|
Post by Raoul Duke on Aug 15, 2006 1:48:38 GMT 7
My latest mobile phone purchase was a Lenovo. They make a decent PC, so it seemed a safe bet. Unfortuately, I'm not very happy with this thing.
- The battery is awful. Doesn't last very long at all.
- While the phone itself has an English operating system, the software that connects the phone to it and lets you move around photos, videos, ringtones, etc. is only in Chinese. It won't even read on my computer unless I change over to Chinese Windows, so not even a Chinese-literate person can use it. We tried the online support site for help with this...but it's all in Chinese. This alone is a strong argument for getting a brand like Nokia or Sony Ericsson that's sold in more than one country.
- From time to time, it freezes up and shuts itself off for no reason I can discern.
- Controls and functions are surprisingly limited in places.
- The system for changing between lower- and upper-case type also includes 3-4 methods of inputting Chinese and is really clunky.
- Finding some punctuation, such as commas, is also surprisingly clunky.
- The camera/video functions are not very good.
As stated above, stick with Sony or Nokia. This one was a disappointment.
|
|
|
Post by Lotus Eater on Aug 15, 2006 2:10:17 GMT 7
I have a Nokia 8800 - it is the dead sexiest phone - makes me feel very cool using it, and of course here the Chinese bosses don't compare watches, pens, offices - they compare mobiles!! So this one I win on. I call it the 007 mobile - very cool.
Downside - the battery goes within 36 hours - always take your charger or spare with you. Cheapest Nokia spare I could find after I lost the one that came with it - 360Y. So I bought a Chinese knockoff for 70K. Needs a Bluetooth connection to upload/download from your computer. Can sync calendars, emailc etc. from your computer - both ways.
Camera is a crap 0.8 megapix (see "My worst photo" thread) - although it does have zoom and video.
My earlier phones had a writing in English and Chinese facility for SMSs, this one just does the normal SMS. Normal predictive text in English and Chinese. Easy to switch from one language to another in SMS mode without having to go back and change the whole language operation of the phone.
Smilies are pics rather than symbols.
Haven't explore all the other multimedia options etc yet. I am a simple end user!!
|
|
|
Post by George61 on Aug 15, 2006 2:56:13 GMT 7
DoPod is a nice phone.
|
|
|
Post by Missi on Aug 15, 2006 6:17:04 GMT 7
Looking for a phone. I would like the old fashioned kindof phone. You can call people and text messages. I was out hunting for one yesterday, and the counter clerks just stared at me as if I were just crazy.
Lotus you said it about comparing phones with Chinese people.
But my current phone (bought four years ago and still works!) is just a simple little thing, and the batteries last for 6 days.
Any suggestions? or do you think it would be impossible to find one of these older phones around? I've tried the second hand mobile store and notta.
|
|
|
Post by ObertonGluek on Aug 15, 2006 7:37:32 GMT 7
Hmmm, I have a Samsung D500 here in the UK and I was planning on bringing it with me and buying a SIM card for it. However, I'm not sure if:
1) It's unlocked to any network (contract phone) 2) How it will handle dealing with Chinese SMS messages
Maybe it would be a better idea to sell it here and buy a totally new phone in the UK? I can get about 1500RMB for it in the UK, I think. Probably more.
What are the prices like for phones in China?
|
|
|
Post by Lotus Eater on Aug 15, 2006 8:16:42 GMT 7
From dead cheap - the 'found' ones in the back alley right - through to the same types of prices you would pay for mobiles back there. If you buy one here it will in all probability have both Chinese and English SMS facility. If you buy one there it is not likely to have the Chinese SMS facility - and you won't be able to write or read in Hanzi.
Relatives and friends bring their mobiles with them and I have a couple of spare SIM cards that I loan them for the duration. Works well. I also have an Oz SIM card that I switch back to when I am in Oz.
For an 'old-fashioned' phone try the Nokia's that are between 300-600Y. Mine worked well - but didn't have the gizmos.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Nobody on Aug 15, 2006 10:36:26 GMT 7
Never ever ever ever buy:
Huawei. Cheap phone. Students get it.
No coverage. No english. doesn't work most places. waste of time and money. Give it to father in law and buy a dopod, that's what I did.
|
|
Non-Dave
Barfly
Try Not! Do - or Do Not... There Is No Try!
Posts: 701
|
Post by Non-Dave on Aug 17, 2006 18:54:52 GMT 7
The dopod is my new best friend in China.
It is a PocketPC running Windows Mobile 5 and incorporates a phone, wireless networking and bluetooth. It has a passable 2Meg camera which can record pics or video to a SD card (most Dopods come with a 1 Gig SD card). All pretty straightforward stuff you would expect from any new mobile.
