INTRODUCTION

Over the last year,

Toshiba has really made a substantial impact

on the Pocket PC market. They have managed to

bring quality, relatively inexpensive, and groundbreaking

Pocket PCs to the masses. For example, their

e570 was the first device to have dual storage

slots, all the while their e310 was the thinnest

of the color Pocket PCs.

   

It would seem that Toshiba has been trying to

set themselves up as trend-setters, innovating

new and exciting devices every step of the way.

Keeping consistent with these ideals, Toshiba

has begun production on their e740 Pocket PC.

Complete with built-in 802.11b wireless, compact

flash and secure digital slots, a slim form

factor and an Intel XScale 400 MHz CPU… it

would seem Toshiba has built the dream machine.

Is this device as good as it sounds, or has

Toshiba pushed for too much, too soon?

WHAT’S

HOT

Looking at this Pocket

PC, you would be shocked that they have packed

so many features into it, it remains very slim

and neat.

  

Let’s talk size. Let’s do some comparisons with this

versus other Pocket PCs.

Device(no cover)	Size(inches)	Weight(grams | ounces)
Toshibae740	4.90″x 3.10″ x 0.60″	190| 6.70
Toshibae310	4.90″x 3.10″ x 0.40″	138| 4.90
Toshibae570 Series	4.90″x 3.00″ x 0.70″	181| 6.40
HPJornada 540 Series	5.20″x 3.10″ x 0.60″	223| 7.85
HPJornada 560 Series	5.20″x 3.01″ x 0.68″	173| 6.10
CompaqiPAQ 36xx/3760 (no sleeve)	5.11″x 3.28″ x 0.62″	186| 6.56
CompaqiPAQ 38xx (no sleeve)	5.28″x 3.30″* x 0.63″	184 | 6.49
CompaqiPAQ 36xx/3760 (CF Sleeve)	5.11″x 3.40″ x 1.05″	265| 9.35
CasioE-115/125	5.13″x 3.25″ x 0.75″	255| 9.0

  

As you can see from the table, the Toshiba e740

is only thicker than its brother, the e310.

BOX

CONTENTS

The e740 comes in its

familiar looking box (same style as the e310),

prominently showing off its wireless capabilities

right on the front.

You’ve

got a sturdy USB cradle, your standard warranty paperwork

& instruction manual, the slip case, and power

supply.

The

USB cradle that comes with the e740 is exactly

the same as the one that comes with the e310.

While I was reviewing the e310 earlier this

year I always wondered why there was some extra

space on the back side when the unit was inserted.

If only I knew that Toshiba would be foreshadowing

this up and coming XScale device. Either way,

as always, the included USB cradle is very sturdy

feeling.

The

e740 comes with a power adaptor which you have

the choice of plugging directly into the unit,

or as I have, into the back of the cradle allowing

for the power to pass through while syncing.

Many people complain about having a two-piece

power adaptor such as this, but I find it more

convenient because its connector is normal sized.

Unlike typical AC adaptors, it does not take

up half of my 6-outlet strip when I plug it

in. I’m sure you know what I mean.

In

the cradle, the e740 looks really nice. It puts

your Pocket PC at a fairly good angle to use

it from. The simplicity of the cradle adds a

certain quality of sleekness to the whole package.

THE

DEVICE

Check out the Toshiba e740.

When

looking at its side, the device appears to be

rather thin.

From

the back.

The

simple lines of the device are a good fit for

my hand, although I do admit the iPAQs curves

are a little easier on the palms.

All

in all, the Toshiba has a streamlined design,

so it lacks the certain contours that I find

appealing in a Pocket PC such as the iPAQ.

This

device will certainly lend itself to being brought

anywhere with you.

From

left to right: The AC Adaptor input, the sync

port, the hard reset switch, and the WiFi on/off

switch.

On

the left-hand side of the unit you will now

find the Infrared port, the soft reset inset

hole, and the batter release switch. That’s

right, the e740 has a removable battery!

