so if you get a bad unit you are on your own.
Indeed, what Intel markets as the PXA255 was originally to be released as the PXA250 stepping C1, according to an Intel Product Change Notification document seen by The Register. Not only does it fix the PXA250's prime glitches, but adds some new, performance boosting features of its own."....."Toshiba denied that the issues surrounding the PXA250 were the reason for the initial refusal to offer e740 users the update. "To date Toshiba has not received any customer complaints around [the bugs]," said the spokeswoman. "The PXA 250 processor is not subject to any recall and is currently being sold by most Pocket PC device manufacturers."
So, what we really need is a 2003 upgrade or a recall on the Intel PXA250. Contact Toshiba and request your upgrade or a recall and let them take their pick.
Recall on internal battery issue. Issue NOT resolved after recall. Unit "thinks" battery is dead, and completely loses all configured data as well as installed programs (or configured program startup icons if installed to storage card). No problem, use the backup software right? Wrong! The backup software is so buggy that it will only back up so much stuff before it bombs stating that the "storage card has been removed." So, if you don't install a lot of software on it, the backup software MIGHT work. In other words, if you the need for a backup is low (device not configured much beyond defaults) the backup software will work. Toshiba sales said they would NOT marked a direct connect keyboard so I purchased a wireless keyboard. Six months later, they release a direct connect keyboard. Tech support is poor (look for reviews on the internet if you don't believe me). I am pretty disgusted with this device, but I paid so much money for it, I can't replace it. ... If you do very little, you MIGHT be all right. But if you do very little with it, you could buy a cheaper PDA to server your purposes. And spend the extra money on peripherals, or a lot of lunches....
In summary, if you want a cool looking device, with buggy software, spotty peripherals, and lousy tech support that has been abandoned by its manufacturer, this is the PDA for you. Otherwise, look elsewhere.
Unfortunately, the reviwers who point out that the design of this device is less than perfect are absolutely correct. This is especially true of button positions and battery life.
Data loss due to the record button or on button being inadvertantly pressed for long periods of time while in an airline overhead bin is becoming common for me. Smarter button positioning would easily eliminate this problem.
I've also noticed the batteries drain remarkably quickly, allowing for only an hour or so of work before they need recharging. This is hardly useful on a 7 hour flight over the Atlantic.
If you travel a lot, I'd look to other devices which have better design and better battery life.
I would love my e740 if it only lived up to its potential. Unfortunately, you have to be a geek genius to understand the networking, because the documentation is so poor and Toshiba's tech support is so clueless.
The speaker is so faint and tinny you often can't hear it, and the unit's speed and responsiveness is worse than most competitive models. It's incompatible with certain memory cards and CF GPS units.
When you buy a product, you buy it under the assumption that if there are significant deficiencies with it the manufacturer will either warn you about them or fix them. Unfortunately, Toshiba is unwilling to do either of these.
You rely on your PDA. You don't want to find yourself suddenly without your contact information, your appointements and other vital information because you bought the wrong unit. Find one you can trust. ... Toshiba.
I've had my Toshiba e740 for a year now and had some of the same problems that have been described in a previous review, most notably the disconnection during Active Sync. Toshiba has released software updates to deal with most of these, and for me, none of the problems have been showstoppers.
I love my e740 for its versatility with wireless, CF and SD slots, the expansion pack with USB and VGA outputs and especially the hi-cap battery (great for those cross-country flights). In fact, I've just bought an e755 and will be able to use all of my accessories with it too.
No PDA is perfect, but the Toshiba is pretty darn good.
Wrong!!
The Palm is about 200 times more reliable. The battery just dies and then it looses everything. My first unit was recalled because there was a fault in the internal battery. The replacement is not much better. It is a bit better now, but it was difficult to even restore backups. Please buy a compactflash card if you decide to get one and do backups often.
Can technology as pretty as this not be reliable?? Did the designers not think about reliability? I had numerous times when I grabbed the unit to urgently look up a phone number or address and had a dead PDA. Latest updates gone!
I have lost so much critical information that it is messing up my life.
1. Toshiba never delivered on software to actually take advantage of the 400MHz XScale processor in the e740. Not wanting to take any blame for themselves, they point the finger at Microsoft and claim "It's not us, they wrote the OS!". As a result, this unit performs no better than non-XScale processors of the same generation and in some cases, it performs worse. Think of XScale as similar to the "MMX" feature added to the last-generation Pentium chip--it was pretty much worthless without software written for MMX. The newest version of Windows CE, called Windows Mobile 2003, DOES take advantage of the XScale but guess what Toshiba's response is? "NO NEW OS FOR YOU!" Gosh, thanks Toshiba! And this is how they support what was their "flagship" PDA for over a year? Look out e750 owners, you're probably next!
