Mobile Gadgeteer reviews HTC Advantage x7510

Matt Miller the intrepid Mobile Gadgeteer is teasing me greatly today with his published review of the HTC Advantage x7510 Windows Mobile 6 PDA.  The 7510 is the new refreshed version of the Advantage that I love so much and Matt has done a typically good job covering the new device.  He's even got a nice video that shows the Advantage in action and it's well worth a look.  I am glad to see HTC put a dedicated number row on the refreshed model and wish the new keyboard would work on my old unit as it's my only complaint about the keyboard.  Well done, Matt.  Matt is probably one of the few people in the world who currently has both an old and a new model Advantage so he has a rare perspective on the refresh.

Comments

[Al]

After the release of the eeepc I feel that everything else just seems expensive now. I still want an Advantage but it just seems too expensive no a days.

[Mike Cane]

Resist the hypnosis of Kendrick and Miller! You all really want the Asus e900!
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/the-asus-e900-crushes-the-htc-advantage/

Well, off to read that review, anyway. I need to check my immunity!

[Mike Cane]

I've read the review. Satan get behind me! Interesting that TCPMP crashes, but that's probably due to the non-final ROM.

What I wonder -- and I muse out loud here because ZDNet wants me to reg, and when I did that once I was flooded in email spam! -- has he tried Textmaker? Does he blog in VGA and WP in VGA? And what happens with a Redfly connection if the HTC is in VGA (VGA = RealVGA).

And why does anyone care about that keyboard anyway? Doesn't the HTC have SIP like PPCs did? No Graffiti clone in it?

[Gavin Miller]

Well, it crushes it in size!

It's like comparing apples with oranges!

If you want a small laptop, the Eee fits the bill nicely. If however, you want a partner gadget you can fit in a coat pocket, then an Advantage is the best Pocket PC there is.

You wont anytime soon be sticking your Asus onto the Dash of your car to use GPS, or making a phone call with it, or whipping it out to read an ebook between meetings etc etc. C'mon Mike, you know you want to.... ;-)

Yup, unfortunately it's going to be a pricey import Stateside, but hopefully it'll be picked up subsidised again by T-Mobile or another carrier for those of us in the UK.

BTW, I notice Matt is running his hacked AP 4.0 Rom! There's a group over at XDA developers working on getting Android running on it too!

[Matthew Miller (aka palmsolo)]

Mike, yeah most all of us bloggers have voice our opinion on the comment registration system and unfortunately we aren't the people who authorize the change so we are stuck with what we have. Sorry about that as I do agree it tends to dampen the conversation.

I will be posting an update to my review once the final ROM is in and right now I am collecting questions from people as to what else they would like me to check out so I'll add TCPMP to the list to see if the final ROM fixes that.

I am actually working on a full review of the latest SoftMaker Office product and using TextMaker, PlanMaker and Presentations. RealVGA (using 128 dpi) works like a champ on the 7510 and I have used TextMaker and Opera Mobile 9.5 with my Wordpress blog in VGA mode. There really isn't a difference with Opera Mobile 9.5 though since Opera gives you the full web view and you zoom in to see details in both modes. I kept the standard VGA in the video due to the 10 minute time limit with YouTube, but may create another video with the device running in RealVGA only mode so you get a better feel for the device in VGA.

Actually, I should take photos of the two Advantages side-by-side with one in VGA mode and the other in standard Windows Mobile resolution mode so you get a good idea what is improved. FYI, PocketBible, MobiPocket, Messaging, Agenda One, and other apps look great with RealVGA and there really is no reason to run it in standard mode. The phone dialer even works now, where before it was a bit wonky. The communications manager icons are a bit messed up, which isn't that big of an issue though. Windows Media Player doesn't seem to like RealVGA on the 7510 and actually locked up the device and required a soft reset for some reason (may again be related to test ROM).

The REDFLY also works in VGA mode and even though the REDFLY increases the display resolution, you actually get a slightly better experience in VGA mode too.

BTW, Opera Mobile 9.5 does not currently work with the REDFLY, but when their official 6.1 drivers are released hopefully that will be fixed.

You know, I was thinking about the SIP recently too and I should really try using Transcriber or something for text input to make the device a smaller and lighter package (leave the keyboard behind). I personally enjoy using MessagEase and had that loaded on the device, but didn't show it in the video.

[Mike Cane]

When I was using my Palm III and Sony CLIE S320, I did nothing but Graffiti. I am fast and proficient with it.

Then I got a LifeDrive and my use has plummeted because grafting Classic G into it gives me a 50% error rate! The one thing I loved about my (dead!) Toshiba GENIO e550g was being able to use original Graffiti on it. So that included HTC keyboard is nothing but a cover to me.

Have I searched wrong or is the only real offline blogging software the one Kendrick the Fiend used from SixApart for TypePad? I can't find any other offline tools. (There are two for the LifeDrive, both of sketchy quality -- fat lotta good they do me when the frikkin LifeDrive can't even connect to WordPress!)

Bloody hell. I need a booster shot. Been doing more Advantage research today. I claim temporary insanity (wait, that's my usual excuse! -- ok, brain plague!).

[James Kendrick]

Mike, with Opera Mobile 9.5 (and maybe Mobile Internet Explorer) you should be able to blog using the Wordpress web interface. These interfaces work fine for me and I often blog with them on the Advantage.

[James Kendrick]

Mike, found one for Windows Mobile:

http://thinkabdul.com/2007/12/29/moblog-offline-mobile-blogging-client-for-windows-mobile-for-blogger-wordpress-typepad-live-spaces/

[Matthew Miller (aka palmsolo)]

I just use Word to write offline posts and then use the web interface in Opera Mobile 9.5 to post things. Photo editing is an issue, but there is 3rd party software you can use, Resco, comes to mind.

[Mike Cane]

Look at this Kendrick-Miller tag team!

What's this "Microsoft .NET Compact Framework" stuff the blogware needs?

Romulus and Remus, you two!

[James Kendrick]

The .NET framework is part of Vista and a free download for XP computers. Just Google .NET Framework download.

[James Kendrick]

BTW, today I have been testing SoftMaker Office 2008 beta on the Advantage and it's sweet! It's like having the entire Office Suite on the Advantage and it works really well. It's huge though so must be installed on the internal MicroDrive.

[Gavin Miller]

I've used Softmaker 2006 in the past and tried the new beta yesterday, installed to mini SD card and it's very, very good. Going to try some very complex spreadsheets and docs on it today to see how it copes.

With the Advantage and the 3 in 1 extension cable it's 'feasible' that you could use it as a main productivity tool - you probably wouldn't want to, but if you were on business for a week, you can email, write reports, presentations, edit graphics/photos, blog, surf, IM, etc. with the option to plug into full size keyboard, mouse and monitor.

[elbowz]

I generally use my Advantage without the keyboard as Transcriber is just about better than using it. I'll snap it on for RDP access and not much else.

I'm not sure why, having decided to replace the keyboard, HTC didn't deal with all of its shortcomings. Typical of HTC given past experience unfortunately...

[Fernando]

Still no vibrate mode on the new model, huh? Too bad... that's a deal breaker for me.