T-MOBILE DASH
While it doesn’t have the biggest screen of all
our entrants, the quad-band, Wi-Fi-enabled
Windows Mobile Dash was a favorite for its
slim design, solid feature set, and ease of
use. The 1.3MP camera took decent pics for
a smartphone, and the predictive text feature
on the phone was actually useful, making typ-
ing simple.
However, the Dash has a number of limita-
tions that will make it a poor choice for some
users. You’ll be able to open MS Office docu-
ments but not edit them, and data transfers
will be hamstrung by T-Mobile’s lack of a 3G
network. We love that the device has a fullQWERTY keyboard (though the keys are a bit
small for our taste). These are mostly niggling
irritations; the only misstep that really both-
ered us was the volume strip placed to the
right of the screen. It was a challenge to use
while speaking to someone and it was often
less than responsive.
And though it may seem our complaints
are piling up, the Dash was one of our favorite
handsets—if you can live with its constraints,
it’s a solid choice.CINGULAR
PALM 680
Running the Palm OS, the Cingular
Palm 680 is by far the most intuitive and
user friendly of the handsets we tested.
Setting up email accounts and calendars
was a snap and the icons on the Home
screen made finding and launching apps
as simple as could be. Also a plus is a
bright, responsive touch screen. The 680
improves on its predecessor, the Palm
650, via subtraction—gone on this model
is the external antenna, making the
device more pocket friendly. Although it
doesn’t run Windows, you can still edit
MS Office documents on this handset,making it a great choice for someone who often
works outside the office.
Palm was late to the handset multimedia
game, but the 680 includes photo, video, and
MP3 capabilities, though the image quality from
the VGA camera leaves much to be desired and
lens placement means you will likely end up with
a number of shots of your index finger. With its
media weaknesses, the Treo is best-suited for
folks who plan to focus on email and texting.SAMSUNG BLACKJACK
The quad-band BlackJack is comparable
to the Dash in a number of ways—it has a
similar feature set and slim size and runs the
Windows Mobile OS. The phone also has
similar limitations regarding MS Office docs—
you’ll be able to view, but not edit, them.
We prefer the Dash’s slightly larger screen
and metal trim to the all-plastic BlackJack,
but if you are tied to Cingular’s service and
interested in a small formfactor handset, the
BlackJack is a good choice.
Email is available via three different sys-
tems: Good Technology allows for real-time,push e-mail; Xpress Mail provides wireless
access to email, your calendar, and contacts;
and Microsoft’s Direct Push is an option for
corporate customers who use Exchange.
Messaging is available through AOL, MSN,
and Yahoo. Multimedia playback and record-
ing are strong—the BlackJack’s camera has a
number of shooting modes for video and still
images. On the downside, the BlackJack took
longer than the other handsets to boot; how-
ever, since it operates on Cingular’s 3G data
network, data transfers are speedy.The 680 sports
an OS simple
enough for peo-
ple who aren’t
as smart as their
phones.The Dash proves that slim is in.While not as rugged as the 3125, we
liked the BlackJack’s small formfactor
and 3G data speeds.44 MAXIMUMPC JULY 2007
SMART
PHONE
STATE OFTHE UNION
$350, http://www.tmobile.com 9
2.5"4.4"2.3"4.4"4.4"2.3"PROVIDER: T-MOBILE$400, http://www.palm.com 9
PROVIDER: CINGULAR$400, http://www.samsungblackjack.com 8
PROVIDER: CINGULARVERDICTVERDICTVERDICT