Toshiba e830 Launches in Europe & Japan Today (But Not in USA)

[Jonathon Watkins]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://pocketpctools.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid2=1313' target='_blank'>http://pocketpctools.com/modules.ph...ticle&sid2=1313</a><br /><br /></div>Well, Janak's post last week about the e830 already <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=31849&amp;">being sold in Japan</a> was very close to the mark. It looks like the launch date is here for real, as <a href="http://trans.voila.fr/ano?anolg=65544&amp;anourl=http%3A//www.pocketpcparadise.com/index.php">Pocket PC Paradise review</a> shows. (Machine translated from the original article <a href="http://www.pocketpcparadise.com/index.php">in French</a>):<br /><br /><i>"It is today, September 14 2004 that Toshiba launches its new offensive with the exit of its Pocket PC e830, the last born top-of-the-range of the Japanese manufacturer. Pocket PC that the manufacturer wished more powerful and communicating than the e800, placing by the same occasion the bar still a little higher in the world of top-of-the-range Pocket PC. Behind a design identical to that of the e800 some surprises hide that PocketPCParadise.com proposes to you to discover of planetary exclusiveness since your servant could touch, to test and put to the test the e830 during two weeks in order to present today all to you that it is necessary to know about it."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/e830_toshiba.jpg" /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/e800_general.jpg" /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/e800_socle_plein.jpg" /> <br /><br />So, having had the device for two weeks, the intrepid review team run though a barrage of tests, with plenty of benchmarks and technical details. The e830's speculations include a 4 inch VGA screen, PPC2003SE, 128Mb RAM, 64 Mb (24 Mb use accessible) CF type II &amp; SDIO/MMC slots, a PXA272 520MHz CPU, an Intel Graphics Chipset, WiFi, BlueTooth 1.2, an integrated IP telephony tool and a 1320 mAh Battery. The size is 77x135x167 mm with a weight of 200gr and a cost of around 699 Euros. The unit can take the same high capacity batteries as the e805 and the review seems to suggest that the designs are very similar. The dimensions are certainly identical, so it would be great if the e805 cases would fit the e830. I wonder if Pocket PC Paradise will grace us with an English translation of that article. It really does look like a good review, even after being manically mangled by machine translation.<br /><br />Now – about the non-appearance of the e830 in North America. I believe the correct expression would be something along the lines of 'WHA!????' First the LOOX and now this. Very odd. :? Jkendrick at PocketPCTools confirmed that the e830 won't be released to the US 'at this time', possibly leaving the door open for a future release date. I guess there will be a few imports heading the unusual way across the pond before then though. Has anyone seen an e830 for sale in Japan or Europe yet? Go on, lets play 'spot the e830', a game for the whole Pocket PC Family. :wink:

[Jonathon Watkins]

I just love machine translations :lol: :

This switch makes it possible to decontaminate the external buttons of the e800 (except of course the On/off button) so that the PDA does not ignite inadvertently at the bottom of your pocket, a very good idea allowing to save the battery.

The directional pad can be configured as a paving stone 4 or 8 positions. This parameter setting is carried out via the operating system and allows to the virtuosos pad to be devoted in the most total comfort, with some plays between important meetings.

On right-hand side of the buttons, one notices the high speaker of Pocket PC which profits from generous hearing while on the left, a diode is used as witness of load and alarm.

The space of 48 cm² prove to be comfortable for the writing by a show of hands and Toshiba preserves its palm of the best transflectif screen all confused machines. It should be noted that the seizure by a show of hands with Transcriber in VGA is now a thing implemented under Windows Mobile 2003 SE.

Oh for a real translator at this point. :wink:

We'll know when computers have gotten really smart when they can translate articles like this one sensibly.......

[DanielTS]

Another French review : :)
PPCCool (http://www.ppccool.com/index.php?showforum=85)

Translation tools:
Altavista (http://babel.altavista.com/)
Systran (http://www.systranbox.com/systran/box)

[Duncan]

200 grammes - ouch...!

[johncruise]

Oh man... I am tempted. 2 things holding me back though.... unavailability of the unit here in the US and the price! 857USD?! Wow! To think that most PPC's (aka WM) prices are plumeting down nowadays. Geez.

[badbob001]

Intel Video chipset. I wonder what that would be. I can't be the 2700G, can it?

