The Shift is not going to be what I have expected. Now that it is known that “The HTC Shift does NOT have Windows Mobile embedded ….” and its battery can last only 2 hours it is going to cause a lot of disappointment for those who have been waiting for this product.

“NO VOICE = NO DEAL”, that is the common feeling.

I belong to the group that screamed “I want the Shift now”. Looks like now it’s going to be a “Wait first” situation. Is HTC trying to commit Hara-kiri with these kind of specs?

Below is a comparison chart from UMPCPORTAL. I have also extracted the supporting article from the UMPCPORTAL website:

Model	Model	Pro’s	Con’s	Con’s
	HTC Shift. Price IRO $1300	Keyboard 3G connectivity. Flexible design Size and weight	Battery life (2hrs) Sub-Optimal screen Availability	The only UMPC with productive keyboard, slate mode and and 3G data built-in. The flexible mobility choice.
	Kohjinsha SH6/SH8 Vye Mini-V S37. Price IRO $1300	Best-in-class screen. High quality keyboard. Big, fast HDD. 3G CF card potential Convertible screen	Battery life (2hrs) Size, weight. Not the best tablet experience No built-in 3G data.	The only UMPC with 1024×600 screen and full keyboard. The productivity choice.
	Fujitsu U1010 Price IRO $1500	Size.| 3G possibility in the future. Convertible screen.	Small screen (high PPI) Battery life (2hrs) No built-in 3G data Small keyboard. Availability	The smallest of the notebook-style UMPCs. The road-warriors choice.
	Samsung Q1 Ultra Price IRO $1200	Best-in-class screen. Highly adaptable with organiser pack. Large community. Battery life.	No keyboard as standard 3G options not available Organiser pack adds bulk	One of the most flexible UMPCs with a great screen and battery life. The all-rounder’s choice.
	Samsung Q1P Price IRO $1200	Powerful CPU. Highly adaptable with organiser pack Available 2nd hand.	Battery life Sub-optimal screen size and brightness. Organiser pack adds bulk	Proven and capable tablet UMPC. The bargain-hunter’s choice.
	OQO Model 02 Price IRO $1500	Size, weight. 3G data Good accessory range.	No keyboard (thumbboard) Can be expensive.	The smallest cellular capable UMPC with keyboard. No touchscreen. The mobility choice.
	Sony UX380N Price IRO $1400	Size Cellular data Powerful CPU Docking station. Stylish.	No keyboard (thumbboard) Very small screen with high PPI. Not 3G-capable.	The most powerful UMPC available. The power-gadget choice.

“Last Saturday was the point at which I’d gathered enough information about the HTC Shift to form a decision about the current state of the UMPC market. Thanks to Kaz911 we got the official specs and some new information direct from HTC. For most people it wasn’t the best news though. 800×480 doesn’t represent the best 7″ screen resolution. The Windows Mobile component turned out to be nothing more than a modem and email client and the 2 hours battery life was quite a shocker although if the battery is small, as I suspect it is, its probably quite an efficient device. When all’s said and done, the HTC shift is still a great bit of design and represents what I believe is one of the best form factors possible for mobile computing. The 800×480 screen is no worse than most UMPCs and the Windows Mobile component (or whatever they’ve got running on the 400Mhz Qualcomm CPU) was something that I was never really interested in. We also need to see about battery life. I would be surprised is the HTC marketing people are being cautious about the battery life claims but I guess its a remote possibility. Whichever way you cut it though, the HTC Shift doesn’t look likes its going to be the de-facto leader in the UMPC market. There are, as ever, issues to consider and to weigh-up against your own requirements. What I’ve done here is gathered some thoughts on the top contenders for a [edit: productivity] UMPC purchase today and tried to highlight the good and bad to help you make the decision that I know you’re wanting to make before Christmas closes in and the credit card fills up!

I’ve cut the list down to the following devices which represent the best of the UMPCs aiming at the same market as the HTC Shift. That’s basically users looking for mobility, mobile connectivity, productivity and style at a competitive price. The pricing and availability is U.S. focused.

For me, the HTC Shift still represents a great UMPC but with one major failure. The design and HSDPA capability are class-leading but its only good if you can handle that 2 hours battery life. Its not that the device is inefficient, its just that HTC appear to have chosen not to put a big battery in it. (I’m still waiting for confirmation on the battery capacity.) One year ago this would have been an acceptable battery life but today, when we have devices hitting the 4 hours mark and beyond, its not at all acceptable. Battery life is the number 1 complaint about UMPCs and rightly so. Even if you have the best device in the world in your hands, its worth nothing when the battery has run out. But its not just the Shift that suffers from the problem. The Fujitsu has the same issue. The OQO model 02 too. Manufacturers chose to include small batteries. A battery life issue applies to the Vye/Kohjinsha device too although in this case it looks like an inefficient design rather than a small battery. If you’re prepared to take a weight and size hit, you can double the battery capacity. The Q1P, surprisingly, with its old Pentium-M isn’t the worst option when it comes to battery life and the Sony UX, presumably because of its tiny screen, returns a very respectable 2.5-3hours from its Core Solo CPU. For 3hours+, and this is where my personal choices really start, there is only one solution and that’s the Q1 Ultra.

Its not all about battery life though and that’s why I’ve highlighted where I think these devices fit best. DO you need productivity, all-round usage or just pure mobility?”