Best Wi-Fi PPC ???

[crashdau]

Hey, folks !! Thanks to the Superbowl ( :D ) I'm in the market for a PPC with integrated wi-fi (much to the wife's cool silence on the matter! {..can you say dog house?...} ) :?

I've been looking at the IPAQ 5455 and the Toshiba E740.

:?: Which do you think is better? (opinions of current/previous users of either would be very helpful.)
Is there any other brand/model out there that I haven't found yet?

I like the e740's integrated CF and SD along with the Wi-fi, but the 5455's biometrics is cool (though not needed !)

Ideas/suggestions welcome!

Thanks,
crashDAU

[MPSmith]

LOL! There is ABSOLUTELY NO comparison between the Toshiba e740 and the iPaq 5450. None at all. That's not even worth a debate. The 54XX is FAR superior in every way. I won't even go into why, just to say that you have to pay a hefty premium to get it over the Toshiba. That's the down side. You obviously haven't picked up a 54XX yet or you wouldn't be asking.

A fairer comparison is the e740 vs. the Dells. The Dell doesn't have integrated wi-fi, but you can buy a wi-fi cf card these days for $50-60 or less, so no big deal. The Toshiba screen doesn't match up well with recent PPC's either, but is "fine" for most. Personally, I have to have a great screen. I don't want to bash the Toshibas, because they've made a great device. I took the Dell over the Toshiba and won't be looking back.

I hope that Toshiba is a long term player though.

[crashdau]

Thanks, MP....

No I haven't picked up either device and would love a sidie-by-side comparison in the flesh, but, I'm hoping to do that @ CompUSA near work.

I have looked at the Dell Advanced and was interested in it for the look. Is the screen that much better on the Dell? I thought the e740's screen was equivalent to the 3955?

[seanturner]

I don't have a toshiba, but, i've heard the range on it is rather poor. I have done a review of the iPaq 5400 series though which you can read here: http://www.pdajunkie.net/wirelessinet5400.htm

[MPSmith]

I'm no expert, I just know what I like.

I think the 5450 is pretty similar in screen quality to the 3900 series ipaqs. Those two stand alone in screen quality. I was very disappointed in the Tosh I played with in the store. Keep in mind that I have not owned a Tosh and may have gotten a bum one in the store. But, the reviews I've read have dissed the screen and wi-fi a little.

No question that for the price, Dell is your PPC. The only knock on them is the delivery delays and that they are brand new to the industry and may have some initial problems. But knowing Dell, they will work with the consumer to make it right. They intend on taking over this industry and you don't do that by ignoring customer demands.

Built in wi-fi is fine as long as they put in the best one available - which they (Tosh) didn't. I've also heard that range is sometimes a problem. That would concern me since you can't change it out. If you don't like the $50 wi-fi CF card you buy, just eBay it and buy another one!

Also, if you wanna pay $600 to $700 you should go ipaq 5450. If you crave size only, take the 1910.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I would strongly consider a PPC w/o WiFi built-in and then just separately purchasing a CF WiFi card. For one, you always have that WiFi card when you upgrade PPCs in the future and secondly, devices with built-in WiFi are just inherently more complicated internally, which can often lead to random stability issues. I've heard a lot of good things about both devices... but I've heard a lot of complaints as well... complaints are much fewer for those that just purchase a CF WiFi as an add-on.

[seanturner]

It seems there are a lot of complaints for all the new PocketPC devices....

I think the problem is just that they need more testing (public beta's perhaps)?

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

It seems there are a lot of complaints for all the new PocketPC devices....

I think the problem is just that they need more testing (public beta's perhaps)?
There will always be complaints I suppose, but there's obviously a difference between mushy D-Pads and an unstable device that frequently locks up.

Generally, I find that the more complicated the hardware, the more prone it becomes to instabilities. QA testing is something companies definitely don't do enough of, especially for these more complicated devices.

[bigkingfun]

I switched from the e740 to the 5450 about a week ago, so I haven't had a lot of time with the iPAQ yet. I've found some things I like better and a couple of things I miss about the e740.

I didn't have any problem with the wifi range of the e740 in my house or at work. The maximum distance I would be from the access point was probably 250 feet, but the Toshiba picked up the signal with no problem. The iPAQ is equally good at getting the signal, but my seat-of-the-pants feeling is that it's a little bit faster transfer than the Toshiba. The iPAQ definitely has better wireless management software in it though.