[DanielTS]

Oh man... I am tempted. 2 things holding me back though.... unavailability of the unit here in the US and the price! 857USD?! Wow! To think that most PPC's (aka WM) prices are plumeting down nowadays. Geez.
European price is always higher :
e800 US : 525 us$ (http://pocketpcthoughts.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1358811/fd=1)
e800 EU : 633 euros (http://www.rue-hardware.com/prix/acheter/11347/Toshiba-E800-WIFI/)

[DanielTS]

Intel Video chipset. I wonder what that would be. I can't be the 2700G, can it?
According to Ppccool (http://babel.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ppccool.com%2findex.php%3fs%3dca43d5f9edde091f73cec887659227f7%26showtopic%3d2010), the e830 has an Intel 2700G5.

[johncruise]

Oh man... I am tempted. 2 things holding me back though.... unavailability of the unit here in the US and the price! 857USD?! Wow! To think that most PPC's (aka WM) prices are plumeting down nowadays. Geez.
European price is always higher :
e800 US : 525 us$ (http://pocketpcthoughts.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1358811/fd=1)
e800 EU : 633 euros (http://www.rue-hardware.com/prix/acheter/11347/Toshiba-E800-WIFI/)

Hello DanielTS, where did you get that price? According to PPCTools, it's 699 EU (well.... including taxes). But still....

699 Euros = 857 USD

Also, 633 EUR == 776 USD.

(conversion source...http://www.xe.net -- pretty reliable)

Thanks in advance...

[DanielTS]

e800 EU price :
http://www.rue-hardware.com/prix/acheter/11347/Toshiba-E800-WIFI/

[Gremmie]

About Toshiba being a no-show in America--this could be the long debated pull out that we've discussed before.

[nuka_t]

id sooo rather have an x50.

500mhz? psshhhh. 64mb rom? psshhh. (although that means my x30 will most likely be upgradeable to wm2k5, unless of course xandros for ppc is released by then)

the 4 inch screen is cool thouhg, but it takes up more space in your pocket, and it would also mean the cases for it will be more expensive :wink:

[arnage2]

since the e830 has been approved by the FCC, i believe it will be released here. maybe we will get info on a us release, soon.

http://www.bargainpda.com/price/default.asp?productID=1177&brandName=Toshiba&productName=e830&display=priceDetail says that the e830s release date is the 15th of sept.

[nuka_t]

they probably just dont want an american company ripping it off and selling it in america. they dont have to sell it here though.

[picard]

Intel Video chipset. I wonder what that would be. I can't be the 2700G, can it?
According to Ppccool (http://babel.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ppccool.com%2findex.php%3fs%3dca43d5f9edde091f73cec887659227f7%26showtopic%3d2010), the e830 has an Intel 2700G5.

i have doubts it has a 2700G. pocketpcparadise review translation sais: "video controller INTEL integrated into the processor" and neither review mentioning 3d acceleration (or i missed it). ppccool.com review has SPB benchmark and the 1MB memcpy is 98.1MB/sec (similar to A730) which indicates CPU's LCD controller additional load on the system bus. GAPI speed is similar (little lower) as Loox720 and Asus730 (i assume a hardware QVGA->VGA zoom by 2700G would be faster)

[Daimaou]

Well sold WHERE in Japan sorry but no news here !!!!

This site (I am french) well is... 100% for toshiba... sorry bought by Toshiba france ;)

[atsouch]

Last week I contacted the Toshiba distributor for Greece regarding e830 and he told me that Toshiba has pulled out from Europe. Toshiba seems to have a serious problem of internal communication.

[KAMware]

A complete stranger on the street stopped me and said that Toshiba is not going to release the e830 anywhere on Earth! :mrgreen:

They secretly created faster than light space travel and are going to sell the entire production on Ferenginar as the Ferengi's current data pads are so large a bulky they would jump at purchasing as many e830 as Toshiba can provide. 0X

[Arqentus]

i have doubts it has a 2700G. pocketpcparadise review translation sais: "video controller INTEL integrated into the processor" and neither review mentioning 3d acceleration (or i missed it). ppccool.com review has SPB benchmark and the 1MB memcpy is 98.1MB/sec (similar to A730) which indicates CPU's LCD controller additional load on the system bus. GAPI speed is similar (little lower) as Loox720 and Asus730 (i assume a hardware QVGA->VGA zoom by 2700G would be faster)

It's possible that the 2700G needs special drivers to access it's functions ( like Win2004/5 with dx support ), and if not there, it fall's back to default rendering.

Don't know ...

