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Handhelds Hardware

Toshiba e740 Pocket PC 104

Posted by michael from the stuff-to-drop dept.
Brian writes "Details of the e740, Toshiba's XScale model which will be powered by PocketPC 2002 has been leaked. PDA LIVE.com has the scoop and the photo :)" Integrated 802.11b, nice.
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Toshiba e740 Pocket PC More

Toshiba e740 Pocket PC

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  • 3 posts and its dead. Is this a new record? Whos got a copy?
  • Whatever happened to the e570?

    I can't even seem to find it on toshiba.com.
    I was really looking forward to them putting it on the shelves.

    Did they cancel production or something?
    It had SD AND a CF expansion slot.

    • Look for the Audiovox Maestro [audiovox.com]: it's the e570.

    • Re:e570 (Score:1)

      by JKR ( 198165 )
      It had SD AND a CF expansion slot.

      So does the e740 - looks like these features are part of the XScale [intel.com]CPU & support chipset.

      Jon.

      • The big deal here isn't that the XScale *can* support both SD and CF, but that the model *does* support it, that they built physical slots to accept the media. That's what is cool.
    • I just bought a e310 a couple of days ago, and came across quite a few articles that stated that Toshiba is keeping the e570 very quiet, not even releasing it to retailers, but instead they want it purely for enterprise customers. I actually found it on http://www.cendirect.com (A Canadian place that I buy from) for less than the lesser equipped e310 (the 570 is at a sweet price), however my main criteria was size and battery life, so I still went with the e310.
    • The e570 was not released to the retail market in the US. Enterprise customers could buy it modified to order.

      The e570 was released to the retail market elsewhere around the world.
    • Hopefully this one will see a public release everywhere.
  • ohhhh yeah.... I want it. I hope it can run FreeBSD... ;)

  • Now taking bets... (Score:2, Redundant)

    by Akardam ( 186995 )
    ... on how long it takes someone to get a Linux kernel hacked onto the thing :)
    • It should already run on this. Montavista had Linux running on the XScale architecture in February (story here [linuxdevices.com]). Also, the XScale CPU can run code written for the StrongArm SA-1110, which powers the HP iPaq, Sharp Zaurus, & other PDAs (specs here [intel.com]).

  • e740 X 2=better than my pc.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by BerserkDog ( 514729 ) on Sunday June 02, 2002 @01:41PM (#3626893) Homepage
    400MHz Intel XScale Processor, a 3.5" 16-bit reflective screen, 64MB RAM, 32MB ROM

    Get two e740's, add a little more ROM and it's better than my pc...I really need to have a talk with the wife about my allowance.....

    P.S.Could someone extract all these "anonymous cowards" from my butt?

  • What's needed on new PDAs and Not Yet Available (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pinkpineapple ( 173261 ) on Sunday June 02, 2002 @01:50PM (#3626929) Homepage
    - 3D to a lesser extent than desktop: If I buy one of these, it's gonna be to play on it half of the time.
    - USB in: HP did release a Palm PC allowing you to connect devices like keyboard, mouse and the like to it. And that was really cool when using it on a desktop. Unfortunately, no USB hub on these little sucker.
    - No integrated extended battery pack ala VAIO. What I would like to get is a double or triple life battery extension that matches the design of the PDA.
    - Most PDA come with no screen cover. Being the most fragile part of a device that you are supposed to carry all over the place, this one is just a pure puzzle to me.
    - I want WiFi AND Bluetooth, not one or the other.
    - Wireless earphones so I can listen to my mp3s without tripping in the cables, or hanging myself when I take out my coat.
    - etc...

    PPA, the girl next door.
    • Wireless earphones so I can listen to my mp3s without tripping in the cables, or hanging myself when I take out my coat.
      - etc...

      I imagine you could do this with the bluetooth interface, a la Ericsson's http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=ERIC_HBH- 15 [expansys.com] bluetooth headset.
    • The iPaq has an expansion pack that accepts 1 or 2 pc cards and carries an integrated screen protector and battery. I use my 802.11 card with my 3870 (bluetooth enabled) and my laptop. Also, Verizon's 1X express network card works with it. My only beef is the iPaq won't wake up when a call is being received on the Sierra Aircard.
    • The Casio Cassiopeia E200 and NEC MobilePro P300 can be USB hosts.

      The Cassiopeia E200's cradle has both a USB client connector (for syncing) and a USB host connector. You can also buy a bottom lip for the Casio and that has the USB host connector, so you could drive a tree of USB devices while mobile. I saw a picture of it in a magazine review. I believe USB current out from the lip device is limited to 100mA (the USB specification allows current limitiations of 100mA to 500mA).

      I do not know if the NEC MobilePro P300's USB host mode requires it to be plugged into its cradle.

