Looking at getting a new phone-pda combo, any suggestions on the following?

[Shadowdh]

I paid 4800 including a 2gb micro sd card and all the trimmings it usually comes with (screen protector etc...) I looked around and even using a few of the sites that I was directed to that seemed to be a good price... I have though now upgraded my micro sd card to a micro sdhc 8gb card and bought a new battery that has a higher capacity (so my phone lasts about a day or so longer (4 days between charges) and I can keep more junk on the card... (like the maps for gps and books and music and all the other stuff)...

[roddy]

Sounds good, showing at 5350 on the site for the guy I got mine from.

Still kind of miss a full-size screen sometimes. The ipaq 210 is out now, and if I have surplus cash in a few months I may yet weaken. Or maybe even a larger phone like the Flame, but treat it as a PDA. But before that, I want a tablet PC. And a pony.

[Shadowdh]

But before that, I want a tablet PC. And a pony.

:mrgreen:

I know what you mean... I was pleased with the price... went to quite a few stores and most of those told me it was too expensive to keep in stock (in Wuhan) so once I found a couple that did them I went between them to find out who would give me the better deal... The one next to the north (main) gate of my uni won out and she made sure it was unlocked and all... nice girl actually... I like the screen size as I was a bit wary of it being too small but was pleasantly surprised at both the clarity and usefulness... pleased I shelled out the maos now...

[roddy]

Yeah, I find the smaller screen is fine for general use, photos, video, Pleco, etc. But when it comes to reading I just don't find it as comfortable as the TX, not sure if it is a size issue, or resolution. I suspect a combination of both. With Chinese I find that a comfortable font size almost means not having a reasonable amount of text on the screen and so you are constantly scrolling.

[badr]

Roddy,

what are you using for chinese input? I just inherited a T-mobile Dash which I upgraded to WM6 but can't seem to find much info about using Chinese on it yet... short of spending 50$ to buy some software.

I'm still trying to get used to the screen size right now as it is a departure from my lifedrive... but the responsiveness is not bad at all.. a lot better than I expected! Still, the GSM centro is around the corner

[roddy]

To be honest I'm not sure what I'm using - it was just there when i brought it. I suspect it's whatever is default on China Mobile Roms.

I have four input methods. First is 点讯输入. This is a keypad type affair which took a bit of time to get used to, but I'm now quite happy with. Has phrase input and predictive text for both English and Chinese, not as good as some others though - hit the 'ghi' key in English and your first option is 'g'.

There is also a 拼音 keyboard. Here you get a keyboard with initials (ie q, sh, x), and then after you choose an initial you choose a final. This is pretty poor, entering nihaoma gets you 你号码 for first choice.

Then I have handwriting input, full screen and lower-screen pad.

I know there's a program called plumsip5 which is something to do with at least one of these methods. Sorry I can't be more help, but basically mine just works. Let me know if you find any other methods though - mine are ok, but I'm open to improvements, especially in predictive keypad input for English.

[hazyrum]

I've scoured through the various threads in this section regarding smartphones [very informative!] and have been thoroughly convinced that having one will increase my productivity a millionfold! Now the question is.. which one? I've never had one before, in the US or in Beijing so I'm not really familiar with the entire process.

So from the information available:

Things I must have:

Qwerty keyboard

Ability to use Plecodict

Small/Smaller sized

Can be used in the US on AT&T

Things that I'd enjoy but could live without:

Wifi

Ability to let my laptop ride on the net connection

I may only be using it for 6 months. When I return to the US I'm porting my number from Verizon to AT&T and most likely will be getting a new[er] phone.

I currently have a ShenZhouXing SIM card, would the 20RMB for 50mb of data be enough for using a chat program fairly heavily and checking email obsessively + occasional web surfing? Is it too much?

I'm in Beijing, right by Zhongguancun. Any recommendations for where to get a phone [maybe used?] Thanks!

[Shadowdh]

Ok I will list my answers in the same order of your pre-requisites...

Qwerty keyboard - The Kaiser/TyTN II/Vario III/Tilt has this, its a slide out version and works wonderfully... very easy to use and I found I could build up quite a good typing speed too.