I've been reading the ppccool forum, and the original revier clearly stated 2700g5 as one of the new things compared to the e800. To be honest, i don't have a clue anymore, and it seems people are wondering also if this info is correct ...

http://babel.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ppccool.com%2findex.php%3fs%3dd3ca1984595b08929c3a103e513c14c0%26showtopic%3d2019%26hl%3d2700

What surprices me is the price tag ... 699 euro's ... arf ... now, compared to the loox 720, that is going between 540 & 580 euro's, the loox is missing the 0.3" on it's screen, and the possible ( onconfirmed ) 2700g. It's possible "IF" the 2700g in onboard, that this is why the price is so much larger then the loox 720, if not, than i don't know what the toshiba guy's have been smoking ...

Edit: Placed a topic on the ppccool.com board to see if we can get a confirmation about the 2700g5 being onboard or not.

[Shuushin]

About Toshiba being a no-show in America--this could be the long debated pull out that we've discussed before.
_________________
Now: Toshiba e550, Belkin WiFi CF, 1GB MD
Past: Toshiba 740; iPAQ 3635, 3750, 3835; Casio E200, Jornada 548

Ahh - a fellow e550g owner. Based on the Toshiba US support for the e550, I'm quite sure I wouldn't buy an e830. Not that I don't really like Toshiba hardware, cuz I do.

I'm at the point where I don't need their stinking help, but man - it was a hard road.

[picard]

It's possible that the 2700G needs special drivers to access it's functions ( like Win2004/5 with dx support ), and if not there, it fall's back to default rendering.
it's possible to use the cpu lcd controller with 2700g too, but this would mean the 2700g is not used for anything (highly unlikely). we have seen examples where reviewers were wrong about usage of 2700G. but nothing is 100% yet.

[Jonathon Watkins]

200 grammes - ouch...!

Well, from your own chart that does not seem too bad really. The iPAQ hx4705 is 186.7gr, the LOOX 720 is 170gr and the Asus a730 is 190gr.

That's not a lot of difference really. It's practically the same as my X5 (196gr), so I'm not worried at all about the weight.

[Duncan]

200 grammes - ouch...!

Well, from your own chart that does not seem too bad really. The iPAQ hx4705 is 186.7gr, the LOOX 720 is 170gr and the Asus a730 is 190gr.

That's not a lot of difference really. It's practically the same as my X5 (196gr), so I'm not worried at all about the weight.

Frankly I say ouch to the weight of the Asus a730w and hx4700 as well...! :) Even the 170g of the Loox is at the outer edge of what I'm prepared to tolerate now...

Thing is - I found the Toshiba e800 to be too long and wide for comfort and too heavy - I kept leaving at home (defeating the purpose of having it) - so for the new one to be heavier... 8O

[Arqentus]

Some more info regarding the e830 & 2700g5 from the ppccool.com forum.

Posted by TOD ( administrator ):

Yes it's Intel 2700 G5 in the E830 !

The 2700G family is a co-processor in the PXA 27x. It's include in the core of the CPU. Manufacturer can choose to buy PXA27x with or without a 2700 Gx integrated, like 486SX or 486DX there's a few years....


http://www.ppccool.com/index.php?showtopic=2025

Edit:

Looks to be true, been looking around the web for some more info regarding the 27x line. We always asumed that the only difference between the 270 & 27x was the availability of 32 or 64mb flash memory.

Digged up a picture from a intel presentation showing something intresting:

http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/0421/pda3409.jpg

[picard]

it's not correct. you can check this pdf:
http://www.intel.com/design/pca/companion/manuals/300949.htm

[DaleReeck]

The reason Toshiba and other manufacturer's machines (Pocket Loox for example) aren't releasing in North America? I would guess the incessant whining coming from this side of the Atlantic is one of the reasons. "I'm not buying because of bad support", "I'm not buying because it doesn't have WiFi", "I'm not buying because it has a camera", blah blah blah. The second something happens that people don't like, someone is whipping out a petition. Companies probably figure the cost of support over here isn't worth it. It seems people in Europe and especially Asia understand the complexities of these machines and are more willing to put up with some of the niggles. They also tend to be more willing to learn how to fix problems themselves. At least that's the impression I get reading the various PPC forums. The truth is, most of the b*tching seems to come from the US.

[Jonathon Watkins]

The truth is, most of the b*tching seems to come from the US.

