T-Mobile Dash: Weak PDA or Powerful Phone?

T-Moblie's newest phone suffers a bit from being caught in the middle of the road a bit. As a phone, it is enormously powerful and maybe a bit too complex, and as a PDA, it is very slow and weak on features. Therefore, both previous PDA users and existing flip-phone users are likely to find something wrong with this device. For our purposes, we are going to consider the Dash to be a very powerful phone, with tons of features you can't find on any other phone, and a bit of learning curve to go with it.

What everyone likes about this phone is the full querty keyboard in such a small device. The screen is very nice, high resolution, and easy to read in all but the most extreme outdoor conditions.

For some users, the reason that this phone is a MUST BUY is the availability of WiFi, so casual email and web users don't really need to subscribe to cellular internet service. When you are at home or at the office or at a hot spot, you have access to your email and the web.

Because this phone has Bluetooth 2.0, you can also use it as a portable media device with full stereo sound. The location of the volume control strip is right where you hold the phone during a conversation, but fortunately you can turn this strip off (as long as you are satisfied with a fixed volume for all environments).

The camera is not at all intuitive, and in fact, every time we pick up this phone we have to figure out the camera all over again. Also, the camera image quality, especially indoors, is marginal at best.

For PDA users who have experienced a touch screen phone, switching to the Dash will no-doubt be a trying experience. Without a touch screen, the Windows operating system is bulky and cumbersome. Also, the processor on this phone is a bit slow, especially disconcerting the first few times you press the end key over and over trying to end a call. Pressing it once works -- it just takes time for the call to complete and the OS to load again. Also, PDA users will be frustrated that this version of the Windows OS does not give you the tools to edit any documents while traveling. However, the Windows OS does come with tools to allow to read documents sent to you.

Pros: Nice screen, feels good in hand, wifi & bluetooth 2.0

Cons: Cannot edit documents, slow between screens, weak camera

More Info: http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/phones/Detail.aspx?device=f164419f-eee9-4cf6-a1bd-070dbe4b5023