Now the good stuff... I have my Dopod loaded with Plecodict - the bees knees in Chinese translators - enter a Chinese word - character or pinyin - using the keyboard or the pen to write the character on the screen and you get the translation in hansi, pinyin and english. It's been talked about on the forum before but I'm finding it invalueable.
I've also got a program called CE Star Suite which is a Chinese text input program - handrighting, pinyin, chinese keyboard. Also very handy!
The Dopod talks to my laptop really well and lets me do file sharing. It also handles MP3 and MP4. When the phone rings I push a button on my wireless bluetooth earpiece and the phone never leaves my pocket!
Basically it puts all the many different devices I used to carry around into one funky, sexy little package. It's not for everyone and it's not cheap (expect to pay between 4500 - 5500RMB) but I recommend it highly.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Nobody on Aug 17, 2006 20:43:29 GMT 7
Just wanna say that the 4500-5500 price was in HK dollars but included a few things like 1 gig memory card (standard appears to be 128 for some reason) and a nokia headset so I can look like Spock, my hero.
Best internet price total was 6300 HK$ for all this, plus postage. A good deal at any price.
Recommendation, so far so do I, Highly. Wish I could use it better. N-Dave, please start a thread for us who are underacheivers in the communications technology. Eg, Me, George, and perhaps the others, who knows? Let them speak for themselves.
Is that CE star suite the free one? I found 2.2d as shareware but the 2.8 have to pay. I HATE paying for software. Funny, because morally I am all for intellectual property rights, but for some reason, not software. Long life the free software foundation!
"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes. (No, I remembered that one, not looked it up)
|
|
|
Post by Raoul Duke on Aug 17, 2006 21:01:59 GMT 7
I recommend a Chinese-literate phone for one reason: friends can send you words and addresses in Chinese, and all you have to do is hold your phone up. It's a valuable function if you aren't fluent in Chinese.
I always have a friend send me my own address in Chinese, and I store the message. When I want to guide someone to my home, I forward that message to them, they show it to a cabbie, and here they are.
|
|
|
Post by Lotus Eater on Aug 29, 2006 23:11:50 GMT 7
yep chinese is a dead useful function - and when you start learning the characters it is a great way of adding to your knowledge.
|
|
|
Post by ilunga on Aug 30, 2006 0:54:17 GMT 7
I use a cheap xiao ling tong which doesn't have English. Not that I can read all the options but it's not exactly difficult to find your way around the different functions. I find it cheaper than a regular mobile, and the reception is better too. It's also gone nine months without any hitches, which is better than my previous nokia/motorola phones. I would never buy a fancy phone. Only takes one drunken night, or one overly crowded bus and it's bye bye to a big wad of 100s. Unless you have insurance of course but I really don't know how that works over here.
|
|
nolefan
Barfly
Quod me nutrit, me destruit!
Posts: 686
|
Post by nolefan on Sept 2, 2006 15:57:57 GMT 7
Sony-Ericsson all the way. They sync easily with both PC and Mac. They last for a long time and the battery life is great usually. I used a Z600 clamshell for 2.5 years and it has served me well. Recently, I got my hands on the samsung D820 with all the bells and whistles... well, tell you what, I was back to the Sony-Ericsson within a month. My battery lasts 3 days on average, GPRS is a breeze and the User Interface is still one of the best in the market. I'm probably giving the samsung to Ms. Nole for her B'day and getting myself the new S.E Z610... will hopefully last me another 3 years or so.
|
|
|
Post by Raoul Duke on Sept 2, 2006 17:02:44 GMT 7
I agree. My future mobile phone purchases will most likely all be Sony Ericssons. Because they're sold worldwide it's easy to download software, manuals, and so on in languages other than Chinese. Nokia gives much better voice performance, but S-E gives you a lot more features for your money. Sony Ericsson seems to be the best trade-off of price and performance on the market.
|
|
nolefan
Barfly
Quod me nutrit, me destruit!
Posts: 686
|
Post by nolefan on Sept 4, 2006 11:35:34 GMT 7
definitely. To be fair and honest, I would buy a SHARP before any other brand if they worked with my mac... Sharp is always bleeding edge, high quality, low price. They were the first to put out a camera phone, a radio phone, mp3 phone, etc.... Alas.. SonyEricsson is almost as good, especially now that they have launched a few more clamshell phones.
|
|
|
Post by con's fly is open on Sept 5, 2006 12:03:15 GMT 7
I had a xiaolingtong phone for a while, and HATED it: faint sound, no features, crappy text messaging, and the connection was poor and intermittent. I got sick of redialling 3 times every conversation. Cheap, but no bargain.
Right now I have a Nokia- don't know the model. with the SIM card it came out to just over 1,000 kwai. My roommate Chris has a Motorola L6 that he picked up for only 100 kwai more, and it has a mediocre camera/ still and moving.
