- 3G-enabled smartphone with Windows Mobile 6.1 OS and full QWERTY keyboard–great for messages and editing documents on the go
- Compatible with T-Mobile’s 3G network (available in select markets); T-Mobile’s MyFaves service provides unlimited calling to your five most called contacts
- Integrated GPS and Google Maps; Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g); Bluetooth stereo music; MicroSD expansion to 32 GB; 2-megapixel camera/camcorder
- Up to 8.5 hours of GSM talk time (5 hours on 3G networks), up to 480 hours (20 days) of standby time
- What’s in the Box: handset, battery, charger, USB cable, multi-audio cable, wired stereo headset, pouch, quick start guide
Amazon.com Product Description
Designed by HTC and powered by Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.1, the T-Mobile Dash 3G improves on the original Dash model by adding faster connectivity thanks to T-Mobile’s new and growing 3G network (available in select markets), which provides fast web downloads and multimedia messaging. Perfect for business or leisure applications, the Dash is a slim Windows Mobile Smartphone that’s comfortable to hold and provides crystal-clear calling. Send, receive, a… More >>
This phone gets one thumbs up from me. I would not go as far as to give it two, mainly only for a few reasons: I have a bit of a hearing loss, so for me, one of the huge plus was the speaker both on the loudspeaker, as well as on the earpiece. Both are crystal clear, and quite loud turned all the way up, and, did, I mention, crystal clear! The speaker phone is so easy to toggle on and off. All you have to do is push and hold down your send key for about 2 seconds, and vuala. The typing keyboard is a full qwerty. I love this except that if you are visually impaired like me, be aware that the punctuation isn’t the easiest to learn. The keyboard is on a bit of a slant/curve as you may or may not could see from the item picture. It takes a little getting used to, especially if you’re like me, coming from an old classic style num pad phone, but again, with a little practice, it’s quite doable. The only things about this phone that I don’t like are the fact that there is a trackball like on blackberries. I personally have gotten used to it, but I find it’s real easy to get gunk up inside the thing, and jam the track ball, or get it stuck. Plus it’s harder to continuously scroll with the thing as you only can roll the ball so far in one go. I also don’t like the fact that voice command announcing incoming calls doesn’t work, unless you upgrade to the windows mobile 6.5 firmware found at [...].
Battery life is excellent, however I do wish that it didn’t take near so long to charge when plugged via u s b to the pc. The final thing is, I don’t exactly like how to put the simm card in and out. the little slit that you have to slide the card in, is so recessed that you barely can get it back out without bending and almost breaking the card. In fact, I’ve already managed to break one, trying! to get it back out. It can be done, but it’s a pain in the behaunkis to do. Trust me. Plus the little door that holds the card in, is so flimsy, one wrong move, and that sucker’ll break right off, which I’ve not managed to do yet, thank god, but boy have I came close a few times! Plus when new, it’s very very stiff, and if you move it just the wrong way, pop? snap? oops? I thank? I bwoke, it. wurr’rr’rrps! Mut? mow’w'w’w! Aside this, great phone! E-mail is a sench, camra works great, texting and e-mailing is a breeze, mp3 listenning is great. The only other thing really is if you like streaming audio over the net, media player is real finnicky with this, but you can get a free app called GSPlayer which will solve that problem easily. Also don’t get me started on the micro sd card slot. it’s real teeny, and if you don’t have finger nails, or a paper clip or such around, good luck getting the card in and out. If you’re visually impaired, and have a slate and stylus, use your stylus to push it in and out, but be really gentle, I’m warning you. If you’re careful though it will work. that’s how I usually do it, although I never really take my mem card in and out. No reason to.
