Im looking at getting the new t-mobile mda coming out in feb. I was wundering if any person had any info on it. I am wundering how the signail stregth will be on it.

Got mine yesterday! It is a vast improvement over my HP6315 as far as reception. I drove my usual route over the Grapevine and was able to hold the call all the way through with the MDA on the dash using my Bluetooth Headset(Wouldn't have been able to do that with external Antenna on the HP). The Bluetooth audio is much louder and clearer than the HP with better reports on the mic audio but still alot of background with my Jabra 500 headset.
Pros
I am also very pleased to see the Device Lock feature.
Screen Clarity is awesome
Nice keyboard layout
Like the USB charge connector
Camera is actually pretty decent
Flash feature actually makes a nice flashlight
Wireless configuration for WiFi and Bluetooth is simplified and just works
voice Recognition to make calls is built in
Is a good balance between phone and PDA leaning towards Phone
Email Send and recieve is much faster than HP
scroll buttons instead of the stupid joystick




Cons
Screen a little small for Map Navigation and Movies
TouchScreen is not sensitive enough
Lots of my old Programs don't like the new screen
Camera once again has no cover so I will probably trash the lens in no time
Can't start GPRS manually?
Slow processor
Doesn't use standard headphones

Well that's all I have after having this for 24 hours.
Todd

I've been reading a lot about many problems people are having getting the device to sync via Active Sync -- any problems you've been having in this area?

I agree. I migrated from a 6315 too. (Actually made Asurion foot most of the bill since they were going to make me go buy an IPAQ off of Amazon for $400 to honor the equipment insurance) I agree with every pro and con listed. I'm overall happy with it, the slow processor may begin to annoy me though. WM 5.0 seems to compensate a little with more streamlined programs.

Most of my cons that I would add are actually WM 5.0 issues:
No Backup utility anymore.
No ability to draw in Pocket Word (now Word Mobile) anymore.
Still has irritating quirk of emails disappearing from inbox.

On the unit itself, I'll add:
Telescoping stylus is too dainty for fat fingers.
Mini-SD torks me off after I invested in 2g worth of SD cards.
Yes- it does seem moody when syncing with ActiveSync 4.1.
Takes a while to master all the side buttons, I kept trying to voice dial everytime I adjusted the volume with the side slider.

Additional Pros:
Much better communications all around over the 6315. Bluetooth, WiFi, and desktop using the MDA as a modem.
Auto Screen switching from portrait to landscape when the keyboard comes out is very cool.

All things considered, I think they did a pretty good job with it.

I just bought my MDA today.

$350 + had to renew my current contract 2 yrs.
Without contract renewel it was $480.

The demo they have on the floor isnt even close to the real unit.
The real piece feels solid and sturdy. Now i need a bluetooth headset to try a few things on it and get a 1gb mini-SD card.

OK I have discovered a problem.. when Connected to the internet incoming calls are diverted to voicemail with no notification on MDA of even a missed call.
Todd

you are absolutely correct about the calls going straight to voicemail. it drives me crazy..........

To add onto that, I hate that it always says "1 new voice message" than when im checking them ill have like 15.............

I see an update coming soon im sure!

So far this phone has been pretty darn solid.
As mentioned there are a few problems, all of which I see being worked out in a firmware update. Not being able to manually connect to gprs sucks, and it not disconnecting is equally annoying.
Also, if i turn my phone to vibrate only mode, when I try to turn it back to ringer mode, it loses its default ringer, and STAYS on virbate. I have to mannually reset the ringer to get it to work.
Everything else seem to work MUCh better than my old 6315, and the device is MUCh more solid, not rickity and heavy like the 6315. Speedwise it seems to perform faster.
Another annoying problem, you have to put your ringers in the root dir on your storage card for the phone to see thm, the upside, it plays mp3s flawlessly for ringers.
The camera is a nice 1.3 megapixel and the pictures look pretty nice. Still lacking in low light, but the "flash" (a bright LED light) helps to compensate.
The pull out keyboard IS FREAKIN AWESOME. I LOVE this keyboard. Hard to one hand type, but you should not be driving and typing anyways i guess *sigh*
The stylus sucks.... really really bad. Its VERY small its hard to grip. I am sure a 3rd party will come up with a fix for this soon.

WM5, I still see no task manager, and closing a program still does not close them. I might try that spd program soon....

Syncing is pretty sweet. I get some serious problems in 4.1 when I sync with dual sync spots, server and client. I have to unplug from usb wire and connect gprs to sync on server.... at least it works flawlessly when I do it.

I have had some problems going to menu items when notifications pop up. For instance, "you have 1 voicemail" does NOT mean only 1 voicemail, but telling it to go to voicemail does NOT always load the dialer. The AOL program that comes with it, when you get a aim, and tell it to go to it, it only load aim... not the conversation.

I have not noticed too much a speed boost with EDGE yet. Perhaps its my area, or my luck, but i have not really seen anything over dialup speed still. I do not need crazy ninja t3 speeds or anything (though would be nice) but i am still disapointed. Perhaps in WM 5 we can have multiple gprs connections and shotgun them?