PPCW Reviews The ETEN P700 PPC Phone

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.ppcw.net/index.php?itemid=1757' target='_blank'>http://www.ppcw.net/index.php?itemid=1757</a><br /><br /></div>Right now, there are only two Bluetooth-based Pocket PC Phones on the market: the XDA II, and the little-known ETEN P700. Carlo over on PPCW takes the latter for a spin, and generally likes what he sees. As far as I can tell, the one thing this unit has over the XDA II is the presence of a built-in CF slot... I'd probably still go for the XDA II myself if I had the chance, but if CF is an absolute requirement for you, check this unit out.

[jmbneaf]

I too reviewed the E-TEN P700 about two weeks ago.

I promptly returned it after 1 day's use. You can find my thoughts in this thread at PPCW.net - http://www.ppcw.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=463&p=1

Besides some firmware / ROM problems (which I have been told that are fixed), I found several flaws about the P700 that kept me from keeping the device.

1. The CF slot isn't all it is cracked up to be. Standard CF memory cards don't sit fully into the slot, meaning that the stick out about 1/4 inch from the top of the P700 (not flush like the Toshiba e740, e75x, and e805's). In fact, the stick out for standard Memory cards is so much that the provided case won't close. Also, this means that if you use a CF WiFi Card (like me) they REALLY stick out far - so much so I was fearful of braking my Symbol WiFi card. 8O

2. The SD slot isn't all its cracked up to be either. The SD slot is buried behind the stylus slot. not bad, you can hide your big SD card there fine. But if you had dreams of using a SD GPS or SD WiFi card or SD Camera - forget about using the case (again) and the provided stylus as it won't go back. Also, this slot is in the middle of the "grip" of the P700, meaning using these items would make it hard to hold in one hand.

3. The case provided is excellently made, patent leather, and high quality - the best materials I have seen in a OEM provided case in fact. However, the case too has a design flaw - no slot for the cradle connector!! This means if you wanted to use a sync-n-charge cable you'd have to remove the P700 from the case 1st !!! :evil:

4. This thing is big and heavy - I was willing to overlook that until items (1-3 showed up) - it is about as heavy as my e755 was with the extended battery (not bad but worth reporting).

5. On the unit I had the display was horrible - I had to max out the brightness to use it and then it was so washed out. The old registry hack for contrast didn't work, but at that brightness, the contrast needed to be tuned. Some work is needed here IMHO.

6. The speakers and sound on my unit was not anywhere near as good as my XDA-1, and there are two speakers on the P700 one for the PPC part, and on for the Phone Part - both had to have the volume settings maxed out to be usefull on the P700.

Now for the positives - it had a good Bluetooth utility, its PXA255 CPU was fast and responsive, had 96 Mb of user ROM (64 Mb SD RAM, 32 NAND) and used 32 Mb of its 64 Mb NAND ROM (balance for the user as just mentioned), and the GSM/GPRS was very responsive on the USA T-Mobile Network.

As a power user, I couldn't get past the mechanical things, but if you can, it is a nice bulky PPC-PE with dual slots.

FYI

-JB