Darrel

I see this place every evening on my regular nightly stroll and was following progress whilst it was being fitted-out. Since it opened it has always been pretty full whenever I pass. Very attractive wall fountain and good quality linen and fittings.

I also noticed in passing that the portions seemed quite large, though as I'm not a big fan of Chinese food (not spicy enough for me) I haven't tried it personally.

Also I'm kineow and hardly ever spend more than 100B on a meal, which rather rules it out.

It's more or less next door to the fish and chip place.

Kodak on Buakhao just S. of Soi Leng Kee.

I had some done there last month. Very competent and they touched up my wrinkles without being asked, though I dont suppose the Cambodian visa bloke cared about that at all! I think they also changed the backgrond colour. Quite cheap also.

It is indeed a useful link but the info is gleaned from the Modaco website and it is not an official 2.2 ROM from Orange. Personally I would skip that one and go for the Cyanogen 2.3, or just wait for the official 2.2

Another thing to remember is that the guide mentioned above may not be up to date for gen2 models. The Modaco site is up to date (if a little complex). It is important not to flash gen2 phones with a gen1 ROM as it wont work.

Not much point calling Orange about an official update as they wont say much even if they know (which I doubt!), but when an official update does become available then you can be sure that the link to it will appear on the Modaco and SanFran websites as well as the Orange site.

Also works very nicely on my Blade.

Shame the PC's IP address has to be entered manually.

i get to see it on sunday when i go back to the UK for a short visit. Darrel have you actually installed the new rom. If so how is it. does the 850 work ok???

No, I haven't tried that one as mobile data is not a function that I require (or want to pay for!). As mentioned in another post in this thread, it may not actually be working. Interesting to keep an eye on though. I am using Cyanogen CM7 RC4, which does everything I need and works well.

When you get your Blade, be very careful to verify whether it is a 1st or 2nd generation model (there is an app for this - see the Modaco forum). You cannot swop ROMs from gen1 to gen2 and back without some extra work, and at the moment there is little real support from the ROM developers for gen2 phones, though this will surely come soon. You should also back up the ROM that your Blade comes with, just in case you need to reflash it for warranty reasons. The procedure for unlocking the phone is also different for the gen2 model. So do the reading before you start flashing.

And get yourself the silicone case and screen protector from Ebay.

As 2.2 is probably "coming soon" for the Orange Blade anyway, it may be worthwhile just waiting for that, unless you particularly want a function that only 2.3 or a modded ROM provides. You can remove nearly all the Orange branding without flashing another ROM. The biggest single difference I noticed on my Blade was going from 2.1 to 2.2

Either way, for the cost of a decent MP3 player you really cant beat this phone and what it can do. Hope you have fun with yours.

Sorry to burst your bubble but the Blade does not have an 850 Mhz capable 3G radio, so no custom ROM can enable something that doesn't exist. At best you may be able to enable GSM 850 Mhz, which is of course vastly different than 3G 850 Mhz.

As I've already said, the 3G radio hardware is different for specific models, markets and not all-encompassing.

In the thread you linked it is interesting that no one has yet confirmed even being able to turn on GSM 850!

I didnt look at the thread very closely as it's not a function that I need or want (nor would most people in the UK for that matter), but I was interested to see that some people had (apparently) had success with it, and I reported it here in case others might like to try in Thailand with True 3G. Personally I would not be at all surprised if the Blade could do 850MHz 3G and everything else, for the reasons I gave. Hardware just isnt often specific any more: it's generally universal and adjusted in firmware to suit the market.

It is interesting that you have to go to such extremes to make this model usable? It might be nice to hear how the stock model performs, provided you could buy it here?

The Android 2.1 Blade as purchased is totally usable, but it works better with Android 2.2 or 2.3 (as indeed do nearly all Android phones). Also by flashing another ROM one can remove the somewhat ugly/pointless Orange branding and apps. Flashing is not very difficult and is certainly not "extreme". It does need a little preparation though.

The official 2.2 is currently being released in some countries and may well appear in the UK soon. Official 2.3 will probably never arrive but the version I'm using (Cyanogen 7 RC4) works perfectly for my needs.

For 4500B it is a very good value phone. Coupled with a more advanced ROM it is extremely good value. I see no reason to pay 4 times as much for something very similar.

Review from 3 March on the top 20 'phones.

With the Blade (aka Orange San Franscisco) at number 9.

