T-Mobile Dash
As soon as I got The Dash in the mail (ordered it through eBay) and slid my SIM card in, I abhorred every aspect! I immediately repackaged it and proceeded to create an eBay listing to sell it. I was convinced by a friend to stick it out and make it work. The following is a subset of all that it has taken to enable me to embrace the T-Mobile Dash – HTC Excalibur. Love is an overstatement, contentment is more accurate. I feel like I can make it until my contract expires in February 2009. I think I can. I think I can.
Screen Shot Windows Mobile 6.1
Windows Mobile 6.0 and then 6.1
I am pretty sure that T-Mobile offered a way to secure Windows Mobile 6.0 when it came on the scene. I do remember some additional updates being required but I cannot remember what they were. 6.0 was a great improvement but 6.1 is AMAZING and all the credit and work arounds for 6.1 being apart of my mobile life belong to the author of the following post at CodeRetards: http://www.coderetard.com/2008/07/14/how-to-hack-your-t-mobile-dash-htc-excalibur! This hack fixes the SERIOUS memory leak and the ANNOYING multiple alarms! Better UI, lots of added features and THREADED TEXT MESSAGING – OMG. The only thing the the tutorial doesn’t include are the proxy settings for MMS and Internet. They are easily found upon Googling. Also note that the US Keyboard fix has to be downloaded to the device not to your storage card.
Missing Sync for Windows Mobile
Missing Sync for Windows Mobile
This handy software enables The Dash to sync with my MacBook. Missing Sync is a lifesaver of sorts as backing up my contacts has become integral. I gladly lose my phone or find a need to hard reset and I do not miss having hundreds of numbers stored. However, my hard nosed, “I don’t answer unless I recognize your number,” policy does not change, stored contacts or not. Makes for a lot of angry callers.
The drawback with this software is that you can only install software through Missing Sync when .CAB files are made available. Many, if not most, developers do not provide these files. Instead they offer .EXE files that have to be run on a PC while the smartphone is connected through ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center (Windows Vista). Which means that plenty of work hours have been devoted to the dash using the office PC. Sneaky.
http://www.markspace.com/products/windowsmobile/mac/windows-mobile-sync-software.html
Antenna Booster
Signal Booster
There is nothing more irritating than sitting through a conference/meeting with nothing to distract you from the presentation! I often glance to my left and my right and witness countless individuals twiddling away on their cellular devices. I cannot join them. I have NO signal. This of course is a reflection of T-Mobile’s lack of network and poor excuse for 3G. I doubt the blame belongs to The Dash.
Nevertheless, I bought the little sticker. I do not really know if this works because I have not traveled lately. The true test is to check for a signal when you are in a place where you have known that you have had little to no signal. Others have tested it out and though it may not be all its cracked up to be, tests have shown improvement. Check out the study: http://home.pacbell.net/mtom168/antenna.
Red Hard Shell
I would not have needed this if the metal portion of the faceplate did not peel off around the LCD screen. Having a piece of metal bent upward toward your ear makes for an uncomfortable phone call. This egregious defect annoyed others greatly. Someone stood in front of me and taped the metal piece back onto my phone — they could not take it any longer. It stayed down for approximately 3 days.
Of course I attempted to remedy this myself, by crazy gluing the metal piece back to the phone. It worked alright except for the glue that I adhered to the LCD screen. Now I have this slightly bulky red shell that hides the offense of raised metal jetting out into my personal space. It also causes The Dash to stand out a bit and it looks great with the Windows Mobile 6.1 red home screen theme. The finish that I have is matte with a bit of shimmer, a bit dissimilar to the photograph above.
Replacement Screen
Replacement LCD Screen Kit
I have not received this yet but the crazy glue on the LCD is becoming bothersome and I have been looking for a good reason to start taking things apart and putting them back together, anyhow.
SanDisk 2.0 GB
SanDisk 2GB MicroSD Memory Card
Good to have – I am trying to move EVERYTHING that I can over to it. I think The Dash initially began blinking at me when I had the audacity to install a bible reader with two translations of the Bible. This nifty little object (about the size of my ring finger’s nail) is inexpensive and another great asset to loving The Dash.
That’s All for Now Folks
Save yourself the trouble. Get a Blackberry.