To add insult to injury, Toshiba will not be offering an upgrade to WM2003 for the E740 community. I would not trust them to do the same with their new "flagship" product, the E750... Buy another PDA, do not get burned...
To add insult to injury, Toshiba will not be offering an upgrade to WM2003 for the E740 community. I would not trust them to do the same with their new "flagship" product, the E750... Buy another PDA, do not get burned...
ActiveSync disconnects often (in fact, using the most up-to-date ActiveSync will CRASH the sync software on the device). Compact Flash cards cause the device to hang at least a couple times a day. As long as you are only going to use the wifi on one access point, and will never using compact flash cards, and don't mind only using the device for 2 hours between recharging, the e740 is for you. If you want to use all the promised features, go somewhere else. It's not gonna happen.
Despite all of the neat features, this PDA has been a terrible disappointment.
Unfortunately i simply can't buy a Belkin foldable keyboard from [Amazon.com] or any other merchant (to deliver in Brazil or Portugal). ... Thanks
However, the existing ROM has a lot of bugs ... too many. One would expect that with so many bugs, Toshiba's technical support would act promptly in fixing them - your in for a surprise. To summarize Toshiba's technical support team in one or two word: Slow ans Incompetent! Their typical answers to problems are (in no particular order): The toshiba e740 was not designed for usage with its existing pocketpc 2002 operating system, because of its xscale processor. In order to take advantage of xscale speed, it requires the latest operating system, pocketpc 2003. Toshiba has indicated that they will not be releasing an upgrade for the operating system. So, not only their tech support is subpar, also their commitment to ongoing support and upgrades. My advise ..... go with a different brand (like HP's Ipaq ... which has great and prompt tech support.)
My Toshiba e740 has been problematic from day one. Toshiba finally acknowledge what all the users were saying in that the XScale-processor (400mhz) equipped e740 was, in fact, slower than older non XScale-processor (206mhz) PocketPCs. They blamed it on the fact that the operating system was not "optimized" for the XScale chip and that a new OS would fix the problem. The frustrating thing is that Toshiba has announced that they won't release the OS upgrade and therefore their promises of a fix with the new OS were all lies. They are selling an inferior product - and they know it - and they will not fix it. I'm sorry I purchased the Toshiba e740 and will never buy another Toshiba product again. Their technical support is simply awful and they don't care about customer satisfaction at all. Do NOT buy a Toshiba PocketPC - especially stay away from the poison Toshiba e740.
Toshiba's tech support is a joke - their response to everything is "remove the SD and CF cards" According to Toshiba the only way to use those flash cards is SOLEY for the purpose of doing backups (which trust me, you will need to restore them almost daily if you try to use this thing), I guess storing data or programs is beyond this PDA's ability ;) Everything is either Microsoft's fault, or the end-user's fault, everyone but Toshiba's fault for building a terrible excuse for a PDA.
I would love to recommnend this device, but instead I am compelled to say "Buyer Beware!"
toshiba does not support this product any more...you will get no upgrades... anything that goes wrong with the device is either M$ fault or some other device's problem...
Overall, 4/5 for built-in WiFi and 2 expansion slots. w00t!
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. 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.
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.
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
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.
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.
1) The device works, and works well, but God help you if your battery dies. I expected it to work like the Palm with everything just resync'ing when plugged back in. That would be wrong. Nothing resyncs, especially not programs. All of that hard-found, really useful shareware code? Gone. 2) The oft-mentioned recording button really is placed in a bad spot. You will hit it often. 3) When the battery dies... you're done. If you don't have the location or the discipline to plug your machine in every day, you _will_ sink yourself at least twice, probably more. 4) I like the computer itself, but finding software is maddening. Yes, there are loads of barely-usable programs out there, but at least in Palm world you can get them for free. PocketPC users are expected to nickel-dime themselves into their programs... $... in one case for a really simple, poorly written application (I hammered out a badly written version using the SDK in a day just to prove I could). Don't expect everything to just show up when you sync. Your best bet is to purchase a memory card and back-up once every couple of days. And that takes a few minutes (13.44 last night in fact). 5) It can't be overstated: the ActiveSync program is grotesquely bad. I was in denial for a long time about it, but it's true. Tasks don't sync worth beans. 6) Unless you're using Outlook 2002, you get to only sync one calendar (Outlook 2k comes with a single license). The activesync software itself is limited to only two "partnerships". I find myself missing the days of syncing my PalmOS profile everywhere... it certainly made me feel more secure. I have to say I had no preference either way re PocketPC v PalmOS. But upon re-reading the above I guess my decision has been made for me.
Visit www.toshiba.com and see for yourself. They have a recall notice right on their home page! Toshiba states that you can "work around" the problem by ensuring that your batteries never drain completely... not a very helpful tip! I read about this recall before ordering the unit, and I assumed that it only affected units that had already shipped. Bad assumption! UPDATE: We contacted Toshiba to have the unit repaired under warranty, and they REFUSED TO REPAIR IT! They said that since our unit's serial number was not part of the recall, they would not repair it. I know what you're thinking - that's so unbelievable that it can't be true, but it's true! We had to write numerous letters to Toshiba executives and wait over 30 days to finally get the matter resolved. It is now mid-April, and we still cannot use the unit we purchased in December.
I had an e310. There is no need to upgrade to the e740 unless you want more internal memory or a CF reader. Just buy a 256 SD card instead (I had done this, as well). I upgraded because I wanted to be able to plug in socket cf cards, etc. If you have the extra cash -- I would, therefore, start with this. I used to own electronic organizers and learned to hate them. I refused to buy a palm. Nevertheless -- when I saw that I could run my identical calendar programs, email, word processor, etc. -- that has made all the difference. I can set my calendar remotely, work on documents (limitedly . . . but) remotely, and I rarely get bored because of the games when stuck somewhere and do not have something pressing to do. Compaq and ther models seems too bulky for me. The built-in LAN system is a BIG edge for this model. CAVEATS: 1) battery cannot last long. It is a trade off for power and lightness. You can upgrade to a bigger battery, but I have not done this because I prefer to keep my ephimeral work horse in a coat or pants pocket while I forget about it until needed. 2) Even though CF and SD slots are a huge advantage, the market makes more stuff for Palm and Compaq. It's not a significant problem because you can find what you need. You will just have to look for it instead of having pop up adds constantly showing what you can add to a Palm, etc. In sum, it has made my life easier and taken stress off of me. I have NEVER regretted my decision to buy the 310 or the 740.
Operating System: The Pocket PC 2002 OS is much better than it's previous incarnation (Pocket PC 2000). Some notable improvements are in Memory Management and general interface. I can pretty much have as many programs as I want without any slowing down. The "Today" screen is now "skin-able", as is Media Player. While the UI is improved, as has the core, much improvement is still needed. The "task-bar", l feel is a waste of the screen, taking up waaaaaay too much of the 320 x 240 screen. The Zaurus' OS (Linux Embedded) has a much smoother feel as far as the main interface goes. I would like an integrated task manager built in. I've tried many 3rd party programs, but they just didn't cut it, and since nobody writes programs for the Pocket PC OS better than Microsoft, I'd like to see a task switch built in. The file explorer application doesn't show hidden files, and a registry editor is not included (although a very good one put out by PHM is available for free). The support for clear-type fonts is a plus, and the available fonts are better than that of the Sharp Zaurus or Palm OS devices. A new input method has been utilized, called "Transcriber". It's wonderful. I can't say enough good things about it. If you use your PDA a lot for taking notes or writing essays, you need this. Transcriber recognizes even the most sloppy of handwriting. 5 star program. Software: I'm a bit displeased with many different built-in software. Pocket Office in general, is a good program, although I prefer Hancom Word and Sheet on the Zaurus. Creating new documents on the Pocket PC is great, just about as good as the desktop version of Word. But syncing documents is terrible, with Word raping your formatting. It's horrendous. If you send a document to your PDA, it will remove all images, and most formatting. Excel is nice, syncing nearly perfect. The ATI Presenter included is a perfect emulation of Power Point. Windows Media player is nice, and the highlight is that streaming support. I've streamed ASX files over the internet and had perfect reception. You don't need a fast connection to view full frame rate, only about 49kbps. However, Windows Media player doesn't cut it for serious movie philes, so within 10 minutes of turning on, I had Pocket DivX and Pocket MPEG downloaded. Speaking of Internet connections, the thing that brings down the software pack is Internet Explorer. Surfing on it is a pain. Slow, clunky and crash-prone. I hate it. I miss Opera :( . Messenger is good, but it's not as good as Kmerlin or its desktop counterpart. Hardware: The Toshiba e740 is a landmark for hardware, possessing not only a Wi-Fi card, but an SD card and a CompactFlash. It's amazing. I can download huge files (120 mb) directly to my CompactFlash, without worry of RAM space. The Toshiba e740 feels very nice in hand. One caveat is that the record button is far to easy to push. You'll want to disable it. I also don't like that the only speaker-sound setting for headphones is "Loud" and "Really Freaking Loud". Battery life is great, even with Wi-Fi on. I usually get 7 hours off, 3 with it on. Wi-Fi and Internet: Wi-Fi is great. Out of all the Wi-Fi products in my house (2 22mbps Wi-Fi cards, 2 11mbps compact flash Wi-Fi cards, and 2 USB Wi-Fi stations), this one has the strongest signal. I get 38% strength at about 150 feet away, through stone and walls. Very good signal. Very easy to set up as well. Within 5 minutes, literally, I was on the net checking my email. Syncing: ActiveSync 3.5 leaves me with mixed feelings. Not quite as upfront as HotSync, not as simple and quick as IntelliSync, but still, a good syncing program. ActiveSync has many advanced features and is extremely customizable. But the fact that it's "Active" annoys me. It decides to sync when it wants, and go offline when it wants. The PIM apps included sync PERFECTLY with Outlook, much better than anything Palm or Zaurus has. Overall, the Toshiba e740 is perfect for being a "Personal Digital Assistant". Taking notes is great, surfing the Internet is tolerable, logging onto the network is superb. Media is a bonus, and it too performs nicely. I would recommend the Toshiba e740 for anyone who needs power with all the bells and whistles who doesn't mind sacrificing a little bit of "control-freakish-ness". Good for beginners and advanced users.
