As smartphones make their way into the mainstream, we’re reminded why they were long relegated to the hip holsters of Road Warriors and the hopelessly email-obsessed. Their operating systems, with rare exceptions, were too overpowered for the average consumer, their set-up screens were convoluted, and their price tags were stratospheric when compared to the average clamshell.
T-Mobile knows something the rest of the carriers apparently don’t. They know that data in the form of email and IM is probably one of the best ways to sell 3G service to high school kids, soccer moms, and the rest of the demographics who once thought they needed a QWERTY keyboard like a hole in the head. Look at their current offerings – the SideKick 3, the Pearl, and now the Dash. These phones are aimed squarely at the folks who are interested in this whole BlackBerry thing but don’t want to get their office IT department involved just to read a few email messages.
The Dash, manufactured by HTC for T-Mobile, is a Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone that is about as thin as the Motorola Q and includes quite a few user friendly features. Full disclosure: I don’t like Windows Mobile 5.0, but that bias isn’t enough to dissuade me from reviewing what otherwise is an excellent, slim, smartphone.
I really like this phone, I don’t think I’d give up my Pearl for it though.
Any pictures taken on the phones’ camera to show the quality?
I am REALLY surprised that you didn’t mention the annoying habit of the volume button (not really a button but something akin to the iPod touch wheel in it’s sensitivity) to be hit and popup a full screen volume status screen!
Argggh….. Even if you intended to hit the volume do you really need to hide everything on screen when a “floating” volume bar would do?
Also the nav is not that clean… I really think these companies should make their UI more intuitive so that a user can be productive right out of the box.
Whoops… not to mention using the four way “cursor” to get around where the blackberry wheel or Pearl’s “pearl” are far superior.
well, i can’t call it out because it doesn’t have a squirrel wheel. I love squirrel wheels now, but not everyone can fit them into their devices
I am curious what the nits are with Windows Mobile… maybe you can elaborate in another post.
I can tell you from a dev perspective that WM is by far the best platform for building killer mobile apps. There is a reason why Skype, Sling Media, and even Adobe’s mobile Flash Player have all rolled out on Windows Mobile. Also I believe Orb was first rolled out on Windows Mobile (I just read they announced a deal with Nokia – very nice for them, they have a killer product).
Keep up the great work… I love this space.
… one last comment – definitely dig the Wi-Fi integration on the Dash!
HTC device, with a QWERTY, running Windows Mobile v5.0, at sub $200 will definitely attract some users.
The real question is how it compares to the new Nokia E61, MotoQ and suite of BlackBerry models (7130, 8700, Pearl). With the exception of the MotoQ, all these devices beat the Dash hands-down.
It would be nice to see a head-2-head usability comparison to see how the capability of the devices compare to their usability.
The biggist issue for me is T-Mobile’s DRM policy. WiFi on a cell phone is huge. Imagine the possibilities. Stream audio and video from your phone with Windows Media Player in a hotspot? This is key moving forward. There is no turning back.
I like T-Mobile because I get a great telephone signal. The thing is, T-Mobile is notorious for it’s anti-consumer DRM policies. For example, I can’t even use my own MP3’s as ringtones on my T-Mobile phone, even if I use a sophisticated audio editor to make the file the proper size and format. I want to hear a recording of my Mom say, “Brian, it’s your mom” everytime she calls. T-Mobile is too busy selling ringtones to allow it.
Along those lines, the big question is “Will I need to sign up for T-Zones to enable the WiFi?” I go to Caribou, not Starbucks. Am I S.O.L.? Taking this a step further, will I be able to download 3rd parth VOIP software to my Dash? Yeah, right.
It’s a start, but I want more.
You can make that ringtone on your Dash.
Select Start…Go to Accessories…Select Voice Recorder…Select Record…Select Menu….Select Set as Ringtone.
BTW If you have a good sound system and record whatever part of a song you want as a ring tone you can set those up also!
VERY IMPORTANT: You definitely want to play before you set at a ring tone for quality as the dash has a super sensitive microphone and if you too close it does not sound good I found about 4 to 5 inches at moderate levels works best for speakers and 1 to 2 inches for voice.
