Toshiba e740 or e755?

[Mark from Canada]

A friend of mine is looking to get his first PPC and has narrowed it down to either the e740 or the e755 from Toshiba.

He can get the e740 for 190US or the e755 for 290US and wants to know if the 755 is worth the extra money.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks
Mark

[Fishie]

A friend of mine is looking to get his first PPC and has narrowed it down to either the e740 or the e755 from Toshiba.

He can get the e740 for 190US or the e755 for 290US and wants to know if the 755 is worth the extra money.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks
Mark

Its worth it, has Win mobile 2k3, better screen, isnt broken up like the 740, has a newer procesor and operates faster.

[JohnnyFlash]

Hi, Mark~

I have both of these units (along with an 805), and I would say without reservation that in my opinion, (if it were my money) I would pay the extra for the 755.

Here's why:

The 755 has a bus speed twice that of the 740.
The 755 has faster video rendering.
The 755 has 32 megs of built in ROM for secure file storage (I put my backups there) That's a total of 96 megs of RAM!
The 755 has a 3.8" screen as opposed to the 3.5" screen on the 740.
Plus, the 755's screen is much brighter and more vivid than the one on the 740.

Here are the drawbacks:

The 755 goes through the battery faster than the 740.
And it's harder to find screen accessories for the 755 due to the unusually sized screen. (you know, like protectors and such).
Also, there aren't as many cases available for the 755. Again, due to the unusual screen size.

Hope this helps in your decision!

[Hx4700]

Excellent comparison Blammage. Right on the hot points.
Now what do you think of the 755 vs the 805???
Thanks for your input...
Ron...

[Mark from Canada]

Thanks for the info. It sounds like the 755 is worth the extra money. I'll let him know.

[Deltrevan]

Excellent comparison Blammage. Right on the hot points.
Now what do you think of the 755 vs the 805???
Thanks for your input...
Ron...

Hi Ronald! (I don't mean to butt in, I know you weren't asking me, but...)

I used to have a 755, and now have an 805 as well. I can tell you from my perspective that there is no comparison between the two.

The 755 is a fine machine...I loved it! But nothing (IMO), and I do mean NOTHING touches the 805 for style, performance and "head turning envy" appeal. (Of course, I definitely am slightly biased) :mrgreen:

OH! I am sooooo in love with this little machine!

Did you have other more specific questions between the two units?

[Hx4700]

Hi Deltrevan,
Thanks for the reply.
I currently have an Axim with a lot of extras for it (KB, GPS, SmartPad, lots of CD and SDs). I am looking forward to upgrading to 520mh or more and VGA and wm2003SE with CF and SD. I think I can salvage all my extras but the KB and case to go to another machine.
I'm thinking of waiting to see what will come out before Xmas instead of jumping on the e805 or the Asus now, even tho they both have about all on my wish list but the higher speed processor.
The one thing I'm leary of with the e805 is the apparent larger size than the Asus or most anything else. What's your take on this?
Otherwise both e805 and Asus look like very stong machines.
Ron...

[Deltrevan]

Ron,

Let me address the size issue first. It's true that the 805 is definitiely one of the larger (if not the largest) of the PPC devices on the market right now. To put the size into perspective for you (and I'm sure you've seen and touched one at retail, but this will give you an idea relative to the 755), as you have probably heard, the 805 does not come with a case. So, when I got mine, I needed something temporary to protect the unit until I could find an aftermarket case that I liked, and get it ordered. The only thing I had lying around was the original slip case that came with my 755. I really didn't think it would fit, but I decided to give it a shot, and dropped it in. Guess what? Lo and behold, not only did it fit, but it fit ALL the way down into the case, and left none of the unit itself exposed. So, as you can see from this illustration, it is larger, but it's just not THAT much larger than say a 740 or 755.

Having said that, I guess I should ask why you are focusing on the size of the unit (as opposed to performance, or cost). Do you plan to "pocket" (HAR-HAR, I'm the pun king) the PPC? If so, you should know that I've heard a handful of horror stories surrounding broken screens resulting from either carrying the units around in pockets, or having them fall out or getting sat on. I point this out because if you AREN'T going to pocket the unit, size probably won't affect you that much. I'm not really a big guy (5'10" 175lbs), but I actually prefer the larger and heavier units. If I'm going to pay 500 or 600 dollars for something, I want to feel it, and know that I got something for my money (silly, no?). Plus, to me, the heavier units just feel more solidly built. Not to mention that I find the larger ones slightly easier to hold onto without so much fear of dropping it, or having it slip from my hand.

Finally, as far as the timeframe goes, most of the rumors and marketing hype I've run across have been talking about the next gen devices hitting the market in the first quarter on next year (surprising, given that we've got a holiday buying season coming up before then). Not that there won't be new units out before then, but that the new ones that DO come out in time for the holiday buying season this year, won't have any compelling new cool stuff that you'd be missing by picking up say, the 805 now. Most manufacturers I've talked to plan on focusing on making VGA their next big step forward (which the 805 already has), with others saying that they will add either multiple expansion slots, or wifi to their existing units, depending of course on what they are missing now.

So, as you can see, taken as a whole, most of the street signs contained within the above diatribe seem to point to the 805 remaining (at least for now) at the front end of the curve. Plus, I haven't seen much slippage in the Toshiba's prices recently, so I don't think you'd gain much in the way of dolars if you held out for a while either.

Does any of this help to sort this issue out, or serve as a handle to get ahold of?

-Del

[Hx4700]

Hi Deltrevan,
Actually I do shirt-pocket my PPC. I've had the original (I think) Ipaq 3600, a Jornada 568 and now the Axim. I've gotten for each one a Vaja fliptop case so not much width is added and with the extra padded cover. No broken screens yet.
And as I stated, the only big thing the e805 or Asus is missing today is the faster processor. To me, that is a show stopper now. As Xmas gets here and there is no 520mh or better on the market, then its back to choosing the e805 or Asus for the VGA screen and wm2003SE.
I use HackMaster to overclock the Axim to 708 since I've gotten the 255 processor and wm2003. More power! > Arrrg! <
Thanks for the input...
Ron...

[jkendrick]

The next Toshiba, the e830, is basically the 805 with the faster processor (520 mhz) and WM2003 SE installed. It's also rumored to have both WiFi and BT builtin.

Since the rumors state it has a July time frame your wait until Xmas should bear fruit.