Palm Centro verses T-Mobile Dash Comparison

While the T-Mobile Dash (previously known as the HTC Excalibur) isn't exactly what we'd consider an attractive phone, it is a joy to hold: more slim that it appears, with a textured, rubberized backing that assures a firm grip. Buttons are solid and discrete, making them easy to find one-handed. We would rather do away with the large brushed-metal space between the keys and the screen and have larger buttons instead, but typos were rare on the well-rounded, firm QWERTY keypad. That said, the touch-sensitive buttons on the side of the phone were too easy to activate accidentally, an unnecessary "improvement" over a simple rocker switch. The screen is bright and clear, and the small text on the "Today" screen is very easy to read. Keys are backlit by a purple glow, a cool touch.

Messaging - Very good

As you would expect from a QWERTY smartphone, messaging is a strong suit on the T-Mobile Dash. Direct push e-mail from Microsoft Exchange servers is available, as well as support for most popular e-mail services, including AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, and various other providers. SMS messaging is simple, but effective, showing a full 160 characters on screen for messages. MSN instant messaging is obviously supported, as are Yahoo, AIM, and ICQ messaging. Typing on the Dash's keys is pleasant enough. The entire keypad is actually wider than the pad on our 700p, and the keys themselves have more breathing room than on the Treo. Plenty of symbols get mapped to letter keys, but instead of having to hold "Alt" and the desired key, HTC has thoughtfully made it possible to simply hold the letter for the symbol that shares its space. Cut-and-paste options are missing, which would have been nice in many applications, especially the messenger clients and the Web browser.

Calling - Very good

Call features on the Dash are myriad and well-implemented, though call quality itself is somewhat disappointing. Calls sound a bit fuzzy, with some dips in reception, even when we had full signal strength. In our loud office environment, plenty of background noise was audible, though speaking voices were clearly separate from the din. The speakerphone is fantastic, among the loudest we've heard, and much louder than the one on our Palm Treo 700p. Whether listening to calls or playing music, the speaker is loud enough to annoy your neighbors, which is fine with us. The phone can play MP3 and AAC files as ringtones, and rings can be customized for individuals. Profiles for rings and alerts are also supported. Finding a contact is quick and easy with Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition, which supports live searching and intuitive typing in the contact interface. Plenty of fields are available for each contact, as much as you would expect from a full-fledged Outlook client. Conference calling is intuitive, with only a single step into the menu. T-Mobile's new myFaves feature is available from the "Today" screen, allowing you to call one of your five selected numbers quickly.

Scheduling - Good

The calendar application on the T-Mobile Dash works well, but looks archaic. Worse even than that of the outdated BlackBerry, the Dash's calendar doesn't live up to those on other Outlook-based Windows Mobile Smartphones. The "Week" view is needlessly confusing, bare and white without any information beyond colored blocks that keep the event times squared away. The "Daily" view is little more than a list of today's events, without a complete hour-by-hour layout. A scroll wheel or other quick navigational device would help move through schedules better than the five-way button. Indeed, this is one of the few areas where the Dash is outclassed by the Motorola Q and the more powerful touch-screen Treo. Scheduling events is easy, especially if you are using a desktop Outlook client, which syncs perfectly through ActiveSync.

Productivity - Mediocre

Though Microsoft Office documents, PDF files, and JPEGs are viewable when attached to e-mails, the Dash can't edit them. With such a comfortable keyboard that equals or even outclasses the Treo's, the Dash's lack of editing functions is a glaring omission, albeit par for the course on the Smartphone edition of Windows Mobile. You can zoom in and scroll about the file, and files retain their proper formatting and look. Unfortunately, zooming requires an extra step to the menu for every increment, where it should have been a soft key function. Comments on Excel cells or within Word documents are not accessible. The Smartphone edition of Windows Mobile also forces you to download attachments twice, requiring a couple trips to the menus, but this process was relatively quick and painless.

