Size Matters: Toshiba e570
11 March 2002
The Toshiba/Audiovox models have been the "odd man out" of the new Pocket PC 2002 devices. Is the smallest Pocket PC worth a look?
I recently got a Toshiba e570 from my friends at Microsoft to review, and I have to admit, I'm impressed. While this unit has a few flaws, it's a solid addition to the Pocket PC family, and I could see it being the perfect device for a lot of people, particularly former Palm users transitioning over from the Palm V or m500 lines. Let's take a closer look.
The Toshiba e570 (and the 32MB version from Audiovox, the Maestro) will feel very familiar to Sony Clié N series and Palm m500 series owners. The e570 is almost the exact same dimensions as the Sony N series Clié, and the symmetrical, tapered styling is spookily reminiscent of the Palm V. It's a bit thicker than an m515, but everything else about the e570, from the color of the casing to the matte finish to the button placement all points to making Palm V/m500 users feel at home.
The e570 is feels light. I know from the spec sheet that it's actually a tad heavier than my Jornada, but the diminutive size of the e570 makes it feel lighter than it actually is. The unit is solid, with no creaking or bending in the casing, and the matte finish gives it a sure, no-slip grip (quite unlike a sleeveless iPaq!).
One of the things about the e570 that really jumps out at you is that it has dual slots, one Secure Digital/MMC and one Type II Compact Flash. Even better, unlike many other dual slot devices, both slots are at the top of the device. The Casio E-200 and most SD-equipped Palm units have the SD slot on the side, which could make the unit hard to hold if you have a protruding SD card like a digital camera or Bluetooth card.
The SD slot is open all the time, and the unit does not come with a dummy card to plug up the slot when not in use. The CF slot, mounted just behind the centered SD slot, is covered by a plastic flip up lid. This lid does not swivel out of the way like the CF slot cover on the Jornada 540 series, and it is not removable. This isn't an issue if you have a CF memory card, but if you're using a CF NIC or any other card that protrudes from the top of the slot, the cover will be propped against it, sticking out the back of the device.
Why are dual slots such a big deal? Because they take the mobile nature of the Pocket PC to the next level. A dual slot device allows you to use a communications accessory like a wireless 802.11b NIC without sacrificing mass storage. The e570 is a perfect "surfing on the couch" machine if you put a 128MB SD card in one slot and an 802.11b CF card in the other.
The e570 has the best sound I've heard out of any Pocket PC, both through the external speaker and the headphones. The sound is rich, with ample bass (my Jornadas sometimes sound treble-heavy and "tinny"), and none of the distortion I've heard from iPaqs.
The screen is a 3.5 inch reflective TFT, similar to those found in the Jornada 560 series and Casio E-200. The pixels appear to be oriented properly, because ClearType works well on this screen, although I've noticed that the letters in ClearType aren't as black as they are on the Jornada, more of a really dark gray. The screen texture is smooth and easy to write on. Color quality is okay, but a bit redder than the iPaq or Jornada screens. For example, the default Pocket PC 2002 today screen is distinctly more purplish on the Toshiba, making the blue screens of the Jornada and iPaq look almost teal by comparison. The screen is sidelit from the bottom, and the sidelight noticeably loses power as it projects up the screen. The top of the screen is distinctly dimmer on my unit that the bottom of the screen. Of course, this could only be a problem because I set the sidelight to low brightness, moving up to medium only if I have to.
Why? Because, to put it frankly, the battery life on the Toshiba e570 sucks. It's on par with first generation iPaqs. With the sidelight on Super Bright, you can expect to get between 2-2.5 hours of use on a charge. Heck, my NiMH-powered laptop lasts that long. Dropping the sidelight intensity down to Low can extend this by maybe an hour. Using the unit with the sidelight off (a perfectly acceptable choice in good interior lighting or sunlight) gives you 6-8 hours of life.
