Coffee break- blogging from the HTC Advantage
I am at a local coffee shop and of course I had to try a blog post from one of the two devices I am testing. Funny enough when I was leaving I looked at the OQO and the Advantage and picked up the HTC. Haven’t regretted it for a minute, it’s so darn fast. And this keyboard is pretty good too.
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We need some good pictures of the HTC, I still don’t even know how it folds with the keyboard, and how do you type on the keyboard, with index fingers?
The definite “Advantage” the HTC has over the “crippled laptop” OQO 02 is the “instant on” and battery life factors! its always on and simply works when you need it! I currently own several mobile devices (HTC Advantage, OQO 02, Samsung Q1 Ultra, Q1, Sony UX) and came up with the that conclusion. I enjoy downloading youtube music videos converted to mp4 and watching it from the built in 8 gig storage!
Chris, it’s really the whole point of the “Advantage” isn’t ? When it was announced many people went: “Why?”
It’s a device with a fantastic screen : 5 inches. It is instantly on and it can go for hours and hours. In many ways, it is far superior to a full blown UMPC if you can work with the more simplistic applications. I bought a Dopod 838 Pro, the HTC Hermes last spring but it’s the Advantage I should’ve bought. It looks like a wonderful reader device too.
By the way, here is an excellent on-screen keyboard for the htc ported from the iPhone version! it greatly improves your ability to type the right letters better and quicker! especially on the 5″ screen of the advantage.
Link on article:
http://www.maxasia.net/2007/07/04/iphone-like-keyboard-for-windows-mobile/
Link for the application: (Happy Tapping keyboard)
(uses LZH file extension, use winRAR or other unzippers)
http://pub.idisk-just.com/fview/GZNm_K0Y8HGEZznfCgPsXQeIfkwOTCEPpRRPljalrnzevw3Pbsb3xICNQKIDe6QRj2hThPU00Y7qTOiBzDsNqw/SGFwcHlUYXBwaW5nS2V5Ym9hcmQuMTAy.LZH
Link for the skin: (iPhone Skin for Happy Tapping keyboard)
http://proxy.f3.ymdb.yahoofs.jp/bc/4466e3b8_1b67/bc/%a5%de%a5%a4%a5%c9%a5%ad%a5%e5%a5%e1%a5%f3%a5%c8/3ef7/iphone_modoki.zip?bcgWTuGBpFu6WNgj
Only gripes with a windows mobile OS is the support for flash to play youtube videos from the site. Am using ORB to get around that for now.
I strongly considered the Toshiba G900 before buying my oqo- thought the same thing as you have surmised in your early testing- instant on, runs quiet, cooler, smaller, and is cheaper to boot. But my big sticking point was not the apps (as Pocket PC has some great 3rd party support) but rather the browser. Since many sites I visit to do my work (my companies’ help desk site, support chat operator web client, yahoo mail beta, and more all use Ajax and other technologies I didn’t think could be handled with any of the PPC browsers. That was a very sad fact to me – that the PIE app which is written by the same people that write the most popular browser on the planet is crippled so as to be useless for most real working modern site.
I think I’d probably be holding a different device in my hands if it were not for that one single reason! Does Opera support all of that good stuff on WM6?
As far as the Advantage, to me the two things that kill it as a contender are:
the 640×480 screen- that, while big for a WM device, is still going to be too small for most web sites. As it is some ajax sites like Yahoo mail beta, warn you when you use 800×480 that your screen may not be big enough for the full experience!
That keyboard- good if you’re going to use it like a mini laptop, but not good for being truly mobile- I walk around with my oqo and type on the keyboard which would be awkward at best on the Advantage. I wish the advantage had the keyboard that the other HTC UMPC is going to have- that would be the perfect solution!
My OQO 02 heats up really quick at times, and its not the type of bearable heat either.Does yours?
@ Chris: The lack of Flash support cannot be blamed on Microsoft but on Adobe, however Adobe is planning to release better support for Flash on pocket devices soon.