    • The iPaq can do most of what you're asking for...
      Take a iPaq 3870 [compaq.com] which has Bluetooth inside, add a expansion pack [compaq.com] for the extra battery and CF or PC Card.

      Personally I couldn't justify the extra $$$ for Bluetooth, so I went one model down (3835).

      Also note that the iPaq comes with a nice protective case that wraps around the entire thing. The screen is covered by a semi-transparent, smoke grey piece of plastic that you can see through if you need to read something off the screen. I've dropped mine it multiple times and even stepped on it (long story) and I haven't broken anything yet (knock on wood).

      Now unfortunately the iPaq is far from perfect. My Palm Vx was small enough to carry in my pocket literally ALL the time. The iPaq is too big for that. I am personnally hoping to see something as bright, and readable as the iPaq, with 802.11b, that's batteries last as long as the Palm Vx and has the Palm's form factor. If it shows up 2 years from now I'll be all over it. Of course by then my requirements will have changed again. :)

  • Other sites on e740 (Score:5, Informative)

    by doubtless ( 267357 ) on Sunday June 02, 2002 @01:55PM (#3626952) Homepage
    blue unplugged.com [blueunplugged.com] has a review, and expansys.com [expansys.com] accepts preorder.

    Cheers!
  • As PDA Live appears to be /.ed:

    http://www.pocketpccentral.net/toshiba740.htm

  • When? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by lowtekneq ( 469145 )
    Small computers are great, but they do lack one thing that most geeks see as paramount in desktop systems, that is upgrading and builing them yourself. Though with laptops you can add/remove ram and harddrive(s) you cannot change the key compontents such as the cpu. What we need is some kind of standard that small/wearable computers need to be built around, not only would that help small businesses that don't have the money to start from scratch but it would also make a wearable computers move forward and become aplicable to the things we use desktops and servers for today.
    • There are a lot of us that aren't into the computer hotrod bullshit olympics. I want a computer, be it a desktop or a PDA, to just work. Be expandable of course, but with a PDA, being able to upgrade the processor, internal ROM and RAM isn't terribly important.

      You may like to read about the ChipSlice [smartdata.sh], which is, if anything else, such a standard for upgrading and expanding a PDA. Really sweet sounding architecture- and as a plus it runs PicoGUI [sf.net] on top of Linux. PicoGUI definately kicks some asses.

      The only modern PDA I've ever heard of that was able to accept CPU upgrades is the Newton 2x00 series. Cool, but not very important.
    • I would say never, but then there will prolly be some small company that does.

      Given that 99% of the components are soldered down to the board. Just how would you upgrade one of these things?

      If you designed it so that parts can be exchanged and upgraded etc. The PDA would be too big.
      Plus the fact that some of the parts won't be upgradeable, the limited range of upgrade parts for each model, and that fact that newer models would still come out, and will probably have things that you can't upgrade to if you have an older PDA. I really can't see it happening.

      Alot of people find it cheaper to buy a whole new computer than to upgrade their existing one in todays world. Let alone PDAs.

  • IIRC, 802.1x will start showing up in PPC PDAs in the first quarter of next year, on a per manufacturer basis.

    Until then, you don't get security, which means that you can't use your fancy device, for example, at Microsoft's corporate campus.

    My employer requires 802.1x on our wireless network, so I'm not excited yet.

    • You can tunnel through insecure connections using the VPN client [microsoft.com] of PocketPC.
      • Last I heard, the original poster is right; PocketPCs are not allowed to connect to the Coporate Network on the Microsoft Campus due to the insecurity of the connection.

        That was a few months ago, maybe they've gotten their act together. From my conversations with the PocketPC groups at Microsoft, I got the impression that strong (128-bit) security for a wireless connection was not on the PocketPC roadmap.
        • From my conversations with the PocketPC groups at Microsoft, I got the impression that strong (128-bit) security for a wireless connection was not on the PocketPC roadmap.
          I can't speak for the Microsoft Campus, but according to this page [microsoft.com](see the'Security Options' table),the PocketPC 2002VPN client can do 128-bit encryption.
          • Well, My call to Microsoft Product Support Services told me otherwise. Also, if you actually try it, it won't work.

            Set TS encryption to require 128-bit, then try to connect. You can't. I can forward the emails between me and PSS if you don't believe me.
            • Set TS encryption to require 128-bit, then try to connect. You can't.

              I was quoting the microsoft specs regarding the 128-bit VPN client, not the TS client.

              For all I know microsoft's specs could be completely wrong (or right...), as I don't have one of these devices to test with. I appreciate the feedback though.
              • VPN client, TS client. I guess I was getting the clients confused. I *knew* 640K wasn't enough memory!

