[Shadow General] neoslan:
I still have my Shadow....as a backup. I loved my Shadow. I believe I got my money's worth of use out of it. In fact, I found that I was running out of features to use on that thing. I switched over to the Touch Pro 2 when it came out (Aug 28 2009) to take advantage of the TMO 3G network, keyboard, and touchscreen. I've never got fully taken with the Touch Pro 2. It's a good phone, but just doesn't seem to scream "pick me up!". I now use a HTC HD2 since it came out on TMO (MAR 24 2010). It's darn good. The capacitive screen is awesome, but I still find myself missing the stylus from time to time. It's so difficult to select a tiny button with a finger! The processor speed is blazing fast. This is what all WinMo phones need for their processor. The 1 Ghz snapdragon processor lets me use the phone fast, like it's meant to be. It don't even have to remind myself anymore that it's basically a mobile computer.

But still, the T-Mobile Shadow is a great phone. I still pull it out from time to time to admire it's beauty. The Neo UI is VERY functional. I would say it's the precursor of TouchFlo 3D and Sense UI. It packs so much handy info with a great use of screen estate. Not to mention, the hardware looks beautiful! When I pull out this phone, people still ask me about it. The keyboard allows me to type amazingly fast! I remember my texts would just pound out because of how fast I could type on that 20 key keyboard. Last, but not the least, the navigational dpad/wheel. The phone has a pretty cool look to it. That circle looks techy at night. I used to browse the web a lot with the phone on Opera Mini. I loved navigating pages (going up/down) using the wheel. Why this dpad style isn't used more often, I'm not sure. That wheel was probably meant for the Neo UI. I never really used it for that. It just took too many wheel flicks to get Neo to go right or left in the pane. But, I absolutely loved the wheel in Opera Mini (just reiterating).

So what's my rating?

Sure, the T-Mobile Shadow is a bit slow sometimes. But it's fine piece of Windows Mobile equipment. It's probably one of the least appreciated Windows Mobile devices to ever reach mass-market. For all that has the phone now, be sure to visit All-Shadow.com

That website is the dedicated place to find ROMS, hacks, mods, etc. How many phone models have a dedicated website with that much useful info packed? Probably not many.

As for GPS, I used Google Maps with a small external GPS receiver that I carried with me. It worked great, and costed me only $20. It's super easy to set up, and the Shadow is plenty fast at getting GPS positions.

There isn't much thats missing from the Shadow for a mid-range smartphone user. It's simple, fun, and could be loved plenty. It just takes a little work to see what you want. Make it yours.

I never liked the Shadow 2. BIG Disappointment. It reeks of cheap plastic. The only thing I really liked about the Shadow 2 is the UMA calling. In fact, I might get a Shadow 2 for that feature. The slight bump in speed (processor/ram) just doesn't seem to be worth the difference between Shadow 1 and 2. I like the accelerometer on the Shadow 2. I haven't used it extensively, but how useful could that be except for pictures? I don't see much other use. Get the original Shadow folks! You'll be surprised at how good it looks.