The

left-hand side of the e740 contains your voice

recording button and an action switch. This

allows you to scroll up and down through your

data while selecting it all with one hand. The

voice recorder button is very sensitive, so

I had to disable it. I kept putting the Pocket

PC into record mode every time I removed it

from the included slip case.

The

right side of the device has no buttons, switches,

or releases.

As

you can see on the back of the e740 you can

find the removable battery cover.

Now

back onto the front. The round buttons make

for simple and clean lines, complimenting the

rest of the device. The joypad, although small,

is extremely easy to use, and exhibits very

smooth movement while using it. Application

buttons include (by default): Calendar, Tasks,

“Home” (I’ll describe this in the

software section), and Contacts.

Also

integrated into the front of the device is the external

speaker.

The

top of the e740. Going from left to right, you

can see the stylus silo, Compact Flash and Secure

Digital slots, and the headphone jack and microphone.

You will also notice the two symbols on the

left side of the top view, they mark the indicator

lights on the front of the unit, one for charging

and one to show that WiFi (wireless internet)

is enabled. Thank goodness Toshiba put the power

button on to the front of the device. The Toshiba

e310 had its power button on the top and it

was very painful to operate.

After

removing a few dummy cards, you are on your

way to using industry standard Secure Digital,

Multimedia, and Compact Flash cards. Like my

colleague Jared Miniman, I am not a big fan

of dummy cards… I find a simple slot cover

to be the best solution.

To

eject the Compact Flash card, you must simply

press the inset eject button with the stylus.

Speaking

of styli, the stylus on the device is relatively

lightweight, and feels rather cheap. As a point

of merit, it is of good length. (some Pocket

PC styli are often too short)

PICTORIALLY

- Toshiba e740 versus Toshiba e310 & Compaq

iPAQ 3870

I’m sure most of you are wondering

how this device measures up when compared to

other Pocket PCs. For the purposes of this review,

I matched the Toshiba against its brother, the

slim Toshiba e310 and a Compaq iPAQ 3870 Pocket

PC.

Side-by-side,

all the Pocket PCs are generally about the same

length. Be sure to note how much bigger the

iPAQ display is.

From

top to bottom: Toshiba e310, Toshiba e740, Compaq

iPAQ 3870.

And

on the left…

The

Toshibas really seem a lot smaller in this view.

And

finally from the bottom… a curve or two on

the bottom of the e740 would not hurt. It would,

at the very least, make the device seem more

slim.

All

in all, I find the design of the e740 to be

clean and elegant. If your primarily concerned

with making sure your Pocket PC actually fits

in your pocket, you wont have to worry with

this unit. Its just slim enough to slip in your

pocket undetected. Don’t move a muscle! Let’s

delve deeper into the workings of this device.

Read on!

General Discussion . . .

THE DISPLAY

  

Like all Pocket PC 2002′s, the e740 has a 16-bit

color display, capable of reproducing rather

bold colors without much banding. Most every

new PPC 2002 out there uses a 3.5″ (diagonally

measured) screen, with exception to the 3.8″

iPAQ 3600/3800. Like the others, the e740 also

uses the smaller screen size.

The Toshiba’s screen is really bright. It reminds

me a lot of the older iPAQ 37xx screens. This

little reflective LCD can really pump out the

brightness when you look directly on it. Contrast

however is another issue. I find that the display

is only satisfactory when it comes to viewing

photos, most colors get washed out.

The

screen on the e740 is front lighted (unlike

the iPAQ which is side lighted).

When

you open up the Screen control panel, you will note

“ClearType everywhere” option is right there.

Whenever you hear “LCD”, you should immediately

associate that with “ClearType.” Pocket

PC 2002′s support of this vertical resolution tripling

technology is better than ever!

The

“FrontLight” Control Panel applet lets you

set opt to have the frontlight turned off after a

certain amount of time, as well as the constant Brightness

Level for both battery and external power.

