Advantage X7510 review

[pdagal]

Hi all,

Like Matt on ZDNet, I got a hold of the X7510. It's final hardware but not the final ROM (seems pretty close to final though). Here's the review: http://www.mobiletechreview.com/HTC-Advantage-X7510.htm .

Personally, I wouldn't upgrade from the original Advantage since the improvements aren't that huge. And gamers will hate the lack of a joystick on the new version. But the flash drive is nice-- better battery life and no fear of crashed heads. And Opera 9.5 is to die for!

[robjhellis]

Hi Guys,

I've been waiting to see when the x7510 would be released on to the US market. At te weekend i read on one of our "sister" review sites that the x7510 has the chip set on board that is the subject of the patent dispute between Qualcom and Broadcom. Hence if correct, the x7510 will be subject to the current retail ban that the US courts imposed on all products with that chip set. Have any of you guys heard anything similar and can confirm or deny?

If it's true, then perhaps that does not preclude some of the e-seller importers bring them in, but at what sort of cost premium?

[rorydaredkign]

rom dump?
Rory

[pdagal]

It's true. HTC says they will not offer it in the US due to the Qualcomm dispute and injunction. Importers will surely offer it. At what sort of price premium? That will probably depend on demand and what folks are willing to pay.

[robjhellis]

Hi again Guys,

Had this topic in my mind overnight so the first post looked perfect to add my comment to. I see now that the attached URL takes us all to the review that confirms what I had read - my post was not necessary - sorry about that.

May I ask for one piece of advice, however? I currently do not own an Advantage of any type. Given that the price you are suggesting is very comparable with the current pricing on x7500 and x7501, if you were in my shoes would you wait to buy the x7510 or jump in now with a x7500 purchase and upgrade it with AP 4.0?

Thanks

[pdagal]

Rory,
Probably a good idea to wait until the final ROM is out-- which I imagine should be in a few weeks. The one I have mostly works very well but there are a few issues. For example, Bluetooth and WiFi step all over each other right now...



rom dump?
Rory

[pdagal]

The 16 gig flash drive would lean me toward the 7510. However, if you're a d-pad/joystick person... say you like to play games... then the original version would be a better choice. Opera 9.5 is really great and a leap forward from the version on the X7500, but sooner or later that will be available for sale for all WinMo devices.



Hi again Guys,


May I ask for one piece of advice, however? I currently do not own an Advantage of any type. Given that the price you are suggesting is very comparable with the current pricing on x7500 and x7501, if you were in my shoes would you wait to buy the x7510 or jump in now with a x7500 purchase and upgrade it with AP 4.0?

Thanks

[robjhellis]

Great comments - I think that I'll wait. I'm not planning to buy it for the games potential - rather the opportunity to genuinely leave my laptop behind when I travel and still have much of operability and connectivity that an air card equipped notebook affords.

I plan to retain my HTC TyTN and swop the sim card between the two as the need arises.

As far as seeking out the likely genuine importers to buy from, I'm constantly reviewing "HTC Advantage x7510" on the Google shopping link. There is already an abundance of sellers out there professing to have the product when they really do not. Do you have any suggestions on how to spot the genuine importer's offering when it appears? Is there a better way than the Google route?

Thanks again.

[eaglesteve]

The 16 gig flash drive would lean me toward the 7510. However, if you're a d-pad/joystick person... say you like to play games... then the original version would be a better choice. Opera 9.5 is really great and a leap forward from the version on the X7500, but sooner or later that will be available for sale for all WinMo devices.

Not just the gamers need the buttons. If you prefer to use it tablet style without the hassle of the keyboard, then the joystick, ok buttons, and internet explorer buttons etc are very necessary. When using the email for example, the joystick lets you move from mail to mail and from account to account while the ok buttons lets you move from mail to the list of mail screen speedily. Similarly, for MP3 players, you could use it to move from song to song, change volume, pause, etc without having to take it out of the belt pouch. If you intend to use it notebook style, then the missing buttons should not bother you, as you could do the same with the keyboard, except when playing some games of course.

[robjhellis]

So would your recommendation be buy the x7500 and upgrade it with AP 4.0? I'm thinking x7500 rather than x7501 simply because the front camera might be useful o/seas or in US one day.

Can you confirm whether x7500 supported SDHC - I did read one review suggesting that it did not whereas x7501 did? Other reviews indicate that it does, so some confusion here. Also is there anything of consequence when comparing USB x7500 vs x7510? Is it a case of ver 1.1 vs. ver 2.0 or are they both the same. Does this have any implications on using an external flash drive with the product?

