Rating: 
Summary: Expensive, but worth it.
Review: Having owned several PDAs (Sharp OZ-9500, 2 Palm OS Devices, a Cassiopeia A-11 (Windows CE HPC), and a Cassiopeia E-125) I find it difficult to become terribly excited when an new model hits the market. This unit is an exceptionIn a nutshell, the e740 lives up to its claims without a hitch. Battery life is excellent with the WiFi disabled, and acceptable with it enabled (I haven't complely drained the battery and have ran the 802.11b and the frontlight concurrently for over 2 hours at a time), DHCP works nicely and I have no issues migrating between multiple access points. Wireless synchronization seems to be quicker than through the USB cradle, and eliminates the need to buy multiple cradles if a WAP is available. The screen is on par with the iPaq, wonderful outdoors, but is not quite as crisp INDOORS as my Casio E-125. (The E-125's screen is completely unreadable in bright sunlight) The Windows Terminal Services client is an interesting novelty, but its usefulness is a bit limited due to screen size. It could, however be useful to connect and kill an errant process on an XP box remotely... The performance is excellent, though it does not appear to be twice as fast as it's StrongARM competitors. Windows Media Player video is far superior on this device than any others, but not quite up to par with the claimed 30FPS from the ATI description of this unit's internal video hardware. (This might simply be that WMP does not support the video accelleration). The unit seems sturdy, and is primarily metal. The application buttons are embossed, and well placed. The stylus is acceptable, but a bit difficult to remove from its holder. There is no cover on the bottom connector, though the cover on my E-125 is usually open anyhow. The unit's only weaknesses are mostly superficial annoyances. The IR port is on the lower lefthand side and is easy to cover with your hand. The note/record button on the left hand side is the most serious design flaw, as it extends slightly from the case. I have recorded many worthless audio clips of ambient noise, random conversation, passing busses, etc, simply because of this questionable button placement. The speaker is a bit weak, but this seems true of all PPC 2002 devices, excepting the iPAQs. Also, pressing the thumbwheel no longer brings up the start menu as it did on the E-125 (perhaps a PPC 2002 issue), making it ultimately less useful. Otherwise, I find no real weaknesses. Software compatibility is acceptable, as this PDA runs nearly everything intended for an iPaq, though some key mappings in games may need changes. Some games, such as Rayman will not run on this device yet due to the new video hardware, however, when games specifically for the new ATI chipset and the XScale processor are released, this will be the ultimate gaming PDA. Overall, this is a sleek, quick, powerful and well designed device. Though I have typically favored Casio's devices, Toshiba has impressed me. I chose the e740 over the Sharp Zaurus ZX-5500, a tough decision since the idea of Linux and an integrated Keyboard on a PDA is quite appealing. Comparing with a coworker's Zaurus, I believe I made the correct decision. The upcoming X-Scale iPaq, aside from its new transreflective screen, seems overpriced ($100-$200 more depending on bluetooth integration), clunky (it still has the form factor of the current iPaq 5800s, requiring a sleeve for CF), and still lacks the WiFi. Also consider, no insult intended, Bluetooth is generally useless due to its short range, and has generally flopped in the US market. If you really need it, there is an SDIO card for the Toshiba already available. If you can justify the price, buy this PDA. If you are still clinging to your PalmOS device, borrow someone's PocketPC and you will realize that Microsoft's Department of Annoyance apparently overlooked the Windows CE/PocketPC world, and in comparison, the PalmOS devices seem like children's toys (even the high end Clie w/camera) -- no insult or flaming intended (I loved my Palm III, but times have changed). This PDA outclasses its nearest competiton by a tremendous margin, and with only slight shortcomings has ushered in what seems to be the first in a new era of wireless PDAs.
Rating: 
Summary: A lot of flash - high neat quotient
Review: This is my third PDA - I've always owned 'CE' boxes. The first was a Compaq 140 PPC - clamshell design, unreadable mono display, but with a full keyboard. That alone made it worthwhile. Then I got a Phillips NINO 512 - COLOUR. Very, very neat, but still limited to single tasking. Now I have the e740 - I didn't know what I was missing!!!! - Ultra Sharp, very bright display.