Overall, a seemingly great device on paper which is poor in reality
Palm Tungsten T - Good screen, integrated Bluetooth so I can sync with my Mac, fast, and very compact. However, after using Palm OS, Pocket PC, and Linux over the last years, I prefer the flexibility of the other PDAs I tried. Sony Clie - Nice design, integrated keyboard, fast, nice screen. This almost swayed me to take the Palm OS route. The device has tremendous geek appeal. However, the weight (as compared to the e740), memory stick, and proprietary CF slot turned me off. iPaq 545x - Beautiful screen, integrated Bluetooth and WiFi. Lots of expansion options. No integrated CF slot, and expensive. Toshiba e740 - industrial design I like, integrated WiFi and SD. Reflective screen not as pretty as the iPaq, but the CF slot is a winner. It can also act as a USB host, which makes connecting with peripherals easier. Overall, the winner for me. With the various rebates, I was able to buy this one for $450.
Don't believe everything you read, this is hi tech stuff, and you had better know how to have your firmware up to date both on your hand held and your wireless router, or you don't deserve this unit. . but unfortunately that hasn't kept people from whining and confusing other technical folks who haven't had the chance to experience this technology yet and are hoping to read a knowledgeable review first. With Netfront 3 (download off net to use instead of PIE), this is the future of the Internet, here today. I'm online everywhere there is a wireless gateway and loving it. My only complaint - the battery - which is small on purpose. You can get a bigger one as an option if you want to be online more than a few hours at a shot. This unit is small, which is a large part of its appeal. Its battery is user replaceable, unlike most of those IPAQs people keep bragging about. Use one faithfully to the death of your lithium ion, and see how happy you are without user replaceable! The wifi can be shut off with a tap of the stylus if you want traditional battery life more like 5 - 7 hours out of the tiny choice. I've been told days of power from the extended pack, but I haven't tried it. There is only 1 e740 competitor right now, that is the IPAQ 5400 series, not the 3900 which has nothing but a slightly better screen to boast. Look at the price, look at the missing features. .. if you understand the specs this is an obvious choice people. If you don't, stick with something simple that will sync your calendar and display pretty pictures to impress your friends. If you need a real computer. . .don't shy away from this. Every model has its quirks, for pete's sake assign the record button to poweroff.exe (downloadable from the net) if you can't keep from hitting it. . . I did. . . .and the e740 screen is nothing to dismiss. . .plenty pretty when streaming video from your favorite web site.
Ok. To be fair, on the surface it looks like this thing Long story short I returned it an got an Ipaq 3900. Am very 1. Screen ... You are going to be looking at the screen 2. Speaker .... Tinny at best. Very small, quiet. Hey meybe 3. WiFi (hmmm). Problems connecting, dropping connection. What's the point? (nuff said). 4. Record function. First of all this thing really sticks out. Who designed this??? I kept turning it on by mistake. To make it worse, my had a mic problem. It kept making thumping sounds in the background (I tried turning the dynamic gain off, not much help). I went online and found out I wasn't the only one with the problem. These are the problems I had in the 2 days I owned the thing. So where is the advantage. There is just one. The attachable docking thingy (if you need that sort of thing). It's good for a business person who needs it. I don't. GET AN IPAQ INSTEAD... That's my take. Hope it helps.
2. Toshiba never delivered on software to take full advantage of their much-touted ATI graphics chip, so despite Toshiba's marketing claims, the e740's graphics are no better than competitors' units of the same generation. In fact, if you read some of the other reviews here, you'll find that video performance is even WORSE in some cases. Awesome job, Toshiba!
3. Toshiba US has completely dragged their heels on releasing multiple software updates that were available MONTHS AGO in other parts of the world. Customers in Europe and Australia have had two major ones since the beginning of the year which fix many problems: update 1.0621 and 1.0623. And what did US customers get?
44 Machine has bugs, but customer service is the disaster
I have had my E740 for about 8 months, bought for the usual reasons (great specs at the price). Like others, I have had all the usual flaws (battery running down,1% recharge glitch, numerous hard resets, at least two losses of data, all the other things i thought were ideosyncratic til i read the other reviews on Amazon). But what really makes me sure I will never buy or allow anyone I know to buy any Toshiba product is the customer service.
