What's your most useful electronic item in China?

[Haiping]

I'm trying to decide what to bring. If you Skype to keep in touch with family, what do you use? I might be getting a netbook. What do you recommend?

Thanks!

Haiping

[Iriya]

Smartphone. You'll be using it so many times to translate stuff when you're outside.

[rezaf]

shaver

[Lu]

I use skype on my laptop. As far as I understand, a netbook is very useful if you need a computer you can easily carry around. For skype, you really don't need it.

I like my smartphone as well, it's not quite my favorite piece of electronics, but might grow to be so.

[m000gle]

I was originally thinking of getting a netbook, but unless you need the ultra-portability, a regular laptop will serve you better.

Your laptop and/or smartphone will probably be your two most important devices. The latter for translations, dictionary look-ups, maps etc on the fly and the former for most everything else.

I think the best piece of advice I could give is, to buy any important/brand-name electronics before coming to China. This may seem dumb, since so much is made here, but brand name electronics: are often the same price abroad (if not cheaper); often have a better warranty; will have less risk of being a knock-off; and in the case of an iPhone you won't have the restrictions of a Chinese version.

[Haiping]

I have an iTouch. Is this something I can get easily and cheaply in China? I'd like to turn it into an iPhone and buy a sim card in China.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/28/ipod-touch-turned-into-a-phone-using-yosions-apple-peel-520/

As for the netbook...

I would kind of like the portability. I have a laptop now that's essentially my desktop computer at home. It's big and clunky and tied to the wall because I can't use it without a cord. I guess that's why I'm thinking of a netbook - as an alternative to bringing this monster.

[gougou]

For me, it's definitely my smart phone (HTC Desire). I use Google Maps to get around, AnkiDroid to do some vocab while I'm on the road, and read my feeds or books when I have a bit more time to kill. Oh, and sometimes I even call people (though that usually isn't half as much fun as the aforementioned activities...)

I also just bought a Kindle, which I am bound to like a lot, but it won't quite become competition to the Desire due to not fitting in my pocket (and the more limited amount of functions, obviously).

[jiacheng]

Be very very careful about your iPhone. If you get the AT&T crippled version, it's gonna be locked to AT&T's network. Jailbreaking and unlocking it to be able to use it as a cell phone in china could be a huge hassle, especially if you want to run the latest version of iOS. I have read that apple is now selling unlocked iPhones in the US with no contract, which could be the perfect option for you if you want to use it in China. I personally have the Chinese version which I got in september of last year. It works great for me, but the google maps app is locked to ditu.google.cn, which does not show any pinyin for street names. That could be an issue for some. I have hard that newer versions of the Chinese iPhone may be carrier locked, but can't confirm it personally.

[Semper]

the apple peel has many bugs,it is wise to buy a new phone.

[lukoktonos]

Smartphone wins over touch for me because of google maps. It's awesome being able to use the public transportation without too much hassle or fear of getting lost. And the data is so cheap here compared to the USA, it would be a shame not to capitalize

[geeness]

I would second the smartphone vote. I've used a few incarnations of various smartphones, including android, apple iphone and symbian. Due to the solid development platform and very well thought out interface, i really recommend apple's iphone.

I see the 3gs is about to massively drop in price in the next 30 days, to around £218 sim-free. If you can follow a few simple instructions to jailbreak it, you can fully customise it to your own needs, whilst adding features that should really be available in the stock system.

Having used both the 3gs and iphone4, i think the price differential means the 3gs, with new pricing, is a real winner.

If you are on a tight budget, why not take a look at the original iphone on ebay? £80 is not a lot of money, and with a few hacks it can do most of what a newer iphone can do.

If you prefer open systemas, there is an android based phone called the Oranfe San Francisco - it can be bought for as low as £70 and comes highly recommended by those in the know.

I find the iphone more fluid, but the Orange San Francisco is not to be ignored!

Important note: I've had the misfortune to use many phones for business and there are few that come close to the above mentioned phones. The HTC desire (original) was reasonable, but expensive, considering the apalling battery life.

[geeness]

I would also just like to add that I've purchased numerous Mandarin applications, as well as free ones, which have proved invaluable whilst in China at various times.

As mentioned before, the iPhone does have android thoroughly beaten in that department. I'm also thankful most applications have a free trial mode, or are supported by small adverts, enabling them to remain free.

[Lu]

I would kind of like the portability. I have a laptop now that's essentially my desktop computer at home. It's big and clunky and tied to the wall because I can't use it without a cord. I guess that's why I'm thinking of a netbook - as an alternative to bringing this monster.

That sounds a lot like my previous laptop. Depending on how well it is still working for you apart from the non-portability, you could also consider buying a new, lighter, laptop. Mine was excruciatingly slow in addition to battery-dead, so I got a new one (which I still mostly use as a desktop computer, but it's also just light enough to carry around on occasion).

Edit: On second thought, it looks like you really want a netbook. Don't mind me, just go for it :-)

[Matty]

My beloved Kindle, 30 days of reading without charging (mine lasts 10 days, but that's still plenty).

On the plane and on a train, it's a miraculous toy and study aid for reading text books.

Though the 3G doesn't work in China, it's been blocked.

[PanShiBo]

Hand-held GPS, laptop with Win7.