The Toshiba e740 Pocket PC is the third PDA from Toshiba released in the past year, and is targeted at the business user. This does not mean its a bland PDA, as it is the fastest on the market thanks to its 400MHz Intel Xscale processor.

The Xscale is the latest iteration of the StrongARM CPU, and features more processing punch than its 206MHz predecessor.

Other hardware specifications are impressive, including 32MB of ROM and 64MB of RAM. This 64MB of storage is noteworthy, although you could even potentially crank it up by another 1.3GB with a Microdrive and 320MB SD card using the units standard SecureDigital and Compact Flash slots.

All this power and potential in the e740 has a downside in that the standard battery life leaves a little to be desired. Larger batteries are available from Toshiba, but with the default battery the minimum life with the backlight on full is around three hours. However, if you turn the backlights brightness down a couple of notches the battery life will increase markedly.

The maximum real-world battery life is approximately 10 hours with medium backlight setting, constant use, and Wi-Fi/ Bluetooth disabled.

Once the battery drops to below 48% capacity the e740 gets a little enthusiastic in reminding you to re-dock and recharge the battery every time its woken up. This isnt a problem unless youre using the unit frequently but sporadically.

A unique addition to the e740 is the ATI Imageon 100, which is the Pocket PC-based graphics chip. With hardware MPEG and MPEG-2 acceleration and support for DirectX, it feels a lot like what you would find in a modern-day desktop graphics card except it comes with ATIs low-power and miniaturisation experience gained from the Nintendo Gamecube and notebook chips. Teamed up with the well-lit screen, the Imageon 100 makes its presence felt in demanding games such as Rocket Elite.

The e740 also comes with wireless: your choice of Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) or Bluetooth. Whichever you choose, the components are internal, which frees up the SD and CF slots (something you couldnt have done with the previous Toshiba PDAs). The model we reviewed came with the Bluetooth module installed, and we found that synchronisation with a Bluetooth-enabled laptop ran fine, if a little slow.

Synchronisation with a PC is fairly easy as the cradle for the e740 has a USB interface, but for synchronising on the run with a laptop or another PDA, you can use infrared (IR). Unfortunately the IR port is located on the lower left hand side of the unit, so when held (or docked in the cradle), the IR port is utterly blocked.

The e740comes with Pocket PC 2002 installed, and also comes with a solid bundle of applications, including Windows Media Player 8, Microsoft Reader, Pocket Word, and Pocket Excel.

It's a solidly built and sturdy unit, but we found that the metallic casing scratched extremely easily, even with slight day-to-day usage and knocks.
There isn't much resilience in the casing material, which is a shame considering the rough-and-tumble life of a PDA. However the general construction underlying the e740 is solid.

One of the features that distinguishes this PDA from its consumer brethren, is the optional Expansion Pack (an extra $199) which clips into the bottom of your PDA. This features a PS/2 keyboard connector, as well as an RGB VGA connector. You can use this connector to mirror the PDA display on a standalone monitor, and run presentations from the e740 on a projector.

Toshibas e740 is a well-featured and speedy PDA, yet it commands a high price tag: at $1,499 for the Bluetooth model, to $1,548 for the Wi-Fi model, the e740 is certainly one of the more costly Pocket PCs on the market. Given its extensive features, integrated wireless, powerful processor and software bundle, the e740 is an excellent choice for serious PDA users if you can manage the outlay.