Ability to use Plecodict - This device is perfect to run Pleco too. It looks good on it and has no trouble at all with Pleco 2.

Small/Smaller sized - Its not as small as a touch perhaps (not much bigger though) and its certainly bigger than a straight mobile but its small enough that you dont notice it.

Can be used in the US on AT&T - there is a version sold in the US by AT&T called a tilt (although personally I would get the TyTNII/Kaiser/Vario III... so it should work with no problems.

Things that I'd enjoy but could live without:

Wifi - yep it has this too, works great, used it to connect at home alot, and now there is a starbucks open down the road I will try it out there...

Ability to let my laptop ride on the net connection - again yep it can do this too...

To be honest I have rather fallen in love with my Vario III... it pretty much will connect to any network, cdma, umts, gsm, bluetooth, wireless it does it all, has a huge memory and I have plugged in an 8gb mircro sd card so it takes pretty much anything I dish out. All in all if you are looking for a good pda/phone combo you cant go wrong.

[gato]

Maybe wait for the PlecoDict to come out for the iPhone. Mike Love is saying that an iPhone PleocDict might be ready by the end of 2008.

See http://www.plecoforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1232&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

Here's a demo of a game on the iPhone. It's pretty amazing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=y16ZvXoBuvM&feature=related

iPhone SDK Demo - Super Monkey Ball

[roddy]

The iPhone doesn't have the qwerty keyboard, and I'm not sure it can be used as a modem for a laptop (can it?)

With that list of wants I'd be looking at TyTN II as well - little bit pricey though. Still, if you are only using it for six months you should still get a decent chunk by passing it on second hand.

As for data usage, I'm not sure - I'd just keep a close eye on GPRS / EDGE usage via some kind of monitoring program. I get a warning SMS when my GRPS 套餐 is about finished though.

[ipsi()]

The iPhone has a virtual keyboard, which, while apparently good enough that you can type as fast as with a hard keyboard, does mean you make more mistakes (even with Apple's auto-checking feature). It's certainly small (well, thin), but it won't run PlecoDict for probably close on 12 months I suspect, rather a bit later than the 6 months the OP was talking about...

I also have a strange dislike of the iPhone, and I'm not entirely sure why yet, but something about it makes me quite wary of it.

[hazyrum]

Thanks for all the thoughtful responses! It looks like I might end up forgoing a fancy new phone and just using my existing craptastic handset. I'll get a hefty $200USD break/rebate on a phone with a new contract with AT&T that's hard to turn down. [At the moment, I am sold on the TyTNII, though I guess now I have the time to wait and see what SDK does for the iPhone]

I brought my phone into a cell phone shop and the sales rep told me ShenZhouXing cards can't be used to go online. Is this true? [he insisted that I needed to get an M-Zone card] I guess I wouldn't have any objections to switching to M-Zone if it meant I could transfer my existing balance & number [it probably doesn't work this way...]. Any thoughts on this?

[gougou]

I brought my phone into a cell phone shop and the sales rep told me ShenZhouXing cards can't be used to go online.

Not true. It says that you can only see WAP pages, not web pages, but I have yet to encounter a single page I can't open. Not sure how to spot a WAP page from a web page, but as some of them use a lot of graphics, I would imagine that there actually are no restrictions.

As for taking your number from Shenzhouxing to M-Zone, last time I checked (that was after I heard about the restrictions, but before realizing that they didn't affect me) that was impossible.

[randall_flagg]

Been wanting to get a new phone forever now. Finally have some cash to buy a smart phone, yeah!

I read all your posts, thank you so much for discussing your phones in such detail. But I am a stone age type of guy, so there are a LOT of things I don't quite fully understand.

However, I still have a couple of questions, mostly @Roddy:

1. Are you happy with the camera on your toy? One of THE main reasons for me to get a new phone is that I want/need a good camera.

2. Another thing that I am looking for in a cell phone: Can you record your telephone conversations with your phone? I would find that very helpful, as I often find myself out and about, with no way of taking notes. Plus it would be THE ultimate learning tool for me.

