Foreword, package contents
Although we have been writing numerous times about the differences between Windows Mobile smartphones and Pokcet PCs, it still seems based on the mails from readers, that there are still many people who do not know these differences, so I’ll begin this article with a quick summary. Pocket PCs (which nowadays usually use Windows Mobile 6 Professional operating system) are touchscreen models, while smartphones (with Windows Mobile 6 Standard system) do not have such a thing. The two platforms are incompatible in software and there are much less applications available for the latter one, which will probably not change in the future, as Microsoft is planning to unify the two systems in a couple of years. In Europe the smartphone line doesn’t have an outstanding success, but overseas, thanks to the stylish Motorola Q, lots of people are using such a device.
A couple of companies still think that it’s worth distributing such handsets in Europe too – Toshiba is one of these manufacturers, as the subject of our current review is a real smartphone, which tries to continue the style created by the previously mentioned Motorola device. It’s been a long time since we have seen such a device; the last ones were Asus M530w and Motorola Q9. I have been a bit surprised when I turned on the handset we got from MobilX: I would have never thought that there is one company who still makes a Windows smartphone.
There are no signs on the mid-sized, simple box that it would contain a smartphone, only the icons of the main features are printed one after the other. When looking at these we can see that this is no flagship model, which is no problem. The package has a stereo headset, a data cable and a charger besides the handset, the latter one is surprisingly large, it surely takes up three spaces when plugged in an adapter.
Exterior
It’s a fact that it’s hard to create a new style in this category. The guys at Toshiba are not trying too much, as we can see some stuff on G710 that have been on some other model already. The keyboard is one of these, as it looks very much like the classical Q solution – it’s no sin to copy something that’s good, so does the saying go, so let’s not complain about this. It’s a bigger problem that the handset has the features of predecessors from a couple of years ago, but we’ll discuss this a bit later on.
The model, made of mostly soft, smooth plastics is exactly as large as the models mentioned in the introduction: it weighs 130 grams and has a size of 62.8 x 115.5 x 13.2 mm. It looks like this is the standard size for such devices. On top of the front we can see the phone speaker and the inevitable Toshiba logo, below them there is the QVGA display with a diagonal of 2.5”. This has a flawless quality. In the center we can see the main navigation controls. This includes six buttons and the trackball. This ball is usually used on Pocket PCs, as that platform provides mouse cursor movement in the menus – we can’t do such a thing on G710, but the small ball can be used easily for menu navigation. On the bottom there is the previously mentioned QWERTY keyboard, which provides a comfortable text entry method. On the whole I can say that the small Portégé is a very easy to use device, at least from the hardware’s point of view.
On the back there is the handsfree speaker and the 2 megapixel fixed focus camera. This has a very interesting design, as there is such a large circle around the small lens, that any Nokia phone could be envious of it. Under the bottom, detachable part there is the SIM socket and the microSD slot. I’ve never seen such a stupid design ever in my life, as the two sockets are built together, so we can insert a memory card only when there’s a SIM card inside, the small microSD being placed exactly on that one. The battery doesn’t have to be taken out in order to switch the memory card, only for SIM changes.
On top there is nothing, on the right there are the volume control keys, the miniUSB port and the external antenna connector, these two being covered by a rubber lid. The standard jack output is unfortunately missing this time, I don’t know who invented this very popular thing but I would be glad to have a talk with him about user needs.
The bottom is also empty; on the left we can only see the power button and the camera’s exposure key.
Hardware, operating system, software, phone calls
So the machine has Windows Mobile 6 Standard as an operating system. It’s heart is a 260 MHz TI OMAP V1030 CPU with 64 MB RAM and 128 MB ROM – there is 63 MB free for storing data and half of this for running programs. Since there is no reliable benchmark software for this platform I can only write my own experiences: G710 is as slow as a snail. Of course the Smartphone line is not famous for its speed, but the small Toshiba is still slower than anything else, there is a 1-2 second wait even for the simplest tasks. I believe that the CPU is a low-consumption one, but this is still not good.
