I’ve been using the Shift this morning and felt some thoughts were in order.

Sorry about the poor photo, the BlackJack II camera is crap

I popped my SIM card in for some high-speed data, and it is just so damned convenient! As soon as Vista starts up I have full internet access, wherever I am. SnapVue really is a great feature, being able to instantly access calendar items and email without having to boot Vista is wonderful.

Quite a surprise was the usefulness of the tiny thumbpad on the right side of the screen. Most people don’t realise it is a fully-functional Synaptics touchpad, which includes scrolling!! Widening the scrolling area of the touchpad makes it really good for scrolling through web pages. And despite the reviews I have read, I quite like the touchpad for controlling the mouse. With a little bit of practice, it’s useful.

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I have been very lucky to get hold of a Shift for a couple of weeks, and figured I’d start with a first impressions article, written entirely on the Shift.

I was very impressed by the packaging, very nicely presented like the Touch Cruise. The Shift came wrapped in it’s beautiful leather case, a really nice addition. Removing it from the case, I was immediately taken by it. It feels really solid in the hand, and looks like a quality product.

The display is very bright, but unfortunately it’s only 800×480. Honestly that’s pretty pathetic for a second gen, and quite pricey UMPC. Using it in the 1024×600 interpolation mode is very usable, and since turning it on I’ve spend most of my time in this mode.

I’ve given the handwriting recognition a quick go, and while it is very good at getting the right words, it is a bit uncomfortable to do since a slight brush sends the pointer scooting across the screen. Will keep trying it over the next few days to see if I can make it work for me.

Built-in HSDPA is great to have, and combined with the instant-on SnapVue means email is only a few seconds away. I get much better signal that I do on my BlackJack II, and surfing seems to be pretty fast.

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