The Advantage isn’t special. It’s a Pocket PC with a VGA screen, except it’s ginormous and not readily pocketable. I don’t get the device at all, really.
@ cr0ft: Or is Advantage a UMPC running Windows Mobile? Advantage blurs the border better than any other device I have seen. The user experience is very close to a full-scale computer (not quite there of course) but you get instant-on, better battery life, 3g & HSDPA connectivity which is not a slapped-on addition but perfeclty integrated etc.
I have been using Advantage for 3 months or so and while my initial reaction was much like yours, I have grown to love it.
On a related note, I do not get the obsession with “pocketability”. I use HTC Excalibur (T-Mobile Dash over there, MDA Mail over here) which is pocketable and I use HTC Advantage and Samsung Q1Ultra which are not. Each serves different purposes. Pocketable device is great for convenience, but you give up usability. I would not want to be browsing web for hours on my Dash – but I sure have done that with my Advantage. I have edited long office documents on Advantage quite comfortably, which is something you won’t do with any pocketable device (and no, OQO is not pocketable as far as I am concerned).
This review says only 3hrs battery life web surfing.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/discussionboard/discussion.html/ref=cm_rdp_st_rd/104-0537563-7336742?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000OQGG6M&store=yourstore&cdThread=Tx11LGMP01FIPEO&reviewID=R31LWAUBAU12C5&displayType=ReviewDetail#wasThisHelpful
UX with extended battery beats this. Also UX waki8ng from standby is just as good as instant on.
I think that the HTC is an interesting device, but its at risk of pricing itself out of the market- it may do a lot, but its even more expensive that some UMPCs here in Australia (or very close to the same price). I also believe that Dave H is bang on with regards to the browser – I’ve been a happy PDA user for a few years now, but the main reason I still carry my laptop around is that the web browser isn’t capable enough for me to rely on to get things done,though I do appreciate that it does modify websites to be easier to read on a small screen.
All that being said, I’d get one in a heartbeat if/when the price goes down :)
Gary: I definitely get much more than that. I use Advantage either for web access directly or as a modem while tethered to my computer and it lasts full day. Haven’t really measured the time, but it is certainly more than 3 hours. I do own a second battery but I haven’t yet had to use it.
Hey James, have you tried typing on the keys while its sitting on a table (ie laptop style?) I have nimble fingers, and ever since using a psion 5, I’ve longed for aPDA sized device that I can type on in a similar fashion :)
@Bruno: the thing is, even if the screen was 32 inches, as long as it’s 640×480 it is no more or less usable (IMHO) than any VGA screen. A 3.5 inch VGA screen is crystal clear and perfectly fine for even prolonged viewing, I should know as I have a device with a 3.5 inch screen that is supremely pocketable.
Add to that a Thinkoutside (iGo now I think) keyboard for those occasions that you need it and you can out-type the Advantage effortlessly, too.
I really hope the HTC Omni is real. Great screen resolution but still a nice small device to carry. The Advantage obviously leaves me pretty cold. :)
@cr0ft: Different strokes for different folks, that’s fine :-) My initial reaction to the Advantage was much like yours, I have much preferred my Jasjar. I have found though that I often reach for the Advantage – the fact you can connect it to a computer monitor (or a projector) is worth a lot to me, for example. Built-in GPS is nice as well. HSDPA connectivity can’t be beat! The keyboard is very comfortable for longer typing.
I do agree with your point re: resolution, but that touches on a different issue – software support. Lot of softare out there is built for a certain resolution and won’t work on different ones, at least it won’t render properly. I suppose software developers got used to a single resolution in the early days and never really got their minds wrapped around the idea of resolution-agnostic software.
Advantage by no means replaces either a pocketable device, it won’t ever be a primary device for me. Nor does it replace a UMPC, but it might for some folks.
HTC Omni or iMate Ultimate 7150 is on my list of things I want :-) Sounds like a blend of Jasjar with Advantage which would be perfect!
cr0ft, I’m with you on that- if the HTC Omni looks as nice in person as it does in rendered form, and packs that 800×480 screen, I think we’d have a real winner. It also seems to fix that not-so-mobile keyboard option that the Advantage has.
Regarding pocketability- I live in South Florida and spend most of my time in baggy cargo shorts, and find the OQO with standard battery extremely pocketable- I think it makes a huge difference in that I tend to take it everywhere I go. When I use the Double battery I find myself noticing the weight and bulk of it, though it still fits just fine and I do put it in my pocket to move from place to place within my house just fine, but probably wouldn’t go far in public like that. But with the standard battery, it’s really fine and no more noticable in my pockets than a cell phone.
Now, I have high hopes for Menlow next year as well- if they can get the size down to match the Via devices, yet keep heat down and battery life up, we could see some real advancements in this space. I just hope OQO doesn’t stay stuck to the Via chipset if the Intel stuff works as advertised- they seem to know what they are doing WRT design and implementation.
@Bruno: I am actually going the other direction, pondering if the Advantage is “enough” or if I need the PC experience (read: Flash!) of the upcoming Shift. As a woman with a purse, pocket-ability is less of an issue than function-ability, so really for me, size hardly matters (the difference between a 5″ and 7″ screen seems negligible if you are using a bag to carry it and a bluetooth headset to talk.) I would use either device mostly in tablet mode (I a have a pocket PC w/o keyboard at the moment and I do just fine with the soft keyboard on screen.) Honestly, if the Sony was also a phone it would be worth the $2K to me, but if I also need a phone, then it’s just one more thing to schlep. I need one device that does what I need (Come on, Adobe! Get up to speed here!) for under $2K (since they get dated quickly and I need a new one every so often!) The HTC Omni looks like a lot more housing than screen and it’s the big screen I’m craving! I’d take the Everun, but no one seems interested in selling it with the HSDPA module! I saw Hugo use it, but Dynamism says they don’t/won’t have it. Seems I’m always waiting for the next product to launch!
@ Aura Mae: Being European I am not a big fan of cargo shorts or anything else that would turn a UMPC into “pocketable” :-) So the size is less of an issue for me as well. However I have long ago given up on finding a single device to act as both a computer and a phone. Advantage is a decent enough phone, but you don’t want to hold it next to your ear. Sure, you can use a headset with it and that works well, but it is just too much hassle. Shift does look interesting indeed (though in a full Windows machine I will not go for a resolution below 1024×600 – not sure what Shift will offer there, UMPCPortal claims 800×480), but I would still use something else as a phone.
I am waiting for the Q1Ultra with HSDPA module to replace my current Q1Ultra without one. Maybe then I will have my perfect device… at least for a few months!
As Bruno said, “different strokes…”
The great thing is that there are an increasing number of choices so that the likelihood of finding something that closely meets your needs is increasing week after week.
Personally, I had a Q1p. Great little machine but the resolution, lack of keyboard and lack of a real mouse pointer came up short. I liked the Q1u a lot but the processor locked up way too often for my taste. I am using the P1610 and love it– not much bigger than the Q1s, great screen res, keyboard, great tablet function, enough processor power etc. When using it for browsing on the couch, though, it gets pretty hot.
The Fuji is a keeper for me but I can’t wait for the X7501 to come next week. To my needs, it just seems like the “getting closer to “just right”" device to carry all the time.
James, I’m simply burning up with envy! :-)
My Advantage has been on order with Amazon since mid-June, and still no sign of it’s being shipped yet. I literally check the site everyday for some hint of progress!
No one has even mentioned the built-in GPS – I bought this unit so I get phone, PDA and GPS all in one unit. In the car (or plane!) it loses the keyboard and becomes a self-contained GPS unit.
The screen is just a brilliant size for my tired old eyes and even a limited surfing goes down well.
e-book reading is just a pleasure
I use a BT connection for the phone use which I have always preferred anyway.
Simply put – complete connectivity in a package. It is the absolute and best replacement to my Psion Netbook I have found to date.
Keyboard is adequate for simple (PDA-like) tasks.
also, the instant on and no heat coming from the unit is a big plus.