which smart phone to buy for plecodict?

[randall_flagg]

OK, it’s what now? 4:45 a.m. and I just made up mind. I’m going to by a cell-phone. I’ve never owned a cell in my life, mostly because I think of myself as rather independent and don’t like it when people call my all the time. But recently my friends have been rather annoyed with me as they can never get a hold of me. So, it looks like I have no choice but to give up my freedom and get myself one of those cells. I’ve already made up a list of reasons for not answering or turning off my cell phone, so I’m good and ready to go.

And I want to go big. If I buy a cell, I want to buy one that’s pimpin’. Plus I don’t want to have to carry around a cell phone, my Palm, my MP3 player and my camera when I go out, so I want a cell (smart phone) than can do all of this. I realize that the camera is not going to be great and MP3 function won’t be iPody, but I don’t care. The most important thing for the smart phone, however, is that I can run my plecodict! Being able to use my SD-card would be nice (I have Wikipedia on my SD card, by the way, and use my palm for Wiki ALL the time), but not a must. But I would NOT get a smart phone if I couldn’t run plecodict on it. So, here’s the question: what smart phone to buy and how much to pay for it here in China? I know NOTHING about cell phones, so I don’t even know where to start looking, random internet searches wouldn’t be much help. ANY help from you would be greatly appreciated. And should you chose to reply to this pathetic cry for help, please write as if you were writing this to a cave man (who can read and knows how to get online…).

Oh, yeah, almost forgot: I’m using a Tungsten T5 for the plecodict right now. Would I have to buy a new plecodict or could I somehow (rather like magic, for a cave man like me) move my plecodict from my Palm to my new smart phone?

Thanks for your patience, I’m going back to bed.

Randall

[randall_flagg]

Oh, I forgot:

Besides the money issue, is there any good reason why NOT to buy a phone that comes with all the bells and whistles?

[gato]

I have a Treo and would recommend it whole-heartedly for what you are looking. Yes, you will be able to use your current copy of PlecoDict on the Treo (just use the same hotsync username you are using now)

Here are several earlier threads on the Treo.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/10369-recommended-mobile-phone&highlight=treo+650

Recommended mobile phone

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/9177-buying-a-treo-650-in-beijing-and-some-questions&highlight=treo

Buying a Treo 650 in Beijing and some questions

http://www.plecoforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=724&highlight=treo

PDA reviews

Treo 650 comes with a Palm version of RealPlayer. Just transfer your mp3 over to the SD card and play.

[badr]

and the treo 680 was just announced... woooohooo. It even comes in colors.

I would suggest holding off on the 650 since it's been out for a few years already and going for the new version

[Jonny Wang]

I love my Treo 650. Works great with Pleco Dict, SD cards. The only annoying MP3 thing is that the headphone jack is the tiny kind rather than a standard stereo headphone jack. So you either have to buy headphones that have the tiny cellphone jack or buy an adapter that will allow you to use regular stereo headphones.

I bought my Treo 650 this past Chun Jie in Hong Kong for 3750HKD. At the time, it was 4200rmb in Tianjin and $599 in the U.S. (unlocked version). Don't konw what prices would be now, though.

Oh yeah, you need to make sure you buy an "unlocked" GSM version if you happen to buy in the States. This will allow the phone to work with China SIM chips (and Hong Kong). Alternatively, if you buy a used one in the U.S., buy a GSM (Cingular?) and then you can search the internet for a code-cracking method that will unlock the phone so you can use it in China.

The biggest negative so far has been the Bluetooth (wireless headset capability). I find that if I don't still hold my phone in my hand or place it on my desk very close to me, the bluetooth connection gets really static-y. Forget putting in your pocket while you talk. Mei banfa.

[randall_flagg]

Thanks for all the helpful links. Looks like the Treo650 might be just right for me. One more thing: how's the camera on that one? Does it take decent pictures?

[randall_flagg]

oh, yeah: how do I know whether what I'm about to buy is 水货 or not?

And, besides the moral issues and the danger of someone catching me, are there any other downsides to 水货？should something happen to to my cell, will the warranty kick in? i gather that it won't -- although I don't understand what the fact that the cellphone was smuggeled into the country has to do with the manufacturer? maybe legal issues? thanks.

[Jonny Wang]

As another poster mentioned above, Treo has just introduced the 680, but haven't said what the price will be yet. I read in a review that their goal is to make it more of a mainstream type phone, so the price should be fairly low, maybe around $200! If that's the case, you might want to hold off until that one's available. It's a bit sleeker than the 650.

As for cameras, the 650 and 680's both suck. My 650's camera is 0.3 megapixel, I think. Only good for goofing around with.

[roddy]

Are there any smartphones with passable cameras? I get a lot of use out of the camera on my phone (actually I could fairly accurately say that I get a decent amount of use out of the phone on my camera) and wouldn't want to go back to anything below 2 megapixels.

Do you carry the T5 everywhere? If not, I'd bear in mind that you're going to wind up wanting to carry your smartphone everywhere, and they can be bulky.

[randall_flagg]

thanks everyone for your help!

i just bought a cell phone...not the Treo 650, though. I ended up not buying a smart phone at all. I was THIS close to buying it but then I thought to myself: I do have an MP3 player, a camera and a palm, so why spend so much money? In the end, I bought a 夏新 phone with a decent camera.

Yeah, I looked at the Treo 650 and the camera isn't all that great. I then started looking at other smartphones and there are some pretty sweet ones out there. But I'm not willing to spend that kind of money on one little gadget. Maybe in a few years when the cameras get even better, but now I'm pretty much set.

Thanks again.

[johnmck]

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/12/palm_treo_680_announced/