You might remember back in February that we got so annoyed by HTC’s missing Shift UMPC that the company itself had to calm us down; someone perhaps even more frustrated was The Boy Genius, maybe because he was planning on actually buying the device, so it’s nice to vicariously enjoy his eventual review now that it’s actually in his hands.  Of course, the question is, now that it’s here can it live up to expectations?  As you might expect, there are some aspects of the Shift that kick proverbial cellular ass, and others less so.

Take the 3G HSDPA for instance, and the build & design of the whole unit; both come in for praise, HSDPA on AT&T apparently “flies” and the control setup shouldn’t intimidate even a new user:

“The design and button layout is super friendly and clean. You can’t get confused even if it’s the first time you’ve picked one up, and there is a nice tactile feel to them” TBG

The keyboard is responsive, as is the screen, and the merely-average specs not so much of a drawback as we feared they might be.  However, on the flip side, there are some software instabilities - crashes and odd error messages - a mere 2hrs of battery life in Vista (ouch) and the Windows Mobile-esque SnapVue quick-launch interface lacks the ability to open email attachments.

If ever there was a suck-it-and-see device, the HTC Shift seems to be it.  Not something to be decided on - or dismissed - on paper, so you’ll have to try to find one in-store to have a play with and see if you can live with the flaws for the sake of what’s done right.