We've spent a bit of time with Toshiba's e570 Pocket PC, and give you our take on the Pocket PC 2002 device with the most extensive expansion capabilities and the smallest size.
Even though Toshiba never had ventured into advanced handhelds before delivering the e570 Pocket PC to the international market (except for the Japanese Genio series it was cloned from), expectations were high - both as a result of Toshiba's reputation for delivering high-quality portable computing gear, and due to the specifications of the device. From what we're able to tell, Toshiba made a pretty good job of it too - but there's one major flaw; read on to find out just which one.
Compact, compact, compact | A front view of the Toshiba e570 Pocket PC
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The first thought that comes to mind when holding the Toshiba e570 is that it's tiny. Its small size is impressive, and combined with a rock-solid feel as well impressing hardware specifications, we were swayed by the device even before turning it on. Speaking of specifications; the e570 runs Pocket PC 2002 courtesy of a 206 MHz Intel StrongARM SA-1110 processor, has 64 MB of RAM, a 3,5" reflective front-lit TFT LCD screen with very good clarity and brightness, and integrated CompactFlash Type II and SD/MMC expansion card slots.
On the left side of the e570, the microphone is placed topmost, followed by the dual-function voice record/open Notes application button, the Infrared port and - slightly unusually placed - the reset button. The front of the device is graced with a four-way navipad, as well as hardware shortcut buttons to the Calendar, Contacts, Home and Contacts applications. Also present is a dual-color LED in the upper left corner that is used to signify whether the device is charging, is fully charged or to alert the user of an alarm, the power on/off button in the upper right corner, and in the lower right corner the speaker of the device.
The Home application is Toshiba's shell replacement, and consists of a tabbed interface where the first tab shows running applications while the remaining show applications of the user's choice. The background of the various tabs can be skinned, and the user can edit, add and remove tabs to his or her own liking. Although cute in its own right, there is no real benefit in this application when compared with the built-in properties of the PPC 2002 operating system, exept for the option to stop one or all applications through the Context menu from the tab that displays running applications.
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