Hello, and welcome to In My Bag! My name is Jenn, and this is my product review blog. 
In August I decided to treat myself to the T-Mobile Dash. I have had T-Mobile’s cell phone services since July of 2004, and have had several cell phones – a Nokia, Samsung E315, Motorola Razr and Sidekick II. Again the upgrade bug was biting at me, so I decided to alleviate the itch with a T-Mobile Dash.
The T-Mobile Dash is a sexy, feels-good-to-hold “Smart”phone that is loaded with Windows Mobile. Its key features include a bare bones but very functiona e-mail client, Internet Explorer (mobile version), and a camera that takes fuzzy but relatively decent photos.
When I’m on the go, which as of late has been just about every single day, I use my T-Mobile Dash to keep in touch with family, check my voicemail, check e-mail, and, of course, browse the web. I’m impressed with the battery life – with regular use, I can expect to need to recharge every three days or so. Charging takes a little longer than other phones, but that is to be expected.
I do have three minor critiques about the phone. First, the phone itself. I love the QWERTY keyboard, but I wish the keys were just a bit larger and had some spacing between them, more like the Sidekick II’s keyboard. I understand that this would make the overall size of the phone wider, but I would take a wider phone in exchange for being able to type quicker and not make so many mistakes (namely, hitting the wrong keys).
Second, there is no close or exit option for any of the programs loaded onto the phone. I can “leave” the program to go back to the home screen, or to open up another program, but this leaves the current program running in the background, sucking up precious amounts of memory. The only way I can turn off a program is to go to the Task Manager – much like hitting ctrl + alt + delete on a regular Windows computer – and force a shutdown of that particular program, all programs, or all programs but selected there.
My final gripe is that there are times when I am loading email or a website, and I’ll be suddenly bounced back to the home screen. I don’t know if this is a quirk or a crash, but it is annoying when it happens.
Overall though, small keys, lack of easy close options and quirks aside, I love this phone!
I had a Samsung Blackjack for almost a year (with AT&T/Cingular). I don’t like Windows Mobile, at all. I can’t really explain why I don’t like it. I just don’t. I have had a Sicdekick II and III, and I kept my Cingular phone for the voice plan. The sidekick was my favorite phone ever. Have you experienced problems with instant messengers on Windows Mobile? Mine was never reliable. It’s not on my new BlackBerry either. I have to use a downloaded program for my BlackBerry (IM+). I also loved the keyboard on my Sidekicks the most. It was so easy to type on. I love my BlackBerry Curve (through AT&T. T-Mobile has it also. Not that I’m trying to get you to switch. I know you like your phone.). The only reason I am with AT&T is because I have had unlimited minutes with them since they came her, since I was with a medium sized company they bought out that had unlimited minutes. I have had the same company for 7 years (since I turned 18). I like T-Mobile a lot, they just have HORRIBLE reception in my area, plus I won’t give up my unlimited minutes for ANYTHING.
Sorry about that. I absolutely LOVE cell phones.
Plus you cannot beat T-Mobile’s prices.