pdabuyersguide Reviews Toshiba e805

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/toshiba_e805.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/toshiba_e805.htm</a><br /><br /></div>"Toshiba's had an epiphany this fall, and the budget-minded e405 and high end e805 models are the proof. Once know for bland styling and missing out on the SDIO bandwagon; both these new models overcome that with their sleek new styling and SDIO Now! support. <br /><br />The Toshiba e805 is simply an awesome device, thanks in part to a kind developer who released a free application which allows all apps to run in VGA mode. The e805 is the most innovative Pocket PC since the iPAQ 3600, thanks primarily to its superb 4" VGA display, and secondly its very functional voice command and text to speech software. The e805 can run in standard Pocket PC QVGA (quarter VGA) resolution at 240 x 320 pixels or in VGA mode at 480 x 640 pixels. The catch is that as shipped, only the Westtek ClearVue Suite runs in VGA mode. 3rd party apps designed to work in VGA such as the NetFront 3.1 web browser will also work. As mentioned, an add-in application from a developer will allow all apps to run in VGA, and that's when this unit really shines."<br /><br />Yes, it's yet another review from the workaholics at pdabuyersguide - I don't know how they do it, cranking out so many detailed reviews, but I'm glad they do. :-) Go check out the full review! I'm sorely tempted to try and get my hands on one of these puppies...VGA goodness. Mmm! :mrgreen:

[corphack]

I guess it has some nice features, for a disposable PDA. I didn't realize Toshiba was still supporting PDAs... :wink:






(Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!)

[ShivShanks]

Go check out the full review! I'm sorely tempted to try and get my hands on one of these puppies...VGA goodness. Mmm! :mrgreen:

I'll warn you not to try and look at it lest you want to have a very hard time stopping yourself from buying it :) You know I heard all this hoopla about tha e805 and went to a store to take a look at it. The screen is just gorgeously beautiful. After playing with the e805 for a while I looked at my old e310 and my reaction was "Yuck! What an ugly screen the e310 has". It was like looking at an old palm 160x160 color where you can see each pixel horribly. Yeah yeah inspite of all the stupid things Toshiba did I just couldn't resist myself buying it :) I'm totally in love with the beautiful display it has. Its better than most normal displays on Laptops when you put it in the VGA mode. After all if you do the calculation for a 4" size its a 200 dpi screen! That is way better than normal 96 dpi screens.

With the VGA mode and nyditot landscape mode its almost like having a laptop while browsing with IE. The most annoying part is the stupid disabling of the touchscreen on the top left corner. You have to keep switching the orientation in nyditot to access whatever is there. If anyone comes up with a utility to enable the disabled touchscreen zone then he'll be my hero.

Folks I am telling you, you have to see it to believe it. Its just an amazing PDA. Even the size is quite comparable to the supposedly thin and light Dell X3i. Sure its bulkier than the e300 series but for all that it can do you are not going to mind it at all. So far the battery life also has been pretty good. Every application I've tried works. Those that cannot use full VGA work quite fine in the 1/4th of the screen area corresponding to QVGA.

[koro]

I was sorely tempted by the e805 when shopping for a new Pda recently. I guess in the end I felt that the lack of support for VGA at the OS level was too much of a handicap to buy the Toshiba. That and the fact that I wanted both Wi Fi and Bluetooth built in.

[corphack]

I didn't say it wasn't pretty.

I can wait until a more reputable (or at least one who hasn't recently screwed us over) manufacturer releases a model with similar features. If its really an improvement, HP, Dell, and others will copy and or enhance it for their product line.

I recall a news article a week or two ago, stating that Toshiba's lost approx. 30% of their PDA market share in 2003; I can't see HP and Dell simply allowing them to walk back in and steal it back with a "pretty face" (that only works in the Entertainment industry). :wink:

[ShivShanks]

I didn't say it wasn't pretty.

I can wait until a more reputable (or at least one who hasn't recently screwed us over) manufacturer releases a model with similar features. If its really an improvement, HP, Dell, and others will copy and or enhance it for their product line.

I recall a news article a week or two ago, stating that Toshiba's lost approx. 30% of their PDA market share in 2003; I can't see HP and Dell simply allowing them to walk back in and steal it back with a "pretty face" (that only works in the Entertainment industry). :wink:

Well its more than a pretty face. I have to admit Toshiba made a really good PDA this time. Good Wi-Fi, battery life, performance, design and screen. What more could you ask for? Except a cheaper price perhaps? :) Well for those of you who are totally digusted with Toshiba, I wouldn't advise it. But for anyone else who doesn't feel that strongly its a wonderful PDA. If you have doubts then I dare you to go and take a look at it and then resist it. Bottom line is anyone who is willing to give Toshiba another chance will want to buy this one.

