Toshiba's latest budget Pocket PC, the e330, is more or less an under-the-hood upgrade of its e310 model; Anthony Newman has taken it for a spin, and ends up underwhelmed.
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Toshiba have firmly established themselves in the Pocket PC market over the last year, moving from their first offering, the e570, to their slimline e310 and their e740 powerhouse. The recently-launched e330 updates the e310, retaining its form factor but introducing a few changes under the hood.
 | Although the e330 qualifies as a sturdy workhorse, it has a hard time measuring up to its competition
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Design
The Pocket PC market has polarised into those which favour the square design and those which emulate the curves of the iPAQ. The e330 is defiantly square, making it somewhat uncomfortable to hold and also giving the impression that the screen is very small, despite it being the standard 3.5 inches. On the plus side it is an incredibly thin device, impressively light, and its lines are elegant and simple.
The screen is an utterly normal 3.5-inch frontlit 16-bit reflective affair, with the light at the bottom as on the XDA from O2. However, it should be remembered that this is designed to be an entry-level device entering at a low price point, competing with budget devices. Even this may not prove enough for Toshiba though, with Dell's new offering sporting dual slots and Viewsonic's having a transflective display. The screen is a key part of any Pocket PC, and Toshiba's e330 unfortunately proves only adequate. The front-lighting is a little uneven, shadowing towards the top, and there are only four backlight settings to choose from. Colour balance is acceptable, although it can look a little washed-out at times. As a saving grace, ClearType looks nearly as good as on the O2 XDA - a great improvement over that of the Toshiba e310. The touch-screen also seems to be a little insensitive.
The stylus is the usual small plastic affair, usable but too light for my taste, and occasionally difficult to remove, as the finger-hold is near the front of the silo rather than to the side as on other PDAs.
On the front of the device we find four application buttons, embossed with their function and providing good feedback. In the centre is a round directional pad, which is easy to use and responsive. A speaker resides on the bottom corner of the face, providing quite tinny output, although of an acceptable volume. There are no software controls for bass or treble. A LED on the top-left completes the package, providing information on charging and notification status. Moving to the top we find a well-recessed power button, microphone (mediocre), the stylus silo, headphone jack (also mediocre), tiny IR port and the SD slot. Although the power button is a little hard to press, it does have the advantage of avoiding accidental operation. The left side of the device has a jog rocker that is a little loose and springy, but adequate. Just above it is a record button that is small enough to avoid being accidentally pressed. It doesn't feel tremendously solid, however. The right side is devoid of features, while the bottom sports a charging jack, a cradle connector and a battery-connection switch operable with the stylus. Finally, the back of the device has the reset hole, also usable with the stylus. Overall it seems to be a pretty solid device, passing creak and flex tests as well as general prodding during the review.
Connectivity
In terms of expansion, the e330 is equipped with an SDIO-capable slot and a standard IR port, both of which are adequate but in no way stand out. PC connectivity is supplied by a very sturdy USB cradle, which although it offers no serial connection does the job. It exemplifies the e330's design philosophy: simple, functional, and very boring. It goes one further though and adds 'ugly' to the list. The AC adapter is of the two-piece variety, which is good. Also in the box with the usual CD and manual is a slim faux-leather slip-case which although totally functional shows no design flair.
Specifications
Under the hood, the specs are still nothing to shout about. Updating the e310 we find a 300 MHz X-Scale powering it all, with the now-standard 64 MB of RAM. Bearing in mind the single slot and the mediocre screen, Toshiba's specifications are totally average, and the use of a 300 MHz processor instead of the flagship 400 MHz seems an odd choice even considering the battery and price savings. As expected, the 300 MHz X-Scale provided no discernible speed difference against earlier models, and battery life from the Lithium ion cell was only adequate in my testing. Charging also seemed to take ages.
Software
The device runs Pocket PC 2002 on top of Windows CE, as do all current Pocket PCs from any OEM. The e330 follows the rest of the Toshiba line in including their own Home application, a tabbed launcher and program manager reminiscent of a Palm OS device. Aside from a surprisingly decent Backup utility there is no other software installed by default, and the accompanying CD shows an equal paucity of content, providing Acrobat reader, basically. The desktop counterparts are, as usual, Outlook and the latest version of ActiveSync.
Availability
The Toshiba e330 is available now from Toshiba's own web site and other retailers for a recommended price of $299 USD.
Conclusion
Although it sounds cruel, it's hard to see what the point of the e330 actually is. It has absolutely no unique features: mediocre processor, screen, RAM, audio; no software, no Bluetooth or WLAN, only one card slot - not even a consumer infrared port as a selling point. It is effectively a base reference design with no frills. Its redeeming features are its build quality and its size, both of which are at the high end of the market - the metal body and wow-factor slimness do count for a lot, and we should bear that in mind. In addition, it is designed to enter at a low price, but nonetheless I can't help feeling that Toshiba have somehow given us too little, too late as competitors are about to enter the market bearing impressive feature sets with which the e330 can't compete.
What’s positive: Slim, solid, all present and correct, low price
What’s negative: No software, lacking features of any kind, audio and video aspects a little poor
| Design: | 6/10 |
| Connectivity: | 4/10 |
| Specifications: | 5/10 |
| Software: | 5/10 |
| Value: | 5/10 |
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iSW Score:
5.0/10
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Price and availability
The will start selling for TBA () in November 1999.
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