Toshiba e740 Pocket PC for $369

[Jason Dunn]

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000658CE/jasondunn-20">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000658CE/jasondunn-20</a><br /><br />Toshiba has a fetish for price drops I think - only a few months ago this was, what, $599 I think? At $369 after rebates, this falls into the "smokin' deal" category - if you've been waiting for the "high end" Pocket PCs to come down in price, this might be a good opportunity to make the jump. Affiliate link.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000658CE.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg" /><br /><br /><b>UPDATE:</b> Either that price was a mistake, or the deal ended, because the price is back up to $469.

[entropy1980]

Do I hear replacement model coming? :?:

[Ed Hansberry]

I wonder how much of this is replacement model and how much is HOLY CRAP!!!! Dell has a $199 and $299 model coming! Quick - grab marketshare NOW!!!!!! :lol:

[d0gfaceb0y]

I have had this model for three months. I have had numerous problems with ActiveSync, battery, and WIFI connections. I need to reset it at least three times a day. Toshiba support acknowledges all of the issues but has no fix in sight. I heard someone on another forum mention that this is a beta device and not ready for primetime. I agree. The price is tempting but I personally would not buy it again even at this price.

[szamot]

I think the deal should be more like $250 damn that would be so hot it would surely burn a hole in my wallet and my screen, at $369 is a pee warm deal. I think it would only be wise to see what both Dell and ViewSonic will do to the market. This year may very well end on a positive note after all. Having said that I wonder if the iPAQ which I am sure the exec dreamt of selling at $799 might just need to be satisfied with $499 price. That too would not only be smart but also a good deal and an amazing PR stunt to say sorry for selling ****e 3850 at a price of a real PPC. Now, now I still like my iPAQ but would certainly not buy another one at the same price. In light of recent crazy pricing announcements I feel like I have been violated..

[Ed Hansberry]

I have had numerous problems with ActiveSync, battery, and WIFI connections.
Yuck. :( Anyone else? I just recommended this to someone and am wondering if I should steer them back to the e310. :?

[Kemas]

Yes but you can get a palm for under $200.....



Palm Haters.... start your engines.....


I love a good bout of mud slinging.....

[hrianto]

Well, it's predictable that PDA market will follow PC market at the end. In the next few months, we will hear a lot of discounts/rebates for all brands if they want to keep or get more market share. Viewsonic started this with $299 device and then Dell will follow with $199 (incredible).

This is going to be a good holiday season for consumers but a night mare for manufacturers as their bottom line will not look good at all.

[fmcpherson]

fwiw, I have an E740 and have not had any of the problems described here. From what I have observed the problems with the E740 are hit or miss, just like a lot of other Pocket PCs. For the price that you can get it at, I think the E740 is a wonderful high-end Pocket PC. You certainly get more bang for your buck than throwing down the big bucks for an iPAQ 3900.

[Ed Hansberry]

This is the one sans 802.11b isn't it?

[matijsmoest]

i think it's a good thing!!!
this way the IPAQ's maybe will also decrease in costs..

[d0gfaceb0y]

Ed,

This one does have the 802.11b. Hardware spec wise this this is great. I do not want to start a flame war about which PDA is better. But my experience has been very frustrating with the E740. I bought the HP 540 when it first came out. I upgraded to the iPaq 3600 about a year later. Both worked so well that I did not even think of the whole ActiveSync process.

Now many time a day, the active sync disconnects. I'll make a change in Outlook, leave the office and my notes and tasks are not up to date. If I copy a large MP3 file to the device (>20MB) the device disconnects three quarters of the way through the download. I typically have to reset the device to get the WIFI to kick in. And to top it all off, Toshiba say yea, there are problems and we are working on them. No date in site. Just a very frustrating experience.

[Birdman]

IMPORTANT NOTE! The price on the Toshiba is after $100 and $50 mail in rebates from Amazon.com. The rebates are open to residents of the US only! (If you click on the rebate link on the Amazon page and read the small print, it clearly states open to legal residents of the US.)

Makes my decision to wait another month or so before deciding what to replace my 3635 with. Dual slots and a flip cover, where are you?

[bdeli]

LET THE PRICE WARS BEGIN!!!

By the end of the year we are going to be happy guys!!!

[Gallivant]

Bah. No Stowaway. It is not for me.

*Sulks in the corner and glares at his Palm IIIxe*

[Pinnacle]

Ed,

This one does have the 802.11b. Hardware spec wise this this is great. I do not want to start a flame war about which PDA is better. But my experience has been very frustrating with the E740. I bought the HP 540 when it first came out. I upgraded to the iPaq 3600 about a year later. Both worked so well that I did not even think of the whole ActiveSync process.

Now many time a day, the active sync disconnects. I'll make a change in Outlook, leave the office and my notes and tasks are not up to date. If I copy a large MP3 file to the device (>20MB) the device disconnects three quarters of the way through the download. I typically have to reset the device to get the WIFI to kick in. And to top it all off, Toshiba say yea, there are problems and we are working on them. No date in site. Just a very frustrating experience.
FYI, I've had my e740 since the first week they came out. After two weeks of use, I was having the ActiveSync disconnect problem, as well. I ended up hard resetting the device, and I haven't had the problem since.

This is a fantastic device, in the entire scheme of the market; it does have a few random problems, though. My biggest gripe is the button issue where either the 4 front buttons don't work at all or in games there's a lag in muti button press response.

BUT...if you aren't a big gamer and are into WiFi-ing your heart out, this is one heck of a deal. I've also got the high capacity 3000mAh battery that allows me to Wi Fi for 6-8 hours continuous...incredible.

[Taltoz]

I have had numerous problems with ActiveSync, battery, and WIFI connections.
Yuck. :( Anyone else? I just recommended this to someone and am wondering if I should steer them back to the e310. :?

