WaveHunter

55 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Click on  "Rates" on thaipost website, enter destination , choose a weight and voile !

 

Heres a screenshot showing 8 but there are in fact 20 options.

 

https://www.thailandpost.co.th/un/rate_result_nrs3/?service_id=&to_CountryID=210%3A%3AUnited+States+of+America&parcel_weight=100.00&service_name=

 

 

ThaiPost has the quirkiest website I've ever seen LOL!  WHen you translate to English the drop down menu stays in Thai and even if you translate a sapshot of that in Yandex, it is completely out of order alphabetically.  I finally figured it out though... 58 THB for an airmail letter ????

Now, if anyone knows where I can see pictures of Thai postage stamps I'll be a happy camper!  Anyone know a website that shows them?

If ThaiPost is like US post offices, they rarely have all the available stamps styles at a given post office, and they need to be ordered special; that's why I want to see a complete listing online somewhere.

8 minutes ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Already in the Apple Thailand online store:  https://www.apple.com/th-en/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini

Not yet available.

Anyone else as impressed by this new computer as I am?  It's actually less than the older Apple Mac Mini M1 and way more powerful.  In all the online reviews so far it blows the new macbook pro away that costs twice as much.  Go figure??

It hit store shelves in the US yesterday but not here in Thailand yet.  Does anyone know how long it takes for Apple to start supplying here in Thailand usually?   I mean, is it days, weeks , or months later?

This may sound silly but I can't find anything online that simply says what the postal rate is to send a letter by air to the US.  I have a marketing project that requires sending 100 letters per month, and I just need to know the rate to plug into my spreadsheet.  The weight is just standard letter weight (under 28 grams).

ALSO, I need to find pictures of current postage stamps that are available.  I want the envelopes to use actual stamps for esthetics, and just want to see what stamps are available.   The nearest post office is pretty far away from me so if I can find pictures on line, that would be preferable.

Also, if anyone knows of a company that makes custom mailing envelopes, I need to figure that out too since we want to design a customized envelope of special paper. 

Thanks.

22 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I'm Mac illiterate although my first computers were an original Mac and a Trash 80.

I liked the Trash 80 better.

Maybe someone can answer. 

 

 

TRS 80?  I guess it didn't agree with you?  My first computer as a kid was an Apple II that had two floppy drives and 48 kB of RAM...that's right, KILOBYTES!!!.  The floppy drive disks were capable of storing only 1mB of data each!  The price for this set-up at the time was over $1,000 USD!  Even so, it seemed like a magical machine to me at the time.

Compare that to the Mac I have on order, the Apple MacBook Pro with M1 chip which will have 16 gB of RAM and 2.5 tB of SSD storage (500 gB internal and 2 tB external).  Things have come a long way since back then!

I read that some of the original Apple II computers can fetch as much $5,000 at auction, and one of the original Apple I computers auctioned for over $900,000!

13 hours ago, Jingthing said:

No!

I switched to a small cheap "computer" box without a monitor.

I think it was under 100 dollars new.

My host has always used Android but I use Windows.

The device that burned out was a laptop (not a Mac).

It's better if both use the same operating system for version compatibility. 

I really like that idea of a "mini-compter" sans the screen or keyboard.  I wish there was one that was compatible with Mac OS-X.  You don't happen to know of any of these "mini" computers that are compatible with OS-X, do you?

Actually that's more or less how I use my MacBook Pro.  I have a 32 inch monitor and separate keyboard connected to it, and usually just use the laptop with the lid closed.

My problem (and I'm sure Apple planned it that way) is that all of my devices are Apple (MackBook Pro, iPhone, and iPad), and all are integrated through Apple's cloud server, iCloud.  The interface is one I've grown accustomed to, so to use anything but an OS-X machine for this remote controlled computer would be pretty uncomfortable for me.

I do have a "virtual" Windows 10 operating system loaded on my MacBook Pro using VMWare Fusion but everytime I use Windows, it just feels so clunky, and navigation is very counter-intuitive compared to OS-X, so I really only use it for a few of my  applications that only run on Windows.

12 hours ago, Barley said:

I wanted to give my opinion, but didn't want to read through 5 pages, so if my advice is redundant, please understand:

 

My Background: Computer enthusiast and network administrator for several NGOs/Businesses/and private people, though my work is pro bono. I have used VPNs myself and set up several VPNs for others.

 

Here is my advice: Don't throw money at it yet. Use a free VPN in the beginning, but beware: Most free VPNs want to spy on you and are Chinese owned.

