Phones and calls

[Huang Jialuo]

Hi,

I know it may look like a waste to ask just about these couple of things, but I am dying to know.

What is a good cellphone brand in China?

For a good cellphone, what is the normal price?

How much does calling abroad cost in China (per minute)?

Are there international call based programs in China? I mean, is there like a plan that allows me unlimited international calls? If there is, can you tell me how much does it cost monthly?

Thanks in advance.

谢谢！！

[Battosai]

What is a good cellphone brand in China?

do you mean a Chinese brand?

there are so many brands here that it impossible to answer

you get all the big international names and many local brands

i had a lenovo phone for a while and was very impressed with it

it had sunzi's art of war on it....

For a good cellphone, what is the normal price?

this depends on what you mean by 'good'

my friend just got a motorola that does mp3/camera/internet/bluetooth etc.. for 1200RMB

How much does calling abroad cost in China (per minute)?

this depends on the programme you are using

[banjo67xxx]

For international calls I've got computers connected to Shanghai numbers which enable us to call the USA for 2cents/min and Europe landlines about 2.5cents/min.

The China Unicom SIM I got from Jinan airport charged me loads to call Shanghai, so I've been playing with getting the computer to call me back as well as the international number (its only an extra 2.6cents/min).

Once I've got the paperwork for credit card billing sorted out, I'll be asking roddy about advertising. In the meanwhile feel free to PM me, perhaps we can arrange a cash deal

[venture160]

What is a good cellphone brand in China?

Do you mean cell phone provider or the makers of cellphones? For cellphones I'd go with a good cheap Nokia, they are good in quality and don't break. For providers, China mobile is the biggest, but Unicom is cheaper because they recieve government subsidies in order to compete with China Mobile

For a good cellphone, what is the normal price?

If you don't need the bells and whistles 400-1000RMB. If you want the fancy stuff you can get the newest PDA phones for 10,000RMB+

How much does calling abroad cost in China (per minute)?

Are there international call based programs in China? I mean, is there like a plan that allows me unlimited international calls? If there is, can you tell me how much does it cost monthly?

Just get SKYPE

[banjo67xxx]

Just get SKYPE

You can't use SKYPE unless you have your computer with you. I think he wants a service he can use from a cellphone.

Also, with SKYPE you still have to pay for SKYPE-OUT if you want to call real phones.

[heifeng]

i had a lenovo phone for a while and was very impressed with it

it had sunzi's art of war on it....

on the topic of phones (and lenovo):

Does anyone have that new lenovo S-type phone? All I know is I really like the ads for it and I like the colors....but is the phone pretty good? and how much is it? I might have to go to a store and check it out. (Wow, the only advert that has actually worked on me in China so far...) I'm guessing the Chinese input must be pretty efficient on in, but we'll have to see...cute little hot pinkish or blue S phone...

[imron]

Also, with SKYPE you still have to pay for SKYPE-OUT if you want to call real phones.

I would also recommend the OP to check out skype. Yes, for Skype-out you need to pay, but even then, it's still an order of magnitude cheaper than calling directly with your phone (jiao/minute instead of yuan/minute). In fact, Skype-out works out cheaper even than making a local call on my mobile! Anyway, unless you're hoping to make international phone calls from random locations around whatever city you're living in, it's not that difficult to be by a computer when you want to make an international call.

[banjo67xxx]

Skype maybe cheap and have the largest userbase, but there are lots of other VoIP providers out there who charge less, and allow you to use whatever protocols and software packages you want. Support open source, get greater flexibilty and competition drives the price down.

Checkout http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-VOIP+Service+Providers for a complete list of the alternatives (you'll find my supplier on that list).