Finally I know we are taking about double the size in HDD but how much of an advantage is a flash drive vs hard drive in your opinion?

Thanks guys again for helping me out here.

[cktlcmd]

I myself will be purchasing one too. As of now I am leaning towards the X7510 because of it's keyboard and 16GB SSD, not to mention that the current price difference of the X7500 and X7510 is only $100 to $200. To me, if the difference is $300 to $400, then I would have definitely already bought the X7500. But at such a close price, I can't reason out to myself, why I would lean towards a year old device. I own a Universal, so I plan to use the X7510 mainly in clamshell mode as I am already used to it.

[techntrek]

I'd stick with the 7500/7501. Domes membrane keyboards aren't as nice as real keys, and eventually the plastic tops will crack. The lack of 4-way and other buttons on the main unit is a real head-scratcher. As someone already mentioned, when using the unit as a tablet (I use it both ways) those extras are a real help in navigation everywhere.

[techntrek]

pdagal - do you know if the new vibrating haptic feedback is based on something in the main unit, or the keyboard itself? If its in the main unit maybe they can finally offer vibrating ring as a (much needed) feature.....

[Pawel062]

pdagal - do you know if the new vibrating haptic feedback is based on something in the main unit, or the keyboard itself? If its in the main unit maybe they can finally offer vibrating ring as a (much needed) feature.....

just on the keyboard.

[techntrek]

< rant >

What morons (HTC). From a market perspective the new Advantage only fixes one of the few - but large - problems the original had (delete HD, add SDD), then they created a new one by taking away the extra buttons & 4-way.

And then one of the glaring omissions that doesn't make it competitive on the market, the lack of vibrate alert, they sort-of fix by adding it to the keyboard but not to the main unit. Now with no HD there was no reason to omit a vibrate motor. Especially if the insides are essentially the same, since there is a space for the motor already there!

I love my 7501 and it will probably be years before I move on to something else, they almost got it that perfect. I just don't understand their redesign review process. Heck, some of the threads I saw around here 6 months ago would have completed the first step - finding out from the user what could be improved. How many people here said "give me vibrate", "give me VGA support from the factory", "let me talk on it like a normal phone". We put up with those faults with work-arounds we found here on XDA. Imagine what the non-techie says when they are comparing models on the open market? "What, no vibrate and I must use a bluetooth after spending $$$$$?" They move on to Nokia, fewer units are sold, and eventually the 75xx line is discontinued.

< /rant >

[cktlcmd]

To be honest, I don't believe any of the designers of the Advantage are actual users and owners of one, otherwise they could have done a better job. Secondly, they already lost big time by doing it this way, because if I am a current owner of an X7500 or X7501, I wouldn't upgrade my device especially with little difference between the new and older model.

Actually I was hoping that the price of the X7500 to go down once the new one is released, hopefully...

---

[lpsi2000]

I am currently an owner of the X7500 with AP4 on it. AP 4 did bring my device to a new erra and I love it even more than before. I could only imagine what AP 5 will do with additional functionality.

The X7500 and X7501 has an issue with the Micro drive disappearing and unreliable. So that is 8 GB that I can't use and I am using my SD Card for everything. AP 4 took away some internal storage and program memory, nothing that affect me greatly because the device has a lot of them. The AP team is great at pushing the devices beyond their limits and this was needed in order to deliver some of the functionality of the X7510 to X7500 and X7501 (Go AP Team).

Okay, I did not have the Micro Drive issue and until I dropped my device recently. So I was one of the lucky few for while. If something else happens to the device and I end up needing another device, would I get another X7500, X7501 or the X7510?

I was spoiled with the 5 inch screen and I love the capability of the Athena. I will find it very hard to get anything less than 3.5 inch screen as my main device. Most of the PPC now these days are 2.8 inch and I realize very quickly after I got the Athena that 2.8 does not meet my requirements any more and I would not have known this without getting something better. I am saying this because most people who never had or had the Athena for short period of time (few weeks), do not know what their are missing. There also a limited few where the Athena was not the device for them.

Anyway enough about praising the Athena, what would I get I needed a new device? I would get the 7510 because it is newer device and I love technology changes. Newer does not always mean better, however it does mean different and also an opportunity to see new things (like how can i use it well enough without the joystick, etc...).

Hey, 10 to 15 years ago a lot people did not like PPCs or smartphone because they were too complicated with too many features that they would not use. Now theses days practically everyone has a smart mobile device (blackberry, pocket pc, smartphone, etc...).

