HTC Shift X9500 UMPC - 800MHz, 1GB, 40GB, 7" LCD, QuadBand GSM, 3G UMTS/HSDPA EDGE, Bluetooth, Camera, WiFi, Windows Vista Business, Keyboard

by HTC

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1 x 8.2 inches ; 1.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• ASIN: B000X1YL2Y
• Item model number: SHIFT X9500
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,633 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 12, 2008

Product Description

Experience a new era in mobile computing with the HTC Shift. Powerful enough to run Windows Vista® Business, the HTC Shift has the optimal blend of portability and functionality, giving you uncompromised performance while on the move. HTC Shift features SnapVUETM, an always-on mode that provides you instant access to critical information -- including e-mail previews, local weather, calendar, and SMS -- even if the device is not switched on. Push e-mail gives you instant alerts whenever you have new Outlook® e-mails. Through Wi-Fi or 3.5G high-speed connectivity, you enjoy the ultimate productivity and highest fidelity Internet experience around. HTC Shift also features a 7-inch touch sensitive screen that slides out and tilts to a comfortable angle. It has a full QWERTY keyboard for convenient messaging and text input. A built-in fingerprint sensor is provided for increased security.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars HTC Has Got to Release a Follow Up, October 7, 2011

By 

Damian J. Niolet (Honolulu, HI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: HTC Shift X9500 UMPC - 800MHz, 1GB, 40GB, 7" LCD, QuadBand GSM, 3G UMTS/HSDPA EDGE, Bluetooth, Camera, WiFi, Windows Vista Business, Keyboard (Electronics)

If you've come across this product, then you likely know all about it's dual use features - Windows and Windows Mobile. Of all the computers I have owned, this was my favorite. I have ridiculous luck when it comes to computer purchases. That coupled with my impulsive buying habits have caused me to own about 4 of these HTC Shifts at separate times. It's a long story and not the point of this review.

The point of this is review is to tell you that the HTC Shift, for its time, was hands down the coolest device on the market. With the onslaught of tablets since then, the HTC Shift has lost its luster, but only in a few respects. The great things about the Shift was that you could simultaneously work in both Windows and Windows Mobile. If you figured out how to unlock it and get phone calls to work, you could be talking to someone over the cell connection and work on files at the same time. Because the cellphone capabilities could be integrated with the Windows side, you could share or data connection as well meaning that you never had to turn on Wifi and you'd have a connection anywhere. Because of this, you could also turn the Shift into a Mobile hotspot. It was 3.5G, which for the time was amazing and still suitable today. If you swapped out the components, the HD for an SSD, 1GB RAM for 2GB, a bigger battery, and Windows Vista for 7, it was truly a very usable computer. The keyboard hid away so nicely and the typability was great, but only if you have small fingers.

Here are the drawbacks. The XDA devs never got the cellphone to connect with bluetooth, so you always had to make calls with the built-in mic and speaker. The screen had no sort of palm rejection so writing or drawing was not really feasible. There was no back facing camera. Screen rotation was something of a pain without an accelerometer. The internal parts were kinda weak quality. If you ever opened it up, such as to swap out parts, you would have to be very precise in everything that you did, otherwise you'd end up with one HTC Brick. The internal power button, for instance, was this tiny piece of plastic that snapped off with the slightest pressure from the wrong direction. The Windows Mobile side had a very small ROM chip, 64MB, so you were limited in how much you could use that side. The XDA devs never got the SD card reader to be utilized by the Windows Mobile side, so that didn't help the problem of limited ROM.

The HTC Shift was in a league of its own and ahead of its time and we've yet to see anything like it since. I personally think that many of the limitations of the HTC Shift were due to business and communications regulations than any design flaw, meaning that the limitations were intended. That's why the mobile side's ROM was limited, that's why the cellphone was locked down, that's why the mobile side couldn't use the SD card, that's why the mobile side couldn't use bluetooth. If regulations were such that a truly all-in-one device could enter the market, we might see more products like the Shift, but until then it's going to be Smartphones, tablets, netbooks, laptops, desktop replacements, desktops, workstations, and so on. Maybe regulators and manufacturers are in cahoots, knowing that if they were to allow the gaps to be bridge between existing products, there'd be less to flood the market with. But with the HTC Shift back in 2007, HTC apparently didn't get the full memo. They're up to speed now. ; But man it would be nice if someone ignored the regulations, just once.

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, September 28, 2009

By 

S. Sotiriou - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: HTC Shift X9500 UMPC - 800MHz, 1GB, 40GB, 7" LCD, QuadBand GSM, 3G UMTS/HSDPA EDGE, Bluetooth, Camera, WiFi, Windows Vista Business, Keyboard (Electronics)

This is one of the best purchases I have ever made. This is the perfect laptop if you like to have top of the line electronics. It has been two years since my purchase and I have had no problems.