Windows Phone Thoughts: Working With An Advantage - The HTC Advantage 7510 That Is

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Monday, September 22, 2008

Working With An Advantage - The HTC Advantage 7510 That Is

Posted by Don Tolson in "Pocket PC Hardware" @ 09:00 AM


Figure 8: A side-by-side comparison between the 7510 and my TyTN II (Kaiser).


Figure 9: Here's a comparison of the screens between the 7510 and the Kaiser/TyTNII. At five inches and VGA, the 7510 sports almost 8 times the screen real estate!

As you can see from the size comparison, this is not a unit that is easily pocketable. Not only is it big, but it's heavy as well! Kudos to HTC for making a case which feels like metal, but it adds considerable weight to the display unit. Together with the keyboard, they weigh just over 13oz (375g), which is just too much for most suit or pants pockets. It is, however, a good size for a purse, backpack or briefcase. And it would be ideal for those tiny little trays in the economy section of the plane.Wink

For those who may have seen the earlier 7500 and 7501 versions of the Advantage, they will find quite a few differences here. As mentioned before, HTC is clearly targeting the mobile professional with the Advantage line and the 7510 version shows significant movement away from the PDA mode of operation – moving more toward a mini-desktop environment. The layout of logos and labels on the display unit clearly expect use of the unit primarily in landscape mode (although the display itself can be rotated to portrait mode) and most of the buttons which supported the unit as a PDA are gone. The 5-way navigation button, the Communication Manager button, Start and OK buttons, and the left and right user function buttons have all been eliminated from the 7510. Instead, many of these functions have been replaced by keys on the keyboard.

The keyboard itself is mostly the same as the one which came with earlier versions of the Advantage. HTC has responded to complaints about tactile response though, by adding slightly raised borders around each of the keys and a short, gentle vibration feedback when a key is pressed.


Figure 10: The 7510's new keyboard. You can just barely see the raised ridges around each of the keys, and if you look really closely, you can spot access keys for most of the functions which originally had buttons on the unit.

It's better than typing on a flat surface, but it doesn't really work for touch typists. The keys are too close together and very sensitive, so you can't rest your fingers on them at all.

In terms of accessories, HTC has done an excellent job of including everything a mobile professional needs.


Figure 11: The contents of the Advantage 7510's package. Running clockwise from the top left, there is the VGA/SVideo output cable, Wall charger with mini-USB connector, ear-bud headset with built-in microphone, earbud foam covers, extra stylus (clear plastic), and a USB power/sync connector cable.


Figure 12: HTC even provides a cloth zippered accessories bag for all of the above. Note the velcro closures and elastics to hold everything securely in place so things don't rattle around.

There truly seems to be nothing else to buy. My only complaint is the stylus. Who thought that a short, light, transparent piece of plastic fit in with the executive look and feel? A sleek metal unit would have been a better choice and while it would add more weight, at this stage it wouldn't really be noticed.

The only thing missing from our demo unit was the 'Getting Started' brochure and the User's Manual, but these are also available for download from HTC's website. Unfortunately, the manual is for the 7500 and 7501 models and hence, doesn't reflect the changes introduced in the 7510.

So what is different with the 7510? The biggest difference is the replacement of the 8G micro-drive with a huge 16Gb flash memory module. This storage area is not included in program or storage memory managed by the CE O/S, but rather as a completely separate drive – much like having a big flash memory card installed.

The 7510 runs Windows Mobile Professional 6.1, the latest version available of the O/S. There are lots of descriptions available of the changes included in 6.1, but suffice to say that it's mostly tweaks to various parts of WM6, rather than whole new functionality.


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