Hope this help took me forever to figure it out no thanks to the useless book that is a “manual”.
Yeah, I think your phone must be bad. Cause I’ve never had a problem with using a t-mobile phone and playing mp3’s as ringtones, as long as the phone supports it. Speaking from three razrs, nokia, and Pearl.
So if any of you were to recommend a phone which one would you all reccomend because I am in search to buy a new phone that has clear reception, easy to use and has all the latest features
Okay, I was beating down the door of T-Mobile to get this yesterday and with a little help from our company’s resident geek, I’ve got it up and running with my Exchange server.
However, as I downloaded and tried to install my two favorite apps to it (Skype and Firefox / Minimo), I couldn’t get it to install.
I’ve already sent a tech support message off to Skype and have tried to search through Mozilla’s stuff, but haven’t found an answer for why the installs don’t happen yet. Anybody else have a plausible reason?
Scott,
You’re probably having trouble installing because most of those apps won’t run on Windows Mobile Smartphone edition. Its a stripped down version of Windows Mobile.
The question I have is for someone who is using a Treo 650 with mac OSX (i already own The Missing Sync) is the the Dash a viable option while I’m waiting for Treo to get their act together and release a upgraded Palm OS phone with the new form factor (the Treo 680 isn’t much of an upgrade for the price).
I had my fair share of syncing issues with Palm OS and a mac, so if I can get the Dash to sync at all I’ll probably be happy.
How is the browser on it?
Everyone here at school drools over my Q–they’re terribly jealous. The VZW data plan bleeds me to death and I’ve had to find tricky solutions to too many problems, though–I’m fine with what I’ve done to get it working as it is now, but the programs that I had to install to get this level of functionality are a bit much for some people.
If phone companies and carriers were half-intelligent they would know that they could make a killing catering to information addicted teens like me. They’re missing a golden opportunity–systems like the Q and the Dash are a step in the right direction, luring consumers towards higher end devices. Have to keep them decently stylish, though. A friend of mine has a treo 700 that he got as a hand-me-down from a mom’s work, and he’s just disgusted by the bulk. I went into the store after having done heavy research and said “give me the thinnest thing that isn’t a razr” but that’s my own personal beef with fat bricks, I guess–I have a tile.
All the same, the technology is here! All that’s necessary is the corporate will and a tiny dash of marketing finesse. Huge market.
The dash has several issuses that i find annoying (inceidentally i had the pearl for a few days and exchanged it for a Dash but man, do i miss that little roller ball) – issue #1 – of course, as we all know the volume pad sux – completely annoying. Activates as you’ve holding the phone in your hand (in the expected position… cupped in your hand, your fingers are right on top of the volume pad!) and searching through the various features… or when you’re holding it to talk. #2 – you cannot customize your homepage. For me this is huge. I want the important icons i use all the time on my home page and i appreciate being able to use them quickly without having to fumble through various screens to find them. – instead they have placed the last 6 icons you have used at the top of the home screen and to me, this is a stupid idea…. #3 – I use my phone for travel and when you use the “alarm” function on this phone it only really acts as a true working office alarm to alert you of appointments or to get your attention during waking hours – it does not offer a continuous sound/beep until you shut it off which is key for us deep sleepers on the go who have long since given up our old travel alarm clocks. It basically goes through one cycle of your selected sound/tone and then instantly goes into snooze mode (thats 6 or 7 seconds of sound and then right to 10 minutes of “snooze”!) – not good at all. #4 – i just noticed today that there is no voice mail waiting signal – it’ll show that you missed a call but no icon at the top of your phone to show that you have unchecked voicemail messages waiting. Only an alert screen that you’ve missed a call……. -
#5 – lack of T-zones features such as downloadable games, ringtones- why have a t-zones button on the device??? Very misleading.
I downloaded software to view mpegs “pocket TV pro” – works well however i felt that the phone should have come with this ability installed already – considering its marketed as having video capabilities…….. – i find that a lot of the features and customization capabilities in general on this device are seriously lacking – people want to be able to fine tune their mobile experience for their needs and a lot of very basic phones offer more logical layouts and features that the DASH should have had as a foundation (and built on to with more…) they seemed to have missed the mark with this one…..
if i’m wrong about any of these missing features someone please let me know…. but i don’t think i am. If i could fuse this phone and the pearl – it would be GREAT.