Multimedia - Good

With Wi-Fi and 2.5G support, the Dash is a browsing powerhouse. The Wi-Fi connection manager lists all available connections in the area, and delineates between locked, open, and ad hoc networks. Joining a new network is a snap, especially if it's a T-Mobile HotSpot, which are specifically identified by the phone, enabling you to log on with only a few clicks. Mobile Internet Explorer handles complicated and graphically rich pages well, such as the complex infoSync World homepage, but stumbles when it comes to JAVA- and AJAX-heavy sites, such as YouTube. The New York Times page failed to load completely, but our SIM card hasn't been optimized for the Dash's WiFi connectivity, so it could be an anomaly (we'll update our review once we get a proper SIM card in place). Again, a scroll wheel would help navigate large pages more quickly. Media playing is robust thanks to Windows Media Player 10.
Price and availability

The T-Mobile Dash is available from T-Mobile for $150 with a contract and an instant discount of $150. A mail-in rebate of $50 is available, when signing up for a qualifying plan at http://www.tmiwireless.com/phones/tmobile/t-mobiledashwmyfaves.asp?aid=5906

Full review of the Palm Treo 680:
Besides the welcome lack of an external antenna, the new, consumer-oriented Treo 680 is a dead ringer for its 3G Palm OS counterpart, the 700p. The keypad is still smallish, the function key layout is essentially the same, and the 320 x 320 display still looks sharp, bright and vivid. One interesting change is that the MMC/SD/SDIO slot sits on the right side of the 680, protected by a plastic flap, rather than along the top of the phone. And while the 680 is roughly the same size as the 700p (4.4 by 2.5 by 0.8 inches), at 5.5 ounces it's more than a half ounce lighter than its 6.1-ounce Palm OS sibling.

Messaging - Very good

As with the 700p, the 680 comes up aces in the messaging department. The bundled VersaMail app lets you check POP/IMAP mail, as well as Microsoft Exchange accounts through ActiveSync. The setup couldn't have been easier; we just entered our Exchange username and password and we were soon checking our messages, calendar and contact info. Those craving push e-mail can connect using Good Messaging, and Cingular's Xpress Mail serves as an able desktop redirector for messages, PIM info and even documents residing on your PC. Palm's VersaMail packs in myriad options, including copy/paste and while-you-type searching for contacts within the "To:" field, and you can view more than 240 characters in the message interface, far above our preferred 160. That said, we were disappointed the 680 didn't improve upon the 700p by bundling an instant messaging client.

Productivity - Very good

As with the Treo 700p, the 680 comes bundled with DataViz's impressive Documents To Go app, which makes for easy viewing and editing of Office documents. We had no trouble panning around PDFs using the stylus, and we could tweak formulas and view comments in Excel documents. We had some problems with images in our Word documents; specifically, they had a tendency of disappearing when we saved our changes. However, upgrading to the latest version of Documents To Go (for a $30 fee, natch) seemed to solve those formatting snafus.

Scheduling - Very good

The 680's Palm OS scheduling app is starting to look a bit long in the tooth compared to the latest Windows Mobile calendars, but it's still packed with features and a cinch to use. Tapping the 680's calendar button cycles you through the various agenda, day, week and month views, and tapping on an event in the week view launches a pop-up window with all the details. We had no trouble syncing our calendar with Palm Desktop or via ActiveSync, and could copy details from the well-integrated address book into an event with just a couple of taps. Well done.

Calling - Very good

In our tests in Manhattan, calls on the quad-band 680 sounded loud and clear over Cingular's GSM network, and we got strong reception on the street and in our NoHo office. Treo aficionados will notice that Palm has given the 680's calling interface a makeover; namely, you get tabs for dialing, favorites, contacts and the call log, which is a nice touch. The 680's conference calling feature has also been refined, making for easier group calls and simpler call holding and swapping. As usual, the Treo allows for while-you-type contact lookups from the dialing pad, but once again, there's no out-of-the-box voice calling, a major omission for a smartphone in the 680's class (although a separate app is available for purchase).

Get it free at
http://www.tmiwireless.com/phones/tmobile/t-mobiledashwmyfaves.asp?aid=5906