"I resigned myself that if I am living in Jomtien (View Talay Villas which is at the very end of Soi 5) 2G is the best short of WIFI Hotspot or heaven-forbid:wired at home! I think this is a true statement based on location."

There is a long-range wifi setup on the top of one of the tall condos in Jomtien. Cant remember the name of the service off-hand (something like "Alice's wifi") but there are ads on the noticeboard in front of Foodmart. I know someone who was using it from VT3 very successfully, with a large antenna that they sell in Tukcom.

I am aware that developers issue several price lists during a build, and I will be the very last person to believe anyone using the words "condo" and "discount" together. However in a building with units still on sale from the developer (like VT8 and VT7) it is only relevant to compare shell resales with the current list price (not that this list is especially meaningful, of course).

Actually just recently I was advised by a private vendor to buy his (used, company name) unit now as "I'm thinking of putting the price up 10% next week". It takes a special sort of prat to come out with something like that!

.. I did think the burger would look and taste different from the burger stand ones and have bigger asnd better tasting portions of chips etc.

I'm not a burger man at all but there is a place somewhere in/near LK Metro that claims to have Pattaya's best (biggest?) burger. I've seen pictures and reports about it on here I think, and I seem to remember them as mostly positive.

Is that the place you went to?

Oooh! How much were the ones in Friendship? I adore anchovies in oil. It's half-past midnight now but for two pins I'd pop out and buy some for a snack. Mmmm. Salty.

Can you provide any supporting information or links? I would be supremely amazed if this were possible.

Prepare to be dazzled.

There is nothing new about locking-down devices in firmware.

Most devices that one buys these days are based on quite standard chips that have multiple functions and capabilities, and the assemblers just lock out the parts they dont need/want to provide in the cheaper models. Your car's management system will be the same, as will your TV and your washing machine.

I'd also like to hear how internal memory can be increased; this sounds like alchemy?

Identical answer. The Blade has 512MB of internal memory but the first generation model is partioned in such a way as to make only half available. This is done quite deliberately so as to make higher priced models look better than cheap ones. I did say "available memory" quite specifically in my post. Obviously one cant add extra new memory in firmware.

This is also common practice in other devices, as is the locking down of processors to give lower speeds on cheaper models: very common with computer graphics cards and CPUs. It all happens all the time.

If anyone is interested in buying a Blade in the UK, it seems it is now possible to flash a ROM that allows 850Ghz tuning (for True 3G mobile data, for example). Indeed new (second generation) Blades may now even come with this as standard.

Internal available memory can also be increased.

On the contrary, counting a/c compressors is the easiest method of estimating the # of unsold units in a VT project.

Not at all. This merely indicates the units that have or haven't been fitted-out. There are plenty of shells (still without air-con units) in VT7 and VT8 that have been sold by the developer during construction and are up for resale, as shells, by whoever bought them at that time. Indeed I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread that at least one in VT8 is at a 30% discount to the current developer price.

The easiest way of knowing what isn't sold is just to go into the VT sales office near VT2. They have a full list.

"...hamburger 280 baht which comes with chips/french fries.......,I actually counted 12 small chips.

.........an extra 25 or so baht for a tax"

Sorry, but they saw you coming. I can eat about 10 decent Thai meals for that price, within 25yds of Soi LK Metro. Or, if you are a total farang-food devotee, there is a fish and chip place in Soi Lengkee about 3 minutes walk from LK Metro that does fish and chips for 100B. Also a place that does a whole pizza for 200B (all you can eat on Wednesday). And there are several places around there that do a respectable farang meal for between 99 and 150B. And a good evening buffet for 180B just down the road at Diana Inn.

I would have thought that anyone seeing the 280B price on the menu would not have gone inside in the first place. And honestly you cant say that there is no choice in that area.

Personally I wouldnt eat a burger anywhere, ever, no matter what price it was. They are just too greasy and bland to be swallowed. The single best thing about Thailand is Thai food.

"What are they filming? Whom are they watching?"

I heard they were filming people who go around taking lots of pictures of CCTV cameras.

This is the thread that just keeps on giving. A classic.

I don't care if it's an April Fool or not, it's still the funniest thread I've read in ages.

What do yo do? Just sit in a bar? I assume you don't work here in any top professional field. For myself I have met some very good engineers in Thailand, some are here just for one project 6-12 months others 1-2 years, I have met some other ex-pats living here for a long time such as myself. I started a company here in Thailand about 5 years ago and in doing so I have also met a very good group of ex-pats owning their own companies which are not bars but companies such as engineering, power, marketing etc etc. To group all ex-pats as being the same is a very stupid comment, and I'm not name calling I'm saying your comment was stupid, opinion or not!

