crabstix

I have a ipaq hw6515 with built in GPS receiver. I need to know which software is good and where to buy it in Thailand. I need accurate maps which will fit on the square 240 x 240 resolution screen. Will mainly be using it in Chiang Mai province.

Thanks

Thanks guys! That took care of it!

I just got me a new pda phone (ipaq 6828) which is gprs edge capable.

I've heard reports that AIS has edge capable cells in the Pattaya area, but I didn't really expect to have this where I live (about 15 km's inland, Mabprachan area).

To my surprise the E symbol indicating the presence of an edge network came up on the screen!

Hooked the thing up to my pc to run some decent speedtests...

Speed is highly variable, data comes in at between 2 kbps and sometimes over 100kbps. Due to this occasional high speed bursts, the overall surfing experience is much better then compared to plain jane gprs...

Average speed downloading a larger file was about 10 kBps (80 kbps).

Latency is on average 500 msec longer then compared to adsl, but still acceptable at around 800 msec to the US.

Thaivisa pinged at 550 msec on their new Singapore server (around 60 msec on my adls)

Doing a test dedicated to check for VOIP quality (can be found at http://www.mycooltools.com/) indicated that the connection is still useless for voip. Reason the lateny, and more important every so often speed dropping to zero for a second or two, then picking up again...

The result would be broken up conversation.

Doing the test call on skype confirmed that the sound comes through in bits and pieces...

Overall an improvement, making surfing and the occasional download a much better experience. Certainly faster then dial-up, and cheaper as well!

VOIP will definately work better through regular dial-up because of a steadier, albeit slower datastream...

As this test was done on a Sunday, the load on the mobile network (lots of Bangkokians around jabbering away on their phones!) might be higher then normal, so I'll repeat tests on a normal weekday...

Cheers,

Monty

How is the stability of the hw6828? I've heard the o2 atom is a pretty similar device in terms of specs but it was prone to crashes (which I've heard has now been fixed). I like the form factor of the 6828 but the screen seems to be a tad too small for my liking. Was very tempted to get it but was put off because a lot of the software for it sold at pantip wasn't for windows mobile 5 (athough the cover for the cds said pocket pc software 2006). Is the processor sluggish? The hw6515 is 312Mhz but is very slow.

I am using hp ipaq hw6515. I am in Chiang Rai. The Dtac call center said that I could use edge only one place in Chiang Rai ie the airport. So I went to the ground floor of the airport at a coffee shop. Unfortunately the edge symbol did not come up and my speed was normal (gprs speeds). Which part of the airport should I be in to use edge?

I use MS Word and I used to be able to highlight text and select the icons B (for bold) I (for Italic) and U (for underline) in order to format my text. Also I could select the font size by just selecting it on the dropdown menu.

For some weird reason now those icons have disappeared from my menu bar. Now I have to go the long way round and highlight text, choose 'format' , 'fonts' etc etc. How can I get the menu bar back again?

Do they have air conditioned apartments with internet in each bedroom in Chiang Mai?

If so, how good is the connection and how much do they charge (appox)

If not, are most apartment owners usually ok about tenants getting it connected through phone companies. I would be willing to get it all sorted myself and paying the bill myself.

Also does your electricity bill work out much cheaper (per unit) if I live in a house compared to an apartment? If it is too troublesome to find an apartment with internet I may rent a house and get connected (I imagine it will be easier)

My coworker received a handwritten email today. How is it done?

I think it looks cool because it has a personal touch to it. Do you need commercial software and sit there spending hours drawing out your emails with a mouse on the screen or is it much easier than that?

Do any of the rental apartments downtown have internet in each bedroom?

I was hoping I could rent one with a reasonable speed, say 256kbps. If not, is it difficlut to get direct lines set up so they go directly to your room?

Thanks meadish - will swing down there have a look tomorrow see what I find!

Great info crabstix! I was looking at the Pinnacle site yesterday and the Studio 700 PCI ver 10.5 looks like just what I need ($ 185) ! Captures both analog and digital video- for the future when my old analog camera ( 12 years! ) joins its player in heaven and I go 'digital'. Did you buy your Studio here in Thailand ? Have never seen Pinnacle products here and the retailers page on their website was down. Any info accepted!

Thanks again guys! Fosa

]

Yes I got the capture card 2 years ago in Panthip plaza. Set me back 7000 baht (I saw the same one selling in Chiang Rai for 8300 baht). wherever you get it, it comes with the pinnacle software. I am sure prices would have dropped quite a bit since then. I've heard that if you want something easier to use, then use Ulead. But pinnacle worked ok for me. Be warned though video capture sucks up tons of hard drive space. You should allocate a drive totally dedicated just for capture. You should allocate say 40GB for capture.

I would also like one to record the odd program.

