Reviews for Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

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

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

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.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: Built-in Wireless networking, beautiful screen, great operating system

Weakness: voice recording button sticks out and can cause your pocket pc to turn on in your pocket, stylus is hard to take out, can't play games because you can only press one button at a time.

The e740 is a great piece of hardware for those who do not have a lot of money to spend. I can play DivX movies with hardly any dropped frames. I have used my e740 to surf the internet, chat using MSN messanger, and organize my life. I have no complaints about this pocket pc because it has taken my life and career to the next level.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: WiFi works well, not much other than that.

Weakness: Who knows, it had to be shipped back and all we know is that is was "something behind the screen"

I purchased this product for my fiancee in April 2003 and paid over $700 including the "extended warranty", what a joke. In May, the product stopped syncing, then the screen went. We shipped it back to Toshiba. After a week and a half of no call to find out the status, upon calling Toshiba ourselves, we were told "the problem is behind the screen, which wasn't damaged before we shipped it, it wasn't covered under the warranty or $70 extended warranty and it would cost $129.00 to be fixed." When the product was returned, there was no invoice with a description of the problem or the parts that my fiancee requested be shipped back with. And I would bet a years pay that if it happens again, we'll be told that they have no record of the previous repair.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: WiFI, Sd and CF expansion, replacement battery

Weakness: Uncomfortable to hold for long periods, could use a more ergonomic shape

This PDA is great. Bought the ibm 1 gig cf hard drive and listen to CD's on long airplane flights. Use the hi capacity battery so power is never an issue but it does make it kind of thick. I have dropped it on hard floors a couple of times and never had a problem, didn't even dent the case. WIFI works great. Have used it in several airline lounges for email. Bottom line is this unit hasn't been babied and works great.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: Metal outer casing can take a beating if needed. All the major bells-and-whistles built in (802.11b, CF and SD)

Weakness: Poor support from Toshiba. No upgrade available to PPC2003...

I picked up two of these about a month ago for a good price. The first had to be returned due to a faulty 802.11b adapter. At first I thought it was a configuration problem, but after a week it just cut out completely. The second has been working flawlessly.

The voice memo button is in a bad place that causes you to inadvertantly start up a voice memo every time it is pulled from the included slip-case. Battery time is OK. About 3 hours when using it to play back video clips (volume up and backlight on). Integrated wireless means not having to buy a seperate adapter for either of the media slots.

Toshiba, however, needs to stop abandoning its customers who buy their products. No PPC2003 update is available for this model. I don't mean an update isn't available for free...It's just not available, period. The Toshiba help(less) desk technician told me that if I didn't like it I could return the device within 30 days of buying it and get the e750 with PPC2003 -- at a cost of $300 more than the e740!

Other than not being able to play files encoded with Windows Media Player 9 (requires PPC2003 to do), this one serves my purposes for the time being. However, I will think twice about buying another Toshiba handheld unless they show better judgement in supporting OS updates for their products.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: Toshiba product support

Weakness: Unreliable battery life.

This little number rocks! Although some kinks are still being ironed out, the internal wireless worked right out of the box. There was a problem of occasionally waking up in the morning & finding it with no power left, but since I can backup to flash card, I'm all set. Love the phone support--very helpful. And the price is right!

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

This is an excellent PDA, The only reason the reviews were bad below (2) was because that was before the battery recall and firmware upgrades. Once you do that, it runs perfectly and I have had ZERO problems with this excellent product. I have an external orinoco card, I use this for wardriving. I use ministumbler with attached yagi antenna and couldn't be happier. It's a perfect size, and looks sleek. Highly Recommended product.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

This is an excellent PDA, about equivalent to the Compaq Ipaq 3975 (which I believe is the newest model at this time) The only reason the reviews were bad below (2) was because that was before the battery recall and firmware upgrades. Once you do that, it runs perfectly and I have had ZERO problems with this excellent product. I have an external orinoco card, I use this for wardriving. I use ministumbler with attached yagi antenna and couldn't be happier. It's a perfect size, and looks sleek. Highly Recommended product.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

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

Weakness: Battery doesn't last horribly long.

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.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

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

Weakness: Record button placement

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.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: WiFi (if you need it), Dual flash card slots, 64 Meg RAM, 400 MHz processor 9if you need it as well)

Weakness: Bulky, Heavy, many design flows, VERY WEAK battery, Made in Taiwan (no offense but Japanese made stuff is more quality)

What is wrong with Toshiba!!!
I also owned an e310, very sleek, light. But this bulky e740 is full of design flows. Let's start from the record button on the left side: it is so easy to turn the device on by mistale and dry the battery, you have to re-program the buttons. Battery is very weak. With WiFi is on (by default) it runs out in one hour. They should have try to imitate e310 when designing this. Screen is too small. There are USB problems. The stylus will hurt your fingers every time you try to take it out of its hole.
Buy it if you find it for around $300, it is not worthed more than that. Trust me, this is my third Pocket PC, second Toshiba.
Toshiba sould start producing its Pocket PCs in Japan again and get rid of that 90s style if it wants to sell.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: Colorful screen. Typical PocketPC strengths

Weakness: Everything else.