About a month ago the machine stopped synching. After wasting two hours with idiotic "help" desk (we don't support AS 3.7, go back to 3.5!), they said send it in. They then told me I had broken the USB (how????). They charged me $110. This under warranty. But okay.
TWO DAYS later, it stops synching again. Same problem as before. So we send it back in again. Comes back "fixed." We call and ask for our $110 back (this is done by my ssyadmin). Nope, they say "moisture damage." Okay, I did use the two days to shower with it. Come on Toshiba, two separate bogus causes of a failure. Why bother issuing a warranty?
Then I read of no 2003 upgrade to OS, etc.
I guess Toshiba just doesn't care about its reputation. Hmm, remind anyone of some American car companies?
45 No upgrade path to WM2003
I would not waste your time on purchasing a Toshiba PDA. I bought my E740 arund July of 2002 and it has been in for service twice for HW issues and stability issues.
46 No upgrade path to WM2003
I would not waste your time on purchasing a Toshiba PDA. I bought my E740 arund July of 2002 and it has been in for service twice for HW issues and stability issues.
47 Buggy, but if you want wifi for cheap...
Just bought one, and I'm probably about to return one. The e740 is "best in class" for its time, but only because no one at the time had integrated wifi. Can't really be called wifi, because you have to install an upgrade before you even have basic support for 802.1x. Reconfiguring for different access points is a pain - if you plan to use wifi, don't settle for any pocket pc 2002... go for 2003.
48 Sorry
I haven't had it long enough to have had service problems, but otherwise I agree with the comprehensive list of criticisms in the other reviews.
49 Lousy Toshiba Support - Zero upgradability
Avoid this product at all costs. If you are buying a Toshiba for its upgradability, forget about it. The e740 is full of bugs, and promised upgrades to an operating system that will take advantage of this processor are not to be provided. The attitude from Toshiba is really "take the money, and forget about you." If you're even considering the new e750, please reconsider and look at a Compaq. The difference in support is immense, and over the long run Compaq/HP really stands behind their products.
50 No Go
Product never completed BETA testing. Owners are stuck with a device that was never finished. 12+ minor problems add up constant headaches. The monthly lockups are unforgivable. No PPC 2003 update is the last nail in the coffin.
51 Do Not Buy This Product
I've had numerous problems with my e740. The battery meter is often inaccurate and battery life is poor when the compact flash card is in or WiFi is turned on. ActiveSync drops the connection periodically for no reason. Also, for such a fast processor, the machine is rather sluggish. The graffiti is too sensitive, and often interprets a line as switching to punctuation mode-- very frustrating.
52 Wouldn't purchase Toshiba again
After all the problems over the short time I've owned this (1% battery charge problem, active sync dropping, low battery life, etc) and now Toshiba's decision not to support the 740, I doubt I will ever buy a product for that company again. I owned an iPaq 3600 before and wish I would have stuck it out for the wireless iPaq (5400 series). Avoid Toshiba.
53 e740 and Toshiba.
Nice product and nice performance for real nice price (259 euros) in Portugal. Well i've read many posts about problems with this device including bluetooth and syncronization. I've update my bios (first things first) and until now no problem found, I am really impressive with his speed. Come with two slots, Compact Flash (where i can hook a "cheap" CF modem, okay bluetooth is fine but bluetooth cell phones cost too much here in Brazil and wired phone system fees are cheaper than cell phones), SD Cards (hooked a memory Card). Totally recommended product.
54 seemingly great but in Reality The worst possible buy.
The toshiba e740 has a lot of goodies in it: CF slot, SD slot, integrated WiFi, xscale processor with 400 mhz.
1. We didn't know that...
2. It must be the 3rd party software's fault ...
3. We don't have an answer ..... yet
55 Run like Hell
If you want to buy a beta product, then go for it. Buggy; Poor, er, no tech support; not a great screen; many resets; you'll get to know the UPS guy after sending it back many times; etc., etc.
56 Run don't walk away from this product
I have owned my E740 for 5 months and have had the worst experience that I have ever had. The unit's rom software is buggy at best. The tech support is non existent. They drag their feet on all areas of support. If you want to save yourself a LOT of aggrevation, purchase an IPAQ. Compaq's service is great and they stand behind their product with making improvements. If they make a mistake, they take responsibility and make it right.
57 Buy something else
Can't upgrade to mobile 2003 even though it is Xscale machine. Toshiba is ripping off people who bought this thinking they had some sort state of the art equipment. They simply dumped support and say sorry.
58 No visible means of support
This is a very well equipped pocket PC that unfortunately has little or no support from Toshiba. The system ships with several significant bugs intact and no appearant plans for correcting them by the manufacturer. If supported, this would be a fantastic unit, but Toshiba seems to be focused on selling instead of supporting what they've sold.
