.: Big review of Toshiba e750 WiFi

Author - Pavel Koza :: User rating -   (56 votes) :: Views - 29076 May 10, 2004 :: Although Toshiba is no newcomer to the Pocket PC market, none of its models has been very successful. Toshiba e750 with an integrated Wi-Fi module could perhaps change that. It offers a large, good-quality display, above-standard memory for applications and data, two slots for expansion cards, and an integrated Wi-Fi (or Bluetooth, depending on the model). This detailed review will tell you about its features and capabilities.

I of course regret that, but some manufacturers are reluctant to provide their device for review purposes. It was Dell and Asus, as well as Toshiba, whose devices I am unable to obtain for testing in a reasonably short time after they are introduced. It may be because Toshiba does not have a direct representation in our country, but its devices do not sell well here either. I was eventually able to put my hands on this “new” Toshiba to test thanks to the help from the firm Autocont which bought the device for me, lent it to me for the review, helped with upgrading it to Windows Mobile 2003 and let me have the device for a relatively long time, showing a great patience. This article summarizes my experience and findings. Let me just add that e750 is available with Bluetooth, too, but Toshiba does not offer a model combining Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

What is in the box?

The box, sporting the typical Toshiba colours (red, white and black) contains everything you would expect from such a device.

• Toshiba e750 Wi-Fi
• Li-Ion battery 1000 mAh
• AC adapter and power cable
• Synchronisation USB cradle
• Case
• Stylus
• CD-ROM with Outlook 2002 and bonus apps
• Quick start guide
• User manual (English)
• Warranty information
• End-User Licence Agreement for the software

We will examine the device itself later. Now, let’s take a look at the accessories. First of all, there is a USB cradle. No eye-catcher, but its convenience compensates for a lack of attractiveness. It occupies little space on the desk. Having a (probably) cast-iron bottom, it is pretty heavy and will not “travel” around. Toy should not get confused by the forgotten inscription "For Pocket PC e740 / e310 series", the cradle will work with this model without any problems.

The AC adapter comes in two parts. The size is acceptable, the cable is detachable. This comes handy especially when travelling, because the connector is compatible with that of electric shavers and tape recorders. That’s all, the output parameters and connector are the same as those of all new iPAQs (and possibly other devices, too), i.e. 5 V and 2 A.

The case is also more convenient than elegant. It is made of plastic resembling leather. On the front, there is an inscription TOSHIBA. Its design is in line with Toshiba tradition – two pieces sewn together along three sides. The outer dimensions are perhaps a little too big. The most sensitive part of the device – the display – is protected by a rectangle of a tough material. The case provides sufficient protection but if you want to impress people around, buy a different one:)

The package contains two CD-ROMs. One of them carries the usual cocktail of applications provided by Microsoft and a few bonus applications. The other contains a small Czech localisation (i.e. the possibility to use diacritics). Then there is a very detailed manual (English only), a quick start guide (in Czech), and a few other leaflets and brochures. The box contains nothing more. Let’s move on to describing the device.

Design

The design and size of Toshiba e750 is derived from an older model, e740, but does not differ much from the 3xx series either. The device looks sturdy although it is made of plastic (which has a silver finish resembling metal). It is one of the bigger devices, mainly due to an exceptionally large display. If you are fed up with round shapes, you will certainly love this Toshiba:) You can see for yourself in the photos. The exact dimensions are 78.7 x 124.4 x 15.2 millimetres, the weight is 196.5 grams (including battery). From the practical point of view, the rectangular shape makes little difference, although I find the more round devices to have a slightly better grip.

Besides a large 96-mm display, there is the usual set of buttons and indicators on the front panel. Under the display, there are four user-definable keys for fast access to the Calendar, Tasks, Contacts and a bonus application called Home. In the middle there is a four-directional control – unlike those in other devices, this one is completely flat with four miniature, from the functionality point of view insignificant depressions. It is not very precise, unfortunately, which matters mainly when playing games. Maybe it needs a little more practice... What was worse though, support for multiple pressing of several buttons is not fully supported, so that it was quite hard for me to play action games. The speaker is located on the right side under the Calendar button, which is not very fortunate either, because when you play a game, you cover it with your thumb most of the time, so that the sound is rather muted. Over the display, there is the main switch and two LED indicators, all in a thin black strip. The left-hand indicator shines orange or green to indicate charging and alarm, respectively; the left-hand one indicates Wi-Fi activity.

The back has no interesting features but for the battery compartment.

A look from above will reveal a CompactFlash type II slot and an SD/MMC slot (both are filled with a dummy card). While the SD/MMC slot is the usual click-in type, you need to press a button to eject the CF card. There is also a stylus shaft, a stereo headphones connector and microphone there, as well as an integrated (read “invisible”) Wi-Fi antenna.

On the bottom side, there is a 26-pin power and data connector (it connects not only the cradle but also expansion modules), a hardware reset button and a Wi-Fi switch.

And finally, the sides. While there is absolutely nothing on the right side, on the left, there is a sound record button, a three-way scroll button (up, down, activate), an infrared port, a soft reset button, and a battery compartment latch. The stylus is made of one piece of plastic.