So yes, I would get the 7510 in a heartbeat without thinking twice.

[cktlcmd]

Here's a new review: http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=1113

Here's`another: http://www.digitalburn.com/index.php/2008/05/21/review-of-htcs-x7510-advantage/

---

[lpsi2000]

Thanks for the update review and videos. After looking at the video and zdnet review, I am not sure I will still consider buying the 7510. AP Team will probably provide all of the functionality and plus more on the 7500 and 7501. It would be nice if someone offered a replacement flash drive for the micro drive.

[Goatmaster]

This scares me:
Lastly, on two occasions I had to reformat the internal 16GB flash drive because something had gone wrong, and in both cases I lost files that had been stored there.

[hollywould]

Here's a new review: http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=1113

Here's`another: http://www.digitalburn.com/index.php/2008/05/21/review-of-htcs-x7510-advantage/

---

These videos make me really want to get the x7510. It sucks that it will be illeagle to be sold in the US. I guess I'll have to get it when I go to Europe this summer.(if its out by then)

[cktlcmd]

These videos make me really want to get the x7510. It sucks that it will be illeagle to be sold in the US. I guess I'll have to get it when I go to Europe this summer.(if its out by then)

Same here. But definitely now, I am buying one.

...

[cktlcmd]

This scares me:

The way I interpret what he said in his review is... he must have installed something to mess up the ROM and he actually had to physically reformat on his own accord the 16 GB SSD memory thus loosing the files. It is something different if the files just disappeared like what others claimed happened with the X7500/X7501 's 8 GB Hard Drive.

...

[Goatmaster]

I hope so, the files on my micro drive disappear after a few days.

[cktlcmd]

Here's another: http://www.theunwired.net/?item=videoview-unboxing-the-htc-advantage-x7510-windows-mobile-umpc-smartphone

...

[jamespaulritter]

Can you all tell me if the HTC Advantage X7510 willhave a ear speaker so that I can use it as my primary phone? I dont plan to carry the KB. Also will it get 3G in the states? I have looked at so much info today I've got all my info crossed.

Is their any issue as far as carring the HTC Advantage X7510 as your primary phone?

[jamespaulritter]

Can you all tell me if the HTC Advantage X7510 will have a ear speaker so that I can use it as my primary phone? I dont plan to carry the KB. Also will it get 3G in the states? I have looked at so much info today I've got all my info crossed.

Is their any issue as far as carring the HTC Advantage X7510 as your primary phone?

In reviewing all the available info it looks like the 7510:

1) Is not available yet.
2) May not be allowed to ship through customs to reach a US individual buyer.
3) Does have US 3G frequency.
4) Still doesn't have an ear speaker.

Why in the world would it not include an option such as an ear speaker???

I want to use this as my primary phone but MAN,,,,,,, it may just be 1 inch to tall and 1 inch to wide! Occasionally its size may be just to inconvenient.

What do you think? Sorry I've just begun to follow this device

[brucewilsonpa]

In reviewing all the available info it looks like the 7510:

1) Is not available yet.
2) May not be allowed to ship through customs to reach a US individual buyer.
3) Does have US 3G frequency.
4) Still doesn't have an ear speaker.

Why in the world would it not include an option such as an ear speaker???

I want to use this as my primary phone but MAN,,,,,,, it may just be 1 inch to tall and 1 inch to wide! Occasionally its size may be just to inconvenient.

What do you think? Sorry I've just begun to follow this device


Sorry -- I'm jumping in near the end of this thread but the questions here seem to deserve an answer -- I have the x7510 (purchased from expansys-usa -- very good price) and I can assure you it IS available in the USA (no customs probs that I'm aware of) -- it DOES have USA 3G+ frequencies (mine is showing H right now) -- it DOES have an ear speaker -- it's a combination headset and microphone for use in phone calls, although it works great with Bluetooth headsets as well -- the x7510 has the standard 3.5mm connection so it accepts a broader variety of headsets.

It is larger than the typical cellphone, but I routinely carry it in my shirt pocket -- it seems to fit most of my shirts with pockets (w/o its leather cover though -- that makes it too tight) -- there are a couple of good leather belt cases -- checkout the Athena accessories forum. I had the x7500 for nearly a year and really liked it but yearned for something a bit smaller and easier to use as a phone -- went thru the iphone, HTC Touch Cruise and HTC Touch Pro -- sold them all and I'm back to this form factor with the x7510 and I really like it!