Toshiba E830 - solid professional business PDA

Author's Rating:

Pros: Price, big crisp bright color screen, Wi-Fi and bluetooth, easily replaceable battery

Cons: No case included, short batterty life and hard to find accessories in major stores.

The Bottom Line: 
The Toshiba e830 has no weaknesses, works as intended and is a joy to use. I would recommend this PDA to any one for either professional or personal use.

Author's Review
When I decided to replace my aging and loved Palm PDA I looked at everything the major manufacturers had on the market. I didn't like the poor resolution, cheap feel and only 90 day warranty of some of the new Palms so I decided to look at the pocket PC's. The best high end pocket PC PDA's at the time I bought the e830 were the HP HX4700, the Fujutsu Loox 720 and the Toshiba e830 according to the specs. I won't bore you with spec details but any one of these 3 would be a great choice for any professional. I looked at all 3, they are all sturdy well build PDA's that will do anything you ask of them, I really liked them all. They all have similar features, all are pocket PC 2003 and all have big bright screens. The HP HX4700 was $200 more than the Toshiba e830, and the Loox 720 while available in Canada is hard to find and is not even available in the US. The e830 is big by PDA standards and sports the largest TFT screen on a PDA - 4 inches. The e830 and the HP HX4700 have the best screens on the market, both 480 by 640 and are crisp and bright. The e830 buttons click when you press them and they have great tactile feel, you can see and feel the quality Toshiba has put into this machine. There is only 2 things this PDA does not have, a camera and a cell phone built in.
What can you do with the Toshiba e830? There are the standard contacts, tasks and calender functions. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are for wireless connections to laptops for e-mail, cell phones for messages and to print to wireless printers just to mention a few uses. The e830 has a voice recorder and voice recognition. The e830 plays music, displays pictures and even plays movies. With the SD expansion port you can load programs such as any game and business application you may want, the list is endless. With the Compact Flash port you can use a GPS attachment, this is cheaper than buying a stand alone GPS unit. Not many PDA's have Compact Flash ports anymore but you need one if you intend to use a GPS on your PDA.
The versatility of the e830 and the available extended replacement warranty (not repair) of 2 years from Compusmart was the deciding factor in my purchasing the e830. I've had the Toshiba e830 for 4 months now and I have had no surprises with it, I am happy to say everything works as it is supposed to. I expect this PDA to serve me as well as my trusty old Palm has had. The retail price of $599 Canadian is cheaper than the competition with the same features. Although this machine is meant for professionals it can be used quite readily for personal use and I would recommend to anyone.