The Toshiba e570, a brilliant little must have. (Toshiba Pocket PC E570)

Member Name: s.gould

Product:	Toshiba Pocket PC E570
Date:	06/08/02 (1052 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Colour, Handwriting Recognition, High Specification

Disadvantages: Low battery life compared with a Palm, No screen protector, Cost compared to Palms

A short while back, I was given the task to find the best PDA. Now, the best PDA isn't the most expensive, nor the cheapest, it is a number of things.

THE HUNT:
I listed all the things I wanted from a PDA, the things I didn't want and a rough budget. Now the budget was rough to start with, as I didn't know what I could get for my money.

I soon found that if I wanted some of the things I wanted, then I would also have to put up with the things I didn't want.

Colour = low battery life.
Windows Pocket PC = High specification PDA which in turn means high cost.
Handwriting recognition again = high cost.

The cheaper PDA's had low specification which would limit the life span and the data I could store on the PDA.

Palm was the cheaper option, esspecially the new Sony, but the disadvantage for me, was I ideally needed the Microsoft Operating System for what I wanted, otherwise the Sony would have been a choice.

I soon came to terms with that I would need to pay extra and look towards the Compaq. The compaq is an amazing PDA, I have seen other peoples. they look great, fast and good colour, but they are expensive. I luckily came across the Toshiba range.

The Toshiba e310 was my first choice, but I was quickly put of by the fact I could only buy them from select stores, like Dixons and PCWorld. I always keep away from items like this.
I managed to haggle my local retailer to sell a Toshiba e570 for a around £10 more than a e310, this was the deciding factor. I could buy a high specification PDA, better than the Compaq spec, but cheaper. This was a bit more than a Palm, but I got what I needed.

THE TOSHIBA e570:
I have used my Toshiba e570 for a few weeks now. It is a amazing little device. Great handwriting recognition, great screen and colour, good storage.
Unfortunatly instantly I noticed a small problem. The Compaq has a fold over screen protector that stops
the screen getting knocked, the Toshiba comes with a pouch, but isn't as good. Well this is only a small problem.
The battery life is better than I expected, due to a good power saving option and warning screen when the battery does get low.

My over all opinion of the Toshiba e570 is its probably the best current PDA if you need to run Microsoft. But don't expect PC quality or ease of use from such a small device. It really is an expensive pocket diary with the ocassional Word/Excel use.
Oh, you can also get a gameboy and Nintendo game console, to make your expensive PDA look just like a cheap device!

Summary: