Darrel

where did you see those entry level hp machines?

One of the larger shops in TukCom. I used to get almost indentical machines for clients back in Europe, of course they cost a little more there as they included Windows.

But to save the 3-4000 baht from the cooper, you have to sacrifice a smaller, and less sharp display, less memory and processing power. The camera....does it have flash? Manufacturers go out of their way to ensure they remove one key feature in a phone to make the decision making process "hard". In 2011, we still don't include a basic flash on a phone? And the outer color of the phone.

Just about every manufacturer/supplier of every product or service does this. From the various versions of Windows (all versions are the "full" version but with certain bits turned off) right through to the local noodle shop which charges 5B extra for the shrimp dish, and not forgetting all brands of car. After all, if all models/versions of everything included all the features then nearly everyone would just buy the cheapest model.

Personally flash is not something I need on a phone and I have never even come close to filling the available memory on my phone. Most people would not be bothered by a lack of processing power either, and if they were they would buy the bigger, better, more expensive model.

I would say the screen is the most important issue in this particular instance, though that may be because I have old eyes.

I was wondering about the screen resolution ( 320 X 240 )

And the size. This is not a large screen. I can barely see the ZTE screen without my glasses on and I wouldnt want anything smaller.

Anyone who has ever been in a tall building during an earthquake or a fire (I have done both) or even a simple power cut (these used to be very common not many years ago) could probably think of other advantages of low floors and I suspect that some (many?) older Asian buyers might have this in mind.

That said the relative value of a high or low floor is invariably going to boil down to the location of the building and the individual view from the unit.

Isn't satellite the obvious alternative? Various levels of subscription available from True.They seem to include the Thai terrestrial channels.

lets face it Chinese food is seriously better than Russian food.

Most food is better than Russian food. Possible exceptions are those unpronounceable -istan places where they serve tepid mutton fat to guests. Actually I think they may still be part of Russia (no one else wants them).

I wont be getting those forms any more but when I did:

Religion: Jedi.

Occupation: White witch (self-employed).

I always lie in questionnaires and I dont give a dam_n who knows it.

For raw fruit I have always liked yellow mango, rambutan and pineapple. That hasnt changed for 30+ years.

For salads/cooking I like papaya, green mango, tamarind. Big (Western) bananas in pancakes only, or with custard, though the small "real" ones are good fresh.

Not very keen on the other local fruits. Most of them are somewhat insipid.

You are properly right about the usage of the pc, I never play games on mine but mainly use it for internet and sometimes watch a movie on it.

Honestly, you dont need an i5 for that. Any entry-level model will do you fine, even an entry-level spec from 2 years ago with the most basic dual-core processor. And may I ask why you want a 1Tb hard drive for that usage?

I saw some decent entry-level models from HP (without operating system) for 10,000B the other day that would suit you. Just add a (legal) copy of Windows 7, or for your usage you could even get Ubuntu (free).

Your location will certainly dictate how you proceed. Good luck. There are quite a few posts in this forum about this technology and its use in various areas.

I think that you may be expecting rather too much from EDGE. In fact if you are really going to the back of beyond you may find that you dont even have decent EDGE coverage. Even if you do then as you mention you may find it better to get a USB dongle for your laptop and attach an external antenna to it, or use an extension USB cable to get the dongle up on the roof as others have done.

Would CAT CMDA be available in your area?

Hmm. Indian call centres are pretty dire in my experience.

My bank (Kbank) issued me a Visa card in about 10 minutes and changed an incorrect name on an account in about 1 minute. All done without any waiting at all, at my local branch. If your bank cant do the same why not try another bank?

I now have had it in a Krung Thai account for years and havenot got one satang in interest.

This begs the question: why do you leave it there then? Other banks will pay you interest.

I'm not sure the ZTE Blade supports tethering as this is more of an Android 2.2 feature, but as you can tell the phone can be modded to perhaps add this functionality.

Tethering on the Blade is available in (some) 2.2 ROMs and the 2.3 ROM. It is not a feature that I have used.

True's 3G network operates on 850 Mhz, and as your phone does not support that frequency you would not be able to use their 3G network. You could use their 2G (GPRS/EDGE) network. Your phone has 900/2100 Mhz radios so you could use TOT/MVNOs who offer 3G in the metro-Bangkok area.

Mobility and connectivity are two of the primary benefits of a smartphone. Being tied to just WiFi hotspots would seem to reduce the benefits immensely?

Fair enough, but personally I have absolutely no need for a mobile data service at all. I spend most of my time in 3 places that have wifi and when away from those places I do not require any sort of data access. In fact when away from those places I often dont have the phone with me. YMMV

All I'm trying to do here is to point out the merits of a device that is a cheap and practical solution for me, and may well be for someone else also. Obviously anyone with special requirements like Thai keyboards or 3G tethering etc would need to check that any phone they wanted to buy would support all of these. 850Mhz support seems to be quite thinly spread, even on much more expensive phones.

Surely you can have the True digital satellite packages?

Out of interest, do you run Skype (for Android) on your phone? If so, can you post on the performance for calls/IM. I need to run Skype and be able to access the internet at the same time (for around 8 hours per day), so looking for something cheaper than an I-Phone which can facilitate this. Any suggestions welcome.

Skype willl install and run on this phone. I dont use it myself but I have used Fring and some other VOIP/SIP clients. There is a slight issue on some clients with sound coming from the rear speaker rather than the earspeaker (also affects some other Andoid phones and apparently is a kernel problem), but this doesnt seem to affect Fring or Skype AFAIK and there are workarounds for other clients.

I'd also be interested to find out which mobile service you use (and in which area) and what sort of calls/data package you're on. Does the ZTE Blade limit choices in any way in comparison to buying a top of the range smartphone?

I do not have a data package in Thailand: I only use normal domestic wifi which works fine in Pattaya. Indeed I have no phone package at all: just a prepaid True SIM as I rarely make calls but receive many. True do keep sending me SMSs inviting me to take their data package.

About the only thing that the Blade cant do is Flash media, and this is due to the processor used which is not up to the spec demanded by Adobe. Flash is notably needed for BBC iPlayer and some other similar streamed media. YouTube works fine without Flash. All Android apps I have tried work fine (GPS/SatNav, Maps, media players, ebook readers, news clients, various browsers, K9 email, Angry Birds, Spotify, internet radio players).

I am not aware of any other disadvantage with the Blade. Most people who know about such things say that it compares favourably with similar devices that cost up to 3 times as much. I expect that the build quality with other phones is better, but so one would expect if one pays 3 times more. I'm more inclined to go for the cheap one and change it more often.

Just so the average, non-enthisiast is not misled, the ZTE Blade runs Android 2.1. There is some talk about an official 2.2 upgrade coming. It sounds as though you have modified the phone to run CyanongenMod 7, a custom ROM based on a leaked version of Android 2.3 (aka Gingerbread). Further, it sounds as though you loaded some sort of Thai keypad? Anyone buying this phone, in one of the locales where it is available, would get Android 2.1, and no Thai keypad. I don't think it's reasonable to expect the typical user to have to modify their phone, run the risk of damaging the device and void the warranty, all to just turn it in to a more acceptable phone when they can buy one at the get-go?

You are correct about Cyanogen, though other people in this thread were already talking about flashing ROMs etc., so I saw no problem adding my 2 cents. I apologise to anyone who may have been misled by my comments.

I did not add a Thai keyboard though: the multiple language and script options are there by default in 2.3, and in 2.2 AFAIK (not that I ever use them, except for reading the Thai script SMSs that True send me).

The Orange ZTE, as purchased in the UK at the moment, is indeed an Android 2.1 device. By most accounts an official 2.2 upgrade will be released shortly. I doubt it will ever see an official 2.3 update though which is a shame as it runs it very nicely.

Any hobbyist concerned about the warranty will be pleased to know that the original Orange branded ROM is available online.

Even with the original Orange branded 2.1 ROM this phone is a bargain and works well.

The developer, hobbbyist and enthusiast community associated with this model is quite large, which came as a surprise to me.

Really? Nice, cheap no-contract smartphone that can be unlocked for free and easily rooted? Sounds like a hobbyists dream.

Again, it seems like a nice "value" Android 2.1 smartphone, provided you are able to buy it somewhere.

Mine is now a nice value Android 2.3 smartphone. And it stilll only cost 4500B.

And, as I mentioned, it is readily available in the UK without contract and so potentally very suitable for anyone thinking of going there soon, or expecting people from there.

Well, one thing you need to consider is who will use the phone also. When you buy it in Thailand or surrounding countries, there will usually have multiple Asian languages as well as english (US/UK or somethimes both like with the Samsung Cooper).

The language options on my (flashed) Blade include about 40 languages and several different scripts including Thai.

Why does anyone in his right mind get within 20m of a jetski? I have never been on one and I never will, even if they offer it for free. The same goes for rented motorbikes and speedboats to the island. All scams or rip-offs; no exceptions.

There's always a new something coming out in a couple of months. How long do you wait?

I think that this phone is an excellent choice for anyone visiting the UK or expecting visitors from the UK any time soon.

It has to beat paying 10,000B here.

A simple Google search for "UK TV outside the UK" should do the trick.

What the moron at PayPal (they are all morons) was trying to say was that your existing PayPal account is UK based and tied to a UK bank. In order to withdraw money in a country your account must be tied to a bank in that country. Your UK account cannot be based in two countries at the same time and so you would need to open a second PayPal account based in Thailand with a suitable tied bank and then send money to yourself, as ParrotHead suggested. You must use two email addresses for this.

As mentioned, it is not a cost-effective way of transfering money apart from for extremely small sums (and why would anyone want to transfer a small sum to themselves?).

If pressed, PayPal will tell you that this is to do with international money-laundering regulations. I say that's b*llocks. PayPal are just amazingly incompetent, that's all. For a real laugh, search for "paypal blocked my account" on Google. There are people (many people) who have had huge sums blocked for no valid reason whatsoever. I myself had a PayPal account with GBP1000 in it blocked for several weeks, with no communication from PayPal about it, and only when I filed a complaint with the UK FSA was it unblocked (within 48 hours I might add).

It is also nonsense people claiming that 11pm is early. If the area is residential – too bad – the area is residential. The music should not be so loud that you can hear it in your apartment.

That is a big "if". Perhaps the OP could tell us exactly what other businesses are in the area?

If Thailand is so bad b&gg&r off home.

Just because Thailand may be bad doesnt mean that home isn't worse. There are degrees of badness and personally I would choose to live in the least bad place.