The latest of issues with the PPC is the stated intention of Toshiba to not offer an upgrade to the new PPC 2003 OS. This is not just a 'nice to have' feature with this item, it is a must have due to the inadequate support for wireless connectivity in version 2002. The upgrade would go a long way to correcting many of the issues that the e740 has right now. I would not recommend this or any other Toshiba PDAs to friends or family due to their lack of customer support.
59 Toshiba has ABANDONED this very recent model
Toshiba has announced that, unlike other PocketPCs from other manufacturers, there will be no OS upgrade to Windows Mobile 2003 made available for the Toshiba e740 PocketPC. No one should buy this model (or any other Toshiba model in fact) because it will be immediately obsolete.
60 Terrible Customer Support!
This unit has had more bugs than the dirtiest restaurant in town. However, the most frustrating part is that Toshiba will not communicate with its consumers about what they are doing or planning to do to remedy the problems. They have lied to, hidden the truth from, and ignored their customers. I have never had an experience with a company quite like I have with Toshiba...it will be my last experience, I assure you.
61 Problems with Screen !
Love product at first but Screen when out after just 4 months of usage. No help from Toshiba but had to pay them to get it fix. This seems to be a continual problem with this product. Don't buy unless you want to spend another 130.00 to get screen fix!
62 Toshiba never finished this PDA!
This PDA had the potential to be awesome. Unfortunately, Toshiba never gave it a chance. Constant ActiveSync drops, random hard resets, unreadable white text on the Today screen, are only a few of the issues owners of this PDA have to deal with every day. Toshiba refuses to recognize any of these issues, even after thousands of people have called, attempting to get a $... PDA that works as it should. Even after a massive recall (which you KNOW is a sign of bad quality control) the unit does not function properly. Do yourself a favor, and go get an iPaq or a Dell Axim, the built in WiFi is not worth a PDA you can't trust with your data!!
63 Toshiba e740 - BUYER BEWARE
I have an e740, it is 3 months old, and works well. However Toshiba has decided to orphan all e740's in the Pocket PC 2003 upgrade process. Frankly Toshiba has not supported the e740 well in any sense, including releasing updates in one country, but not another.
64 Feel abandoned
While I have not had this product long at all, I feel left in the dark when it comes to continued support from Toshiba. While the latest and greatest gets the updates to Windows Mobile 2003, they leave this product, which is less then a year old in the dark. Tech support has said that there is not an update, and do not even speculate if there will be one. Talk about frustration!!
65 e740 - lousy support
Have had several issues with this product. Back to manafacturer 3 times. Poor support from Toshiba each time. Tech support(Canada) is merely a call centre that dispatches purolator boxes to return the unit rather than a source of help.
2 new motherboards and a new battery later its working fine..except that at less than 6 months old this unit is now obsolete. Toshiba has so far refused to support Pocket pc 2003 upgrade on this product.So much for an upgradeable product. Technically this product should be able to support 2003, but once again Toshiba has let its customer base down. I can tolerate a faulty unit, but not a product that is no longer supported less than 6 months old.
Guess that will be the last Toshiba I buy. Please dont buy this product....save yourself some grief and give your money to a manafacturer that gives a damn about you.
66 beware...no tech support
if you buy this unit beware because you will get no tech support from toshiba.
67 Expensive junk
I liked it because it is small, and includes WiFi, CF, and SD slots. The problem is that the battery meter is all over the map, and stuck at 1% most of the time. This prevents me from using programs, and causes me to get pop-up warnings. Lots of users have this same problem, but Toshiba thinks it can be solved by monkeying around with the software. This is a hardware problem, and Toshiba techs aren't trained to know and fix it. Overall, a very expensive paperweight.
68 Fanciest gadget I got stung on
After 6 months, the unit has been back to Toshiba 3 times. Not all of the product is covered under warranty. The repair cost is substantial if it is an item not covered like the display (suddenly went blank) They never did fix the battery problem. Data lost even with a charged battery. Toshiba blames all the bugs on Microsoft. If you purchase a Toshiba product and get burned, there is probably a club forming somewhere. The things that did work made it seem worthwhile though. It is a shame a company like Toshiba doesn't service their product very well.
69 Worth the money
Did not experience any of the sever problems mentioned by others.
purchased an Improved unit without the need of a recall. The record button at first was a real pain. the PDA had to be handled percisely or it would record..later on found it useful when used with a kessler case..attached to quick release belt clip.recording notes became less painful.all buttons became less bothersome and more user friendly.good color good speed.takes some getting use to..... well worth it
70 Very good product, but a few caveats.
I am quite the advanced user, and this product is slightly below my skill level, but I still love it. But, like I say, I have a few problems with it.
