Which cell phone for Pleco?

[HedgePig]

Help! I'm looking for a new cell phone /PDA combination that can run Pleco.

I've looked through this forum, including the Looking at getting a new phone-pda combo, any suggestions on the following? thread. I've also been to the Pleco forum and done some searching in the web and now my technophobe head is spinning, so please be gentle with me!

As mentioned, my main uses for this device would as a cell phone and something that can run Pleco (which I don't currently have.) Some other requirements are:

- A good display as my eyesight isn't great.

- I'm in Shanghai so something available locally. Any recommendations of where I won't be completely fleeced and rough prices would a great help too.

- Something not too clunky would be nice but this isn't a top priority.

Any additional functions such as web browsing, camera, GPS, long battery life, built in espresso maker, etc are nice but not that important.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Yours dazed and confused

HedgePig

[flameproof]

I'm happy with the HTC Diamond. Screen a little small, but crystal sharp.

[Shadowdh]

I use the HTC TyTN II/MDA Vario III/Kaiser (all the same phone) and its screen is not huge but its crystal clear for characters and has loads of functionality... Been using Pleco 2 for a while now and it runs smoothly and reads well.

[character]

I'm using an ancient HTC 8125. It was fine for Pleco 1.0.3 but is a bit slow for Pleco 2.

[HedgePig]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, everyone.

Regarding the Touch Diamond, I gather that this has no keyboard. Just how well does this work? I recently tried sending a text message via a touch phone for the first time and found it frustratingly slow - but that could be because I wasn't used to it. Does one get used to it?

[ipsi()]

I'm using a Treo Pro, but that's probably not what you're looking for. If you want something with a good display, the Pro is fine, generally, but if you want to increase the font size you'll find yourself running out of screen space very quickly. Having said that, I run everything at 8-point font size normally (or 10 in Pleco), and have no trouble reading that.

[Shadowdh]

re getting used to a touch phone... yeah you do but I have to say it is handy having the option of the keyboard... perhaps its a comfort thing...

[HedgePig]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm still haven't decided what to get but these are all helpful comments.

[character]

WRT touch -- I have large hands and found the physical keyboard much slower/harder to use than just tapping out letters on the onscreen keyboard with the stylus.

[flameproof]

Regarding the Touch Diamond, I gather that this has no keyboard. Just how well does this work?

I have an English Diamond which has no Chinese capability at all - till I installed the A4 freeware which lets me use either Pinyin or Wubi.

[self-taught-mba]

Where does one get the A4 pinyin? many ppl mention it(I looked here: forum.xda-developers.com) but can't find a link.

[gato]

I don't have it, but I think you can download it from here:

http://www.a4user.com/

[Shadowdh]

And FYI I have now upgraded to a Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and it rocks... so much better than my old phone which is still very good and on standby (although hardly look at it these days only to charge it every now and then...)

[Brianlee0311]

I suggest HTC Touch Pro. That is really good smartphone and work with music as well. So Pleco is well-suited.

[self-taught-mba]

Shadowdh,

Can you say why it is so much better? It got really mixed reviews when it first came out, regarding usability, but the screen is supposed to be better.

Thanks.

[Shadowdh]

Speed in general, it does things faster, accessing files, folders and such... video and music/podcast playback is way better, video especially as its crystal clear and has little to no lag (no lag at all when using a converter that some of the guys on xda developers made)... screen is much more responsive and unbelievably clear which makes it great for reading, I had real concerns that the screen would be unsuitable for Chinese characters but even without setting font size larger I can read it comfortably... I found it very easy to use in general, switching between programs/tasks and finding my way around the phone and the programs start up quicker. Setting it up was easy but I am very used to playing with WM and getting the most I can from it... GPS functionality is excellent... wifi is also brilliant but I seldom use it as I have an unlimited data plan so use that instead and (once I got a 3g style sim) it is very quick and I dont get any problems accessing the net on the go... my only criticism is the hard keyboard in that it does not have all the keys I would like and they keys are a bit small (clumsy fingers) but I have become used to it... I still like my Kaiser but the X1 is just head and shoulders above it...