BUILD QUALITY

I suppose the best

thing to compare the e740 to is a lightweight

kitchen tile. It feels extremely sturdy. Though

“quality of feel” is difficult to

describe, the Toshiba is solid and rugged. When

I apply pressure to its side, it does not creak

or crack.

   

Also, it does not seem that Toshiba has any

problems with dust under their device screens.

I have examined my e740 thoroughly and have

not found any dust.

AUDIO

The volume of the e740

is sub-par. Even at max volume, it simply does

not have as much sound to put out as its competition.

Even the quality of the sound is not good, I

find that it distorts rather easily. This normally

would not be be a big deal, but the playback

of voice memos proved a challenge in crowded,

noisy areas.

  

Like other units, Toshiba has included a control

panel applet that automatically adjusts microphone

volume for changing conditions. Smart move Toshiba!

DEVICE

SPEED — LET THE XSCALE ROLL!

Continuing the speed tests

Jared and I have performed with other Pocket

PCs, I’ve updated the speed table to include

the results from the e740. All of these benchmark

results come from the Pocket PC application

VOBenchmark from Virtual

Office Systems. Each number represents how

many times within a given unit of time the specific

operation was able to be performed. Higher numbers

are better. Average of best three recordings

taken.

Test	iPAQH3860	HPJornada 568	Toshibae740	Toshibae310
CPU:Floating Point	8.05	8.05

12.65

8.02CPU:Integer15.5515.55

26.95

15.49Graphics:Bitmaps – BitBlt16.4924.20

77.81

57.45

Graphics:Bitmaps – StretchBlt1.101.100.250.35Graphics:Filled – Ellipse | Rectangle | Rounded Rectangle0.54| 0.56 | 0.521.26| 1.45 | 0.990.53| 5.34 | 0.482.32| 7.59 | 1.66Memory:Allocation8.718.95

11.47

8.68Memory:Fill0.540.43

0.95

0.39Memory:Move0.870.740.390.74Text2.223.431.483.60

  

Looks as though this XScale 400 MHz processor

really pays off in some performance areas.

MORE

SPEED TESTS

Now I know this

is upsetting news, but when it comes to doing

common tasks and using the Pocket PC OS, you

will not notice any performance improvement

between the Toshiba e740, and say, an iPAQ.

That’s simply because the Pocket PC 2002 OS

hasn’t been optimized for the XScale CPU speeds

at this point in time. Don’t worry, that will

all change soon, but not for a little while.Now

I don’t know about you, but sometimes benchmark

numbers aren’t enough to see how fast a Pocket

really is when compared to another. For the

purposes of this review, I have included two

video segments, a sort of challenge in each,

between the Toshiba e740 and a Compaq iPAQ 3870.

Click on each challenge to view it.

   

I don’t know about you, but sometimes benchmark

numbers aren’t enough to see how fast a Pocket

really is when compared to another. For the

purposes of this review, I have included two

video segments, a sort of challenge in each,

between the Toshiba e740 and a Compaq iPAQ 3870.

Click on each challenge to view it.

Challenge

#1

 

Which unit loads the game Lemonade, Inc. first?

2.27 MB, MPEG Movie

Victor: Toshiba e740

Challenge

#2

 

Which unit loads an Adobe Acrobat file first?

1.18 MB, MPEG Movie

Victor: Compaq iPAQ 3870

   

Well that was strange. The e740 seemed to dominate

in the first challenge, but in the second fell

way behind. This only goes to show that the

processor may be there, but most of the software

doesn’t even utilize it.

BATTERY

LIFE

People are getting

into PDAs more and more for the fact that they

are a go anywhere, lifestyle device. People

want to be able to carry their Pocket PCs around

and not have to worry about recharging and such.

After about an hour and a half of use with the

built-in WiFi on and backlight at full, I noticed

that the wireless connection had died. I checked

the battery and it was down to 55%. I would

say that is extremely poor, and immediately

thereafter the built-in WiFi seized to work

until I recharged the unit. With the WiFi switched

off, I began getting better life, around 5-6

hours with the backlight at full before getting

battery warnings. The good news is that the

e740′s battery is removable, and Toshiba is

planning the release of a large extended battery.

