PDAGold Reviews Toshiba's SE-Enabled e800

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=195' target='_blank'>http://pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=195</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Even though Toshiba e800 is almost 9 months old, it remains the only Pocket PC with a VGA display on the market. Frankly, it is the best Toshiba I have ever held. Besides a remarkable display, it offers two expansion slots and a wireless radio module - either Bluetooth or WiFi, depending on the model...Just to make it clear - the device I tested was Toshiba e800 with an integrated Bluetooth module. Toshiba offers also a version with an integrated Wi-Fi module under the same model name."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20040807-PDAGolde800.jpg" /><br /><br />While the e800 isn't terribly new, it's gotten some renewed attention due to the availability of WM2003SE for it. If you've been eyeing the unit, this is probably an article worth checking out -- as usual, Pavel doesn't disappoint with the breadth and depth of his review.

[Dr. Grabow]

Having just flashed the SE rom to my e805, I can say the display is definitely drop-dead gorgeous. I use the high-capacity battery pack, which actually fits my had better than the standard battery. Never even think about battery life with that one.

[rob_ocelot]

Having just flashed the SE rom to my e805, I can say the display is definitely drop-dead gorgeous. I use the high-capacity battery pack, which actually fits my had better than the standard battery. Never even think about battery life with that one.

I too recently flashed my e800 with SE (after being quite adamant that I would not until a large majority of applications had native support for it) and I am impressed with the result. I was so used to MyVGA that I didn't want to give up screen real estate for SE. SE VGA changed all of that. More often than not now I'm in the regular SE mode, It just took some time to get used to it.


One thing the review doesn't mention is that the VGA out on the Presentation Pack is *not* supported under SE. The VGA out isn't very speedy (almost a 1 second delay between the PDA screen and a monitor) and really is only for static powerpoint presentations with little FMV or effects.

[bjornkeizers]

Excellent review. I was actually considering the E800 as my new unit, but the review changed my mind - unfortunately. The D-pad took it off my list. What's the point of having that much memory, a speedy processor and a great screen if you can't play quake worth a damn?

*shakes head* This is going to be a tough one, with so little good units to choose from. I'm also considering the Loox 610 BT/WLAN (WLAN is a requirement) and the Asus 716

[Janak Parekh]

Excellent review. I was actually considering the E800 as my new unit, but the review changed my mind - unfortunately. The D-pad took it off my list. What's the point of having that much memory, a speedy processor and a great screen if you can't play quake worth a damn?
The d-pad is indeed quite bad. Unfortunately, d-pads aren't generally emphasized on Pocket PCs. Apart from that and the larger-than-average formfactor, though, I like my e805 a lot.

--janak

[scargill]

You honestly won't believe this but i spent a few hours today looking for an e800 w/se review.
I'm torn between the axim x30 and the e800. Work are paying for it; so money doesn't matter, but i need it up & running within the next few weeks, so i can't hang on.
mainly i will be playing videos, browsing the web & editing/reading documents. I'm not sure if the vga display will help that much and if the smallness and the extra speed of the x30 is better. How much will the vga screen make what i want to do, will i be better off with the 200mhz for decoding videos?

[arnage2]

this almost makes me want to buy a e805 again.

[DanielTS]

mainly i will be playing videos, browsing the web & editing/reading documents.
=> biggest screen & highest resolution
=> 4" screen, VGA (640*480) resolution
=> Toshiba e800 / e830 (http://www.wigalds-web.de/db/result.php?id=17&id2=53), HP hx4700

Like the PC based video players with the ATI / nVidia PC graphics cards, the best video players (BetaPlayer, PocketTV, PocketMVP) use the hardware-accelerated processing provided by the ATI Imageon (http://www.ati.com/products/imageon3200/features.html) graphics chip integrated in the Toshiba e800.

BetaPlayer & e800: “watching dvd quality (http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107407) movies”

WM2003 SE & VGA PPC (http://www.firstloox.org/VGAppc.htm): “very crisp and clear text” (http://www.pocketpctools.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1763&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=be11fc66b4c0dc9df2f9df7f09647617) (laser print quality text)

[bjornkeizers]

Speaking of videos.. How, exactly, does that work with the 640x480 display? Does it actually play a 640x480 move *at* 640x480?

