Yeah! The box arrived, you opened it up, and there is your brand new sleak pda T-Mobile Shadow. Now what? If you're like me, you dive into the box, pull out your new toy and start playing with it. And if you're also like me, you'll probably start poking around on all the buttons and think you can figure it out just by cruising around the phone's interface on your own. You probably can figure it out in just that way (the Shadow is incredibly user-friendly), but if you really want to get the most out of your new pda as soon as possible, try using these tips first:
#1 READ THE MANUAL
Usually tech manuals are so boring, so dry and so difficult to grasp (at least for me) but the Shadow's manual is completely user friendly, and I loved reading it. Love might be a strong word, but let's just say I had no problem going all the way through it as I played with my phone. It's clear, concise, and most of all very helpful!
#2 GO TO SETTINGS
From your home page, hit START (it's next to the Window's logo on the bottom left of your screen), and next click on SETTINGS. Here you can personalize your phone (sounds, profiles, alarm, home screen, etc). I played around and tried out all the different home page screens until I found one that felt most user friendly to me (and my eyes). They have some distinctly different screens so be sure to try them all out. When your Shadow arrives you'll have the factory pre-set screen, but just know you're not stuck with that if it's not especially to your liking. In SETTINGS you can set your ring tone, volume etc, so your phone starts to feel like yours right away.
#3 PRACTICE WITH THE KEYBOARD
When I first sent a message on the Qwerty-like keyboard it took me about 10 minutes to send "hi there!" But, by dilligently practicing and sending silly texts to my friends, and by adding lots of words to its memory, after my first week the keyboard started to feel much more user friendly, and I actually started liking its intuitive little brain!!
#4 REALIZE THE HOME BUTTON AND THE DIAL BUTTON ARE RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER
On the left hand side of your phone you'll see two butons, your home button (it's a little icon of a house) and directly below that is the green phone handset icon, which is your dial button. I can't tell you how many times in the first two weeks I opened up my contacts, looked at a message or call history, and then attempted to quickly hit the home button (to bring me back to the home page) but instead I pressed the dial key, and ended up with that person on the other end of the line! oops! Better I found (at least in the beginning) to use the little arrow key on the right side of the phone. This arrow key points left, and will always take you one screen back, etc - all the way to the home page.
#5 SET UP YOUR EMAILS
WOW! This phone is an amazing phone, I'm loving how easy it is to get my emails on it too. The screen is large and easy to read. I had a Blackberry before and wondered if this would be a big enough screen, and surprisingly, I find it to be perfect. Definitely set this up at the beginning right away so you can utilize this key function. It's also a great and easy way to send picture files to your friends.
Hope that helps you get started with your Shadow. It's a fun and very easy phone to use, and if you're a little like me, you're going to love it a lot!!