Hmmm, a trifle harsh perhaps DaleReeck? :) There are also simply more net connected US folks compared to most other counties. Also, the non-English speakers would tend to go to PPC sites in their own languages. (A generalisation, but a fair one perhaps). So, I think you are being a tad unfair. It could have something to do with building up volume of units to do the US market justice etc and the problems of logistics & advertising in such a large country. BTW, lets keep this discussion friendly folks. :wink:

[Arqentus]

I think they will do a US release. Why else let the FCC do a check on the device ( and this is where the first reference was found ). Also, the internal documents are released on sep 15 ( tomorrow ). They might be waiting for the fcc problems to be fixed, or are going to licence out the sale & support to 3th party's in the US.

The truth is, most of the b*tching seems to come from the US.

For a part it's no surpice, 200 miljoen english speakers in the us, that's one loud group of people. While europe is split in a dozen language's, with a dozen support forum's ( a few each country sometimes ), so any EU bitching isent going to sound as loud as US bitching ;)

[SteveHoward999]

Companies probably figure the cost of support over here isn't worth it. It seems people in Europe and especially Asia understand the complexities of these machines and are more willing to put up with some of the niggles.

No the truth is that Europeans are willing to pay more for their machines, so they make more profit for the manufacturers.

Toshiba still charges about the same number of dollars as pounds for a PDA, yet the dollar/pound exchange rate is almost 2:1 ... so in the UK, we pay nearly twice as much for these pretty devices. The rest of Europe pays around 30 - 50% more than the USA too.


Steve

[SteveHoward999]

For a part it's no surpice, 200 miljoen english speakers in the us, that's one loud group of people. While europe is split in a dozen language's, with a dozen support forum's ( a few each country sometimes ), so any EU bitching isent going to sound as loud as US bitching ;)

About 450 milloin people in Europe. Easily half speak English.


I think The USA needs to educate it's people more about the rest of the world.


Steve

[Arqentus]

About 450 milloin people in Europe. Easily half speak English.

I think The USA needs to educate it's people more about the rest of the world.

Steve

Your right, half speaks english ( think this nr is even higher becouse to be honest, i don't know any person who doesent speak english ). But that doesent take away the fact, that most people still prefer for support going to local language forum's ( becouse it's more easy for them to explain there problems ).

Does Toshiba produce it's unit's in europe? Becouse that also may be a limiting factor. It's a hard time for EU producing firms to sell to the US, becouse of the very strong Euro vs the weak dollar ( aka more expensive for firms exporting from europe to the us ).

[jonathanchoo]

It seems people in Europe and especially Asia understand the complexities of these machines and are more willing to put up with some of the niggles. They also tend to be more willing to learn how to fix problems themselves. At least that's the impression I get reading the various PPC forums. The truth is, most of the b*tching seems to come from the US.

True true...I think...because I am like that. Even for encoding DivX I rather take the long complicated route (rip DVD > XMpeg > VDub). I even remember (back in 1992) when people told me that it was impossible to record Laser Discs to VHS but I managed to do so after hours of removing/inserting cables into various jacks. And that was because I wanted to tape some porn from my friend's dad's LD (I was 12).

Anyway, this was why Sony pulled out their PDAs from the rest of the World. Their PDAs are too damn complicated (when compared to others) but saw success in Japan because people there are willing to learn how to use the device, how to convert to Atrac3, how to put up with Sony's DRM etc.

Most people wouldn't even dare to touch the manual but they do and by doing so they get to fully enjoy the device they bought.

Incidentally this is the new Sony Clie PEG-VZ90 Japan only release. It is the first PDA to use OLED screen (I believe) and I think the design is awesome. Atleast way innovative than all the crap PocketPC design manufacturer's keep on churning.

http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/PEG/PEG-VZ90/images/feat3_7_2.jpg

http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/PEG/PEG-VZ90/images/feat1_13.jpg

http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/PEG/PEG-VZ90/index.html

[Marcel_Proust]

Recent Toshiba support in the US has been pretty good to me. They've also been the only ones, or at least the first ones, providing the 2003SE update. I am not sure why people beat up on Toshiba so much in these forums when they have been not better or wose than the other companies. There are a number of unhappy owners, who should complain, but whose complaints have been extreme.
This seems to be a lot of discussion before any hard details are out. I would bet the 830 will be released in the US and Canada.
Sonys designs are very nice, but often so propriety, so quirky, so bad a longer term investment, as to appeal to only an even more rarified gadget freaks than found even in these forums, but only available in sufficient enough quantities in Japapn.