I'd be willing to trade the D-Pad for the ability to watch Futurama @ that resolution @ full speed.

[scargill]

The e800 has USB Host facilities, right? Has anybody written a usb driver for joypads yet? That would completely make the e800 the no.1 device for games, no fiddly d-pad at all; just plug a joypad in and play to your hearts content!!!

[arnage2]

i know there is a game controler for ipaqs (i forget who makes it), but im unsure about usb for the toshibas.

[DanielTS]

Speaking of videos.. How, exactly, does that work with the 640x480 display? Does it actually play a http://betaplayer.corecodec.org move *at* 640x480?
Yes, it does.
But, the 640x480 files are huge.

Sample videos for BetaPlayer testing:
http://betaplayer.corecodec.org/

ID Size Video format Audio format :

RL_SQB 4.6MB 160x216 24fps 192Kbit/s B-Frame 2-pass XviD 22Khz Stereo 56Kbit/s MP3
RL_LQB 6.0MB 320x176 24fps 256Kbit/s B-Frame 2-pass DivX 22Khz Stereo 64Kbit/s MP3
RL_MQB 11.7MB 320x240 24fps 512Kbit/s B-Frame 2-pass DivX 44Khz Stereo 128Kbit/s MP3
RL_HQ 20.9MB 640x352 24fps 1024Kbit/s 2-pass DivX 44Khz Stereo 128Kbit/s MP3
RL_XQ 29.1MB 640x480 24fps 1500Kbit/s 2-pass XviD

[DanielTS]

The e800 has USB Host facilities, right?
Right! :lol:

Has anybody written a usb driver for joypads yet?
As far as I know, not yet!

[bjornkeizers]

Yes, it does.
But, the 640x480 files are huge.


I know :D I don't have 640x480 futurama - but if I do have something larger then 320x240, it's nice to know it'll be able to fit on there just nicely.

The E800 is back on the list for now :D

[scargill]

The e800 has USB Host facilities, right?
Right! :lol:
Has anybody written a usb driver for joypads yet?
As far as I know, not yet!

Cheers! It would be brilliant if somebody could write one; if it was for standard HID joypads then I could get a mini joypad or alternatively my PSX one!
I think the e800 is the PDA for me anyway, I can't wait/afford the E830 and I can't see the 120mhz doing much for me, don't need bluetooth really (for the TINY amount of time I'll go online via my phone, IR will do) and although the extra speed of the X30 would be nice, I can't quite see myself using it.
Thanks everyone, I'll report back when I get it!

[TMann]

Just got my e805 from a Brighthand member. Woo-hoo, what a beautiful screen! I am a big Palm user (and a PPC newbie,) and the Toshiba's screen is WAY more impressive than the extended screen on my TH55, (though of the the Palm devices, the TT3's screen is in many ways, just as impressive.)

I am planning on using my Toshiba mainly for web surfing, and ebook reading right now. As I get up to speed, I may end up using it as my main PDA. The main issue will be the size. I should have a Covertec case coming sometime this later this week; I'll have to see how it goes carrying it in my jacket with that case.

I am also awaiting a Socket BT CF card, which will allow me to have both Wi-Fi and BT on this one device. The Socket card, (as I understand,) is small enough to fit flush with the device, so I am planning on leaving it in the Toshiba all of the time.

In short, I am really excited about my Toshiba. Used e805's are priced pretty reasonably compared to the e830 and the other new VGA devices coming from HP and Asus. If you can't see yourself spending >$500 for a PDA, an e805 might be the way to go.

TMann :D

[alizhan]

One thing the review doesn't mention is that the VGA out on the Presentation Pack is *not* supported under SE. The VGA out isn't very speedy (almost a 1 second delay between the PDA screen and a monitor) and really is only for static powerpoint presentations with little FMV or effects.

I'm strongly considering buying the PP since Toshiba has it on sale for half off, but am worried by comments like this. Could you clarify what your experiences are? Is it just IA Mirror that is so slow, or is IA Presenter a dog as well? I don't plan on using FMV or transitions in my presentations.