Rating: 3 / 5
Read my updated review, below. Here is my original review:
Unlike the previous reviewer, who is a power user, I only use my Dash for personal phone, text, (no email), calendar, alarm, occasional web. I haven’t found WM to be any better or faster, and I’m using the Dash in all the same places I used my old phone. I owned the previous Dash and did not think it was “intuitive,” in the sense that it seemed I had to take unnecessary extra steps to get where I wanted to go. I didn’t like the “start” menu; it did not allow for removal of icons or re-arranging them. Getting to the text function took several steps and the default choice was MMS. (I can see how this might make sense on a fun phone, such as a Sidekick, but not on a PDA.)
The old Dash had only one alarm, and the calendar reminders were locked into choice of six intervals. No way to customize a calendar reminder. Why couldn’t I set an 8-hour reminder, for example? No way to set my own timers.
So…as I say, I was hopeful that the new Dash would resolve these issues, and others.
It didn’t.
The text function is, IMHO, worse. It still requires several steps. The messages are threaded, with no option to change them to a straight date format.
When there is a text icon or notification on the home screen, it disappears if you click to go to the message folders, even if you don’t open the “incoming” message folder. So if you’re distracted and think you’ll get back to your text messages, there won’t be a reminder on the home screen.
The main control buttons are poorly arranged and small. They are not positioned for intuitive or ergonomic use. A quick look at any Blackberry will show a superior layout, with large buttons.
The key pad has been upgraded, the keys sit higher and are soft. That is a definite improvement. BUT if you’re using the Dash in poor light, or (especially) bright light, such as outdoors,you may not be able to see the control icons on the keys. The keys are black, the control icons are red. A back light would be great, and a customizable backlight would be better. [By “control icons” I mean punctuation and numbers, which require you to push the control or alt key.)
The new trackball is a mess. It sits too low and it’s flabby; feels like a spinning ping-pong ball; it’s the only thing on the phone that feels fragile and insubstantial. I’ve tried all combinations of the available trackball settings, and the tb spins. My cursor jumps all over the place and seems out of control – like mercury rolling around the screen. TB should be tighter. BTW, pushing *down* on the trackball, a la mouse click, takes an effort. It’s tight in that regard and it sits low, so you have to sort of push it down, between two keys.. So -weird – the spin function is way too loose, but the depress function is too tight.
My previous Dash has the extended lithium battery. It was larger than standard, so I had to use a new back plate, but it lasted forever. When I bought the new Dash I asked about an extended battery and was told there was no such battery for the new phone because the included battery was so great it would last practically forever. I get about three hours with any combo of talk/text/look up one address on the web.
There are very few options for customizing. Yes, you have half a dozen or so home screen layouts (including two “sliding” models which, because of the flabby trackball, just slide all over), but each one of them is lacking something. In my preferred home screen, for instance, there is no icon for missed calls.
CON:
Not much improvement over old Dash.
Few options to customize displays or functions, such as program icons in start menu, text threading, information on home screen, calendar reminders.
Poor design of home screen buttons (start, back, phone, end/off).
Trackball is slower than the old directional pad and the trackball settings are inadequate to adjust it. Pressing the trackball (like a mouse click) is very uncomfortable, something like pressing your finger down on a ball bearing.
PRO:
The slim size is terrific and easy to carry around in a purse or pocket. It feels very good in the hand.
Keys are easier to press but still dicey. If you have any fingernail, prepare for a lot of time back spacing to correct yourself. But the keys are softer and the key layout is more ergonomic.
The unit looks sharp and the unibody assembly eliminates the seam between screen and case, so cleaning is easier and minimal, but it’s impossible to place a screen guard on the screen.
It feels solid, all seams are perfectly aligned.
The WM is barely changed, and for those of us who have used the OS before, the break-in period is nil. I’d describe WM as “linear,” but not “intuitive.” Since I had a previous Dash I thought the OS was okay.
Dash has upgraded from one available alarm to two, (so I guess I could set one alarm as a calendar reminder, but really, should I have to do that?)
* * * *
SO, WHY DID I BUY THE DASH?