Hopefully this will allow for longer use with

the wireless LAN.

 

Too

much too soon? (3/4)

Toshiba

Corporation’s Pocket PC e740

June

17, 2002

Review by: Derek

Snyder, Chief Executive Officer

 

SOFTWARE

BUNDLE

   

When it comes to bundled software, Toshiba

has come a long way. They include a CD with

all the standard Microsoft apps, such as Microsoft

Money and Reader books. But in addition, they

have included a few programs of their own

both in the ROM and on the CD.

It

seems as though all Pocket PC 2002 devices

come with a Backup utility built into ROM.

Most of them like Toshiba Backup, give you

few options and consequently require a large

chunk of SD card space. This backup program

seems a little more dressed up than that included

with the previous Toshiba e570, while still

offering the same basic functionality.

Anytime

you see a Toshiba advertisement or photo for their

Pocket PC, you’ve probably seen the above “Home”

application. Basically, it’s a program that streamlines

the basic navigation of your Pocket into tabs and

icons, similar to that of a Palm device.

 

A

very simple utility, Home lets you add tabs for

classes of applications that you have installed

after purchasing your Pocket PC, and specify new

choices for each tab. Additionally, background images

are supported to make it look nicer.

You

can change the text color if the background you

chose is preventing you from seeing the application

names.

Adding

an application to a tab is a simple matter of clicking

and holding, then selecting “Add.”

The

coolest feature of this launcher application, which

is quite unique, is that you can click on the “Running”

tab and see currently open (or smart minimized)

applications.

CONTROL

PANEL

In addition to some new icons

in Control Panel, Toshiba spruced up the look of

their Power control panel, while offering quite

accurate battery consumption progress indicators.

Some

new icons

New

look for the Power control panel, notice how

it gives you an exact percent of power remaining.

Very nice!

Despite

the fact that it is becoming a common trend

on other Pocket PC 2002′s, there is no user-flashable

chunk of ROM (6 or 8 MB) on the e740. This

is not so bad because this Pocket PC does

have several expansion slots, but it does

seem to put Toshiba a step below the competition

in this area.

MORE

SOFTWARE GOODIES…

As a nice bonus, Toshiba

also bundled some extra software with their

e740.

Adobe

Acrobat Reader

The

e740 also came with a fully featured version

of IA Presenter as part of the “ATI Presentation

Pack”. Toshiba is planning the release

of an accessory that plugs into the bottom

of this e740 and provides for an RGB monitor

output so that you can present on the go.

Neat idea!

IA

Presenter fully supports Microsoft PowerPoint

presentations right down to the transitions!

WIRELESS

INTERNET – 802.11B

Now I’m sure you are

all dying to here about this unprecedented

feature. The Toshiba e740 does indeed have

fully featured 802.11b compliant wireless

built right in. It does not use up a card

slot, nor does it require an expensive sleeve.

When I read about this, it made me really

excited to get one of these. This is a huge

step towards a truly always connected device,

however there is one thing holding it back

on this device: poor implementation.

When

you first turn on the device you will notice

a wireless status icon next to your volume

control. You will notice the wave-like status

bars next to the icon. Do not be fooled, that

icon is static, it will not ever give you

any indication of your reception. If you tap

on the icon you have the option of turning

the Wireless LAN on or off. When you tap it

on, the devices LED light comes on.

If

you want to check the details of your connection,

you will have to dive into the control panel

and click on the Wireless LAN Utility icon.

I found this to be really inconvenient. Now

this normally would not be a problem, because

I usually get excellent 802.11b reception

around the office with my iPAQ. This is not

true for the e740 at all. The connection is

always flaky and not consistent, and the device

give no warning that it has no connection,

it will simply sit there, fooling the user

into thinking there is a live connection.

