Is Toshiba's TG01 too large?

Toshiba’s new Windows Mobile handheld, the TG01 is quite a size. Well, it has to be to accommodate its 4.1-inch screen.

I’ve spent some time with it and a full review will appear at this Web site shortly. That will consider the innovative user interface design, battery life, and other aspects of the TG01 in detail and I don’t want to cover that ground here.



I do, though, want to consider the screen size and at what point a screen is just too large for a handheld device.

I’m currently using the HTC Touch HD as my main handheld, and I love it. The screen measures 3.8 inches across diagonal corners, and for my kind of activity, which is data centric and can involve a fair amount of Web browsing and text creation, it is superb.

But I have to admit I find the Touch HD a bit of a pain to pocket at times. I hate carrying bags, and try to stuff all my requirements into pockets whenever possible. Clearly smaller is better in that scenario and while I can cope with the Touch HD I’ve found the TG01 a bit too large for my pockets.

And there is another reason I think the TG01 is too big. I can’t get my hand round it. I can, just about, hold the Touch HD in a palm and have longest finger and thumb meet up. I can reach all the screen with my thumb when working one handed. Neither is true for the Toshiba TG01. Now, my hands aren’t large, and I am sure plenty of others can achieve those two feats. But for me, the inability to do so makes the TG01 unwieldy to use.

So, if the negative points I mention in my upcoming review were turned around and became positives, would I choose the TG01 for myself? Probably not. Though I wouldn’t mind if HTC’s successor to the Touch HD, assuming there will be one, were as thin and good looking as the TG01.