Review: HTC Advantage X7501 as mobile entertainment

If the HTC Advantage X7501 is touted as "the most powerful mobile office," can it also succeed as an equally powerful mobile entertainment center? Just about any device these days can amuse you for 15 minutes while standing in line or sitting in a waiting room, but what about for several hours straight?

I spent about 5 hours in gadget-friendly skies (above 10,000 feet) yesterday on my way to Vegas with nothing but my 10-week-old Advantage in my hands and on the tray table to find out.

Just before boarding, I took the Advantage out of my carry-on bag (a small messenger) to turn off all the wireless radios.

The dedicated Comm Manager hardware button on the right side of the unit made disabling Bluetooth, wi-fi, HSDPA, and the cell phone features a snap.

I just tapped the Flight Mode button and got on the plane.

eBooks

One of the first things I did when we were in the air was to open eReader Pro, my favorite eBook application.

I have Mobipocket Reader installed as well, but I like eReader Pro better because it's available free for Windows Mobile units (as is Mobipocket) and it allows you to purchase and download books directly to your device. It's dangerous for my checking account, but quite fun and convenient for me.

The text size and orientation are customizable, but regardless of settings and other preferences, reading eBooks is incredibly enjoyable on the HTC Advantage because of its large 5-inch VGA display. There are several themes to choose from, too, so it's easy to find a background, font, and text color that best suits your eyes.

Games

When I got tired of reading, I went to my Today screen and tapped the games tab I made with Spb Pocket Plus. I'm not a hardcore gamer by any means, but I adore Windows Mobile and Palm games.

Not every game is available with native VGA resolution support, but the ones that are look fantastic. This is what I have on my Advantage right now:

• Astraware Boardgames
• Bejeweled 2
• Bubble Breaker (preinstalled)
• Chuzzle
• Final Battle
• Glyph
• Plantastic
• Resco Sudoku
• Solitaire (preinstalled)
• Spb AirIslands
• Spb Arkaball II (bundled w/AirIslands)
• Spb Brain Evolution
• Spb Bubbles (bundled w/AirIslands)
• Spb Minesweeper II
• Spb Xonix II (bundled w/AirIslands)
• StarPop
• Super Slyder
• UNO Classic

Video

In between playing almost every game I have, I watched a movie.

I have four video players on the Advantage: Windows Media Player Mobile (preinstalled), CorePlayer (successor to TCPMP), DivX Mobile Player, and Pocket Player.

My title of choice is DivX Mobile Player. Although its interface lacks polish and the kinetic scrolling capabilities of Pocket Player, it's the only one that can play most of the XviDs I've thrown at it. CorePlayer, which also supports XviD (the other two programs don't) and which most people seem to love, has always been choppy and unreliable for me.

Even though I didn't plan to do any typing, I kept the detachable magnetic keyboard attached to the main unit because it doubles as a stand and positions the display at the perfect angle for hands-free viewing of video content.

Music

Pocket Player isn't well suited for watching movies, but it's excellent for listening to music. It has kinetic scrolling (like the iPhone and iPod touch), so browsing through hundreds of songs is fast and easy to manage.

The interface is the nicest I've seen on a Windows Mobile application. It's straightforward and simple, yet intuitive and elegant at the same time. Take a look.

Camera

There wasn't any compelling reason to capture the plane ride in images (JPG) or videos (MPEG-4), but having a 3.o-megapixel camera built into the HTC Advantage did encourage random and meaningless picture taking that wouldn't have been done if I had to reach for a camera stored in the overhead compartment or under the seat in front of me.

The camera actually has an impressive array of features. In addition to being able to record video clips with audio, the camera has the following: panorama, sports, and burst capture modes; self-timer, autofocus, and flash light; and advanced options like metering, white balance, flicker adjustment, and special effects.

Captured photos and videos can be stored on the system memory, MiniSD card, or the 8GB microdrive.

Battery

After 5 hours of continuous mixed use, my Advantage deplaned with 10% of runtime left. I may have been able to bump that number up to 25% if I had used the unit more conscientiously, but I didn't want to compromise my natural behavior by purposely interacting less with the touchscreen, playing fewer CPU-hungry games, or dimming the screen brightness.

For longer flights, a spare battery would be a necessity, but for a trip from Hawaii to most of the West Coast, I don't think it's really needed.

Conclusion

Boasting great battery life (considering its flexibility), an extensive catalog of compatible games and various media applications, support for just about any media format, a bright and colorful 5-inch display, and versatile usage scenarios (held with both hands in landscape mode, held with one hand in portrait mode, or angled on its magnetic keyboard on a tray table), the 12.7-ounce HTC Advantage X7501 is a fantastically versatile mobile entertainment center.

Comments

[kingjimmi]

You've been a naughty girl bitorrenting all those movies illegally. Maybe you shouldn't be posting your illicit activities online. Just a thought.