Could you tell me....why have all the VHSs disappeared? Is there a cheap alternative for an occasional user?

Also I have a Macbook...can I hook it up and record somehow?

Not sure if this helps. I know nothing about Macs but found this by googling.

http://forums.macrumors.com/search.php?searchid=4011768

But I have done video capture before on my pc using pinnacle studio software and burning to vcd. I connect my vcr to my pc and just record, edit and burn. Expect to get 20% loss in quality though. Capture is not perfect.

I think if you go more upcountry it won't be hard to pick up a VCR. You might even be able to get one with a built in DVD player (although those ones are phasing out). I saw one last year for about 6000 baht in Chiang Rai. I have a vcr but am having problems getting blank tapes! I think most shops don't sell them anymore because they take up a lot of shelf space and it's more space efficient to sell blank dvds! Also more people have dvd players than vcrs. I love the old technology though. Just hit record , go out for a few beers and watch later. I would try old dvd repair shops. They are bound to have one lying around. Just pick one up in good working condition cos it may be nearly impossible to get replacement parts if it breaks down!

DVD recorders at the moment are still pricey. If you can live without a hard drive then go for the cheaper ones which record directly on disk. Not sure if picture is good but I know they sell for around 6000 -8000 baht.

If you really need your old vhs tapes copied onto dvd without buying a player then I suggest you take it to a shop which does video capture. I did it once (before I bought a capture card). They charged me something like 300 baht for every hour they captured. I took it to a shop which developed photos. They had the equipment and did it for me within 2 days.

Where can I get an eye test in Chiang Rai? I need a reliable place which doesn't rip off farangs ie overcharge or give you unreliable results so that you buy their glasses.

My bookmarks for firefox all suddently disappeared! Along with the history of sites I visited (not so serious about this as much as I am my bookmarks)

Has this happened to anyone?

How did you get them back? Hope they are not gone forever!

I have a mountain bike which I cycle 3 times a week. I park and lock it outdoors in the same place as my motorbike (sheltered under a corrugated iron roof). Unfortunately within only a day spiders have already started to spin webs on it making it unsightly. I usually have to resort to using a lighter to burn the webs off, being careful not to harm the spider. Is there a practical way to stop them spinning their webs on my bike? Perhaps a chemical available in Thailand which I can spray on my bicycle to repell them?

A nice big box of English tea. Cheaper and tastier than a lot of the tea you get here.

Also those super small cans of coke (150ml) Like the ones you can get from airlines make excellent gifts! They are cheap but Thai appreciate them as you can't buy them here! Everytime I go back home my Thai friends ask for different brands so they have the whole collection. Most of the Thais don't actually drink them though!

Are you at an all girls' school? If so... I don't know.

It's one of them chick things to go to the toilet together.

I teach at both secondary and tertiary level. Most of them are girls but the boys go to toilet together too. But after peaceblondie's post, things are starting to make sense.

Do you efl teachers have the same problem as me? In many of my classes one of my students will raise his hand and say 'May I go to the toilet please?' As soon as I allow it, a classmate will suddenly decide they want to go too. Is it normal Thai behavior for students to go in pairs all the time?

I usually let them go individually so that when one gets back, his classmate can go. This makes them really angry and it seems I am being difficult. In the eyes of the Thais have I broken a social taboo by incorporating this tag team approach to going to the loo?

A lot of the time when I suggest that they go one at a time they get annoyed, stamp their feet and say 'forget it! I don't wanna go no more.' Why is it necessary to go in two or three?

Found a good url containing a great pdf file for teaching high school students at this link

http://www.esl-images.com/pdf/sample-lesso...lish-sample.pdf

Unfortunately it won't allow me to print them. Is there a workaround where I can perhaps convert it to a file which is printable? It would be great for my students to learn about health and I would like it in worksheet format instead of having them all open this site from a computer screen and write in their notebooks.

Generally speaking I try to install programs onto a flash card if I can, just to keep as much RAM free as possible. I think (but am not sure) that ROM access is slower than flash cards - maybe someone else can confirm. Some programs only work when they are installed to RAM though. Installing TCMP shouldn't slow your device down (unless it runs out of memory).

I think the PPC Windows Media Player only supports its own format. However, you can get pocket skype for PPC 2003 because that's what I have. You can use the chat function over GPRS but voice requires a faster (WIFI) connection.

A useful site for pocket pc stuff is mobilitysite.com, lot of technical advice there on different ppc issues and programs.

Thanks. Just checked out your link. It seems to have a lot if interesting stuff. I like the tutorials. Yeah TCPMP did slow down my device but now I know why. LIke you mentioned, I was running low on memory. I will try to install it again (but this time onto sd card)

^ And I think (will check) that if you work for the BC they will often pay for you to take the DELTA???

cheers. Appreciate that. If it is the case, it sounds like a really good deal.

