Review: Part IV: HTC Shift
An essential part of using the Shift properly is constant access to 3G, and one's experience hinges almost entirely on how affordable that can be and whether enough data is available to make it useful.
Americans using the Shift will likely have to use an AT&T DataConnect plan. This is expensive at $60 per month, but it gives 5GB of data that should be practical enough for regular use, including a small amount of heavy data transfer; as long as 3G isn't being used as a replacement for a regular Internet connection, the Shift is paired up well.
On Rogers Wireless in Canada, that becomes slightly more problematic. The closest solution is a $100 monthly plan that offers 6GB; for the same $60, a customer gets just 1GB of data. That's still feasible for the Shift given its role as a computer for lightweight tasks, but it does definitely curb the potential of the UMPC as a go-everywhere device. Many are more likely to find the security of a Wi-Fi hotspot rather than use the computer wherever it happens to be convenient, and some will have to think twice given the extra costs.
All the same, if this question had been asked of the Shift just weeks ago, the device would have been largely unusable on the Canadian provider's network with very low transfer limits (into the megabytes) for even the more expensive plans. Now, at least, the Shift can be usable with at least a mid-grade service tier.
wrapping up and the question of system price
As a design exercise, the Shift is a definite success. It's one of the most sorted designs and appears to have learned from more than one mistake made by its ancestors in the UMPC trade: it's comfortable, easy to use, and relatively fast. SnapVUE in particular is a saving grace and may tilt some purchases in favor of the Shift simply by eliminating wait times from the equation for e-mail.
But HTC's computer isn't just competing against UMPCs, and it's here that the Shift struggles. Most mini notebooks can accomplish many of the same tasks as well or better, as long as handheld use isn't on a user's checklist. They're often not much larger (if at all) but frequently have more comfortable keyboards, run faster processors, and last three hours or more on battery. All of these are important considerations and could easily steer some users away, especially as many of these same systems can make up for the lack of 3G through a USB or (for the HP Mini-Note) an ExpressCard adapter.
Moreover, the Shift's pricing could very well be fatal to its success. With Rogers, the device costs $1,600 even with a three-year contract, and costs $2,100 without any service; these prices easily put the handheld into the price class of faster and much more capable ultraportables, defeating some of the point of the device. Even at the lowest price of $1,360 found at the time of this writing, the Shift is roughly three times more expensive than computers that can often do a similar job.
As such, it's hard to truly recommend the Shift to most except for those for whom the handheld form trumps most any price, especially with the limitations of the battery life, bulk, and screen. The Shift is well-built but gives the impression that it's an invention whose release has come too soon. Switching the device to the Atom or a similar processor, improving its usefulness outside, and paring down its size and weight would make this a powerhouse of mobile computing; until then, it's more of an interesting experiment than a must-have.
- Prohibitively expensive to buy and maintain.
- Very short battery life with few options to extend it..
- Long load times for Vista and some apps.
- Relatively heavy; unwieldy for some purposes.
- Very short battery life with few options to extend it..
- Long load times for Vista and some apps.
- Relatively heavy; unwieldy for some purposes.
- Good overall ergonomics, including controls.
- SnapVUE is genuinely helpful
- Very simple, always-present 3G and Wi-Fi Internet access.
- Surprisingly fast for a Vista-based UMPC.
- Good expansion, including a bundled USB hub.
- SnapVUE is genuinely helpful
- Very simple, always-present 3G and Wi-Fi Internet access.
- Surprisingly fast for a Vista-based UMPC.
- Good expansion, including a bundled USB hub.
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