The software list is very short, besides the basic Windows stuff we won’t see many extras. Of course this basic package is quite good on its own, we have Internet Explorer, Office, Outlook, Media Player and of course Bubble Breaker but they could have included at least a PDF reader and a file archiver. The only thing that could be called special is the Java platform.
During phone calls sound quality was interesting: my partners told me that they hear me exceptionally good, but on my side there was a bit of boominess in the sound. Fortunately the delay characteristic of Windows Mobile devices (we can hear voices only a couple of seconds after the calls has started) is not present. Other software related to phone calls are the default ones, we can store contacts in the phonebook until there is free memory (there are lots of extra fields) and messaging is perfect, the email client supports authenticated IMAP servers and attachments.
Data transfer, multimedia
There aren’t many data transfer protocols supported. The GSM module is quad-banded (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and we can only use GPRS or EDGE for data transfer, there is no WiFi or 3G. There is Bluetooth support, but only at version 1.2. At least it’s stereo. There is a GPS receiver, SiRF-Star III with 20 channels, location was fast, but I couldn’t test navigation since there was no software – iGO is not available for the Smartphone system, and I have no Garmin XT.
The camera is a 2 megapixel one with fixed focus, the highest possible resolution for images is 1600 x 1200 pixels and 176 x 144 for videos. The software is so slow that it has a high negative effect on photography; exposure (saving pictures, to be more precise) takes many seconds, but interestingly we can take pictures during saving if we press the exposure key – the problem is that the viewfinder is not yet online in this case, so we can’t see what are we taking the picture of. We have the usual set of options: white balance, JPEG compression, exposure correction (+/- 3 EV, 1 EV steps), self timer, image sequencing. Picture quality is medium; anyone can take a look at it on the test images.
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We can play our music with Windows Media Player, which still has serious flaws, it has no equalizer, bass boost and it doesn’t even display album covers. The headset looks like a Sennheiser MX400, it’s quite good, and it has a recording button and a microphone on it. The sound is highly distorted through the speaker.
Battery, conclusion
The battery has a capacity of 1050 mAh. The low-consumption CPU and the lack of WiFi provide an uptime of up to two days with one charge, although this is highly influenced by the amount of phone calls.
Summary: Toshiba Portégé G710 is not a very compelling one. Its design is okay, it’s really easy to use, but it’s tragically slow which is not acceptable. The number of features is quite low, the manufacturer probably wanted to make the handset more attractive with the GPS receiver, but thanks to the Windows Mobile Smartphone system this is a failed try, this is not the best platform for navigation, let’s just say there’s no iGO for it. And then there’s the €350 EUR gross price, which is a lot, no matter the GPS. Asus M530w costs about €250 EUR nowadays, and if someone really sticks to this platform then he should go for that one. There’s no award.
Bocha
Translated by Szaszati
The handset has been provided by MobilX.
The device can be purchased online at www.mobilx.hu.
Info line: +36-52-501-868
Specifications
| Toshiba Portégé G710 | ||
 | Technology | GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz |
| Operating system | Windows Mobile 6 Standard | |
| Size | 62.8 x 115.5 x 13.2 mm | |
| Weight | 130 grams | |
| CPU | 260 MHz-es TI OMAP V1030 | |
| ROM / RAM | 128 / 64MB | |
| Display | 2.5“ diagonal, 320 x 240 pixels resolution TFT | |
| Expandability | microSD | |
| WiFi | none | |
| Infra / Bluetooth | none / 1.2 (A2DP) | |
| GPS receiver | 20 channel SiRF-Star III | |
| Audio | microphone, mono speaker | |
| Camera | 2 megapixels, fixed focus, flash | |
| Battery | 1050 mAh changeable Li-Ion | |
| Other | TrackBall | |
