HTC Shift X9500 review in Laptops

The small size of the trackpad makes accurate cursor control a touch hit and miss, but it soon becomes second nature to resort to a prod of the finger where possible. And, as ever, Vista's slick handwriting recognition is a joy to use.

That touch screen display is of impressive quality too, and the 7in panel gives a bright, vibrant image. The native resolution of 800 x 480 may leave the Windows desktop looking more than a little cramped, but thankfully a hardware button allows you to quickly switch to a more manageable 1,024 x 600 resolution.

Performance

As with most UMPCs, the Shift's modest dimensions leave it suffering when it comes to performance.

The Intel A110 processor is a single core model running at just 800MHz, and with just a single gigabyte of memory to support it, it staggered through our benchmarks to a lowly score of 0.25.

It's still more than capable of basic office tasks and surfing the web, but Vista Business feels noticeably sluggish in operation.

Dual control

What's peculiar is that the Shift houses two processors: one for powering Vista, and one 400Mhz Qualcomm part for powering the complementary Windows Mobile interface. Even with Vista in Sleep mode, or just completely shut down, pressing the key nestling on the bottom left of the display instantly opens a cut-down version of Windows Mobile, which HTC has dubbed SnapVUE.

SnapVUE lets you receive SMS text messages and push email, with the help of the device's mobile data GPRS/EDGE, 3G and HSDPA support. All you need to do is add a SIM card. There's also the facility to access Windows Calendar events and, less usefully, weather reports.

Voice calls don't seem to be on the agenda however. Although we could easily peruse our SIM and Outlook contacts, and the interface provides the option to call them, the Shift resolutely refused to do so. Attempts to call the Shift from another phone were similarly fruitless.

It makes us wonder whether the capability is there, but currently blocked by software. But given the provision of a wired hands-free kit in the box, it's still a particularly curious omission.

Conclusion

There's no arguing that many aspects of the Shift's design are rather fine, but its limitations are impossible to ignore. Its seeming inability to make voice calls means that you'll still need to carry a traditional phone around, which is a missed opportunity.

Of course, wielding the Shift like a traditional handset would look nonsensical in the extreme, but were it able to be used as a phone - in conjunction with a Bluetooth headset - it could replace a laptop and smartphone, which would have been a compelling selling point.

Battery life is distinctly underwhelming too; the Shift expiring after just 2 hours 39 minutes of sitting idle. Under the strain of our heavy use test that dwindled to 1 hour and 32 minutes. And when you consider that making use of the 802.11bg, HSDPA or Bluetooth will further reduce battery life, it's clear that most users will simply have to suffer the added bulk of a spare battery.

As it stands, the Shift suffers from the usual complaints that are mounted against the UMPC format - a cramped keyboard, a low-resolution display and dreadful performance.

HTC should be congratulated for making the Shift more usable than any UMPC before it, but when many of its abilities, and those of its ilk, are duplicated by the substantially cheaper combination of a smartphone and an Asus Eee PC, it's easy to wonder what all the fuss was about.

Author: Sasha Muller