I'm not sure what you mean by "diploma." In different native speaking English countries, they're not identical definitions. The certificate at the end of 4 weeks is sometimes referred to as a diploma.

If you mean a bachelor's degree that requires 3 to 4 years of tertiary attendance, of course that's better. So is a master's in TEFL. Payap University in Chiang Mai has a two year MA-TEFL or MA-TESOL course.

Sorry I was referring to the DELTA.

Some of my favourite free programs:

* WiFiFoFum (scans for WIFI access points)

* Pocket Skype

* Agile Messenger (integrates MSN, ICQ, Yahoo and other IM clients into one interface)

* TCMP (play movies on your PDA, excellent - download the Matrix trailer off their site and you will be blown away).

* Auto Gordian Knot (AutoGK) - a program for converting DVDs and other video files to AVI format so you can watch them on your PDA. Just set the dimensions (in your case 320x240) and the preferred file size of the end product and let it run.

Non-free favourites are basically anything made by Resco:

* Resco file explorer (so much better than the standard one, includes an FTP client, encryption for sensitive files, and can browse the contents of zip folders without unpacking them).

* Resco audio recorder (fantastic program for recording meetings etc).

* Resco pocket radio - just a toy but I like it...

* Pocket SPB plus - makes the close program button actually close your programs instead of leaving them running in memory, plus allows you to open multiple browser windows - makes surfing over GPRS a lot more bearable).

* Pocket Informant (which you may have got with your device, if you are lucky. Massively improved calendar and contacts management, etc).

Thanks to all you guys who replied to my question. It's nice to know that there is a PPC community out there sharing good info. I made the transition from palm and am finding things a little hard to get to grips with. The PPC platform is a lot slower than the palm OS but I guess I have to read more and get used to it. For programs like TCPMP is it better to install them to SD or to ipaq file store? My friend says that I will get a smoother viewing experience if I install it to ipaq file store. Is that true? Personally I would like to have it installed to SD but if that affects the quality I should install it to ipaq file store. Also, can I use software to convert dvds to play on windows media player which is already on my device? It seems a shame to install a video player like TCPMP when I already have one built into the ROM. Or is TCPMP that much better? Will installing TCPMP slow my pda down?

As for skype, I don't think I will be able to use it as I am using the old OS (WM2003SE). Pity but not the end of the world. Wififofum sounds like it could be handy (once I get a wifi card for it as it is not built in to the device). So far I am loving the qwerty keyboard. Makes data entry so easy. Also I managed to find a way to use my existing palm infrared keyboard to enter data on my pocket pc.

Thanks again guys!

Just got a HP hw6515 pocket pc running windows mobile 2003SE now that the price has dropped 20,000 baht (from 25,000 baht a month ago).

It comes with a lot of software built into the device. For all you pocket pc users out there, what additional sofware (which you see as essential) do you recommend I buy for it? I need stuff mainly for information management, being able to access my data quickly and easily. Things to speed it up might be good too as progams open up a little too slowly for me.

How well recognised in the Diploma in TEFL in Thailand? Will it allow me to teach at at University level with a higher salary than those with just a degree and 4 week TEFL certificate?

Where can I do a diploma in TEFL in Thailand? How long are the courses?

Hi. Not sure if I will get better responses in the Chiang Mai forum or Teaching in Thailand forum but I imagine people in the Chiang Mai area will at least know someone who has worked in Payap University.

I have a degree, a TEFL certificate and six years teaching experience in Northern Thailand teaching English. Is it possible to get a job in Payap University teaching English with just these qualifications or will I need a Master's degree?

What is the teaching situation like there? I'd like to hear from anyone who has had some good/bad experiences working there.

I am using Dtac and emailed them about when edge will be available in Chiang Rai. They said that it was available in Chiang Rai airport. I used my PPC the other day on the ground floor coffee shop only to find that I was on gprs mode and was surfing at say 38kbps speeds. Which part of the airport do I need to be in to use edge?

Hmm, you probably posted this in the wrong Forum....Internet / computers may have been better i guess.

I am wondering how you connected to the network? Maybe it was simply your device that didn't support EDGE? If you are in GPRS mode the 38kbps is a "normal" speed here .

Honestly i would be surprised(positively) if there is EDGE in Chiang Rai Airport available.

rcm

I bought a pocket PC phone which supports EDGE. Normally I should get an icon if I am in an area with edge to indicate that I am on edge mode and surfing at higher speeds than dial up. I guess I must have been in the wrong part of the airport. I don't see why they shouldn't have edge. People need to surf the net and wifi is becoming more widely available in chiang rai these days so why not edge? Never mind. I guess dial up speeds will do for now. If I manage to get it working in another part of the airport I wil let you guys know so that you can get on your surfboards out and go along the mae kok river looking out for submarines