There is no comparison between the screens - the iPAQ has a fantastic screen. I switched from an iPAQ 3850 to the e740, and even then I liked the iPAQ screen a little better. The newer ones make a huge difference.

The things I miss about the Toshiba are the dual slots. My biggest memory card is a CF card, so I'm stuck with either buying a sleeve for the iPAQ or buying a bigger SD card. Having two slots as well as built-in wifi is definitely handy. I also like the jog dial on the side of the e740, something which is missing on the iPAQ. I read ebooks quite a bit and I like having a jog dial to scroll. I find the d-pad to be more difficult to use. The d-pad on the iPAQ is also not as accurate as the e740, but it could be because it's a little smaller and I've got big fingers.

Having a wireless card instead of built-in has advantages, but the biggest reason I didn't want to go that way is because of the antenna sticking out. Depending on the card, it may not be that big, but I still don't like the ergonomics of it. Plus, I carry my ppc on my belt all day and I was always worried about catching the wifi antenna on something.

The main thing that made me switch to the 5450 was the Bluetooth. I probably would have stuck with the e740 for another generation or two but the integrated bluetooth on the 5450 was the deciding factor for me. In spite of a couple of things I miss, I am much happier overall with the 5450. And the biometrics is cool too. I didn't really think I would even use it, but it's actually more convenient than typing in the PIN I've found.

If you have the money, I would recommend the 5450 but the e740 is a great unit too.

[jimski]

While I have not tried the Toshiba, I have a 5450 and will share my WiFi thoughts.

Like a problem I previously had with Bluetooth and my iPAQ 3870, when trying to turn on WiFi, the device very often requires that I do a soft reset to free up resources for the WiFi driver. Interestingly enough, the Bluetooth on the 5450 works damn near perfect. I turn it on and off all day without any issue. I guess it's something to do with second generation (iPAQ's second stab at Bluetooth) vs. first try (WiFi). Not a problem, but certainly a nusiance.

Setting up a new connection is simple using the built-in wizard. I have found the connection to be reliable and very similar regarding range as compared to the Linksys PC Card installed on my laptop. The connection on the 5450 does occasionally drop off and then comes right back up after 2-4 seconds. I still don't know if this is a device or outside interference issue.

My firm is using WiFi at three of our offices now (at my request) and I can walk into any of the locations and immediately connect after activating WiFi (and possibly performing a soft reset if required). I have also setup a WiFi network at home and can easily, share folders, drive & printers and access the web without much effort (same access at the office). I honestly have not found a really good use for all this functionality except for W?BIC (Why? Because I Can) but I am still working on that.

On one occasion, I cound not get the WiFi to turn on (even though the WiFi monitor indicated that WiFi was active) regrading of soft resets, etc. I finally pulled out the removable battery for a few seconds and all was well again (no hard reset needed).

Personally, I would not want to a card for anything I would be using often, like WiFi. I would prefer to save that space for memery expansion and the occasional camera shot or something like that. And besides, technology changes so fast, would you really expect a WiFi card that you buy today to be very useful in say, six months.

I expect that a future ROM upgrade will address some of the minor issues that I have and others will undoubtly identify.

Aside from the WiFi, as a previous poster noted, the 5450 has many great features; screen, expanded memory, Bluetooth, removable battery, biometric fingerprint reader, iPAQ sleeve and accessory compatibility, that must be considered when comparing to any device, including the e740.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I have found the connection to be reliable and very similar regarding range as compared to the Linksys PC Card installed on my laptop.
I assume it's lot better than Linksys b/c that Linksys PC WiFi card is well known for its deficient range.

Personally, I would not want to a card for anything I would be using often, like WiFi.
That's a good point and I don't know the usage requirements of the original poster, but personally, I tend to only use mine at home. The majority of time is spent at work or outdoors (with little to no WiFi access either way).

And besides, technology changes so fast, would you really expect a WiFi card that you buy today to be very useful in say, six months.
Well, if a WiFi card is no longer useful in six months, then I say don't invest in WiFi at all. I don't believe this is the case though. The WiFi card will provide you with more flexibility in your future purchases, plus you can always swap that WiFi card out and use it with a laptop if you use one for work.

[seanturner]

Also, one of the other main advantages of the toshiba is that they just released a new software (firmware?) upgrade which allows the toshiba to support some wireless encryption protocols that the iPaq doesn't? Although there is a slight chance that I could be mistaken.