[Mojo]

These are just high quality trailers, you know? ^^

Thanks for this nice article - now playing around with my Advantage is twice the fun!

[follick]

How do you page down in eReader on the Advantage? The thumbstick?

[Steve Paine]

Really nice overview of 'off the grid' entertainment use. Thanks Jenn.

Steve

[cr0ft]

It is also quite possible (in fact, not even difficult) to rip a copy off a DVD to Xvid / DivX to get it into a format that plays on a mobile device.

I have another Pocket PC with a VGA screen, 3.5 inches though. It doesn't really compromise the experience, if anything ebooks are even easier to read (DPI goes up, so text is even sharper - one just has to boost font size a tad to get it to look really great.)

µBook, font smoothing on, roughly 30-32 point Georgia (good thing it's so easy to get TTF fonts onto a PPC, just copy to \windows\fonts from a desktop Windows) and no nasty skin (fantastic reader program really let down by the "artistic sensibilities" of the maker) and you're in e-book heaven. I personally hate any "texture skin" like the one above... legible text is the point after all, and nothing beats a nice black serif font on a white single color background.

Interesting read. I'm not entirely Pro-Advantage, I think it's needlessly big, but any modern Pocket PC with VGA goes a long way when it comes to entertainment.

[kingjimmi]

Yeah, it's pretty easy to rip a DVD. But considering this person is from Hawaii I have a hard time believing that she went all the way to Russia to buy an R5(studio quality telecine used to try and combat piracy in Russia) copy of No Reservations and ripped it onto her HTC.

I like your trusting nature though cr0ft. Anyways, the MPAA doesn't much like you Jen. Me personally, I don't mind that you download movies illegally. I think you do a good job reviewing gadgets. I'm just surprised that you'd so brazenly post pictures of your illicit activities online.

[Urban Strata]

Great article! Making me want to trade my Fujitsu U810 for an Advantage! :D

[Jenn]

@ kingjimmi: Just like those who receive leaked press releases and press shots, that image is from an "anonymous tipster" who definitely didn't get anything through BitTorrents. I know that with 100% certainty. :-)

As for illicit activities...I am in Vegas right now. And you know what they say about Vegas!

@ follick: The thumbstick and the arrow keys on the keyboard can both be used to move to the next/previous page.

@ cr0ft: That "textured skin" can be replaced with other backgrounds (including plain white), but I just like the parchment-esque look. I use a similar skin with Resco Sudoku too.

[Alan]

I'm interested in why you would carry the 7501 when you have the iphone. Do you have cell service on both units?

[Jenn]

I use the iPhone SIM in the Advantage because it gives me HSDPA that I can share with my computers via Bluetooth. It's a bit of a pain to swap the SIM but it's worth not being stuck with untetherable EDGE when I'm on the road.

[Walter]

Hello,

I am intersted to know if is any suport for organizing podcast and listen/watch them for this device? Thank's in advance for your answer!

[Jenn]

Hi Walter. The Advantage (and all devices powered by Windows Mobile) supports podcasts through Windows Media Player and various third-party applications like FeederReader, Pocket Podcasts, smartFeed, and Hubdog.

[Chris]

Hi,
Do you know about the upgradeability of the device, i.e. hard drive and OS. I really want to get one but I want see if the hard drive is replaceable (to upgrade capacity eventually), and whether or not it would be possible to upgrade to WinMob7 or Android when they become available. Thanks.

How does one use the phone. Is there a mic and ear speaker?
Thanks

[Jenn]

@ Chris: Owners of the X7500 model, which was preinstalled with WM5, were able to successfully upgrade to WM6, so I think the same will be true for X7501 folk when WM7 is released. I don't know about Android though.

As for the hard drive, there's some info about it here and some disassembly photos that may be helpful. I'm clueless about taking gadgets apart and upgrading their internals, so I couldn't say whether it's possible or how easy it would be to do.

[Jenn]

For phone use, the Advantage can be connected to both wired and Bluetooth headsets. There's also a speakerphone option that works amazingly well (no tinny sound or echo). In fact, the sound is so clear and "normal" that no one even realizes they're on speakerphone until I tell them.

[Roosevelt]

I am having the hardest time in the world trying to figure out why my videos and wmv files playback on my device with a delay. The audio sounds fine and the pictures looks fine other than the fact that the movements are 4 seconds delayed from the audio. Is this a flaw in the WMP on the Advantage? Should I get another player or am I loading my movie files on my phone wrong? Please advise, you seem to know a lot.

[Jenn]

WMP may be having trouble with the bitrate, codec, and resolution you're using. Have you tried playing with the video specs? Sometimes a lower bitrate or resolution can make a world of difference.

You may also want to try another player. Though I haven't had much success with it personally, CorePlayer is one of the most highly regarded apps. You may want to give a try. It's $30 but the company has a 30-day refund policy.