Toshiba e335 Pocket PC

This review is submitted for people who demand more than basic PIM functions out of their PDAs. If you are looking for a simple PDA with only a calendar, an address book and a memo pad, you should really go and get Zire or m105. They are really good.However, I wanted to upgrade my PDA (m100) and was looking for a device with at least 16 MB memory, good resolution color screen and preferably mp3/wma playing capability. I initially considered Palm m500 series but had to give them up because of their bad reputation (which I personally experienced) for screen freezing that was not amenable to a soft reset. The worst part is that you have to send them to Palm to get them fixed that takes about 2 weeks in which time you are left Palmless. I could not accept my PDA freezing anytime because I really depend on it every instant. So as a demanding PDA user who wanted more memory and functions than my Palm m100 could offer, I had no choice to convert to a Pocket PC.Pocket PCs inherently provide mp3 playback capability and word/excel document access in addition to basic PIM functions that are great.E335 stood out among others with its 64 MB memory, 300 MHz processor, good color screen, lightness and sleekness. What I have also noticed is that it does not freeze and when it did a couple of times, it always responded to soft resets. The stereo quality is really very good and I enjoy listening to music (a dream with Palm OS for the moment).ArcBase photo program is really cool and for those who demand photo viewing, it makes the Pocket Pc much more enjoyable.The two drawbacks of e335 were that the Graffiti recognition was about 40% worse when compared to Palm (screen protectors help the recognition and I strongly recommend them for graffiti) and that when you transfer your memos from Palm, they are not automatically categorized. I had about 400 individual memo items and spent a great deal to organize them. By the way, unless you have Pocket mirror, there is no easy "free" way to transfer your info from Palm to Pocket PC.One last thing, with Pocket PCs you cannot individually hide items as private (unlike Palm OS devices). You need to pay to get additional software for security. The device offers an optional initial security code for access to device, though.The battery performance is predictably poor (needs once in very 2 days charging with optimum usage; mp3, bright screen etc) when compared to 2 months performance by a gray scale m100 on 2 AAAs but I come home everyday so that is not an issue for me. If you are going to get any high-res color screen PDA, you will inevitably sacrifice the battery no matter what.I have to admit I still favor Palm OS over Windows CE because of its simplicity but the recent Palm models were not reliable enough for me to commit to. Now I can work on my Word documents with any of the 4 brightness-adjustable high-res color screen options and listen to a crisp sounding stereo mp3 tracks or just view my photo album in my spare time.The manual does not involve the type of troubleshooting that is necessary. It is very important that you do not remove the synchronized files (Word, mp3, etc) from the PocketPC My Documents desktop folder without first deleting them from the Pocket PC. If you do remove them, the sync. Manager will give resolving conflict messages which are not solvable. This is the only important message that I can convey.Overall, I believe that e335 is one of the best Pocket PCs around and it has completely satisfied my expectations except for the Graffiti recognition. I got the device at Amazon.com at an incredible price, which was much cheaper than M515! Incredible...

The reviews that state this piece of junk drinks battery power like it is kool-aid are 100% accurate. I am telling you I have never been so disappointed in an electronics purchase in my life (and I've made quite a few...) I don't know what the answer is. PocketPC is definitely the way to go. Toshiba has a nice form factor. But the first time you get data dump because the paultry battery has given out, you will feel like you were robbed -- especially if you are travelling overseas and can not return it. The only thing that amazes me are the reviews giving this 5 stars. These people must be writing the reviews 15 minutes after they opened the box and have not (no way, no how) used it extensively. DO NOT BUY a PDA until they come up with better battery technology!!! Unless you just love throwing money away.Note: I saw an article on the web recently stating that Toshiba is test marketing a fuel cell battery version of its PDAs in Spain. That might be the one to get when it's available.

I bought this thing to upgrade from a Palm Vx, thinking the color would be nice (it is) and that the extra memory would give me more capability (it does--for entertainment more than anything).However, for the usual nuts and bolts calendar, contacts, notes, and so on, the Palm had plenty of power and is far easier to use. The PocketPC has two particular problems that I find almost intolerable. First, the screen is far too touchy for easy use -- if you hesitate at all or don't make perfectly clean contact, you end up with a bunch of periods and characters you don't want. That happens on both the "block recognizer" and the "transcriber," and I'm not sure why they have both because they work almost the same. The "letter recognizer" is supposed to let you write words on the screen and recognize your handwriting, but it works for only about half the characters. When you try to erase the mess you made and start over, you have to activate the keyboard and...in short, you sit there for five minutes doing the task that should take 30 seconds. Not my idea of technology making me more efficient.The second problem is that the thing is hopelessly unstable, crashes regularly and has to be reset, which doesn't always lose all your data, but it does foul up the clock and calendar.Then there's the MP3 player, which sounds great, but if you carry it in your pocket and the screen gets touched wrong it turns itself off. And of course, when you grab the thing to pull it out of its case, you can't avoid the pushing the note recording button, which creates some issues of its own. And the recording feature is very nice, but you half to jump through a set of hoops and hold your face just right for that to work. Not very good for voicing a quick self-reminder while you're driving.On the positive side, the display is bright and clear, although that costs you in battery life. The battery is good for about 3 consecutive hours' continuous use. I think the autosync works quite well once you figure it out. Downloading is another story. It doesn't like most generic add-on software, and doesn't recognize a lot of applications that say they're made for it. And it easily loses track of its storage card, requiring a reset.Last week I got fed up with this thing and reactivated the Palm Vx, and the difference is night and day. It's so much more trustworthy and easier to use that I don't see myself ever going back to that PocketPC or any other one for that matter. The monochrome screen is less entertaining, but at least it works--quickly. In my experience, if you're going to depend on your PDA and use it professionally, the Palm is much more reliable and efficient.The Windows platform--at least on this Toshiba thing--is ok if you've got lots of time to mess with it, but an old-time paper calendar is a lot more efficient.

The order was prompt, but I didn't receive the entire order, the charger is missing. The battery is dead in the PC, I don't know if it works. I ordered a charger. Don't fret, I took care of the problem, let it be. I will not purchase from you again due to your comment, you didn't show the concern that I expected to make it right. The matter is done. Please don't contact me.

Nice handheld PC as it has syncing capability along with internet capabilities for email, programs like Excel, Microsoft Word etc are included. Once the data sync pack was downloaded from Microsoft's site, the files worked. I must admit I am excited about learning more about the many uses of this product including using the MP3 player and game apps. Battery lasts a few days while not in use, navigation is easy, and it is a nice addition for folks on the go. Overall, pleased!