No, I haven't set foot in any sort of bar in nearly 20 years. I don't like them, or the people one finds in them.

And no, I don't work here. I'm over 50 and retired, thank you. When I did work I was self-employed and I did well enough to be retired now with no worries about the future at all.

And you appear to have misread what I wrote. I didn't group all expats into anything at all. Go back, have another look and try again.

I don't need the figures, you do, because you're the one dreaming up stats to prove your assertions.

When did I say Pattaya was full of 5 star hotels? I'm merely stating that the number of them is ever increasing. In any major tourist city there is a spectrum of hotels covering all budgets. This is nothing unique to Pattaya.

I'm not sure if it will fit your idea of being a "real 5 star destinations", but without winning the lottery I actually lived beach front in Central Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia for 20 years, from 1984 until 2004. It is the biggest tourist resort city in Australia and boasts many 5 star hotels, including most of the 5 star international hotel chains. Just as in Pattaya, there are plenty of lower star hotels.

Perhaps you could report on your own experience of "real 5 star destinations". Perhaps you'll find a city where just about every hotel is 5 star.

You said that "Pattaya is a 5 star destination simply because there are 5 star hotels there". This is incorrect as I have pointed out. 5star destination does not mean a place that has a 5star hotel, it means a place which has a preponderance of 5star hotels. This is clearly not the case in Pattaya. If you have figures to support your position, please state them. Or perhaps you believe that Pattaya is also an international Fish&Chip destination, as it does have a couple of F&C restaurants?

I agree that the number of 5star rooms is increasing. Pattaya would be in a very bad way if it wasnt. However, the proportion of 5star rooms is clearly not increasing. Most new short-term accommodation is of the 0-3 star variety. Also many condos.

I'm afraid that Surfer's Paradise does not spring to mind as an international 5star destination.

You might like to try the Maldives as being somewhere with a preponderance of luxury accommodation. Or Dubai. Also various towns around the northern Med. And some parts of the Caribbean. A couple of US towns, not many. Some skiiing destinations in France/Switzerland.

All of those attract large numbers of 5star tourists, who stay in 5star places. Even Phuket is a step up from Pattaya, though not a big step.

Personally I dislike 5star resorts and the people who go to them, but that is not relevant.

Not scientific but I went to Agoda.com. 3 pages out of 11 were 4-5* hotels. About 25%.

The reason being that most cheap places dont advertise on hotel booking sites, and so the figures on such sites are automatically skewed towards more expensive places.

4star doesnt count either.

The weather we have had over the last week or two suits me fine. No air-con required, and no heating either. Not too hot for trousers or too cold for shorts. Wish it was like that all year. Perfect.

You need to go the other side of the water to Cha am...........Thais Thais and more Thais every weekend and holiday season...Pattaya has never really been a Thai destination, it was set up for the sex trade during the Nam war

You are preaching to the converted: I first came here just a couple of years after the fall of Saigon.

I remember how the whole town (the whole town being little more than Beach Rd at that time ) would put up banners saying "Welcome US whatever" when a Navy ship dropped anchor in Pattaya bay, and how the place would go from virtually empty to bursting at the seams in about 2 hours.

If you want figures so badly you can produce them yourself as you seem so certain that Pattaya is full of 5star hotels. Everyone else who doesn't have rose-tinted glasses on knows full well that this is not the case. You only need to walk around town with your eyes open to see it.

Pattaya is not full of 5star hotels. It is full of cheap hotels of the 3,2,1,0star variety, not to mention cheap condos and cheap town housing.

If ever you win the lottery I suggest that you take a trip to a real 5star destination and report back on the differences.

Dont watch live: just download the WMV file. You can start the download via the VPN, stop it, disconnect the VPN, restart the download and it will continue at full speed. When watching, just remember to reconnect the VPN before starting WMP. After the rights have been loaded and the programme starts to play you can disconnect the VPN again.

Oh, I wouldn't use it to watch anything illegal. That would be against the rules. We don't want to break any rules!

I was suggesting nothing illegal at all. Just the best way to get the fastest download and most satisfactory viewing experience.

Of particular interest if the VPN in question has some sort of monthly data cap like mine does.