Toshiba E740

• Reviewed by: curly9702

  Strengths: Wi-Fi, reasonable price ($192)

  Weaknesses: Seldom bogus battery power reading, Center button does not work great

  Overall: Great purchase! Have been using it for over 5 months and no big problems. Installed a 256MB card and have been doing backups to it. I also use the card to store mp3's, etc... I mainly use this ppc for personal and business (calendar, contacts, notes, documents, etc...). Problems: I get a low battery reading about every other month, even seconds after ppc was fully charged. The center/direction button does not work properly with games.

• Reviewed by: Brandon_R

  Strengths: Integrated WiFi AND two memory slots, metal case, compact compared to other PocketPC's with similar features, reasonable price

  Weaknesses: Record button placement

  Overall: First, the bad. The record button is in a somewhat bad location where it is easy hit when taking it out of the somewhat disappointing leather case. It would be nice to have some sort of cover that would flip from the front side to the side like on some Palms so you're not left carrying your case or having a rubber cover dangling on your PDA like some of the new iPaqs. Those are pretty trivial complaints though. Other than that, it's great. With the exception of hardware defects, almost all of the complaints mentioned by other users (like data loss if the battery runs out and ActiveSync connection interruptions) are software problems that are easily solved with the latest ROM update on Toshiba's web site. And the new WiFi drivers make WiFi setup easier. As for Microsoft ActiveSync, any incompatibilities with Windows NT and/or Norton software are Microsoft and/or Symantec's fault, not Toshiba's. I am using Norton SystemWorks with no problems what so ever. I couldn't ask for more from a PDA. Well, actually, that's not entire true. As mentioned by someone else, the e740 isn't the greatest PocketPC for playing games that require you to press more than one button at a time. That's the one thing I really wish Toshiba would fix but if you are content playing games such as Solitaire, you should be fine. Over all, this is a GREAT product. The price (which has come down quite a bit) is more than worth the vast amount of features that you get.

• Reviewed by: sanderkallshian

  Strengths: Integrated wireless, nice color screen, simple interface.

  Weaknesses: Battery doesn't last horribly long.

  Overall: I really enjoy my e740, and I haven't had any problems with it so far. It has space for expansion and the integrated wireless is very easy to use.

• Reviewed by: wrwhiteside

  Strengths: MP3, Color, does PDA tasks well (is that good?)

  Weaknesses: Battery, usefulness, backup

  Overall: Right to the point: I left the e740 in a friends car for no more than 4 days. When I retrieved the PDA, EVERYTHING was gone, and the system reset to its default configuration. My contacts, appointments, and added software were gone. After consulting tech support, this is normal and will happen if the battery is not charged. I don't know if this is normal in other PDA's, but to me it is a technology flaw. Of course, I could have used the backup feature, but thats not the point. I'm not talking about leaving the PDA without a charge for months, I'M TALKING 4 DAYS!. Anyways, that brings up the next point: short battery life. As I have seen from the other reviews, this is a common problem. Bottom line: I FEEL LIKE AN IDIOT because if I would have read these reviews, which everyone should, I would not have bought this PDA. Instead, I listened to C-net review on it, which ratted it good. Get this: that same review, as I just checked it, has lowered its rating on the device. Funny, I really don't know how much I will be trusting C-net now. To their credit, atleast they did lower it, however, they say nothing about the short battery life and the fact that YOU COULD LOSE EVERYTHING after only a few days. LOL. Pays to listen to other people who have actually used the product.

• Reviewed by: haftaski

  Strengths: pocket pc software (do not need to learn a new OS) Color Screen - very clear

  Weaknesses: BEWARE! DOES NOT WORK WITH NT!! Heavy. Poor ergonomics. Battery life (or, shall I say, battery death?) Active Sync does not work with Norton Anti Virus without lots of tweaking.

  Overall: I finally dewcided to ditch my leather appointment book and buy a PDA. My main intention was to sync to my PC at work so I can keep track of my schedule. Unfortunately, I have Windows NT at work. NT does not accept USB connections. Even with a USB-Serial connector, this would not work. Active Sync does not work with Windows NT. The handwriting recognition is pretty cool, but make sure the arrow is pointing up, or you will find that you will spend many needless hours on the phone with tech support. Just make sure the little arrow is pointing up if you sue "transcriber". The set up for transcriber is easy enough. Also - NEVER, REPEAT NEVER, REPEAT AGAIN - NEVER call tech toshiba tech support during "off hours." Call during normal US business and early evening hours. Otherwise, you will get people in India reading from the manual, rather than people who know what they are talking about. (see above transcriber issues.) Norton Internet Security has conflicts with Active Sync. You need to do major tweaking to get it to work. Toshiba is no help - they tell you to call Symantec. Symantec is helpful, if you are geekily inclined. I am not. My "workaround" is to shut off Norton's Firewall while synching. Just remember to turn Firewall back on the second you are done. For me, this is the most expensive game of Tetris I have ever purchased. That is preety much what I end up using this for.