1. The battery life is atrocious when using the WiFi.
(I did expect that, though.)
2. The Master reset that everyone complains about.
3. It's Windows (ha ha).
4. I'm a Mac user and I can't sync without using Virtual PC.
71 Buy this
I got an E740 last week and I like it. It does everything it says it does. The only real I problem I had was with the Active Sync. USB Sync suddenly disconnects for no apparent reason. However, the frequency of this problem diminished significantly after installing Active Sync version 3.7. Maybe this problem has nothing to do with E740. I enjoy watching short Mpeg home movies on my E740 when away from home. So far, I have not encountered the hard-reset problem. The screen is bright and the display is reasonably nice. I installed products such as Pocket TV and Gamebox and they run perfectly. The bottom line is if you can get an E740 for under $... (which I think it is worth), go for it!
72 Mind of its own or no mind
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.
73 Great when it works- frustrating when it doesn't
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:
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.
74 Return, Repair, Recall Nightmares
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".
75 Finally
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.
76 A great product, only a better one is almost here
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.
77 e740 - Pretty good *IF* you get the updated version
Hi,
78 Listen to the Warings!!!!
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.
79 really bad technology
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.
80 Terrible...F
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.
81 Toshiba has a conditional warranty. Be warned!
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.
82 Toshiba Fan
Recently purchased the Toshiba E740. So far, I love it. I can wirelessly sync with my PC or check e-mail using 802.11b, connect to my cell-phone via infared or use a CF card modem. Very versitile communications device. Battery could last longer, but I have worked around that issue. Fast processor makes word searches in Olive Tree bible and Microsoft Dictionary very fast. Like others, my biggest gripe is the record button being too easily pressed by accident. Have to work around that by disabling the button.
83 My needs and what it doesn't do.
You will read all of this in other reviews, so I will recap in no order:
84 DO NOT BUY THIS e740 no matter how attractive
I read the reviews extensively before buying my Toshiba e740 and knew well in advance the risk I was taking. I figured I would give it a shot considering the great price and the features I was getting with Wifi, and 2 expansion slots. HORRIBLE MISTAKE. The bottom line is no matter how attractive the deal might be, if the PDA loses its data consistently and locks up, it's not worth being even a door stop. I have lost my data 5 times over the last 2 months and each time it takes me hours to "recustomize" my setup. I have been using PDA for over 6 years and Pocket PC over 2.5 years, so I am not a novice. Bottom line is don't take the risk with Toshiba. I don't know those who gave this device 5 stars didn't really use it or simply Toshiba guys trying to ramp up the ratings. The e740 really seem like a beta unit and should never have been sold to the public. I bought this unit with great regrets!
85 Works flawlessly after repair.
... brand-new fully working model, that was much faster and the battery now lasts for days. The wireless ethernet works well. It is very reliable and handles wireless streaming video pretty well.
86 Love the WiFi - hate most everything else
I love the integrated WiFi. But that is about it. Mine was included in the recall. I sent it back and they fixed that problem. But the device hard resets (and you lose everything) if you accidentally unlock the battery, which is extremely easy to do. It drops the USB ActiveSync connection after a few minutes of connection. The battery sometimes runs down to quick. The record button is located in a bad place - to easy to hit when taking out of the carrying case. Not ready for prime time.
87 Neat concept, but ...
A long time palm V user, I bought the E740 in December02 with perhaps unrealistic expectations. In addition to phone book and scheduler, I thought wow, with this thing I could surf the net using the built-in WiFi (802.11), and use native Word and Acrobat to store important technical documents. Everything worked, *but* surfing the net on a 320x240 pixel screen was like looking at the world through a cardboard paper towel tube. Little bits at a time; it got old quick. Cons: I lost data twice, when the battery went dead. (My palm battery would last almost a week, sometimes two). You must be very vigilant on re-charging- a problem with most of the PocketPCs. The voice memo button would almost always engage whenever I slid the PC from its leather case. (Exasperated, I re-assigned the button and never used the record feature again). Lastly, the word search feature would take 30 seconds on a 2MB acrobat file.
I sold it roughly six weeks later for about $100 loss. Lesson, This is not a PC, don•À?t expect to use it as one. Will try the Tungsten next...
88 Buy Something Else
Buy something else. Whenever the batteries lose their charge, this unit loses all of its data.
89 Bad, Bad, Bad
Loss of data when bateries go down even after I send it to Toshiba assistence to repair.
It made a Hard reset by itself.
Don't buy this thing.
90 I should have bought a Dell
I've had the unit for a while now it's in the shop for repair for the second time! I bought the Hi-Capacity battery accesserory and it worked fine, for 1 month. After charging all day, the battery meter would go to zero in ahout 3 hours. It's tempermental, some days working just fine other days I lost all my data. Backing up from the storage card was no pleasure either, It caused duplicate entries in all entries including programs.
