"if you ask me the design of HTC is more "usable" than all the others designs that I have seen because the keyboard can be used in two different possitions from what I have seen in multiple pictures."


you must not have much thumboard experience? the Shift is WAY to wide for thumb-typing. it would have to be spilt like the Medion, but then it would be no good as a traditional KB.

"us702 has 1024 x 600 screen..."


but the lowerend model & the Shift dont, these machines are still a huge step behind many of the other upcoming UMPC's in a very critical category like resolution.


i dont think turning a vertical market-machine into a traditional machine every single time you need to type something is good for this industry, it's a step backwards. we are right back to being laptops again, the very thing we are trying to separate ourselves from. when you have to go through the trouble of  finding spare desk space, unfolding it, pivoting your body around it (since it no longer moves with you), then inevitably people will wind up using them as "laptops" a big part of the time therefor ruining their vertical-market appeal. what about typing on the go while walking? forget it with a traditional KB, and inking certainly wont work, your only choice is a thumboard.

the US sure is pretty, but at what sacrifice will that come with, whats the battery life? is this going to be yet another 1:30hr machine? no thanks. this happens alot in the subnote world, so many competitors came out making machines slimmer/lighter than the Sony T's/Fujitsu P's/Panasonic R's. but what was their big secret? using small skinny batteries that get 1-2hour battery life. why did they all fail & Sony/Fujitsu/Panasonic continue to thrive? because all of these companies make machines with 6-8hour battery life (real world).

subnotebooks with 8 hours???????????????????????

I have right now in front of me the fujitsu P1610 with an extended battery which make it a lot heavier and the battery life is between 4 and 5 hours! I can get the same with the extended battery of any of the UMPC that I own!

When i was talking about design, i was talking about just the design as how it looks and feels.

But if we talk about practicality, I would say htc shift with slider could be better if u use it more as a slate and then just type a litle and swith back to slate mode..

... but there is a bad thing too... shift has only one position in laptop mode... so you cant bend the screen more or less than 45 as u can with us702 or fuji u8240...

...and again the resolution...  us702 has 1024 and shift and t83 has 800.....  I want 1024 x 600