- Fast, responsive operation.
- Very sexy looking!!
- Beautiful cubist metal case
- Lots of programmable buttons
- Built-in WiFi - extremely cool - standing in line at the bank, surfing on some upstairs office's open access point. Sitting in the john and browsing, when I'm notified of a just-arrived e-mail WOW!!!
- Available, optional VGA output to allow Powerpoint presentations using external projectors!!!! But there are negatives, as well: 1. The recording button is rather craftily located where it can be pressed without anyone noticing during a meeting. It also gets pressed every time you take the unit out of the supplied slipcase and often when you just pick it up. I often find that it's recorded 20 minutes of audio without my intending to do so. 2. There seems to be no control over recording quality - CE 2.0 in my Nino allowed me to control the recording sample rate - the PC2002 seems to have chosen a low rate codec and it is not exactly hi fi. So I'm a bit of a nit-picker. 3. The touchscreen seems a bit 'slow' to respond. Try playing Solitaire (the only game supplied) and you'll find yourself dropping cards during a drag - never had that with either of the previous machines - and this is a 400 MHz Xscale while those were 103 MHz slowpokes!!! 4. The browser is a bit slow and seems to lock up from time to time. Admittedly that has to be a PC2002 issue and not related to the PDA itself, but it is worth mentioning. As well, the WiFi seems to require resetting the PDA (non destructively) from time to time. 5. Everone comments on the master power switch - they say you can easily switch it instead of the WiFi power switch. I haven't seen this. I haven't experienced this. I don't think it's a problem (at least I don't until it happens to me, I suppose). In the meantime, I keep mine backed up and synchronised, so if I DO accidentally switch it off, I won't be at a loss for data. 6. Palms have a dedicated 'Business Card' that can be beamed between them and to CE-based PDA's. My Symbian-EPOC-based Ericsson R380-Worldphone also does this. So why doesn't PC2002 offer this feature? If you want to beam information, it seems you have to manually select a contact - or perhaps I should say that I haven't figured out how to dedicate a contact entry or other data to a dedicated Business Card function. 7. Connection to this device is by USB, infrared, WiFi - but there is no serial port. OK, people say it's becoming passé, but I'm from the old school. Do I recommend it? Absolutely! Is it better than everything else out there? I don't know. I haven't tried the Ipaq 3950, which is the direct competition to this unit - the e740 is slimmer and lighter and has two removable media slots. What I do know is that it works well, especially compared to my previous PDA's. I recommend it for anyone who needs a serious PDA with wireless connectivity and/or the ability to handle both SD and CF media. Would I ever switch to a Palm? Admittedly there are more applications available for the Palm, but I don't think I'd make the jump. I believe that over time, as CE becomes more entrenched in devices (no one is saying that the Palm OS is going to be deployed in anything except PDAs and as the PDA component to a cellphone - CE is going to be in EVERYTHING. One OS for all my toys - that would be neat!! With the $150 in incentives that Toshiba is currently offering the US (I'm in Canada, where there are no rebates or promotions) it represents an unbeatable high tech gadget with a very high 'neat factor' . . . IMHO at least until Sony-Ericsson releases their new P800 cellphone-PDA combo in 2003.