The binocular looking icon will appear at the top of your screen to let you know that you have voicemail waiting
Dash looks like a good compromise b/t a phone and pda… however, from what read here… bottom line, Dash does not work with skype? i thought having wi-fi was a great plus b/c i could use my fab chat/viop app… (skype)however after reading this it does not look promising.
also, does it have a jotter or note taker…? does it have a cut and paste function? I heard it does not…
and… do you know if this gadget could be easily upgraded to WM6?
Cheers.
Yeah, the wifi is good. There are apps out there you can pick up for the Dash for taking notes, and most of them are free There is a world of free WM5.0 software out there and it should stay kosher until they unify WM PPCE/SPE. I wonder if they will keep the OS backwards compatible or if they will just say, “All WM 6.0 stuff will not work on the new OS, and you will need a new phone.” Thats certainly one way to drive adoption of a newer phones and the OS. Stick it to the consumer! If any of you did happen to pick up the Dash, there are a couple of good forums out there. http://forum.dashsmartzone.com and http://www.howardsforums.com give lots of help, though I have found the latter fairly technical.
Torrie Wilson in a thong
http://torriewilson.cn.to
trish stratus topless
http://myblog.es/trish-stratus
The problem with T-Mobile is the voice mail does not work: incoming callers are unable to leave messages. Think about that before signing up with this lousy carrier.
My voice mail has always worked…..
you are a fucking idiot, you apparantly aren’t up to date on cell phone carriers, Hahah!! the voicemail doesn’t work. What a rookie
Marvelous. Thanks, will spread this among my friends!
all of the t-mobile Dash literature, including the user manual and the t-mobile websites mention the capability of synchronizing tasks, calendar, e-mail, notes, IE favorites from Outlook. Can someone please tell me how to synch notes from outlook.
help I am getting incoming calls coming in and I am able t make outgoing calls but my callers arenot able to leav vm as well I am haning the same problem as Lisa I am glad to see i am not the only one having problems. I called T-mnobile and although I had 3 people try to help me no one can figure out what it sgoig on this has been happening since yesterday i am very frustrated please someone do you have anything to help me with this any tips or if you ahve had this problem and can help me i would love yu for it!!!
Lisa have you fixed your yet??
Hey goo goo,
I had a nice conversation with tmo today, who confirmed that Dash can not synch with Notes because it requires touchscreen technology, afterwhich I told them that their website and documentation was wrong and they better change it, which they say they will do. I am currently looking for a third party app to take its place, but because it is so new, and because it is pretty lame to have to use a separate app from Outlook just for my notes, I am not optimistic. If you have found anything good, please post back before my 14-day return period is up!
mari
m
The question I have is for someone who is using a Treo 650 with mac OSX (i already own The Missing Sync) is the the Dash a viable option while I’m waiting for Treo to get their act together and release a upgraded Palm OS phone with the new form factor (the Treo 680 isn’t much of an upgrade for the price).
I had my fair share of syncing issues with Palm OS and a mac, so if I can get the Dash to sync at all I’ll probably be happy. Is this possible ???
Sorry did not see the answer
Cheers
Hey does anybody here know if you can have the music you transfer from the computer as the ringtone of your Dash?
Thanks
Yep…u can. I did it just today. You have to plus in your USB and sync with Windows Media Player then send the music clips to your ringtones folder
Does anyone know if you can search for an appointment? I have been looking for a work around, but with no luck. To me, this is the most obvious weakness in this phone. How can use this phone for a large number of appointments (like outlook) and not be able to search for an appointment by name, word, etc.
For Chris: I have been able to sync my Dash with Missing Sync without any problems.
As for wi-fi, I’ve connected to multiple sites easily. There were like 3 places throughout the menus that I had to go to in order to put in the appropriate settings. I’m not even sure I could do it again if I had to! I just found them by accident.