 

This one does not and is an honest operator and gives you several Gigabyte free traffic every month (I have an unlimited pro account, so not sure about the exact amount): https://windscribe.com/download

 

Tip: Download only the BROWSER package for the browser that you plan to use. Why? Some websites are picky and don't allow you to connect if your computer time is from a different time zone than your connection would indicate, f.e. Asia time, but you pretend to come in via VPN from USA on Central time. The Windscribe BROWSER extension fixes that, the OS download does not.

 

Check if this will work for you. Then you can stay with the free program.

 

Re. Static VPN: If you REALLY NEED this feature (most people don't! - only if the free account isn't working for you) please read this first: https://blog.windscribe.com/port-forwarding-static-ips-and-lies-bcf427fdb283/

and then get a STATIC IP with Windscribe, but NOT a really expensive DEDICATED IP.

 

I hope this helps. Many companies try to make money in the VPN business by trying to upsell and confuse the customer. Keep it to the simplest working configuration and don't let yourself be confused,

 

 

Thanks for your thoughts.  Unfortunately, I tried VPN's (Nord) and found it really not that useful for my purposes, although I do kind of like it for my TV here in Thailand.

I discovered that the big problem with VPN's is that they all use datacenter IP addresses which are just as big of a "red flag" as a Thai IP address when you try to log into many US sites that have stringent concerns for ID verification.

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I hope it works out for you.

I've been doing this for several years already but not without occasional headaches.

Is there a way to live in this modern world without headaches?  I don't think so.  I just keep a big bottle of Tylenol handy!

15 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

It will probably last 10 months. 

I did have a laptop burn out that way but then switched to the box which has really been much better overall. 

You switched to a desktop?  For me it was the other way around. 

I used to have a Mac Pro which was a monster desktop that I used for photo editing, and then when I got a MacBook Pro laptop, just intending to use it for travel, I found it was way faster than my big Mac Pro, even though the Mac Pro had 32gB of ram compared with 16 in my MacBook Pro laptop.

Maybe it's different with PC's but I don't know hardly anybody using OS-X that works on desktops anymore, especially now that Apple's new M-1 chip is in all of their new laptops, replacing the intel chips they used to use.

Anyway...thanks again for all of your advice.

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Sounds interesting. 

I guess my feeling is if it ain't broke, keep with the program I'm using, but like I said I'm wondering about having both of them installed.

That might be a good idea I guess.  I'll try with AnyDesk first, just connecting to my sister's computer with here sitting there (which I know will freak her out seeing me moving her cursor around on the screen LOL).  If it works ok on her computer, then I'll buy a used macbook, and her IT guy will set everything up.

Anyway, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help with all of this.  I'm pretty sure you were the one that suggested this idea in the first place (about TeamVIewer) and I'm really grateful you did, because it just sounds like the best way to achieve my goal....SO THANK YOU SO MUCH :)

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

A laptop on sleep all the time will to tend burn out.

It only has to last for 10 months until I return to the States.  Besides, I have been using my old (2013) MacBook Pro that way, never really shutting it down, just letting it go into sleep mode, and it's still running perfectly after almost 10 years (which amazes me) ????

53 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I don't understand that but as I've been saying I do use WOL by logging into the host's LAN software and effecting WOL from there. I start up the box from shut down and shut down again after each session. I use TeamViewer. 

 

I wonder if it would be smart to have Anydesk installed as well. Then they could be backups to each other and switching programs might make it less likely that the companies would put a block on because they suspect unfair free usage?

Actually the main reason I decided on AnyDesk is that more than a few reviews from users who had been on TeamVIewer and then switched to AnyDesk said that TeamVIewer had unfairly blocked their use and forced them get a professional account. 

I think that AnyDesk makes a point of not doing that just to have a competitive edge over TeamVIewer.  The reviewers acknowledged that they felt AnyDesk was much more relaxed about that then TeamVIewer had been.

There were other reasons I chose AnyDesk.  A lot of reviewers of Teamviewer complained that if the internet bandwidth is low, the software’s efficiency decreased, and its features such as cursor control and file transfer lag, compared to what they experienced in AnyDesk.

Since AnyDesk is a lot newer than TeamViewer it seems that their software is more compact and efficient, though I only read that on their site and don't really know how it compares to TeamVIewer.

Bus still, many users that had switched from TeamVIewer said that AnyDesk was faster and its remote access screen works almost as quickly as the local system, and it was quite responsive in terms of latency.