                If they have a 128-bit VPN client that should be a secure enough connection for Microsoft to allow it on the corporate network. I wonder if they have some other unknown-to-us security reason for keeping PocketPCs off...
  • I could really take advantage of the Integrated Wi-Fi, seeing how I just equiped both my home and office for it. Integrated Wi-Fi inso a PDA changes drastically the posibilities of usage for such a device. Wireless is what I believe will change PDA's from being an expensive rolodex and note pad into a crucial business device.

    Too bad it's a PocketPC. The Sharp PDA looks interesting though, even though the Wi-Fi option is an aftermarket card.

    -Pete
    • What sounds great to me would be NFS mounting my mp3s off my computer up in my room, and cruising around campus with a ton of music on tap.
      Maybe combine this with some bluetooth headphones, and you've got an *amazing* jukebox.
      Take it to a party somewhere on campus.. instant DJ.
  • Yay, 400 MHz must mean it's twice as fast as my 206 MHz IPaq, right? Well, regardless my main problem with the PocketPC line is that the screens are so small, by which I mean they don't have enough pixels. There's that new Clie or whatever with a 480x320 screen, and this dinky little PocketPC has a screen half that size. I'm just not impressed, even if it does say Microsoft when you turn it on.

    Porting your 640x480 app to a screen 1/4 the size is not easy!

    The other problem that I have with PocketPC is that the PocketPC Terminal Services Client won't let you run 128-bit encryption. Strange, considering that the Citrix Client does 128-bit encryption just fine. Citrix figured it out but MS, who CODED THE POCKETPC OS can't get it to work. Not very reassuring.

    And whoever said that PocketPC needs some kind of screen cover is right. And the OS itself is extremely difficult to work with from an installling-drivers-for-the-802.11-card perspective. Like to install software you have to have a Windows PC running ActiveSync. They should focus more on making the PocketPC a computer capable of standing on its own and not requiring constant trips to the cradle.
    • Hear hear! Since I moved to an iPAQ with it's measly 320@240 screen from a Newton 2100u with a 480@320 screen, I've wondered many times why the hell there's not at least one available PocketPC with a decently sized screen. On a PDA, I expect to be able to take notes- not just keep schedules. I'm not talking about jotting down a short grocery list, but taking college lecture notes. I can do that fine on my Newton. The software is to do so is available on PocketPC (CalliGrapher), but not the hardware.

      Sure, there are laptop-style devices that run WinCE 3.0 with 640@480 screens, but they have a permenently attached keyboard. That doesn't cut it.

      The 480@320 Clie screen is OK, but is still physically small, with a high DPI. I'd like to have a larger screen with a lower DPI. A comprable DPI to the Newton or the iPAQ. I want more space to write and display, damnit!
  • sounds like these things have loads of horsepower; i'm sure some pretty amazing games can (and will) be played on them.

    games are pretty popular on PDAs, and this begs the question... why don't they make the controls better-suited to gaming?

    you know games are one of the reasons people use to justify the purchase of these things. nobody is buying one solely to game, of course, but why else do you need a 400mhz cpu in your PDA?

    just like the PC market, games are one of the driving forces behind ever more-powerful hardware, even if people don't always admit it/realize it.

    the thing that sucks about gaming on these machines, though, are the controls! they're awful, and your hands get cramped up. why don't they build one with a slightly bigger control pad? also, they should move its location from the center, over to the left, to resemble a more traditional gameboy setup. i can guarantee the company to do this first will see a nice return on their tiny investment. :)
    • I know I'm in the minority, but I reap the benefits of a quite fast CPU in a PDA without playing games. I currently have PDAs with 206 MHz (iPAQ 3150) and 162 MHz (Newton 2100u) processors and utilize them without games. How? I use a PDA much like most people use a desktop computer. I do development (programming) on my PDAs. It's a way of doing what I want as far as coding, but without needing to be restrained by a desktop or even a laptop. It's a pain in the ass doing it on current PDAs- with their piddly 320@240 screens- but it's quite usable on a 480@320 screen, like on my Newton.
    • It's not exactly what you're looking for, but you could get one of these [amazon.com].
  • from PDAlive.com:
    "Rumors of performance issues of the Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 platform on XScale processor which was being floated around a few months seemed to be solved with the new devices performing beyond the initial level which was similar to that of the older StrongArm."

    The older Strongarm was 209Mhz vs Xscale at 400Mhz, and after some tweaking Xscale now performs better. Um, why should I be excited about this? It appears to be a step backward. The PPC2002 was released last fall only supporting StrongArm processors - maybe it was optimized for them and now must be reoptimized (reengineered) ?

    Enlightenment welcomed.
  • Most interestingly, the e740 will be available in three different trims: one with Integrated Wi-Fi, the other with Bluetooth and one with neither.

    I see two ways for a BeoWolf cluster! :))

    -- james

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