T-Mobile MDA so far so good

Here's my take on the T-Mobile MDA after using it for a few days. First, I got into this device knowing it wasn't the fastest PDA/Phone combo on the market. I knew the CPU was slower then my Dell Axim x51v, and it didn't have as much memory. But what made up for these short comings was the the form factor, slide out keyboard and Bluetooth.

1. WiFi. Nice. Connected right to my Belkin router no problem (once I entered the security key of course.) The speed isn't really a big deal for me, it seemed fast enough, and I could surf to just about any website. The only problem I have is with Windows Mobile 5, Internet Explorer just sucks. I'm so used to FireFox that anything else is a handicap.

2. GPS. This stuff is cool. I stumbled on to this web site where Stephen has done a pretty good job of tracking his T-Mobile MDA use. Two posts I especially liked were this one and this one. The first post was on how to use Windows Mobile Live Search. I played with this for several hours. It was a blast. The other was for a Bluetooth headset which I'll talk about later. Suffice it to say, so far, the GPS stuff has been been great. What I wish though was when I disconnected from the WiFi the system would ask me if I wanted to connect to GPRS or give me a setting to do it automatically.

3. Bluetooth. Worked no problem. I tried a Samsung WEP200 headset but it was way too small. I liked the fact there wasn't a piece that went around my ear, it literally just stuck into your ear hole. But, I just couldn't couldn't get it to stay. So, I took it back and got the H700 from Motorola. I love it. The mic boom folds back and allows for me to put it into my pocket (since I can't stand to walk around with the thing in my ear) and use it when a call comes in. I just flip out the mic and the devices connect, and I'm now on the Bluetooth headset.

4. Memory. Ok, this is probably my biggest problem. I did buy a 1GB MiniSD card, and will likely purchase several more, to install applications on. The amount of memory built in is small, and I still don't understand why the manufactures can't get this right. I mean come on, we can get gigs of memory in much smaller places, we can't figure out how to make these devices have more memory? I think it's a scam actually. So hopefully the MiniSD card will help with the memory problem.

5. Email. The out of the box application wasn't very good. The setup was clunky, and there weren't a lot of configuration options. I primarily got the device for email, and honestly, the Palm Treo 700p I had was much better at email. I did purchase WebIS FlexMail in hopes I would have a little better time with email. I guess I'll have to see how it goes.

6. Slide out keyboard. This is a pretty cool feature, however some options aren't accessible when using the keyboard. I still have to use the stylus to get to some features. But the trade off is having a fuller size keyboard when I am typing email, texting or editing office documents.

That should do it for now. I'll post more as I get time to use other features.