Rating: 
Summary: The biggest pile of junk
Review: Frequent crashes cause data loss. PDA freezes often, forcing you to soft reset which doesn't always work, then you have to hard reset, lose all your data and you have to reset all your owner information too. Battery is a joke. The guy at Toshiba said if you actually use an SD card and turn Wifi off you get only 1 1/2 hours of juice! Turn Wi-Fi on and forget about it. Can't save appointments to SD card. Must back up frequently. My appointment reminders sometimes FREEZE the unit forcing me to soft reset, which also sometimes deletes my data. The setup process is annoying after numerous resets as you have to go through it every time. The battery meter lies about the juice, saying it has 90% and all of a sudden it shuts down from battery loss. The unit also tells you, you are running low on battery even if you just charged it. Toshiba had a recall on the battery for half their units, but if you didn't have the right model number, it doesn't qualify for the recall and they won't fix it. Read all the other reviews - I wasn't the only one with these problems. It's present in 33% of their units, which is not a track record I'm comfortable with. If you call Toshiba they will actually ARGUE with you that you are wrong and they are right. Horrible! I wrote two letters to customer service and they IGNORE my letters. They refuse to take the PDA back for service and now the warranty has expired. All the positive reviews you see are from editors and others who used the PDA for 30 minutes or so. Then it seems like the best unit out there. Try to actually use it practically and you will want to throw it in the trash in about a week. DONT BUY THIS UNIT.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Value, Poor Service Policy, Buggy Product
Review: When I first saw this product on the market I was very excited. It boasted integrated wifi, the new 400 Mhz processor, a sleek form factor, both compact flash and secure digital expansion slots, and all at a very competitive price. I've been using my pda for four months now, and here's my opinion: - Frequently drops active synch connections with the PC even with the cradle.
- Extremely short battery life.
- Fragile device - I'm on my third one now even though I treat the device very carefully.
- Easy to bump battery locking switch makes it easy to loose all your data.
- Very poor wireless range - makes the wifi practically useless
- Very few accessories available - Toshiba should have worked with third parties on this prior to launch.
- Toshiba service is abysmal - Takes a long time for them to replace a defective pda, and even then you'll receive a partially repaired unit.
- Record button on side is very easy to accidently push.
- Having the IR-port on the side is VERY inconvenient.
- No ability to set long-push options for the command buttons. Other pdas allow you to assign different commands or functions if you hold down a button for a few seconds. This one does not.
- No ability to use a command button to toggle the state of the wifi connection (which would have been convenient considering how much wifi drains the battery.) All they needed to do to make this work is supply an executable that toggles the wifi, but they did not.
- The device's functionality is geared towards power-users, but the lack of customization options in the product seems as if it is geared towards novices. Incidentally, I am a computer engineer who has owned about a dozen other PDA devices, so I have tried everything conceivable to resolve the above problems on my own. It may seem like a bargain at first, but the headache is not worth it!!
Rating:
Summary: Avoid Toshiba; poor product, even worse support
Review: 1. Despite being sold with the understanding that Pocket PC 2003 would be supported, the company dropped support for upgrading the e740.
2. The unit will randomly lose sync with the desktop computer. Despite two ROM updates this has never been corrected (and a tech support supervisor told me on the phone that this is "normal...they aren't meant to stay synced with the desktop for more than a few minutes").
3. Backups are a good practice in computers. The e740 has two backup utilities (one to a storage card, the other via ActiveSync to the desktop). However, you best hope you never have problems with these, as they are not supported by the company (same tech as above told me there was no support for any backup utility included with the PDA, despite it being included with/documented in the manual for the PDA and being a suggested action prior to sending in for service).
4. Battery: good life, compared to my iPaq, but...if it drains to 0% (or you take it out...it's removable), all programs/files in memory are erased. There was a recall, but mine wasn't included...it was for this exact problem. Since my e740's serial number didn't fall in the recall range, they wouldn't cover it. And again the tech mentioned above told me this was by design. I gather from this that Toshiba considers wiping your memory to switch removable batteries and not having a workable backup utility to be normal in the PDA world.
5. Sad, as it had good potential and some nice features (i.e., two card slots, pretty good battery life, nice design).
Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately, there isn't much choice out there.
Review: I used to own a Casio BOSS and loved it.
I had a Palm and loved it.
I had a Blackberry and loved it.