[Duncan]

OK -

1) Companies will almost always submit wireless devices to the FCC whether they will be sold in the US or not (also to all the other major approval bodies around the world) - otherwise they couldn't be used in the US.

2) Toshiba are almost certainly not keen to compete in a mraket almost completely sewn up by HP and Dell. Fujitsu-Siemens don't actively sell in the US because of territorial issues with Fujitsu.

3) Things are more expensive in Europe - but this is not because of acceptance by us nor because companies are making bigger profits - it is because we have VAT (between 16 and 25% depending on country), more expensive transport costs and other factors that need to be accounted for.

[Phillip Dyson]

What is this Telephony IP module that eveyone keeps glossing over?
Will it be able to be used as a phone? Or is it only VoIP?

[jkendrick]

What is this Telephony IP module that eveyone keeps glossing over?
Will it be able to be used as a phone? Or is it only VoIP?

I believe it's VoIP similar to the s/w that ships with the e800. The s/w looks like a different program, however.

[Fishie]

Companies probably figure the cost of support over here isn't worth it. It seems people in Europe and especially Asia understand the complexities of these machines and are more willing to put up with some of the niggles.

No the truth is that Europeans are willing to pay more for their machines, so they make more profit for the manufacturers.

Toshiba still charges about the same number of dollars as pounds for a PDA, yet the dollar/pound exchange rate is almost 2:1 ... so in the UK, we pay nearly twice as much for these pretty devices. The rest of Europe pays around 30 - 50% more than the USA too.


Steve

People always seem to forget that our yes we pay around 30 to 50% more for these devices at retail but that the largest factor for that is that TAX IS INCLUDED, as well as 2 years of mandatory warrantee.

The prices we see listed in the US are ALWAYS without tax and warrantee often is limited to 90days with expensive plans for longer term warrantees.

Becouse of the stringent quality laws in most countries in Europe we often get higher quality material(with the best quality level batches reserved for hardware intended for European countries)then people in the US get.

[SteveHoward999]

People always seem to forget that our yes we pay around 30 to 50% more for these devices at retail but that the largest factor for that is that TAX IS INCLUDED, as well as 2 years of mandatory warrantee.

The prices we see listed in the US are ALWAYS without tax and warrantee often is limited to 90days with expensive plans for longer term warrantees.

Because of the stringent quality laws in most countries in Europe we often get higher quality material(with the best quality level batches reserved for hardware intended for European countries)then people in the US get.

I agree on the rediculous warranties in the US, but sales tax is around 7% - at least in the 8 or 10 states I have visited so far.

As for quality - what a load of tripe! We are buying the same machines, most likely built in the same factories.

--

By the way I HATE the fact that the price you see on the shelf is not the price you pay at the counter over here (I am a Brit now living in the US).

Steve

[Fishie]

Its not a lot of tripe.

You are familiar with the concept of BATCH TESTING are you?

From a batch of components a certain amount of samples is taken and tested for quality, dureability etcetera.

The batches with a higher failrate are reserved for countries with less stringent warrantee requirements or even for specific retailers who sell at cut rate prices.

Companies like HP dont do this sort of stuff, most others do.

The Sony TVs you can find in retailers like Makro in Europe or Walmart in the US come from lower quality batches.

[Arqentus]

The Sony TVs you can find in retailers like Makro in Europe or Walmart in the US come from lower quality batches.

Your making a little error ... Even if the Makro has lower quality, it still is under law to provide a 2 year ( up from the one year, think it's active 2003 ) warrenty. Makro = Belgium = EU = 2 year required by law :)

The reason for the price difference is differend.

Let's take Belgium as a example. 21% tax. But a company who produce's things in the China etc will have a extra 3.5% tax on it ( on the total amount inc btw ). Thus you end up with a 25+% price difference.

Warrenty isent a big reason. We have seen the HD makers cut back on warreny from 3 years to 1 year in the US ( europe is a forced 2 year periode ), yet, now most are going back to atleased 2 years. Why do this, if it ends up costing you money. Easy, customer responce. Customer sees product a) for 100$ with 1 year warrenty, and product b) for 105$ with 2 year warrenty. The first responce of a customer will be: "aha, manufacture b has more confidence in his product to offer a 2 year warrenty".

It's true that the US in general has cutting price's, but they also cut the warrenty in the US for it. Also, remember, we in Europe arent like the US. The US is based on the words: "bigger eq better" ... the more gas your car wasts, the better the car must be. The US is a trow away sociaty. It's broke, **** warrenty, lets by something newer with maybe xx extra options that we will never use. We in europe are more sober when it come's down to this. We like warrenty & use it.

