Finding the Dash

While I continued my search for a new phone, the T-Mobile Dash was released.  It definitely sounded like what I was looking for: decent camera, full qwerty keyboard, web and e-mail, and as two (count ‘em, two) bonuses, it could be used as a modem for your computer, and it had built-in WiFi for sweet data action while you’re out of network coverage areas.  And, I could get it for about $250 after rebate, and keep my über-low T-Mobile voice and data rate plan.

The good

Fantastic form factor: tiny, nicely round, and kind of soft

Reasonable camera; not as good as the Sidekick, but good

Bundled T-Mobile software is useful and good looking

Quick and easy to turn Bluetooth and WiFi on and off

IM client comes in the box, not an add-on cost like the Q

Has a (well hidden) Java client - useful for Google apps

The fantastic

Great battery life, especially with low Bluetooth/WiFi usage

Add on unlimited T-Mobile hotspot usage for $15

Use the same hotspot subscription for your laptop as well!

Use as a (56k-equivalent) Bluetooth modem for your laptop

The bad

Despite T-Mobile add-ons, Windows Mobile still hard to use

Very limited editing of Word and Excel documents

Took three days to get data enabled after buying the phone

No copy/paste in Windows Mobile.  Incomprehensible.

I never did figure out how to use T-Mobile’s e-mail notifier

Calendar and to-do lists are awful; use Papyrus instead

Keyboard gets ‘stuck’ keys when typing too quickly

A few of my favorite things

Here are some apps that I’ve found to be useful for the Dash:

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