HTC X9500 Shift Ultra Mobile PC Test (Notebook)

CNet.co.uk could not come up with a single reason to go out and buy the HTC Shift. Slow, expensive and just plain frustrating. There should be a sticker saying 'Waring, the purchase of this device may lead to loss of sanity'.

ZDNet found the HTC Shift to fall short in today's market, both in terms of performance and price. Its screen was large enough to work with, but its resolution was a bit low and the whole system was sluggish due to the requirements of the power-hungry Windows Vista operating system. All-in-all, ZDNet thought the device wasn't up-to-date in terms of hardware and performance and its was priced too high given the competition it faces from new products such as the Eee PC.

Many would consider the UMPC to be a design with no market, however the release of the Shift X9500 with capabilities often found in a smart phone was supposed to take the UMPC to the next level. According to PC Pro Magazine the Shift X9500 does not manage to fulfil this prediction. In terms of style the Shift X9500 is solid but too solid to be fashionable and is not something that can really fit in your pocket. Most UMPCs have a problem with their modest dimensions effecting their subsequent performance. The Shift X9500 suffers from the same problem. Too big to be beautiful and too small to be powerful. PC Pro Magazine explains that many of the features of the Shift X9500 can also be replicated with a smartphone and a sub-notebook such as the Asus Eee PC at a much more reasonable price.

On paper, the HTC Shift looks to be the perfect solution for business users, offering a full Windows Environment and office productivity suite. However, as IT Week found out, the Vista operating system doesn't make the ideal choice for such an underpowered system and the whole experience proved to be far too slow and unresponsive for it to be worthwhile. The battery life, at only two hours, was also unimpressive.

"While this isn't a true mobile-phone/laptop hybrid (it doesn't have mobile-phone capability), the HTC Shift is a great, but mighty expensive mini-notebook built for business and data-centric tasks. ..."

"It's easy to see who the HTC Shift will appeal to, and it'll serve them well. But many more of its potential users may be better off with seperate devices."