T-Mobile MDA
 

Being the gadget freak that I am, one week ago I picked up a T-Mobile MDA. So far, I more-than-like it, not-quite love it. Here is my experience so far:

-was able to set up and sync (wirelessly) to all of my email accounts including my corporate email (outlook).
-seems to work just fine on the T-mobile wireless network, t-mobile hotspot, home wifi.
-slide out keyboard is fine, but I am still getting use to the difference in the keyboard layout between this device and my blackberry
-Got the data only plan from T-mobile, so I have not, nor will I probably ever, use the phone part of the device

Last week I took this device as well as my laptop on a cruise and was able to connect with no problem to the cruise line's wifi network and send a receive mail (even in the middle of the ocean). It worked so well that I never even had to use my laptop for email.

Bottom line (for me):
1. I may actually give up my blackberry and use this as a replacement
2. I may actually be able to leave my laptop home and just rely on this device for email (NOT for real work such as documents, spreadsheets, etc).

Only a about 1.5 weeks into the test so far, but this may just turn out to be a winner!

It would need not to have a camera for me. Not my rules.

May I ask which data plan and the cost?

Thanks

The cons IMHO:

Slow. REALLY slow. Once you have some applications installed simple things like screen rotation take 3-4 seconds. Some applications like Skype simply can't work on it (unless you find the special imate version that claims to reduce CPU load).

WindowsMobile5 is a real problem. Microsoft messed this up bigtime, and many old(er) applications simply don't work on the device. Some (like Resco Keyboard) on the MDA even render it useless requiring a full reset.

The pros:

Excellent form factor, 802.11g wifi

Resco keyboard was a bomb in any release. :td: I had it on my O2 XDAII and it stunk.

It was indeed pretty flakey, but it was the best of the worst. The standard keyboard in PocketPC is absolutely terrible.

ok, now I'm torqued. I'm in Brazil with my new toy and it DOESN'T WORK! T-mobile ASSURED me that I had international roaming enabled on this machine and it can't find a network! My T-mobile blackberry finds and registers on TIM and my T-Mobile RAZR does as well, but this thing just keeps saying "looking for network" ! :(

Call T-mobile. It's possible they didn't enable roaming on that SIM. Have you tried putting the Blackberry SIM in the MDA to see if that works? You also may need to switch bands from 850/1900 to 900/1800. I've not seen the MDA so I'm not sure exactly where to do this, or if it automatically switches bands. The fastest way to see is to put a working SIM in the phone.

You are not alone. A lot of people are having this problem with the MDA and its network selection, even on its home network people are having issues.

Sometimes asking T-Mobile to reset the account (that's what they call it) can restore access, provided that international roaming is set up properly.

Calling T-Mobile customer support (+1 505 998 3793) is free when roaming, according to T-Mobile. I haven't been charged calling that number from my BlackBerry.

Thanks!! I'll try that!!! :)

Please keep us updated. I've been thinking about getting the MDA for almost the same reasons. I recently got a Cingular 2125 (similar to the Tmobile SDA, but w/o WiFi), and I mostly like it as a phone - only a couple of problems -- WM5 seems to lock up more often than I would expect...

However, its a real pain to be able to type with. I tried the MDA for a little while as a phone, but couldn't get over the form factor (just too big to cary around as a phone :() - I was still thinking of getting one as a mostly data-only device for when I'm traveling - easier than pulling out the laptop when I need to use it for email and stuff like that.

Any updates from those using the device?

I'm thinking of upgrading to the T-Mobile MDA but am not quite convinced yet.

Something to think about when getting one (and we have several versions of the HTC's in our office as testbeds), would be to consider getting an unlocked Qtek 9100 (which is the 'uncarrier' version of the phone and virtually identical). Then you can put in local sims as well.

My impression of all this class of device is that they are okay, but that the keyboard is actually somewhat oddly sized for use with two hands, and terrible with one hand.

I remain a Treo person :)

Steve

I installed the "hacked" version of an imate rom on my t-mobile. No whave full access to Microsoft DirectPush. The device is much more stable though I'm still having some problems with it locking onto a signal... But still a massive improvement over the original ROM.