Next, when I got the phone, I could use t-zones with no problems. Suddenly, it stopped working. I called T-Mob, and got “we can’t guarantee that t-zones will work on a Dash unless you pay for the full internet service” (which I don’t). However, I found this T-Mobile “Wireless Configurator” site: http://tmobileus.wdsglobal.com/phonefirst
After following the steps there, I can get t-zones again – but have to use the browser to do so instead of the trust t-zones button. So, now I’ve got access with the wi-fi and t-zones without paying for the full internet package.
And, to think – the T-Mob salesman told me this phone was useless without the full package! Ha! I love the phone (okay, except for the volume control ;)
I can say that our phones of yester year have come a long long way. I understand that everyone wants a phone with every feature known to man, but please consider the size of the phone that would be required to carry everyones request. Talk about brick deluxe, in my opinion. Our manufacturers are working very hard to make phones that meet everyones needs, but still have the “in thing” for everyone to use like size, style, shape, thickness, and practibility. For all of those Tmobile fans out there, we strive to be the best wireless company for the least amount of money for the rate plans and products we offer. We are coming out with better and better phones every year. But, we are also dependent on the manufacturers and what they can put in the phones for us to market. All of the above comments are great ideas to improve on phones that are out on the market now. What some people don’t realize is that we sell what the manufacturer is negotiated with us, we do not manufacture the phones ourselves, we sell the service. I think that the manufacturers need to have a better pulse on what our consumers are saying to better help all of us in the future.
Well I own a Pearl and A Dash. I think that Pearl is a awsome phone,easy to use lots of great features only one draw back ( no flashplayer ) On the other hand the Dash also a good phone but the volume strip complete nightmare : ( again no flashplayer. have spent what seems to be years on the net trying to find the software for the Dash. If anyone knows Where i can find it I would very GREATFUL!!!!!!
can anyone tell me why my outlook won’t sync via exchange server. it worked for 1 day, and it works via USB sync, but not via wireless EDGE, I get an error code everytime now… this one, 0×80072ee2
I KNOW THAT T-MOBILE IS PROBABYLY THE BEST CARRIER OUT THERE BECAUSE YOU GET MORE MINS W/O PAYING FOR A LEG OR AN ARM ALSO GREAT FEATURES LIKE UNLIMITED TEXT MESSENGING FOR ONLY $10 AND PIC/I.M. AND VOICE MESSAGES BUT I’VE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY VOICE-MAIL IT IS PERFECT! BUT I’VE BEEN CONSIDERING TO BUY A NEW PHONE NEXT MONTH AND I AM CURRENTLY USING THE SAMSUNG SGH-T609 IT IS AN OK PHONE DON’T GET ME WRONG ITS JUST THAT I’VE BEEN FEELING FOR A NEW PHONE BUT DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO SYNC FOR OUTLOOK? BECAUSE I HEARD/READ THAT THERE IS SOME DIFFICUTLIES GOING ON… PLEASE HELP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
I KNOW THAT T-MOBILE IS PROBABYLY THE BEST CARRIER OUT THERE BECAUSE YOU GET MORE MINS W/O PAYING FOR A LEG OR AN ARM ALSO GREAT FEATURES LIKE UNLIMITED TEXT MESSENGING FOR ONLY $10 AND PIC/I.M. AND VOICE MESSAGES BUT I’VE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY VOICE-MAIL IT IS PERFECT! BUT I’VE BEEN CONSIDERING TO BUY A NEW PHONE NEXT MONTH AND I AM CURRENTLY USING THE SAMSUNG SGH-T609 IT IS AN OK PHONE DON’T GET ME WRONG ITS JUST THAT I’VE BEEN FEELING FOR A NEW PHONE BUT DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO SYNC FOR OUTLOOK? BECAUSE I HEARD/READ THAT THERE IS SOME DIFFICUTLIES GOING ON… PLEASE HELP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
I purchased a T-Mobile Dash two days ago. While my phone number was transferred from Sprint within about six hours, the Internet service I purchased still has not been activated. The T-Mobile salesperson told me that it would take up to 24 hours for the Internet to work on my T-Mobile, but the tech support people with whom I spent an hour on the phone yesterday told me it would take up to 72 hours for the Internet to activate.