[Dave Beauvais]

I switched from the e740 to the 5450 about a week ago, so I haven't had a lot of time with the iPAQ yet. I've found some things I like better and a couple of things I miss about the e740. ...
Interestingly, I did the same thing. My e740 died last week after killing three flash cards earlier in the week. Instead of dealing with Toshiba for warranty service, I used my CompUSA plan and got an h5455 to replace it. Like you, I miss the jog wheel on the side and the CF slot. One of the cards killed by my e740 was a 512 MB CF card that I am now unable to use. I may pick up a CF sleeve soon, but for the moment, I'm going to miss carrying around twenty CDs worth of WMA files, and a movie or two.

The h5455 also seems to have some driver quirks, but I've found a way around the most annoying one. One thing that I absolutely love about the h5455 is the fact that its wireless configuration supports profiles. I switch between multiple wireless networks every day. Some have encryption, others don't; some broadcast SSIDs, others don't. I created a custom list in ListPro (http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/lp/listpro.htm) to keep track of encryption keys and had to copy and paste them into the Wi-Fi config program. With the iPAQ's profile system, I set up a profile for each network just once. When I go to that location, I select the appropriate profile, the changes are applied, and I'm in business. It's not quite as automatic as Windows XP's so-called "Zero Configuration Wireless," but it's much nicer than any other PDA-based Wi-Fi solution I've used in the past.

I can't say enough about the screen, either. Personally, I didn't think the e740's screen was horrible, but like most reflective screens, it's simply no match against the transflective screens on the newer iPAQs and other PPCs. Every time I turn this thing on, I'm still amazed at the screen quality compared to my previous Pocket PCs.

I didn't have any problem with the wifi range of the e740 in my house or at work. ...
Ditto. The e740 always had adequate range for me, but the h5455 does seem to be a bit better.

... The d-pad on the iPAQ is also not as accurate as the e740, but it could be because it's a little smaller and I've got big fingers.
No, I think the D-pad pretty much sucks on the h5400 series. I guess it's gotten a little looser in the last week, but I still have to make a conscious effort to press it, and it often takes more than one press to actually do anything. On my previous PPCs, I could just press lightly in any direction and it would move; with this, I have to press very firmly. This is the single thing that annoys me the most about the h5455. I just can't see how they could sell something for $700 that has such an obvious flaw. Maybe they wanted to make it firm so you didn't select something when using the fingerprint scanner. :?:

Overall I'm very happy with my new auxiliary brain, though I do miss the built-in CF slot more than anything.

--Dave

[mashtim]

I have to toss in a vote for the Toshiba. Granted, I have gone through FIVE of them already (Thank god for that Best Buy Warranty Add-On !!), but I think I've finally gotten one that works the way it should. Why did I go through all of this instead of upgrading to a 5400-series?

1) Built-in dual slots. Being able to carry a 256MB SD and a 512MB CF card in the same unit at the same time without having to add a sleeve is priceless. Being able to toss in a CF camera and save the pics to my SD card is amzing. I can take almost an hour of video using my PPC, fercryinoutloud! Oh yeah, after I take that video, I can send it to my server using WiFi without having to remove or add any cards!

2) The jog dial. I got used to this feature when I picked up my Aero 1500 and have missed it ever since then. If I have my way, I will never buy another PPC without a jog dial ever again, that's how much I use it. I would estimate my jog dial to d-pad use ratio to be in the 12:1 range.

3) Every power cable that I had for my old 3600-series iPaq is usable on my Toshi740. In fact, I just bought a bluetooth GPS unit from Socket and that even uses the same power supply! It came with this cool car adapter which allows you to charge the GPS and your iPaq/Toshi at the same time. Pretty cool stuff! How do I use the bluetooth you ask? Remember that built-in CF slot? Well, Socket also makes a fantastic CF bluetooth card which doesn't have an antenna that sticks out. It changes the form factor in NO way. So, with this card in, I essentially have a 5400-series without a nicer screen and biometrics. Plus, I can swap this card out any time I want.

All in all, I'm sure the 5400-series is a great unit, but I love the versatility that my Toshi740 gives me without my having to carry around a sleeve and all other sorts of crap. All I carry on me now are a couple of CF-sized cards and I am good to go! Until they come out with an iPaq that has built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, SD, CF, removeable battery and a jog dial, I'm sticking with my Toshi, baby!