For those of you who missed it in the paid post, I’ve got a new phone on the way. I bought a T-Mobile Dash on eBay. I’ve been underwhelmed by my Sidekick for a while, and the Helio Ocean doesn’t have certain capabilities I need, so I looked around and decided on the Dash. I just called T-Mobile and asked about switching plans; because the new data plan requires a few days for setup, I’ve already activated it so it’ll be ready when the Dash arrives. I’m a little annoyed that the wifi will only work with their hotspots, it costs $20/month for “Hotspots at Home” which lets you use any wifi network. Switching to the Dash will cost $15 more per month, because that’s how much unlimited SMS costs – the Sidekick plan has it built in, but the Total Internet does not.
I’m planning to try the Dash for up to a month. The keyboard is much smaller than the Sidekick’s, so I want time to get used to it and decide if I like the phone before I sell my Sidekick 3. The Dash cost me $181 including shipping; if I decide to keep it, I will post my SK3 on eBay for buy-it-now $181 with free shipping, and it will get snapped up fast, I think. I’ll probably do the same thing with the Dash if I don’t like it, too. So we’ll see how it goes – I am looking forward to trying it!
I am in almost the exact same situation as you. I currently have the SidekickII and I am getting the Dash in 2 weeks. But I believe that you CAN connect to WiFi without T-Mobiles Hotspot Plan. Just NOT the T-Mobile HotSpots.(Starbucks, Barnes and Nobel etc…)
I have WiFi setup in my house for my laptop and plan on connecting to that when I am at home. You can connect to any Wifi or Wireless Router that you have free access to, just like a Laptop. When I go on Vacation I usually pay the $12/week for Wifi access for my Laptop and will use that connection for my Dash too.
The HotSpot@Home Plan provides you with a Router, so I guess that is for those people who don’t have one.
I am just getting the Internet Plan with Unlimited Text Messaging.