Is the Dash good? They look unreal but I heard complaints about them cutting in and out of signal if your phone is tucked away in a bag etc
When they first shipped to Kickstarter Backers - after a 12 month delay it was massively disappointing. The BT connection just didnt work. There were frequent drop outs. I believed, like many, that this was a hardware issue that was not solvable. I made an adjustment to where I carried my phone - from front left to front right pocket and that had some improvement. Outside I started to use the in built mp3 player as the drop outs were quite bad.
However on both the latest OS (2.1) and the one prior (2.0) I have no BT issues to speak of. I get the occasional fraction of a second drop out outside. In my house I can have my iPad in corner of my kitchen and walk to teh other end of the kitchen (7M) and only then do I start to get drop outs.
I do have some issues with them though:
- New security requirements mean you need to confirm a code with the device you are connecting to (first time connection). This works fine with very smart devices like phones and computers. It works fine with dumb devices (mini BT transmitters) who ignore the need to enter the code. Then there is the AppleTV who isn't expecting a BT pairing code but the Dash thinks it is and thus can not connect to the Dash.
- Switching between devices - this requires you to go into the BT settings of the device you are connected to and disconnect, then go into the next device setting and connect. On a trip to the city which has walking and a train ride then getting home to watch TV on the iMac - I could switch between devices 10 or 15 times a day. This needs to be better.
- Price - I kickstarted these for US$200 when the A$ was 1:1 with the US$. They now retail for $300 and the A$ is .76:1 with the US$ meaning they have jumped from A$200 to A$400 - a bit of a leap.
Issues
other people have:
- Dash doesnt deliver on some of the health sensors that were promised
- Some Dash have cracked - it is not known if this was a user problem
- Customer service can be sketchy (I had a pair die but they were replaced pretty quickly - although I had to pay postage to ship them back)
- Some people continue to complain about the BT connection. I hear lots of "I have to have it 10in from my device" and similar unfounded claims. I honestly and genuinely am no longer having these issues.
For the record - I do not work for Bragi, have been both an advocate and a detractor of Bragi and was one of the very disappointed backers when the units arrived. I am now over the moon having been disconnected from wires.
