INTRODUCTION
Since Verizon started
offering the successful Motorla Q, T-Mobile and
Cingular had to pick up something similar in order
to compete. The HTC Excaliber was picked up by
T-Mobile USA and rebranded as the T-Mobile Dash for
such a purpose. Like the Q on Verizon, and the
BlackJack on Cingular, the Dash has a landscape
style Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone Edition screen,
navigation hardware buttons, and a small thumb
keyboard... all of which are characteristic of this
new type of thin Windows Mobile Smartphone with
keyboards.
WHAT'S HOT
I love the thinness, lightweight
formfactor, and non-slip rubber coating of the Dash.
It's no slouch in terms of its
specifications either. It's got Bluetooth 1.2, WiFi, 201Mhz TI
850 OMAP
CPU, 128Mb ROM, 64Mb RAM, Windows Mobile 5 (AKU 3),
320 x 240 64K color screen, Quadband GSM/EDGE and a
1.3MP camera.
Device (no cover) |
Size (inches) |
Weight (grams |
ounces) |
T-Mobile Dash |
4.40" x 2.50" x 0.50" |
120 | 4.20 |
4.37" x 2.28" x 0.87" |
154 | 5.40 |
|
4.40" x 2.30" x 0.90" |
180 | 6.40 |
|
4.44" x 2.34" x 0.61" |
146 | 5.14 |
|
4.33" x 2.52" x 0.45" |
115 | 4.05 |
|
4.80" x 2.79" x 0.86" |
160 | 6.40 |
|
|
|
4.37" x 2.28" x 0.86" |
154 | 5.40 |
4.18" x 2.31" x 0.68" |
150 | 5.30 |
|
4.25" x
2.28"
x 0.64" |
127 | 4.48 |
|
4.80" x 2.88" x 0.76" |
186 | 6.56 |
|
4.60" x 2.79" x 0.82" |
165 | 5.82 |
|
4.25" x 2.28" x 0.93" |
160 | 5.64 |
|
4.92" x 2.81" x
0.71" |
210 | 7.40 |
|
4.18" x 2.31" x 0.68" |
150 | 5.30 |
|
4.70" x 2.90" x 0.70" |
175 | 6.20 |
|
4.60" x 3.21" x 0.58" |
138 | 4.80 |
|
5.17" x 3.03" x 0.59" |
187 | 6.60 |
|
4.50" x 2.80" x 0.64" |
158 | 5.57 |
WHAT'S IN
THE BOX
The T-Mobile Dash comes with all the usual
suspects; a USB sync cable, AC
adapter, stereo headphones with talk button/mic/volume
control, software CD and
manual.
THE DEVICE
At the top of the device you see a handset speaker slot which also houses some status identifier LEDs. The silver brushed metal panel on the front makes the device look even smaller than it is, if not a bit bottom-heavy.
The left side of the Dash is very bare, save the silver power button at the top. You would think pressing this while the device is on would put it into suspend mode, but instead, it brings up a menu where you can choose to power off the device completely.
At the bottom, you'll see a microphone hole, the ExtUSB connector, and a soft reset button. The ExtUSB connector is used for everything including Audio, charging, and syncing. If you want to charge the device while also playing music through the car stereo, you'll need a couple adapters and a Y-splitter. There's also a little rubber flap covering the ExtUSB connector, which is kind of annoying since you'll have to open it up occasionally at least to recharge.
The right side is completely smooth, and only includes the thing silver strip of plastic while everything else is soft-touch rubberized plastic.
However, just next to the edge of the screen is the touch sensitive jog strip used for controlling volume.
The top end is completely voice of slots, ports, and buttons. Very clean.
On the back is the 1.3MP camera, along with the reflection mirror, speaker grill, external antenna connector and battery cover. All of this is a rubberized non-slip material which feels very nice in the hand.
Unlike most HTC phones these days the SIM card isn't stuck beneath the battery. It actually has it's own little slot just under the battery cover.
Also unlike most other HTC phones these days, the MicroSD card has its own slot. The slot is, however, located underneath the battery cover, but at least you don't have to take the battery out to swap memory cards.
The thumboard on the Dash is slightly more spaced out than the buttons on a Treo, for example. However, the shape of the buttons is more flattened, which makes feeling for them a little more difficult. Unlike the Treo 750, the keyboard's backlight comes on when any type of navigation button is pressed, thus making the keys easier to see in the dark.
Here you'll see from left to right, the Qtek 8500 Smartphone, T-Mobile Dash, HTC P3300, i-mate JAMin, and i-mate K-JAM.
Here you can see a comparison of the thickness. On top is the Treo 750, then the HTC P3300, T-Mobile Dash, and i-mate JAMin. As you can see the Dash is very thin compared to these devices.