I had a Jornada 565 and loved it. I bought the e740, and well... I hate it. It was reassuring to read these on-line reviews, because it appears that everyone has the same problems that I do. The sad thing is, at this point in time, there is no competition for the device. None. If you want built-in Wifi, 64 megs RAM, and room for extra memory (SD card) AND have a free CF slot for GPS, Modem, etc., this unit delivers. BUT what terrible design! It's akin to a prototype that is not ready to be manufactured. Some examples: Battery Life - One hour of wireless surfing! Terrible. This is a joke. It's so easy to run out of juice, even without wireless. Speaker - Worst of any Pocket PC I've seen. ActiveSync - Drops connections. Very disappointing. I've had more dropped connections in 1 week than in 2 years with my other PocketPCs. Built-in features - Severely lacking. Look at the Jornada.. you could program each button to do different things when they are held down for three seconds, and other such goodies. Not here. Fragility - Really bad. EVERY other PDA nowadays has some form of screen protector. Not this. It's only matter of time before something nasty happens. Ergonomics - Hard to hold. Not very comfortable. What a bizarre design. Awkward. Speed - VERY disappointing. Movies played FLAWLESSLY on my 565. They have TONS of dropped frames on the e740. So much for the 400MHz CPU! CF Card - Seems to be slower than the old Pocket PC's. Also a huge pain to insert. You actually need the stylus!! What's with that? Record button - BEWARE! As a volunteer ambulance tech, I keep this unit on my belt in a case, next to my cell phone. I went to use it midway through my 6 hour shift to write some patient info, and... the battery was DEAD! Reason? That darn record button kept getting hit on my belt. There is no way to disable it. I spoke to Toshiba today. Software stability - None. Seems like I'm always doing a hard reset for one reason or another. Screen - Not as bright as the others, and not uniform. Look closely at night. There is noticeable half-inch vertical striping. Did I mention the Record button draining the batteries? So, my bottom line advice to those people looking to buy a PocketPC.......: If you NEED one now, go for it. However, you WILL be annoyed. You WILL envy your friends who buy one 5 months from now. You WILL agree with me that this is a work-in progress. But, like I said, there is simply no competition when it comes to two card slots and Wi-Fi. If you already have a working device - Please wait!! Please! I HAD to buy this one because I sold my Jornada. So I am pretty much stuck with this annoying Toshiba. But if you have a trusty Palm or Ipaq or Jornada.. W A I T ! Don't run out and but this flawed unit! Wait for "version 2.0"!! I hope this review was helpful to you.
Rating: 
Summary: Get it if you can find it for a good price.
Review: I brought the E740 1 month ago for a very good price. If you are looking for a wi-fi enabled PDA, but don't want to spend too much on it, take a look at the E740. I read most of the reviews on Amazon and other opinions site, most people have negative opinions on the E740. Their opinions are understandable, since they got it for a very high price, and the performance does not match its price tag. After I using it for over a month, here are some of the pros and cons in my opinion on the E740. Pros:
Wi-Fi!!! You can't find a PDA with integrated Wi-Fi in this price range. CF(compatible with both type I/II) and SD slot. It really offers you a lot of upgrade options with both the CF and SD slot. I personally use a 512 SD card and leave the CF slot for a 56K cf modem. User replaceable battery Cons:
Windows Mobile 2002, and Toshiba does not offer upgrade to the WM2003. THis is a big deal, since Microsoft change the database for WM2003, which means new programs will not be compatible with WM2002. Also, Windows 2003 is written to take advantage of the XScale processor in the E740, which supposingly will boost up system performance and increase battery life. It crashes, but in my opinion is is acceptable. It doens't crash all the time, but occasionally. THis is pretty much it. In term of battery life, I think most other Windows based PDA offer identical battery life. (Well, except some big PDAs like Dell X5, it offer better life, but it's very bulky) I think the PDA deserve anywhere from 50%-60%, since it does offer a lot of features, and at a relatively low price. So if you can find a E740 for a reasonable price, it will be a great gaget to have.
Rating:
Summary: Be afraid
Review: As one of the first ones to buy a Toshiba e740, I have had nothing but troubles since the day I bought it. I paid close to $500 for it back then.
My advice to anyone considering a Toshiba Pocket PC is check the forums and customer feedback. It's all bad. Anyone want to buy a $500 paperweight?
Rating:
Summary: Its not secure if you dont store info on real pc
Review: My Pocket has been reseted 4 times already, I have only used it 4 weeks in the 3 months that I have it, it is really disapointing losing your information. With this gadget you have to be lucky first, and be on top of charging it all the time. To me it simply sucks.
Rating:
Summary: 1 star too many
Review: simply put, one expensive piece of junk
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