Toshiba Portege G900 Review

Design:

Model	Dimension (Inches)	Dimension (MM)	Weight (OZ)	Weight (Gramms)
Toshiba G900	4.68" x 2.40" x 0.84"	119 x 61 x 21.5	7,0	198
Eten X500+	4.44" x 2.34" x 0.61"	113 x 59.5 x 15.5	5,1	146
HTC TyTN	4.4" x 2.3" x 0.86"	112.5 x 58 x 22	6,2	176

The numeric keys are as alternative characters in the right part of the keyboard. They are marked in green and in order to be activated one must press the green dot key (bottom-left angle). The inconvenience is that you cannot turn “Alternative mode on” and if you want to type ONLY numbers, you cannot double-press (for example) the alt key and than all the numbers but have to press the alt key before pressing each number.

The other keyboard is the one on the upper shell, below the display. Standard for this type of phones, here are only the navigation keys. Like in the new HTC phones, the G900 has Windows and OK shortcuts and also two additional for contacts and messaging but they can be personalized. This keyboard has the same backlight as the QWERTY, but the D-pad is not illuminated. Hopefully, it has pretty good relief and is felt easily. Above the display is the shortcut to IE (customizable) on the left and the VGA camera for video calling on the right. The right side has the volume rocker and the camera shortcut, while the left has 2.5mm stereo jack and miniSD slot for memory, both with protective covers.


What truly makes the Toshiba Portege G900 stand out of the crowd is its display. Located on the front is the 3 inch big display. Its size is bigger than the common 2.8 found on most PPC phones, but more interesting is its resolution – 800x480 pixels, which is 5 times more than the QVGA used in almost all PPCs. This gives excellent DPI (dots per inch ratio) and the display shows much more detail than others.

We would have preferred to see a sensor that controls the brightness of the screen but one is not present in the G900. Indoors, medium brightness level is enough to read the screen with no problem, but it is not so when you are in bright environment. In this case you should manually increase the brightness level to maximum to be able to read the display. Set at 100%, it is usable in bright light although it dims, but if the sun directly reflects in it you won’t see anything.

Standard for a WM Professional phone, a Power on/off key is situated on the top to turn off/on the display when you don’t use it. The bottom right corner has the slot for the retractable stylus.