3. I don't know if you can do this on this page, Roddy, but could you give me the contact information for "your guy in Dalian"? I am in Dalian myself, and I want to buy a smart-phone ....fast! And cheap, of course.

4. If you had to choose between the ipaq 210 and your P750 right now, which one would you go for?

5. Will those phones work back home in the US/Europe?

6. And lastly: They both have GPS, right?

Thank you so much for your time. Wish I could go and find "your guy in Dalian" right now, Roddy. I'm really excited about this! (Last time I was this excited about a "toy/important business tool" was when I got my palm after I saw people recommending it on this page. I have never regretted buying it, but I feel it is time for an update.

[roddy]

1) Not particularly. It's usable, but picture quality isn't a patch on my old W800i, which is a good few years old now.

2) I had a quick try at doing this, but as soon as I switched from the recording program to the dialing screen it stopped recording. It may be possible, but you might need to do more research.

3) The webpage is here, his MSN details are on there somewhere and as I said I spent quite some time discussing stuff with him before even going to the shop. You can try mentioning my name, I've already sent him one paying customer. I doubt you'll get anything cheaper, but I might

5) As I understand it, yes - indeed if you get a 水货 device it may well be from the US or Europe. However you may want to double check for whatever specific device you get, as I'm not sure what the state of play is with US networks.

[randall_flagg]

Thanks for the insights, Roddy. I might skip out on the smart phone though. I want a good camera.

So you are in Dalian, eh?

Boy, it feels good to be back on chinese-forums. Missed you guys!

[randall_flagg]

Hahaha! I know that guy! I sent several of my friends there to get a palm, too bad I never bought anything myself. Yeah, I'm still promoting pleco, and my unofficial count is 14 direct recommendations. Don't even want to know about the ripples.

[gougou]

Thanks for the insights, Roddy. I might skip out on the smart phone though. I want a good camera.

That‘s also what I was looking for. After looking over the sample pictures of several reviews, I finally decided against a PDA-phone and got the N82 instead. It has very good picture quality (for a phone) and a Xenon flash.

[roddy]

I think for smartphones / PDAs the camera is generally an afterthought. The main selling points are size, connectivity stuff like 3G / wifi, etc. You might get better results with something that's sold as an entertainment device, maybe the O2 Flame?

[Shadowdh]

1. Are you happy with the camera on your toy? One of THE main reasons for me to get a new phone is that I want/need a good camera.

2. Another thing that I am looking for in a cell phone: Can you record your telephone conversations with your phone? I would find that very helpful, as I often find myself out and about, with no way of taking notes. Plus it would be THE ultimate learning tool for me.

4. If you had to choose between the ipaq 210 and your P750 right now, which one would you go for?

5. Will those phones work back home in the US/Europe?

6. And lastly: They both have GPS, right?

Just to answer these questions re the TyTN II/Kaiser/Vario III...

1. I have to say I am happy with the camera (especially as the latest camera fix released makes using it that much better).. its quality is much better than I thought it would be (its a 3MP camera) but its not as good as my nikon. If you are really looking for a good camera then buy a camera really, as I dont think any phone camera will measure up to be honest... I find it comes in handy and takes clear, good pics but its certainly not my main camera... If I remember I will take a couple of pics tomorrow and post them.

2. I have not tried this so cant really answer. I will try to find out for you.

4. I am really really pleased I went with the TyTN II/Kaiser/Vario III... I looked at shed loads of smart phones/pda phones and I came down to the Asus P750 and the TyTN II/Kaiser/Vario III I went with the TyTN II/Kaiser/Vario III mainly cos it was more readily available... it was dearer but sooo worth it. It just keeps exceeding my expectations...

5. As long as its GSM and has tri or quad band capabilities you shouldnt have a problem... I used mine in the UK as well as China so far and had no problem... the best thing is if there is a problem then you can just flash a new radio that will give you more clarity etc.

6. The TyTN II/Kaiser/Vario III has GPS and so does the Asus P750 by memory... not sure about the ipaq you listed.

Hope this helps a bit... I really cant stress how happy I am with my new toy... (I mean important learning tool!)