Three days to get the Internet to work on this phone?!? I would definitely think twice about going with T-Mobile unless you have lots of time on your hands.
I am so pissed that the dash did not come with some sort of media directory. I have spent count less hours looking up programs they are all okay but the only one I would pay for is opera mini but its free at the wap web site. also why doesn’t it support rtsp streaming dats the 3gp streaming if u don’t kno wat dat is check out tinytube.net on a razor or any phone with internet and no windowsmedia player speaking of that why don’t they include a streaming directory some one help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! at ebonysouldier@yahoo.com
I love my Tmobile Dash and all the features (minus the ill placed volume bar). Its a laptop in my hand. I dont use it as a PDA and dont synch very often. As far as ringtones I am attempting to modify ringtones using audacity and transfer them using my Explore Mobile feature when synched. So we’ll see. Otherwise, great buy…even though my brother works at TMobile and gives me the hook up. :)
ChuB (choos = german)
PLEASE TELL ME IF THERE IS SOFTWARE TO GET THE MUSIC TO PLAY THROUGH A HEADSET. OTHER THAN THE BACK OF THE PHONE SPEAKER PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHERE TO GO. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE . JERRYJAC.
THE INFORMATION IS ALREADY WRITEN
So, bottom line on this Dash…can I use my mp3 files from my computer as a ringtones? If so how? I’ve tried, but haven’t found a solution so far. Thanks.
get over it you pussy who cares that the sound bar is weirdly placed its a better phone over the sidekick and pearl. ummm you little cunt get over the fact that it took a while to give you internet.. fuck all of you and get over it
why do you hate yourself?
here’s what i have so far as POSITIVE things for the DASH that people are missing:
* you can turn off the volume strip under settings. it’s in the god damn user guide, so stop whining
* if you log into my t-mobile, you can update your phone to WM 6.0 for FREE, opening it up to 29834234 more things and a better UI, in my opinion
as far as i know, most microsoft exchange servers require that you have outlook open or are logged in on your computer if it’s through websites. sadly, this is not t-mobile or the phone design problem, but a microsoft pc problem with software.
i have set up my outlook e-mail on this phone and it works fine, you just always need to be logged in somewhere on planet earth.
Okay, I dont know about this t-mobile dash when I’m on the phone talking with someone and someone calls me on the other line it sometimes reject the call that I was already on to answer th other line and that volume button is way too sensitive you have to have headphones for this phone. Does anyone know how to get free ringtones for this phone
yes, youre right. because ofthat volume touch strip, if you are on the phone and a second call comes in, the call you were on gets disconnected and the second call picks up…IF you accidentaly touch that volume strip. its so annoying that i set my volume to the highest level and then went into the phone settings and disabled the volume touch strip. i dont miss it and now no calls ever get rejected. my volume stays locked at the current level it was on when i disabled it.
i have a dash but its horrible it always freezes and its sooo slow i hate!!!!sooo i threw it out and baught the new i-phone much better looking and works good
Can anyone help in configuring the Wi-Fi without purchasing the data plan? I’m having an issue with the home page because it really is useless for customizing. Is anyone having a problem with not being able to exit out of programs? I hate going into a new program on my Dash and the memory is all used up.
Thanks.
how the fuck is u suppose 2 watch movies on this nutt-ass dash somebody tell me please
and whats the fuck is cookies? they keep sayin i dont have enough cookies 2 watch u-tube videos on t-mobile dash
Yes, you can use any sounds for ringtones. Just sync phone and copy to cell from pc…or go to start/accessories/voice recorder, record and set as ringtone.
T-Mobile’s Customer Care and it’s army idiots selling the phones are a real challenge. Nevertheless, I like the Dash and I plan to use it for at least a year. It was just a $150/2 year contract with upgrade after a year.
BTW, nice site.
I currently have a T-mobile Dash and I have an apple computer How do I sync my dash with my mac computer? any help would be so great feel free to email me rplumlee2@cox.net
Can some1 help me decide between a blackberry curve or the sidekick lx? Which one is better?