I knew Jenn liked the HTC Shift but I didn’t know she liked it that much!
It’s so easy, so versatile, and so much fun to use that I officially declare the HTC Shift X9500 as my hands-down favorite UMPC. It is the fifth ultra mobile PC I’ve purchased, the thirteenth ultra mobile PC I’ve reviewed/extensively used, and the one I like best.
Yes, Vista performs relatively smoothly on the HTC Shift and there’s no question about its looks. It’s a design beauty. The form factor is hands-down the most flexible you can purchase on the market today (and that includes all notebooks!) the quality of the 3G in terms of both reception and availability is second-to-none and I do agree, the case is the best I’ve ever seen on a mobile device. Viewers on the portal tend to agree too. It’s still at number 5 in the ‘charts’ after over a year and an amazing 132,000 individuals have viewed the product page nearly 200,000 times!
But 2-hours battery life Jenn. Is this a house pet?
I’ve laboured over the thought of owning an HTC Shift a number of times but I hate the thought of compromising on my Q1 Ultra 6-hours battery life, XP efficiency and 1024×600 screen but I would love to have the form factor back in my hands again. Here’s looking forward to a 1.8Ghz Atom Silvethorne-based HTC Shift 2 with 1024×600 screen and a minimum of 3 hours battery life. For that, I’d happily pay over 1000 Euros and possibly write as many articles about the device as Jenn has about the HTC Shift!
Give up my HTC Shift? Never! – Pocketables.
:-)
I work exclusively from home (unless I’m out of town) so I’m actually the anti-mobile user of mobile technology. The majority of my gadgets have never left the house, so your house pets assessment is no joke!
I agree that the Shift’s battery life belongs in 2006 with the first crop of UMPCs, but it’s actually been enough for me around the house. It isn’t my primary PC so I don’t use it for long stretches of time. The battery charges quickly too so it’s ready to go for another session before my withdrawals get the best of me. When I do finally take the Shift on the road, it’ll be on a plane ride and subsequent vacation this summer and I won’t be without a Tekkeon mobile power pack or a spare battery.
Some folks at xda-developers have reported getting almost 3 hours of runtime after some tweaking, but my non-optimized system cries for the outlet after 2 hours on wi-fi.
For me, Vista and no easy manufacturer supplied “upgrade” to XP is a deal killer.
The resolution is a bummer too, but one that can be lived with.
I recently had to choose what UMPC to purchase. My options where the Q1U, Shift and the Fuji U810. Of course, there are plenty of others in the market, but for a variety of reasons I had these three as my finalist. I chose the U810. It’s a matter of form factor, elegance, portability and how easy it would be to type on it. Of course, all typing on UMPCs is no easy task, but the U810 offers a very solid mini keyboard that can be used on top of a desk as well as on the go. One of the main reasons I shun the Shift was battery life. I’m getting over 5 hours on the Fuji for casual use and I couldn’t be happier!