Toshiba Pocket PC E800 PDA

Toshiba Pocket PC E800

June 7, 2004

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• Reviewed by: lgmayka

  Strengths: VGA screen. Built-in Wi-Fi. CF and SD slots. 128MB RAM, 32MB internal flash ROM. Low eBay pricing. Overclockable processor. No-charge upgrade to Windows Mobile 2003 SE.

  Weaknesses: WM2003SE often runs out of system resources, requiring reboot. Many games cannot run in VGA.

  Overall: The e800 was the pioneer of VGA-screen Pocket PCs. For its price (less than $300 on eBay, new), it's a gem. You simply can't get any other Pocket PC meeting *all* of its specs for less than $500: VGA, Wi-Fi, CF and SD slots, 128MB RAM, etc.I run OzVGA for a total-VGA experience, except when playing games like Baseball Addict and Monopoly (which can't handle the 640x480 touch-coordinates). I also overclock when necessary using Pocket Hack Master 2004, for a 33% speedup. I always keep a 1GB card with programs and data in the SD slot; I then use the CF slot for GPS, Bluetooth, wired Ethernet, dialup modem, or full-length DivX movies. Note that a program like PocketDVD can convert any commercial DVD into a 640x480 DivX file. BetaPlayer can then play such DivX files at full 640x480, 30fps, on the Toshiba e800 Pocket PC.The best support for the e800 is on Internet forums. There you will read of the e800's greatest weakness: its operating system! Apparently, Windows Mobile 2003 SE has strict, arbitrary (not grounded in hardware) limitations on what it calls System Resources--rather like old Windows 98 and ME. The main system resource hogs are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, extra keyboards, Avantgo, and BetaPlayer. Four or five of these cannot coexist at all simultaneously, and any three of them can do so only with great fragility. Otherwise, I have to close or turn off one in order to use another; or, quite often, I simply reboot. Occasionally, reboot is unsuccessful until I switch off Wi-Fi physically. (Apparently WM2003SE has difficulty with too much initialization during the boot sequence.)In summary, the Toshiba e800 itself is a wonderful device, but its amazing features tend to push Windows Mobile beyond the practical limits of WM's design.

• Reviewed by: Dexterium

  Strengths: Very nice screen, Jog dial, Toshibas included software, nice blue casing, nice screen, lots of buttons, CF and SD slot, very nice amount of included memory, did I mention the greatest PDA screen?

  Weaknesses: Toshiba support, really bad stylus, weak housing on unit, very expensive (but you get what you pay for)

  Overall: Toshiba seems to have this problem with thier company, its called support, and thiers is lacking, when I had this PDA, the top right of the unit started to crack, so when I phoned Toshiba Canada (This a US model) they said I had to go to thier US support, and when I phoned the US line I had they said I had to go to Canada support, after being bumped between the lines a few times one of them suggested I send it to a friend who lives in the US and let them do it. Quite unfortunetly I knew no one who lives in the US so I had to sell it and get a tungsten T3, and a few other PDAs along the way. -Dexterium

• Reviewed by: nlreyes68

  Strengths: The VGA screen is awesome. The speed in fantastic. Packed with useful software and applications. WiFi is an absolutely wonderful feature.

  Weaknesses: The stylus is very small and a bit uncomfortable to use.Have to download software to use the VGA in all applications.

  Overall: This PocketPC is probably the best there is at this point in time. Although the price is on the high side, you get a lot of satisfaction from using it. I would recommend this device to anybody who would like functionality and convenience.