This PDA has turned into a very expensive piece of desktop junk. It worked fine for three months, then developed a screen problem. Once returned for service, it has been back to Toshiba service regularly every other month because it hard resets with no warning, erasing every bit of data that I have recorded. When I say without warning, I mean it. The battery is uniformly at 75% or greater and I just take it out of my pocket and it resets. Sometimes it resets three or four times before stabilizing. Of course, by that time, I have lost everything I have recorded. This has happened to me a couple of times on trips where I was relying on the device to maintain notes and my schedule and contacts. Naturally, when it resets, everything is gone. What I find even more unfortunate is Toshiba's response: "Oh, my. That isn't supposed to happen. Send it back and we'll check it out." As I said, this has happened four times, and I become increasingly more frustrated each time. I CANNOT recommend this piece of junk to anyone who needs to rely on a PDA to carry important information.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

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

Weakness: Battery, usefulness, backup

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.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: color screen, small size, reasonably fast performance

Weakness: Terrible battery life and lack of hard cover.

Simply Awful! The packaging isn't wrong where it says the e740 runs for hours. What they meant was 1 hour sure, 2 hours maybe, 3 hours never. It evens totally discharges in 2 days when turned off and sitting idle! Mine has even had the factory recall repair and it still sucks!

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

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

Weakness: 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.

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.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: WiFi, color screen, dual slot memory cards.

Weakness: Battery life, poor button design, awful restore capability, no upgrade to Windows Mobile 2003, poor Toshiba support.

I bought this device to replace my Handspring Visor... what a mistake! Because I wanted a color screen I figured it would be easy to make the jump to Pocket PC too but that wasn't so easy. I ended up re-keying all my phone numbers and address because no compatability and there are very few decent freeware programs for Pocket PC as compared to the great line of free or shareware Palm OS products out there.

The WiFi is cool but I needed to update my Linksys wireless AP to use it, doesn't take asci WEP codes so have to enter into hex. Also drains battery faster and doesn't seem to work with only 50%-60% or less of battery remaining (I got the POWERCHK program to have battery life in a bar on the Start menu).

Button design is terrible... I turned off the record button to not accidentally start that, but you still can't grasp the device in a natural way where you don't hit buttons you don't mean to. Battery cover switch is easy to move half-way or more, which will stop the device from coming on.

I wanted to back-up the device to the CF card (in addition to the desktop), which does work, but it was impossible to successfully restore back from that so was worthless. Toshiba tech support was no help either after several pleas for help. Restore from the desktop brings back contacts and task etc, however it does not restore parts of some programs or their registration codes so you have to start from scratch with that... keep you programs handy.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: WiFi built in.

Weakness: Poor battery life, Fragile components. Software incompatabilities.

I bought the e740 based on Toshiba's reputation as a computer provider. I've had it for 6 monthas now and it has had to be sent in for service 3 times (under the guarantee) The second time it was serviced they replaced my screen, without asking permission, because it had a "scratch", I couldn't see a scaratch and I always use screen protectors.
I use my pda in business (I'm a pharmacist) all day long to review drug data bases, and I need something with long battery life, and stone cold stability. The e740 couldn't provide that.
I recently purchased a Dell Axim 5, and so far, it is great. I bought the hi-capacity battery and haven't had to use it yet.
BTW, Dell Premiere Tech support has been great.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: Built-in CompactFlash Type II & SD slots. WiFi connects to my home network, which is an awesome feature.

Weakness: Toshiba got it right after the recall they had. You can check the serial number on your Toshiba with the numbers on the Toshiba website to see if yours is one of the recalls.

This pda has all the bells and whistles aside from being a pda/phone (which I would never want). This pda has more features on it than the top of the line Compaq Ipaq for a couple hundred dollars less!! It's more compact than the Ipaq too and doesn't require any "sleeves". It's got built in Compact Flash type I or II and built in Secure Digital slot. Built in WiFi and you can get an adaptor for if you want Bluetooth, but I think WiFi will become the standard.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: Compact Flash and SD Memory slots, nice screen that can take a beating, heavy duty construction.

Weakness: Wireless works poorly (off and on), Toshiba is horrible about updating giltches in hardware and software, activesync disconnects all the time without warning, battery problems, and button problems

I am not happy with Toshiba compared to other handhelds I have had. Toshiba does not keep track of problems and supply updates. If you e-mail them with a problem, tech support with e-mail you back, maybe, with a suggestion stating that you should find a way around what you are doing even if it doesn't get desired results. Example: the buttons stop working. Toshiba "solution": do a soft reset on the device, if that doesn't work, do a hard reset and reload all of the data you just lost. In short, too many problems with no solutions. I was lucky and the store let me return mine and get another brand.

Toshiba did put out an update, finally, after I returned my PDA. I hope it solves all the problems that I had with it like:

1. Buttons not working
2. Battery discharges and backup battery is unreliable so data is lost
3. Activesync disconnects from unit whenever the battery becomes fully charged, and at other random times
4. Wireless doesn't work when you first turn it on, you have to reset your device, sometimes several times.

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740 PDA

Strengths: WiFi built in

Weakness: heavy, dull looking, useless buttons, stylus difficult to get out, screen not bright enough, low color resolution, slippery, super heavy docking station

WiFi built-in was the only reason I bought it. Overall, it works fine. The wireless networking was working well. Very little help though when trying to figure out how things work. Case is super heavy and the PDA itself is very slipery. Screen is small and not bright color (low res.). Would avoid as much as possible. Not recommended unless you are into demonstrating how WiFi works in a presentation.

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Toshiba e740 Pocket PC Review

Toshiba is a relative newcomer to the US PDA market. The e310 which came out a few months before the e740 is being strongly marketed and sold through many retail channels and we expect the same of the e740. This is the first Pocket PC with the new XScale processor running at 400 MHz to hit the US market. Previous Pocket PC 2002 PDAs have 206 MHz StrongARM processors. Note that the Toshiba e750,...

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Toshiba Pocket PC e740

If you want to see what direction the Pocket PC is going, then you want to check out the Toshiba e740. This is the first Pocket PC to come with integrated Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) wireless connectivity....

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