If the battery level drops to a certain point,

the WiFi begins to cut in and out and eventually

stops working all together. As far as range,

let’s just say you wont be able to go more

than a few rooms away from your access point.

Why such bad range you ask? My theory: internal

antenna. Had Toshiba included some sort of

pop-out antenna, all this hardship may have

been averted. The wireless connection on this

unit, in my opinion, is not ready for prime

time.

You

must click on the Scan tab to get an exact

signal percentage.

 

Too

much too soon? (4/4)

Toshiba

Corporation’s Pocket PC e740

June

17, 2002

Review by: Derek

Snyder, Chief Executive Officer

 

HELP

SUPPORT

Windows CE devices

are a new thing for Toshiba. So one can only

guess how their support will be. They have

always had a good track record when it came

to supporting their notebook line, so we can

only hope they will extend that into their

handhelds. Looking at the e740, I can imagine

that their tech support department will be

flooded with calls from people trying to get

the Wireless LAN to work. Hopefully they will

release some software patch to make the process

smoother.

BUGS AND

WISHES

   

There are two major areas of concern

for the Toshiba. The first of which is the

built-in wireless connectivity. It simply

is not reliable. There are far too many bugs.

The second area of concern is directly related,

which is of course is the extremely poor battery

life I got when using the built-in wireless.

PURCHASING

   

The

Toshiba e740 is not currently available to

the public as of yet. They have been rumored

to be available in certain CompUSA’s, though.

When they become available, the price should

be set to

$599.99

street.

Slim,

stylish exterior

 

• 
  

Built-in

 

SD and Compact Flash card slot

 

• 
  

Built-in

 

802.11b Wireless LAN

 

• Solidbuild quality
• Verybright display with fully adjustable brightness
• 16-bitcolor, 400 MHz XSCALE processor (fastestclockspeed ever on a Pocket PC to date),

  32 MB Flashable ROM

 

CONS

• 
  

Battery

life is horrible when using Wireless LAN

 

• 
  

Screen

 

needs more contrast (or at least a contrast

control)

 

• 
  

  Built-in

 

Wireless is unreliable

 

• Nouser-flashable ROM

 

OVERALL

IMPRESSION

Overall,

this unit gives me many reasons to switch

from my iPAQ. For someone that wants a good

mix between organization, fun, connectivity,

and raw power, the Toshiba e740 may just be

the device that he/she is looking for. It

has all the features you’d come to expect

from a Pocket PC 2002 device, along with some

that none of the Pocket PCs today have.

If

you want a Pocket PC that has an extreme depth

of features, but don’t mind if some of those

features don’t always work as they should,

the Toshiba may be the PDA of your dreams,

and that is the bottom line.

 

PROS

• 
  

Slim,

stylish exterior

 

• 
  

  Built-in

 

SD and Compact Flash card slot

 

• 
  

  Built-in

 

802.11b Wireless LAN

 

• Solidbuild quality
• Verybright display with fully adjustable brightness
• 16-bitcolor, 400 MHz XSCALE processor (fastestclockspeed ever on a Pocket PC to date),

  32 MB Flashable ROM

 

CONS

• 
  

  Battery

life is horrible when using Wireless LAN

 

• 
  

  Screen

 

needs more contrast (or at least a contrast

control)

 

• 
  

  Built-in

 

Wireless is unreliable

 

• Nouser-flashable ROM

 

OVERALL

IMPRESSION

Overall,

this unit gives me many reasons to switch

from my iPAQ. For someone that wants a good

mix between organization, fun, connectivity,

and raw power, the Toshiba e740 may just be

the device that he/she is looking for. It

has all the features you’d come to expect

from a Pocket PC 2002 device, along with some

that none of the Pocket PCs today have.

If

you want a Pocket PC that has an extreme depth

of features, but don’t mind if some of those

features don’t always work as they should,

the Toshiba may be the PDA of your dreams,

and that is the bottom line.