Looks can be deceiving, especially when you're reviewing the new Toshiba Pocket PC e755. Outwardly it has the same slim, understated design of its predecessor, the Toshiba e740. It also has many of the same built-in and add-on applications. But the new top-of-the-line Toshiba sports a bigger and brighter screen, a faster processor, and more internal memory. In fact, it's probably the most powerful, versatile Pocket PC on the market.

Powerful new processor handles graphics well

The only noticeable physical difference between the e755 and the original e740 is the larger 3.8" diagonal 240x320 pixel display. The e740's measured 3.5". The larger screen size and the use of "transflective" screen technology make the e755's display very viewable indoors, and reasonably so outdoors even in direct sunlight.

TThe e755 is powered by the new Intel PXA 255 processor with XScale technology. Like the original PXA 250, it is rated at 400 MHz. But the PXA 255 has a 200 MHz system bus as opposed to the 100 MHz bus of the earlier chip. This means that the processor communicates twice as fast with the memory and display. In addition, it has an ATI graphics controller with 384 KB internal video memory. The PXA 255 chip consumes less power than the earlier chip, and there is a CPU Speed function in the Settings > System > Power utility that lets you set the device speed to either 400 or 200 MHz. The lower speed will further conserve battery power.

Screen 1 (above): Expansion Pack for the e740/750/755 adds an RGB-out and USB host port to the Toshiba Pocket PC

My experience with the e755 is that applications open and close quickly and documents and data files load quickly. I installed the graphics-intensive game Interstellar Flames (www.xengames.com/Products.htm) on the Toshiba e755 and on my Dell Axim X5 (which has the earlier PX 250 processor). The difference was noticeable, but not earth-shaking. Interstellar Flames was a little easier to view on the larger screen and seemed to run a little faster. I also installed Pocket TV (www.pockettv.com) on both devices and watched a few movie trailers in mpeg format. Again, the video was a little easier to see on the e755's larger screen. However, the mpeg videos ran smoothly on both devices. This is probably because Pocket TV has not been optimized to take advantage of the ATI graphics controller on the e755. Pocket TV developer Tristan Savatier says that support for the controller will be included in a future release of Pocket TV.

I also downloaded some videos in Windows Media format and viewed them on both devices using Windows Media Player. This time I did notice a clear difference. The e755 handled WMF video better—the video display was smoother and there were fewer dropped frames. My tests were subjective "eye ball" comparisons; however, bench mark tests done in other reviews indicate that the graphics performance of the e755 is better than that of Pocket PCs with the PXA250 processor.

Screen 2 (above): IA Presenter lets you display presentations on or from the Pocket PC

Built-in Wi-Fi

Like its predecessor, the e755 comes with built-in 802.11b "Wi-Fi" capability. If you need this, it's great to have it built in.

To use this feature you first have to turn on the Wi-Fi transceiver. Use the stylus tip to throw the small white switch on the bottom edge to the On position. You must also tap on the Wi-Fi icon in the title bar (to the left of the speaker icon) and then tap on the Turn On button. If you are not using the Wi-Fi capability, make sure it's turned off to conserve your battery power.

I had one minor problem connecting to the Wi-Fi network at the Pocket PC magazine offices, but it turned out to be unrelated to the e755. Our MIS guy, David, takes network security seriously. To protect against "war drivers" (people who drive around accessing unsecured Wi-Fi networks) he had our networks "MAC address filtering" feature turned on. I had to provide him with my "MAC address," which I found in the e755's Wireless LAN Utility. He put me on the network's list of acceptable users and I connected up with out any problems.

Plenty of internal memory and expansion capability

The Toshiba e755 comes with 64 MB of system RAM. You have to use some of this to run the onboard applications, but most of it can be used for file storage. In addition, it has 32 MB of "CMOS" flash ROM which is used to store the Pocket PC operating system and built-in applications from Microsoft and Toshiba.

The e755 also has an additional 32 MB of user-accessible "NAND" flash ROM, which can be used for file storage. This flash ROM is "non-volatile," which means that programs and data stored there will not be lost if your Pocket PC runs out of battery power.

The Toshiba e755 comes with one Type II CompactFlash slot and one SDIO-compatible SD card slot built in. The CF slot can accept a variety of storage cards with capacities of up to 4 GB. It can also accept a wide variety of input/output accessories in CF format, including GPS receivers, CDMA or GSM/GPRS wireless modems, digital camera cards, and more. The smaller Secure Digital card slot can be used to add file storage memory to the device. But because it is SDIO-compatible, it can also accept input/output accessories such as Toshiba's Pocket PC Bluetooth SDIO Card.

Finally,Toshiba sells an optional "Expansion Pack" for the e740 and e750 series devices that clips onto the bottom of the Pocket PC and adds an RGB-out port and a USBhost port to the device (Screen1). The former is a standard 15-pin RGB port for connecting to an external monitor or projector. The latter lets you connect to a USB keyboard. (Toshiba has tested this with a Microsoft USB keyboard only.) The Toshiba Expansion Pack also has a data cradle port, which means you can still sync the e755 when it's attached to the Expansion Pack. All in all, the e755 is quite expandable.

Screen 3 (above) ArcSoft PhotoBase is an electronic photo album program that comes on CD with the e744

The e755 comes with Pocket PC 2002 operating system and a wealth of additional software, built-in and on the external CD. See Spec Sheet and Screens 2 and 3 on page 24.

A power user's delight

The overall performance of the e755 was snappy. The graphics were better than anything I've seen (with the possible exception of the Zayo Razor). But the difference in graphics performance isn't huge. The Wi-Fi was fun to test around the office and relatively fast, but not as fast as the T1 line going into my desktop PC. Wi-Fi is really designed for people who move around a lot within a facility or a group of buildings.

The navigation pad is small, but the action is positive and it functions well. The small weighted stylus is easy to use. Toshiba did include a very thorough User's Guide in the package, but the lack of an alphabetized index at the back of the document made it a little less user-friendly.

Finally, even with the lessening of power consumption, the 1000 mAh standard battery seems underpowered for a device with built-in Wi-Fi and great graphics. Fortunately, this is a user-replaceable battery. If you can afford $599 for the e755, you can probably afford $129 for the optional 3000 mAh high-capacity battery.

This one's a little pricey, but if you need power and expansion capability, and a big, readable display, you may very well need the Toshiba Pocket PC e755.