Well, you're actually still using the chumby site, just with a different skin - there's no "moving" going on.

Of course.

I like your enthusiasm, though I would have to mostly disagree.  I think another perspective should be represented.

If streaming Netflix to your bedside, or kitchen table, is what you are after then that's one thing.  But beyond that, there is little compelling about the dash versus a C1, or classic chumby, for that matter.  But of course it will all depend on what your usage and needs are.

I've already moved my dash to a lesser used part of the house, and still prefer my C1 to do what I want it to do; serve up little bite sized chunks of the web.  The dash is overkill, and it doesn't even do any of the things it's supposed to do well.  It takes up way too much space anywhere you put it, and generally lacks any personality.  With a product like this, being a lifestyle device, those things are important to me.

It's a standard Sony design.  You've seen it a million times.  Sure, the form factor may be "new", but it's still a Sony product.  No where near the originality of the C1 or classic chumby.  It's also wired, as opposed to the C1 (with battery option), so be aware of that.

It's a closed system.  Long gone is the freedom to hack and do what YOU would like to do with your device.  The acceptance system for widgets is bound to be more restrictive as well (it's already appearing to be so).  If Sony don't like it, chances are they won't allow you to add it.  This is quite a contrast to chumby ind., and the devices they have produced.  Are we heading into the wonderful waters of the Apple approval system here?  Of course if you're not developing for the device, then that won't matter to you.

The UI is sloooow.  I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned.  The C1 still laps it in speed.  The sound is less than desirable out of the box.  To its credit, the widescreen is nice, but unfortunately the 1000's of widgets are not built in that screen ratio, so they appear as squares in the full screen mode (there are a handful that do support the different display sizes).  It's great for the video playback, which reminds me, the USB drive sticking out of the side of the unit...not cool.  But that shouldn't be too much of an issue since you can't play your own media at this time anyway.  Though I do believe they are allowing this in an upcoming update.  I hope.

To simply pass off the Sony dash as the "better" device because of network connectivity, and Slacker radio, doesn't do anyone any service in my opinion.  Both chumby devices are amazing pieces, and can more than fullfill the needs that they were meant to meet.

With the chumby devices we have been lucky enough to have access to a product that not only has a bit of a personality in it's design (okay, a LOT of personality), but is also backed by a company philosophy, and willingness to listen to it's users, and developers.  That is hard to come by in this day and age.  With the rushed release, and the slow, if unavailable support currently on hand for the dash, I have had a second opportunity to be reminded of how great a company, and device, like chumby is.

At the end of the day, everyones preferences are different.  I think it's important to remind anyone who may be in the market for a chumby device to think before you spend your dollars.  If a chumby ind. device will do what you need it to do, especially the C1, then vote with your wallet.  We need companies like chumby to stick around.

Anyone else have both a chumby, and a dash that want to share their experience?  Jump on in!

Cheers.

No battery = unreliable alarm clock.  That's all that needs to be said for my opinion to be swayed towards Chumby

I have to agree with cbreeze quite a bit here... the chumby, and more importantly, the company and folks behind it, are a rare find these days.  I like Sony products, and am happy that they decided to build there own chumby device.  But Sony is a typical company that does not listen to its customers... they built the Dash to mass market and make money, not to let you play with it... I wouldn't get too used to any particular feature on the Dash either... Sony may decide to remove it at any time... just like they recently did on the PS/3.  And the hundreds if not thousands of folks who complained about the removal of these features were just ignored.  So anything bought from Sony these days needs to be taken with a bit of caveat emptor.

Multi touch and gesture support will take an implementation of Flash Lite 4 I think. This is noted in the Flash 4 feature set.

I'm not thrilled with the sound, but if you like the C1 sound you would probably find it acceptable.

You're obviously very pro-Chumby and that's fine.  The Dash is better for me simply because of it's better wireless network connectivity , the ability ti utilize Slacker and the bigger screen.. End of story.

I'm brand new here (Hi all) and was inspired to buy my C1 after my sister in America bought a Dash. There is no Dash available  in the UK so I came here and read as much as I could before purchasing.

Apart from liking the flashier, bigger screen size of the Dash, I am happy that my C1 is apparently more open source and that there are fantastic people out there making widgets for those of us who don't know how to code.

I have tried to read as much as possible, but when there are mentions of using scripts to hack the Chumbys, there is often no hand-holding step-by-step guide for the uninitiated like me. It's tacitly assumed we all understand it (a bit like Microsoft 'Help'). Are there any particular stickied subjects or forum areas where us hoi polloi can get information more suited to our feeble brains so that we too can hack our Chumbys?    And how do you restore if it all goes horribly wrong?

I'm looking forward to enjoying my new toy after I figure out how to fully do everything I want to with it.

Nice to 'meet' you all,

Is the Dash hackable as the Chumby is ?
(by "hackable", I mean the little PI symbol in the info screen that gives access to hidden options, especially the "SSH" that gives you a total access to the chumby, which then reveals itself as a Linux PC ).