T-Mobile has a limited selection of 3G phones, and I also require a dimensional QWERTY, not touch. I evaluated the other phones, including Google G1, which I used for two weeks.
First complaint about the other 3G phones: the key pads had mainly flat keys, (they didn’t stick up), making texting a real chore. The phones, (except Blackberry, which until this week did not have 3G)were aimed at kids, with top priorities being music, IM, video, games.
AND — this is a big one. T-Mobile had NO active phones on display and the employees had no active phones to show the customers. One guy took his own phone out of his pocket and let me use it, but really, should he have to hand me his personal phone?
Given the situation, I went with what I knew and the re-design looked like an improvement.
For a review of how the Dash functions for a sophisticated user, (also a previous Dash owner), please read the previous review.
For a review of how a more casual user likes the phone, this is it.
** Updated review April 1, 2010 **
I’ve had the Dash 3G for about six months. All of my comments (above) still apply, but I’ve gotten used to some features. I want to write about the features that I’m still not used to, and still consider to be problems for me.
1. The calendar has only a few reminder settings, and nothing between one hour and 24 hours. I would like more choices, or (better still) the ability to specify exactly what reminder I want for each calendar item.
2. The trackball is still somewhat unmanageable.
3. Customization is almost impossible, excepting ring tones and wallpaper. As I mentioned above, I’d like to be able to customize my start menu, to better customize my calendar display, and to have a faster way to move around my text messages.
4. There is a very slim choice of home screen layouts. A Chinese menu approach to customizing the screen would be ideal. I like the slider arrangement but I don’t want music or web on my slider homescreen. It isn’t possible to take those off, so they are cluttering up my screen and I have to scroll past them to use the other functions.
5. It still bugs me that MMS is the default message mode, rather than SMS. Why?
6. On my previous Dash I could use File Explorer to go to Storage Card and arrange my data. Now it’s impossible to find the Storage Card, so I conclude that somehow it’s integrated into the device storage and I can’t decide what to put on Storage.
7. About the web feature (Web2Go)…useless. The screen is small (needless to say). The browser opens to choices including Facebook, Twitter, etc. Speed is slow, navigation is clumsy with the trackball.
8. Battery life has improved since I adjusted the backlight duration. This was a tradeoff, though. Because of the black keys, I need the backlight under various conditons. I continue to find that the red marking on the black keys (i.e. the symbols and numbers) are hard to see. Just when I am in the middle of entering a number, the backlight quits. sheesh.
9. There are a few apps out there. Hardly any that I’ve liked can successfully install on this phone.
10. The ActivSync interface, which is supposed to allow exchange of files between Dash and computer, is limited. It should accommodate some sort of drop and drag function, but instead it requires that you select in advance what types of files you will exchange. So if you select “images,” all images will be exchanged. The settings need to be far more adaptable.
11. The really teeny stuff:
Why do all the built-in ringtones have that stupid reverb effect? The sound on this phone is barely passable. What’s wrong with a tune or a chime that is straightforward. Do I really need a tinny echo?
Who decided on the color schemes for the homescreen? YUK
The little rubber cover over the recharge outlet on the phone is about to rip off. HTC could have put a little $ into doing this right.
I don’t hate it.
Night Owl
Rating: 3 / 5
I upgraded from my original Dash the day after this came out, and I LOVE this phone! I was maxed out on the other one, as far as program memory, and the camera was not so great, and I wished it was a little faster. This takes care of all of those issues, and I live in an area where I have pretty good 3G coverage, so this is astoundingly fast. The camera is much better, and it is easy to do everything I want to do. I was able to load all of my WM5 programs just fine, and the hotmail integration is seamless. It seems to thread text message conversations, which is new, but I like it. Have not had a bad moment yet! I use rememberthemilk integration for tasks, and the chronos alarm program for alarms and timers, and evernote to record and store things – I would have a hard time getting along without this phone now, I can so easily manage my life!
Rating: 5 / 5