I like Nokias, especially the sound quality, and to be fair I bought it based on the price, so if I've outgrown the features I can hardly complain. Has anybody used a Nokia with a camera? How do they stack up?
|
|
|
Post by ilunga on Sept 5, 2006 19:50:04 GMT 7
I suppose xiao ling tong's are like pot luck. Not just the phones themselves but the city you use them in. Mine has everything I need in a phone (never been bothered with camera/music etc, that's what my Nikon and MP3 player are for) and the sound/reception is great. The only downside is having to go to one particular bank (which closes at 4pm) to pay my bill. Also any time I want to ask a question to the teller, they don't seem to have a clue.
|
|
|
Post by Raoul Duke on Sept 5, 2006 20:40:14 GMT 7
I haven't had a Motorola myself, but somehow they've gotten a terrible reputation for low quality here in China. I don't know particulars but hear this bad opinion everywhere I go...
|
|
|
Post by Lotus Eater on Sept 5, 2006 20:49:27 GMT 7
Back in Oz I had a Motorola (work issued) that lasted for years - I was really fed up with it and wanted a cute new one by the time I left and 'sadly' had to hand it back in. It was clamshell style, but was CDMA because I travelled to rural and remote areas a lot. However CDMA itself is crap - still had major problems with coverage past the Dividing Ra and in the Torres Strait. Bought my staff in those places satellite phones instead - although at close to $5K each this was not a cheap option!! But then they also had top of the range 4 x 4's with car refrigerators, extra springing etc etc for really really rough long driving. Cost my budget a fortune!!
|
|
|
Post by ilunga on Sept 5, 2006 21:54:50 GMT 7
Can't argue on the motorolas. The one I bought here is terrible. I still use it occasionally for texting (If I'm outside Xi'an or if my xiao long tong is out of money) but for making/receiving calls it's completely useless. They can hear me but I get nothing. I think I got about six months out of it.
|
|
|
Post by Nate M on Sept 10, 2006 11:16:02 GMT 7
The higher-end Motorolas, like the Razr, are generally pretty good. The problems are with their low end, sub 1000 RMB models. Both in the U.S. and in China they suck.
I'm using an LG G635 right now. It's a little silver candy-bar style phone, and so far I hate it. Quality is better than the Motorola's, but it's got some quirks that I can't stand. For one, it doesn't come with a ringtone that actually sounds like a phone. It's all this crappy annoying music that sounds like it was ripped from a porno movie. Also, for text messaging the thing can be a serious pain in the butt, as it takes forever to switch from English to Chinese, and the pinyin system is horrible. Finally, there's no damn games on here! Not a one! Other than that, the quality is ok, but those quirks ruin it for me.
|
|
gengrant
SuperBarfly!
Hao, Bu Hao?
Posts: 1,818
|
Post by gengrant on Oct 6, 2006 17:56:00 GMT 7
bought mrs. gg and I both Telsda brand phones here in Zhong gua...700 kuai each. only bell/whistle is that it is mp3 capable. no photos. is english/chinese compatible. I like the suggestion of sending your own address to yourself...great idea Raoul... anyway...back to the phone...battery life is excellent...went all weekend without a recharge...and it's still got two bars of life left on it... coverage with China Mobile sim card is excellent...no drops...only problem was with a call to me from Tibet...the caller went in and out... only drawback I have is the silent mode takes about 3 steps to set up...so I can't just shut my phone off during a meeting if it starts ringing...wish I had one button silent mode. my Hong Kong sim works well too in this phone...no worries/problems so far. overall, a great little phone at a very cheap price!
|
|
Decurso
Barfly
Things you own end up owning you
Posts: 581
|
Post by Decurso on Oct 6, 2006 21:52:14 GMT 7
Picked up at Haier the other day..very happy with everything except the battery.Very clear..and it does a ton of cool xit I didn't know cellphones did(It's my first).
The battery has me thinking I should be carrying a charger AND a spare at all times.
Never wanted a mobile..but over the last few months I have had too many situations where I REALLY needed oine and didn't have one..and I forsee many more.
|
|
|
Post by Pashley on Oct 7, 2006 12:29:22 GMT 7
I have a Panasonic GD 55 -- cheap, tiny, and 3-frequency so it will work in Canada, but generally awful. Software & menu design on my old cheap motorola was much better. When finances permit, I intend to replace it with a Moto V3. Four frequencies so it works anywhere, camera, ... Anyone got one and care to comment? One review rated a cheap Moto the world's best cellphone: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11876379/ and lamented the fact that they are not sold in US. I've seen C118 in Zhuhai, RMB 339. More info: wikitravel.org/en/Telephone_service_for_travel#Cell_phones
|
|
|
Post by kcanuck on Nov 13, 2006 5:12:31 GMT 7
I picked up a Nokia for 400quai when I arrived, obviously no bells and whistles (none wanted). Battery life is great and reception is good. It fell onto the level below at the school the other day and although the battery popped out, everything was fine once reassembled.
|
|