I don't need a toy, I have to use it in my business and it has to be reliable. I'm a pharmacist and use it to read reference texts and drug DB's.
I'm not buying another Toshiba Pocket PC.
91 Pocket Bliss
this product is great, the 802.11b is excellent with the upgrade package, having both: the CF, and the SD slots is a very useful perk. The Xscale processor is excellent, as is the 64mb installed memory. this product is worth every penny. It works with any software written for strongarm prcessors. did I already mention integrated 802.11b!!!
92 Its great and reliable, but has some design flaws
I was hesitant to purchase this product because of some unfavorable reviews even though I thought it best suited my needs. However, I plunged in and bought it and so far, I am very happy with it. I synchronize it with my work computer and it has been very reliable. I haven't yet used the wireless internet connection so I can't comment on that. I know there is a recall, but only on certain serial numbers and they have fixed the problem now which, I believe was loss of information if the battery wore down. The only negative thing I can say is the record button is a pain since it is located on the top left side of the device. Every time I take it out of the case I accidently push this button and make a recording which is annoying. However, except for this I am quite satisfied and its with me everywhere I go.
93 Excellent Machine
Powerful and light and slim. I recommend it highly because of its expandability and extraordinary resources.
94 VERY, VERY, VERY, BAD DEVICE...AVOID AT ALL COSTS
I received this device for xmas and it never really worked great. Slow, bad sound, too many freezes to beleive. the wireless was nice to have, but the resolution on the screen kinda (...), so web browsing is a pain. Finally, the pocketpc device hard reset itself (...) and the next day died completely, after 3 weeks of use! Activesync is TERRIBLE. Constant dropping and reestablishment of the usb connection. Pocket Outlook was pretty bad too. Overall a terrible experience with Toshiba hardware and Microsoft software. Avoid at all costs...take a look at the Treo, that's where I'm going.
95 A great PDA
Toshiba e740
*****
I received my Toshiba e740 for Christmas, and must say that I'm quite impressed.
96 Avoid this device
1) Slow - even with the more expensive processor
2) Unreliable ActiveSync software
3) Under recall
4) Poorly light screen with poor colour reproduction
5) Low quality speaker
97 Finally switched from Palm!
My Palm IIIc was dropped and started working erratically so it was time to change. For the basic functions, this thing is pretty much plug and play, so you can be up and running right away. The screen is nice and bright, better than my old Palm, plus now I have sound! Weight is about the same. The wireless works well, except my settings don't seem to stick, but I haven't had time to pursue it. Sync via IR is handy when you don't want to connect the cradle, but of course it's slower. Kept turning on recorder by accident at first, but learned how to avoid it. Only real complaint is the jog button, seems a little too touchy for playing games, or maybe it's just me. :-) Lots of function for the price!
98 Best device for me
When shopping for a new PDA, I considered a broad range.
99 By far the best - for Technical people that is
I'm a systems pro who works with lots of PDAs. This is the best your money can buy, that is if you understand the technology you are buying. Read the spec sheets, it is all there, and it all works! I've had mine for weeks and wouldn't give it up for anything else out there. I get the pick of the litter, trust me.
100 Does a lot, but nothing particularly well...
Ok. So I bought this PDA for myselft as a gift.
I chose this model because a friend at work really
recommended it as "The Best" at the time. This was
one time where I didn't do my homework and it bit me
in the ...
has everything. Built in CF, Built in WiFi, Replacable
Battery... etc.. But for every positive there is a "gotcha!"
or a catch.
happy now. But let me tell you my specific gripes with the e740.
quite a lot right??? Who cares what you have under the hood, if
it looks [awful] (bad, uneven lighting, color is off to blue).
its just me, but my PDA is got to be an all in one gadget. One of the uses I need is for it to wake me up. This thing did not come close.
I was so frustrated I went online and found out other "irritants" that people were reporting, which I won't go into here. Just look. Plus this thing was originally recalled, ok? it says something about the testing of a product. It's just sloppy.
Like I said earlier, I got an Ipaq. I went to a store and just
compared. The screen is beautiful, the colors ... wow wow wow.
The battery on the Ipaq is great. I got a sleve for the CF memory (not a problem, its real thin), Extra juice, its in the sleeve. Need more juice, get more batteries for the sleeve. Same processor, great memory. Great speaker (loud :) )... Record
button won't be turned on by mistake. Sleek well thought out through and through. No dissapointments. Plus... Extra software (Nevo remote, Backup...), Auto Light sensor (automatically adjust backlight if you want), Two mic (one on top, one in front), Power button on the face so you wont turn it on by mistake. The toshiba seems flimsy compared to this.
One small step for man, one giant stumble for mankind.
Stellar rays prove fibbing never pays. Embezzlement is another matter.
