Ipaq 3970 or Toshiba e740????

[denden]

Hi guys...

I'm a newbi in pocket PC... please help me out.

I wanna know which model should i pick : Ipaq 3970 or Toshiba e740?

I heard Toshiba e740 have a lot of bugs :twisted: , but the advantage is it integrate the Wireless 802.11b inside. And i have the Linksys Wireless Access Point at my house, so i can surf without the connection.

If i pick the Ipaq 3970 (bluetooth).. Can I get some bluetooth device for my PC, get the connection between this two device and transfer the internet access from my PC (already have internet access) to Ipaq 3970?

Please leave me some comment.

P.S If you have any solution how to get internet access through the bluetooth device, please post for me as well. (PC with internet access to the iPAQ. Not iPAQ bluetooth to Cell Phone Bluetooth.)

Thanks for you help ! :D

[Brad Adrian]

My personal opinion?
Bluetooth works really well when you can get it to work, especially to connect with a digital phone. However, using Bluetooth for an Internet connection has never really worked well for me.

However, I really like my iPAQ, mostly because of the accessories that are available for it (like keyboards). If I were buying a new device today, I'd be tempted by the 740, but would probably still get an iPAQ with a sleeve and WiFi card (PCMCIA or CF).

[denden]

Any idea how much the the sleeve and WiFi card cost?

I heard there's a slim sleeve (slilver sleeve II something like this) very slim with CF slot. Did you have to purchase the original sleeve then modifier?

Thanks for the advise.

[bdeli]

You can find prices for the Silver Sliders here: http://www.silverslider.biz

As for the Wifi CF cards, they range from around $50 - $140. The least expensive normally suck up more power than the very expensive such as the Socket/Symbol cards.

[don dre]

listen to the man about wifi. i have d-link and it eats juice like battery life is unltd. i would recomend a sleeve like the mem plug that can use the cover so no case is needed.

[acollet]

Yeah.. I had the same question. I thought about goign to the Toshiba w/ WiFi, but in the end, decided to trade my iPAQ 3870 for the iPAQ 3970. While I do use WiFi, I would much rather put in a card when I need it. The display of the iPAQ cann't be beat, nor can the quality.

[white2833]

Well, I've had my e740 now for about a month, added 128MB SD and Ultramote IR extender card, Toshiba expansion kit (VGA and USB ports) and must say that I've been quite impressed with the whole unit. My biggest beefs:
-ActiveSync seems to go bye-bye periodically regardless if syncing with WiFi or USB
-rather short time on the low cap battery, easily fixed if using the hi-cap
-pulling the stylus from the case is tough

Fairly minor list. Imaging sitting on my couch, reading Outlook email while still sync'd via WiFi, switch to Ultramote and turn on the TV, satellite IRD, surround sound receiver, seeing what's on, then surfing over to IMDB.com to see if what I'm going to watch is cool or not. Just did that sequence of events tonight...makes me smile! :D

[The Half-Ling]

the iPAQ is a much better model, the e740 is bugged and has a bad backlight, if you want a good XSCALE go for an iPAQ 39xx :)

Jake

[Sheynk]

As an owner of an Ipaq 3955, I have to say that this is the finest piece od technology available. There are no bugg, shadows, pixels, dustmites that are out of order so just do yourself a favor and get the Ipaq

[acollet]

For me, the ipaq 3955 can't be beat. I thought about the e704 as well, but w/ all the stayed with ipaq for the following reasons:
1.) Tosheba has not proved themselveswith support yet
2.) Ipaq is always great about releasing EUU updates
3.) My prior ipaqs (3600, 3870) have never failed
4.) The screen on the 3955 is awesome
5.) Integrated Wi-Fi ? Not me.. Not now... One standard change and your potentially done. plug in my cisco card as needed into my PCMCIA sleve. I know it adds bulk, but if you want to do some good surfing on the ipaq, your gonna want the additional battery.

[Janak Parekh]

if you want to do some good surfing on the ipaq, your gonna want the additional battery.
This is actually very important - the 802.11b just destroys the e740's battery - you won't be able to use the unit more than a few hours with 802.11b on. The e740 is nice with dual slots, but don't expect to be surfing on it all day without charge. It'll work very well for one-hour meetings, though.

In any case, I have a 3870, with the CF+ pack and a Socket card and am very happy with the combination. You can remove the sleeve (or just the battery) when you want to, but when I'm surfing the external battery is extremely useful - I almost never drain the main battery to any great extent. In fact, I can pocket the whole unit comfortably.

YMMV, though, so if you're the occasional 802.11b user and size is really, really important, go e740; otherwise the iPaq is a fine, stable, if slightly bulkier choice.

BTW, if you're not happy with these options... maybe you should wait for the iPaq 5400 :)

--bdj

P.S. For the Bluetooth route, your best bet is to get a Bluetooth Access Point. From what I've heard, they work far better than the PC-based solutions, and they give you much better range. www.expansys.com, among others, has a selection of Bluetooth AP's. Not cheap yet, but they're getting there.