T-Mobile MDA vs. Wing: Should You Upgrade?

Now that the T-Mobile Wing is out and available in the stores, there'due south probably a healthy amount of MDA users out in that location wondering if information technology'southward worth the cost to upgrade. At present, far be it from me to tell you how to spend your money - 500 bucks before contract discounts is a lot of money. And on paper, the Wing doesn't exactly blow the MDA out of the water. Take a peek at what hasn't really been upgraded:

Processor: the same, though the Wing is clocked a whole 6MHz faster at 201MHz
Weight: The Wing weighs 1 gram less.
Memory: The Fly actually has less bachelor retentiveness to the user. MDA has 50mb storage and 47.46Mmb program compared to the Wing's 41.42mb storage and 43.8mb program. It'due south even worse in that the Fly seems to eat up more programme retentiveness after a fresh boot with the T-Mobile MyFaves app running (and it wants to always exist running.
Screen: The same
Data: Both are quad-ring Edge phones with WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0. Heck, the MDA has infrared and the Fly does non.
Battery Life: The Wing'southward battery is smaller, at 1130 mAh to the MDA'due south 1250mAh.
Audio Out: The MDA has a ii.5mm audio jack, the Wing makes you use HTC's funny little mini-usb adapter.

What specs are better? Well the Wing has a 2 megapixel camera, the MDA'southward is one.3. That'due south about it, actually, except…

Then the main differences come down to 2 things: Windows Mobile 6 on the Wing and the Fly's improved form factor. I won't get into WM6 besides much here (it's ameliorate, simply in my opinion it won't knock your socks off); instead let'south wait at the form gene differences. Read on for a photograph-fortified-class-cistron smackdown between the Wing and the MDA.

Sparse + "Swoop" = Joy

That's the biggest difference between the ii, the Wing is thinner. Large deal - well, really, yes. It'due south not merely thinner, its much thinner. I know - .nine inches vs. .7 inches doesn't seem like a big change, but information technology'south a large .ii inches. Information technology feels even bigger because the Wing has a chip of a "swoop" to information technology on the back (and, more subtly, on the front end as well). Yous tin can sort of run across the swoop on the image beneath (click for full size):

Anyhow, the thinness really does make a departure in terms of the pocket-power and the experience of the device. You can really tell when its slid open and you lot're typing on information technology - information technology's much more handle-able, specially with that ridge from the dive.

Keyboard

The other grade-factor goodness that y'all're not going to get from a spec-by-spec comparing is the quality of the keyboard. The new keyboard on the Wing is stupendous. Truly, it's the first slider keyboard that I tin use i-handed. One-handed use has ever been my biggest complaint about the slider grade factor. It'due south not piece of cake to blazon one-handed on the Wing, but considering of the thinness and the soft-touch paint, information technology's actually possible.

Tactile feedback actually isn't all that different, both keyboards are relatively "clicky," which I like. The Fly'due south keys, though, feel much bigger despite the fact that the actual area of both keyboards is near identical.

It's difficult to put in to works - the Wing'due south keyboard but feels much more polished and usable.

The Piffling Things

There are a bevy of other, subtler form cistron difference between the two. The Wing comes with an honest-to-God stylus instead of the telescoping hack job you find on the MDA. The Wing has the "soft-touch" paint that makes information technology much more than grippable. The Fly actually sits flat on a table when you take it slid open, whereas the MDA has more than a little wobble to information technology.

Heck, the Wing fifty-fifty has little indicator lights for "caps" and "alt" and so you can have a ameliorate thought what you're typing.

Downsides? There aren't many. With the slider closed, there's a minor wiggler between the two halves of the Wing which tin be a bit annoying. Equally for "extra" buttons like dedicated email, Cyberspace Explorer, etc, information technology's a fleck of a wash. The MDA is absolutely bristling with buttons on nearly every square inch of the device, whereas the Wing is a scrap more restrained.

Conclusion

So at present nosotros come to information technology: should yous upgrade? I'd say it's a qualified "yes." Qualified in that, "Aye, the Wing looks and feels ten times more than professional, only really, information technology'southward not all that different." Windows Mobile 6 does make a large difference and is another point in favor of upgrading - but it'southward all the same non perfection. For example, I however often get a "out of retention" error when I try to launch the camera. That should never happen and I'1000 mystified as to why it does.

Look at information technology this mode: it's highly unlikely you're going to see anything better striking T-Mobile until they get their deed in gear and upgrade their network to something approximating 3G. If you accept the greenbacks, I can think of worse things yous could spend it on than an upgrade to your tired and clunky MDA.

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