I have had this device since bestbuy started shipping them (they were the first ones available in my area) and I can say I have NEVER had a problem with it. I moved from a 3630 ipaq to this and have not looked back. The wireless has worked flawless for me both at home and at work. I would recommend using the hardware switch to turn off and on the wireless (for battery purposes) though.

[texeck]

Decisions, decisions... :? Should I wait to replace my HP568 with one of the newcomers (HP 5000 or high end Dell) - or go for this Toshiba now? :?: I can't beieve these prices - either they are great for us consumers, or we have been grabbing our ankles for so long we don't know what a good deal looks like anymore :oops: !!!

Either way - Christmas is shaping up nicely for all of us!

[toshtoshtosh]

Rom Update on the horizon.

http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62234

[Timothy Rapson]

I wonder how much of this is replacement model and how much is HOLY CRAP!!!! Dell has a $199 and $299 model coming! Quick - grab marketshare NOW!!!!!! :lol:

Ed. You are havinng WAYYYYY tooo much fun with the big font stuff :lol:


Second coming text they call it in the Newspaper world. The Dell deal is almost that big a story, though.


Interesting, that if they add the extra $50 Amazon gift certificate they gave out with e310s they are right down near the price of the high end Dell with virtually identical specs, but wireless and metal case added.

[don dre]

Its great they are competing and will drive down peices but it is far from revolutionary. I am more interested in seing new ppc's not more versions of the existing model. but i recognize that veryone has different preferences.

[gmelfissg]

It the prices are lowered for a basic pocket pc with all the trimming of a pocket pc of 500$ and offer for $300 then we could see greate pocket pc with new feature for $500. That's make sense because people are tired of paying overprice for pda (ipaq: $550-600$) when you can have the same functionnality and more for $300.

[mclaughlinc]

This device is a DOG! I would not recemend anybody buying this unit.

The sound is bearly loud enough for you to hear.
The quick launch buttons have a major bug (think don't work most of the time).
Unit locks up allot
The cradle is a very poor design (You have to push on the cradle to get the unit seated)

I bought one and returned it one week later.

Corey

[Mobile Bob]

fwiw, I have an E740 and have not had any of the problems described here. From what I have observed the problems with the E740 are hit or miss, just like a lot of other Pocket PCs. For the price that you can get it at, I think the E740 is a wonderful high-end Pocket PC. You certainly get more bang for your buck than throwing down the big bucks for an iPAQ 3900.

Ditto. I've had mine since mid-June, and have experienced only minor issues. I regularly access a T1 line via 802.11b at my university, and I also regularly access T-Mobile's GPRS network via aSocket Bluetooth Card ($115 US) and my T68i; switching between the two connection methods is completely hassle free. I use this PPC a lot, and have never had to perform a hard reset. I've only experienced the application buttons occasionally not working (no big deal).

This is not to diminish the bad experiences that others have had with the e740. I'm sorry you that some of you have received "bad units". The fact is, some who buy the HP IPAQ 5400 when it becomes available will also receive "bad units"; that doesn't mean that model is inferior. The IPAQ 3800s, 3900s, etc. are excellent models, yet many who have purchased those have also received "bad units". Unfortunately, with any brand/model of PPC that you decide to purchase, you stand a good chance of getting a "lemon". The first T-Mobile PPC Phone I purchased turned out to be a lemon, and I had it replaced less than one week after I purchased it. The replacement T-Mobile provided has worked great for the two months that I have owned it.

You still have to compare features and price. The e740 is not for everyone; but given the features it offers, and at that price, that is a great deal.

[Mobile Bob]

Rom Update on the horizon.

http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62234

toshtoshtosh,

Thanks for the great news. Lets hope this is released soon. :wink:

[Pony99CA]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000658CE/jasondunn-20

Toshiba has a fetish for price drops I think - only a few months ago this was, what, $599 I think? At $369 after rebates, this falls into the "smokin' deal" category - if you've been waiting for the "high end" Pocket PCs to come down in price, this might be a good opportunity to make the jump. Affiliate link.
I just visited that link, and here's what I saw:


Toshiba e740 Pocket PC
List Price: $599.99
Price: $519.94
You Save: $80.05
Mail-In Rebates: $50.00
Price After Rebates: $469.94

Someone mentioned another $100 rebate, so either that ended or was an error.

Steve

[Ed Hansberry]

I saw the $369. I'll bet it was an error because there were two rebates shown. The $100 has been pulled but clearly said it didn't expire until Oct 22. Oh well. Those who got in got lucky. :)

[SassKwatch]

I saw the $369. I'll bet it was an error because there were two rebates shown. The $100 has been pulled but clearly said it didn't expire until Oct 22. Oh well. Those who got in got lucky. :)Yep, the $369 was available yesterday evening.

This am I was getting ready to send the link to a couple possibly interested friends, and there's only $50 in rebate offered now.

Musta been a boo boo.

[bdeli]

ecost.com have the price lower ($459.99) from Amazon's current price.

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?DPNo=490315

[ppchunter]

The lowest price I found is at:
http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?sid=i5at923xvvr0794&id=36

$409

[JonnoB]

A replacement for the e740 was already confirmed this week at MEC 2002. It will be either the e750 or e760 and be available by the Holidays.

[ppchunter]

Hey JonnoB, thanks for sharing that info! Do you know anything more about the e750/e760 ? Will it just be the same as the e740 with just small fixes or will some things be different (eg. better screen, better speaker)?

[ppchunter]

Wow... the e740 is now $379 at http://www.shopharmony.com/default.asp?file1=/secure/products.asp?Itemid=tose740
... and AFAIK there is no rebate.

I'm still going to wait for the e750/e760 tho