Like my Clié N710C, the Toshiba e570 does not have the iPaq/Jornada-style ambient light sensor to automatically turn the sidelight on and off as needed by current lighting conditions. Pressing and holding the power button will toggle the sidelight on or off. If I'm away from my desk and charging station, I tend to leave the sidelight off by default, turning it on only when the room lighting is too dim to comfortably read the screen without it. I did the same with my Clié. Working this way, I get pretty close to a full day's use out of a single charge. If you leave the sidelight on by default, and you're one of those people that insists on keeping it at "flashlight in your eyes" Super Bright, you will not be happy with the Toshiba's battery life.
Fortunately, the e570 is compatible with a plethora of mobile power options. It uses the same round power jack as the iPaq 3600/3700 series, meaning that chargers designed for the iPaq work fine on the Toshiba as well. You can even save money and buy a generic charger that will work just as well. The jack is 5 volts, 3 amps, negative outside polarity. (This is all helpfully printed right on the back of the unit.) I found a Sony foldable travel charger at Best Buy for $30 that works like a champ. It's a 4.5v charger, so it takes a little longer to get full charge, but it's great for running off external power when you can find an outlet on the go. Other options include car chargers designed for the iPaq and zinc/air "Instant Fuel" mobile rechargers.
Like many of the newer Pocket PCs, the Toshiba sports 64MB of RAM. Add this to the dual slots (the Type II CF slot ready for a 2GB Microdrive if you can find the juice to power it), and the Toshiba has all the storage you need. I've been used to my Jornada 565, the 32MB version of the Jornada, and working on a 64MB machine was a revelation. 32MB isn't bad, mind you, and installing programs to Safe Store or CF keeps my Jornada's RAM pretty clear, but on the Toshiba, I just didn't care. I had more than enough RAM to install all the programs I wanted and still have plenty left over for running programs.
Which is a good thing, because unlike the new Compaq and HP Pocket PCs, the Toshiba does not allow you to use the otherwise unused ~8MB of Flash ROM for personal storage. I guess the figure that with 64MB of RAM and two card slots, why monkey around? Leave the Flash ROM for the OS. I can see the point, but it irked me to know that I had 8MB just sitting there doing nothing that I couldn't use if I wanted to.
Also unlike the Compaq and HP models, the Toshiba doesn't come with much bundled software. You get the Pocket PC, ActiveSync and Outlook 2002, and that's about it. If you want cool new input methods or electronic information wallets, you'll have go buy them yourself.
The cradle is nothing to write home about, but it gets the job done. It's a low-profile white piece of plastic that you slide the Toshiba down into. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of the old Palm Pilot Pro cradle. It's got a really strong grip, and doesn't weigh much itself, so I found that removing the Toshiba is a two-handed operation. One hand pulls up on the Toshiba, the other pushes down on the cradle.
Other than things like chargers that it can share with the iPaq, the Toshiba doesn't have much in the way of accessories. Although there is a Japanese version of the Stowaway keyboard for the Toshiba, Targus has no plans to release one in America. There are also no thumb keyboards, like there are for the HP and Compaq devices. It seems that since Toshiba decided to focus on selling the e570 to enterprise only customers, it hasn't built up the "critical mass" of users that accessory makers need for it to be worth their time to support the device. That may change in the future, but for now, what you get out of the box with the Toshiba is pretty much it.
And it may not change after all. The Audiovox Maestro, the 32MB "consumer" version of the Toshiba e570, has been discounted to $299 until at least March 20. While this is a great price, only twenty bucks more than a new Palm m130, it smacks of "clearing the channel." Rumor has it that Toshiba is working on two new Pocket PCs, both based on the new Intel XScale CPU and one of which targeted squarely at the consumer market. If this is true, and the new Pocket PCs use a different serial port than the Toshiba e570, then the existing Toshiba and Audiovox models could be orphaned, with no one ever making accessories like keyboards, cases and styli for them.
That said, I think the Toshiba e570 (and the Audiovox Maestro) is a wonderful device. If you can live with pen-only input and "first generation iPaq" level battery life, I highly recommend it. The screen, the dual slots, and just the tiny Palm V-esque size of the thing make it a great device for office workers who don't have to stray too far from a cradle.