Parameters

The parameters do not rank this Toshiba to the absolute top, but it is not average either. The device is powered by the most common Intel PXA255 XScale processor running at 400 MHz. You can prolong the battery life by reducing the processor speed by half to 200 MHz. It is interesting that the change does not require a reset, but it is not absolutely smooth, either – after you confirm the change, the device switches to the suspend mode for about 3 second, so that ActiveSync disconnects, for example. The device offers an average 64 MB of RAM, over 62 MB out of which is available for your applications and data. The operating system occupies a 32-MB CMOS Flash ROM. Thos who want to keep their sensitive data safe can use another 32 MB of NAND-type Flash ROM which is protected against power failure.

If you are crazy about the quality of display like me, I have good news for you – this display is really well done. Technically, it is a transflexive colour TFT display with a usual resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 65k colours. It is slightly less bright than the almost perfect display in iPAQ h2210, on the other hand, it is noticeably larger – an excellent 96 millimetres diagonally, which is comparable to iPAQs h3000 and h5000 series. The black borders around the display are quite narrow and look very aesthetic. The display is so large that there is no need to make it look larger artificially. Most importantly, unlike many other new Pocket PCs that offer a more or less intensive yellow tint, the white colour is really white in this Toshiba even at an angle. You can adjust brightness only manually at four levels separately for battery and mains operation; we will have to wait some more time before Toshiba implements automatic brightness adjustment. The touch layer is evenly sensitive all around the display, the device reacts to the slightest touch. And one interesting technical point - Toshiba uses a graphic chip from ATI with 384 KB of video RAM.

Those who use their Pocket PCs as a portable MP3 player will be satisfied, although there is some room for improvement. There is no problem with the audio output (a 3.5 mm headphones jack), which is very good and I could not trace the slightest hiss in my Koss Porta Pro headphones that I use for testing. What I missed was more different options to adjust the sound. In my view, a mere volume setting, albeit separate for the speaker, and each channel of the headphones, is rather poor these days. And when speaking about the volume, I should add that while the headphones output is strong enough even for noisy environments, the built-in speaker could be a little louder. The low volume is compensated for by good quality of playback - Toshiba e750 is one of the best devices I have tested in this respect. And when talking about sound, we must mention recording as well. It was not as good – when recording at a close distance, the sound was OK due to automatic adjustment but when I tried recording sound from several metres, Toshiba’s performance was rather embarrassing. It looks like this Toshiba is capable of recording using a headset, too, but I do not have any to try.

Now, onto another category – communication capabilities. The main communication link is, of course, a USB cradle. We should note that this Toshiba showed one of the fastest data transmission speeds in benchmark tests. Like most other Pocket PC device, Toshiba e750, too, can connect wirelessly by an infrared beam at a standard speed of 115.2 kbps. What is perhaps most interesting for potential users is the integrated Wi-Fi module, which in combination with the features of the Windows Mobile 2003 operating system, easily connects the device to a corporate network or the Internet. Toshiba has its own utility indicating Wi-Fi activity, as well as a significantly more advanced certificate management tool called Toshiba Enroller. The fact that the antenna is integrated does not affect sensitivity to signal (my impression, I have not measured it). If you need to make sure that Wi-Fi remains inactive (e.g. on a plane), all you need to do is to toggle a switch at the bottom of the device. I should add that Toshiba also offers a model with an integrated Bluetooth module. Unfortunately, there is no model with both modules.

And finally, let’s talk about the battery, as usual. The device ships with a 1000-mAh replaceable Lithium-Ion battery, which kept Toshiba alive for 4 hours in my standard test (full backlight, repeated manipulation with documents and deactivated Wi-Fi), which is slightly better than average. If you reduce the processor speed and/or decrease the intensity of the backlight, you can gain some extra battery time. On the other hand, active Wi-Fi increases power consumption. There is an integrated backup battery and its capacity is sufficient to preserve the memory contents while replacing the main battery. There is a convenient and unique option to set a warning for a certain battery level.

Expandability

Toshiba does not offer any special accessories, so this will be pretty quick. There is both a CompactFlash slot type II, which supports any type of CF card (both memory and I/O), and an MMC/SD slot, which also supports both memory and I/O cards. Toshiba offers as SD Bluetooth card, for example. In other words, this device offers the widest possible expandability options using standard cards.

Software

The offer of bonus apps is rather poor in Toshiba. As far as I remember, no Toshiba model offered more than the standard applications shipping with the OS (in this case Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Premium Edition) and a few applets I mentioned earlier, a simple application launcher and task manager called Home, and quite a well done backup utility called DataBackup.

The accompanying CD contains usual applications and a set of utilities to convert Toshiba into a powerful presentation tool. First, it is two applications from IA Style (IA Screen Mirror and IA Presenter), and a utility from Toshiba that makes it possible to communicate wirelessly with Toshiba data projectors TLP-T500/T501 and TLP-T700/701.

Pricing

The price is quite adequate for such a device. At present, you can buy e750 for some U.S. $399.

Benchmarks

I use Spb Benchmark for a complete performance test. Having reviewed several new Pocket PCs, I will compare them. If you are interested in the detailed results, the complete .XML file is available for download here: Toshiba e750 (2003, 400MHz) [2KB]. If you copy the contents of the file to the form on this page (click on Add device), you can compare the results with other devices.

More links

• Toshiba e750 main page
• Detailed specification of the device
• Comments from users, add yours

Related links

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• Big review of Dell Axim X3i
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• Big review of Acer n10

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