And the price's can run up high ... example: Dell US doesent sell to europe ( unless your are in the army & stationed here ). Now, Dell europe hardly does any big discount's ... when you see dell US, they do 10, 15, 20% discount, with maybe another xxx coupons extra discount. Why does dell perform mega discount's in the US, and not in europe. Becouse they know both markets are differend. We Europeans are more the sucker type ... we will pay high price's for device's. Try selling a device in the US ( like the e830 ) for 700$ ( current euro - $ conversion minus tax ), most people won't buy it in the US ... not when they see other brands with simulair stuff for 600 or lower.

[Fishie]

I agree with a lot of things you say, except that you will often see with bottom of the barrel prices at places like Makro or the PCs they sell at Aldi or Lidl that they dont have actual manufacturers warrantee but rather a contracted third party who will take care of defects and broken/misused machines.

The PCs, PPCs, Digicams etcetera that Aldi for instance sells from time to time dont come with a manufacturers warrantee as real brand material does but rather with a local service addres where they have one guy who is contracted for 2 years to provide assistance and take care of broken goods.

[Dermot81]

Grrr why does the X50 have to be delayed, guess new PDA won't happen till Christmas...There better not be something even better right around the corner then...Ah who am I kidding, there always will :/

[SteveHoward999]

Its not a lot of tripe.

You are familiar with the concept of BATCH TESTING are you?


So you are telling me everything in the USA is substandard? So I should be scared to drive that brand new $12,000 v8 Ford truck becuase it has been batch tested?

I don't think so.

Whilst it might be true that some manufacturers of some goods do in some way sell lower quality gear in the USA, it is crazy to suggest that this is why everything is so cheap over here ... or conversely why everything is so durned expensive in the UK and the rest of Europe.

Steve (ever the cynic)

[Fishie]

I am not saying everything is, there are lots of things that can be had cheaper over here as well despite the tax being included and higher then in the US.
Then there are things that are NOT taxed over here while they are to some extend in the US(International flights for instance are not taxed in Belgium).
But for electronics with a lot of companies yes the US receives products of generallyu lesser quality then Europe.
The bigger or best recognised brands generally dont(with those Sony is an exception) but the others definitly do.

Cars are a different thing altogether, a gadget like a PPC has verry little chance of killing the user and providing relatives with a chance to sue the manufacturer for millions.

[Rob Alexander]

The truth is, most of the b*tching seems to come from the US.

:lol: I can't believe people are really debating this seriously. I have this picture in my head of the CEO trying to explain to the stockholders how they didn't bother selling their device in a market of 292 million people because they're kind of irritating. Yeah, that would fly! :bangin:

[yankeejeep]

I think that it may be as straightforward as Toshiba arriving at the same conclusion as Sony. The US PDA market is dominated by a couple of 600-pound gorillas: PalmOne and HP. Dell is making an effort to remain the domestic alternative in the PPC segment. We should recognize that all imports are running the numbers and deciding whether their PPC device distribution can reach the critical mass in the US to be profitable. Small-volume movement here makes it a difficult decision to maintain distribution channels and warranty support/repair structures. I think this decision by Toshiba is pure economics: they do not do enough PDA business in the US market to support the infrastructure of the effort, even if they can outsource significant pieces of it. What it eventually means is that those US users who do want to purchase Toshiba devices will do so through a foreign distributor who sells to US customers without incurring the liability of a US warranty. Fortunately, I am happy with my e805 and don't plan to replace it anytime soon, especially since the e830 seems to be fundamentally the e805 with some added features.

[Arqentus]

What it eventually means is that those US users who do want to purchase Toshiba devices will do so through a foreign distributor who sells to US customers without incurring the liability of a US warranty. Fortunately, I am happy with my e805 and don't plan to replace it anytime soon, especially since the e830 seems to be fundamentally the e805 with some added features.

No offence, but people need to learn the difference of warrenty in europe is a lot better then in the US. When you buy from a EU distributor, you get a default 2 years warrenty ( standard for all electronic items sold in the EU ). If something breaks, you ship it to the distributor, or the manufacturer, e voila .. 2 Years warrenty is a long time ( the products lifespan in regards to ppc's, sinds people seem to upgrade there ppc's way faster then the warrenty covers the ppc's ).