[Palmguy]

[quote=corphack]
What more could you ask for?

Better QC. I realize that I am upset because mine crapped out, the digitizer stopped working, but the QC is still not great.

The screen is nice, but I'll be glad when hp releases a VGA iPAQ that can natively use VGA.

[yvilla]

Heck, the e750/5 is a pretty great PPC too.

And ShivShanks is absolutely right: Even though I was perfectly happy with my e750, I lasted one week in my battle to resist buying the e805 after seeing it at the Toronto Mobility Tour stop.

[ShivShanks]

[quote=corphack]
What more could you ask for?

Better QC. I realize that I am upset because mine crapped out, the digitizer stopped working, but the QC is still not great.

The screen is nice, but I'll be glad when hp releases a VGA iPAQ that can natively use VGA.

Uh Oh ... Thats not nice ... Lets hope its just teething troubles trying to fit in a high end LCD screen into a small device. I agree they should have better QC than that. Never heard of non responding digitzers before. Did you go in for a store return or did you have to send it back for warranty? How did they respond if you did send it back for warranty?

I'm glad I bought the extended warranty that covers accidental damage and gives you a free replacement. For a fragile thing with glass worth $600 I like to have some backup safety :)

[Lotto]

I bought mine and I have to say it's the first pda that's let me put down my Casio e115. The screen is gorgeous, a feature I did not want to give up. Having a jog dial is great, as I do read ebooks. Dual CF and SD slot as well as the on board memory are fantastic! The WiFi is a huge bonus (I had no idea how much I'd use it!). The battery life is great even with so much multimedia in use.

The only negatives (which are minor) are:

I was disappointed it had no case in the box, not even a cheap slip case. I feel they dropped the ball on this. Thankfully my Casio slip case fit fine until Vaja catches up with the new models.

The stylus is small and telescoping....not ideal but works fine.

There should have been more support with VGA apps, but software should fix that to satifactory use shortly. (Thanks Deez!)

[ShivShanks]

The screen is gorgeous, a feature I did not want to give up. Having a jog dial is great, as I do read ebooks.

Yeah the e805 makes eBooks look absolutely stunning with cleartype on. Its the only thing I have seen so far coming close to rivalling paper. Just 100 dpi less than paper :) Soon I hope I we will have the pleasure of paper quality 300 dpi screens.

BTW here's a tip for you if you read a lot of eBooks. I'm assuming you have Palm Reader for PPC (supports VGA just fine), if not just download it for free. You'll notice that although unlike the MS Reader it does allow you to choose different fonts, the choice of fonts isn't much. Turns out it can use only as many fonts as PPC has. Well guess what? The normal Windows TTF fonts work just fine on the PPC. Just copy over fonts from your PC Control Panel->Fonts location to your device's Windows\Fonts folder. And Voila! You have new fonts on the PPC. Try Georgia on the Palm Reader. Its a very nice pleasing font to read books. Of course the old favourite Times New Roman is also not bad. Just drag over whichever fonts you like and experiment. Just delete the fonts you don't need. Using them is as simple as invoking the menu Options->Text Settings and then choosing the font.

Palm Reader with Georgia Font at size 10 and Line Spacing set to Tight on the e805 gives you ... Ahh eBook reading bliss :D

[Lotto]

I've not tried Palm Reader, but I am using uBook, and it also works great. Reads a great number of file types (even html), as well as reading directly from .zip files, which is very convienent! You can change fonts, text size, colors, spacing etc. It also will turn your text upside down or landscape either direction, depending how you like to hold and scroll your pda it fits all comfortably.

[cpoole]

I've not tried Palm Reader, but I am using uBook, and it also works great. Reads a great number of file types (even html), as well as reading directly from .zip files, which is very convienent! You can change fonts, text size, colors, spacing etc. It also will turn your text upside down or landscape either direction, depending how you like to hold and scroll your pda it fits all comfortably.

I agree... I used Palm Reader for a while until I discovered uBook. It is the only reader that I use (except if I want to read a LIT book). Once you get used to its quirky interface, it is an excellent reader. I think that it would be an excellent reader for the higher resolution screen.

www.GowerPoint.com