Who really knows which is best?  I just got a better feeling about AnyDesk form everything I read.

3 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

As I said, if you still insist on this method, Google "Intell NUC."  They are small PC's, not much bigger than a cigarette box.  No screen, no keyboard.  They have an ethernet port.  It would sit next to her router with a short ethernet cable. Google "Mini PC" for other similar devices.  Perfect for what you want to achieve.  Get one with a SSD.  Let moving parts, for more reliability over the years. 

Those devices sound interesting but I plan to just buy an old used mac laptop off of eBay since I want it to be an OSX system, not PC.  My question was really only to do with https://support.anydesk.com/knowledge/wake-on-lan FAQ, and the questions I asked about it.

• Does what the article describes mean that my sister's computer also has have AnyDesk on it, and does it mean that her computer has to be on and not in sleep mode for me to remotely connect to my computer in her house?

• Doesn't the part of the article that describes "Wake-over-WiFi" mean that an ethernet cable is NOT necessary, assuming her router supports "wake-over-wifi"?

   

You guys have really been great helping me out, especially @Jingthing and @KhunHeineken

After reading the last replies from you guys, I checked the AnyDesk knowledge base to see if, and how AnyDesk provides WOL, and they had a article explaining it all, but I'm not really sure what it says since it's pretty technical.

It says something that really confused me, and one thing that leads me to believe that WOL can be accomplished without the need for a ethernet connection.

I wonder if you guys could take a look and help me understand this:

https://support.anydesk.com/knowledge/wake-on-lan

The one main thing that confused me was this statement:  "At least one additional AnyDesk device in the network of the sleeping device must be online."  Does this mean that my sister's computer also has be have AnyDesk on it, and does it mean that her computer has to be on and not in sleep mode fr me to remotely connect to my computer in her house?

Also, in the operating system-specific settings, it mentions: "Wake-over-WiFi needs the same setup in the BIOS/UEFI and a WiFi Router that supports it."  Doesn't that statement mean that an ethernet connection is NOT necessary, assuming her router supports "wake-over-wifi?

It's real important that my computer at her house can connect with wi-fi and not need an ethernet cable for a couple of important reasons:

   1)  A lot of computers today do not have a plug for an ethernet cable

   2)  My sister's router is tucked away out of sight on a shelf in her living room, and I don't want to create a mess for her with cables since all of the devices in her house connect only with wi-fi.

OK, here is where I am right now but the big question I have is still not being addressed:

I am going to use AnyDesk.  I will buy a cheap computer for my sister to set up in her home in the US so I don't have to bother her each time I want to connect.  It will be in sleep mode except when I'm connected to it, using AnyDesk.

I would prefer that the computer will connect with her internet by WiFi but I've been told that will be a problem, and that I must use a ethernet cable instead.

1)  Is this true or not?

2)  If it is connected with an ethernet cable will that work OK?  Either way, the big question in my my mind is whether or not I will be able to wake the computer via a remote connection.  I would hate the idea of having to bother my sister to "wake the computer" every time I want to use it.

15 hours ago, Jingthing said:

If the connection of your device is wireless rather than by cable I believe you will need to logon to your sister's network to wake it up as I do.

When you do that if you set that up you will get security issues on your browser used to login to her network which you will need to override.

 

https://www.teamviewer.com/en/info/wake-on-lan/

 

The only requirement for operating Wake-on-LAN over the internet is that the remote device is connected to a power source and is connected to the internet via a network cable. 

 

You could I suppose just message your sister when you want a session and she could turn on your device manually.

I read your linked info and thanks for providing it.  However, I wonder if what they are talking about is actually turning the computer, on as opposed to waking up a computer that is already on and in sleep mode.  Even though the software is called "wake on LAN" when you read the description they are describing being able to turn the computer on, and I think they mean booting it up from OFF, not waking it from sleep mode.  Do you see my point?

I know it might sound trivial, but connecting the laptop by cable would be real inconvenient and messy for my sister since the router is in her living room, and it would just be unsightly to have my computer and cable cluttering up her living room.  Much better to have my computer on a shelf in her study without the need to run a cable.

11 hours ago, digbeth said:

Custom would want to see Thai FCC (NBTC) approval sticker or sign on the product, might not be there on the US model, 

you'll then be asked for import license for the device in question, while paying storage which your shipping agent will happily charge you,

 

if the device does not operate on bands outside of the allowed range for Thailand, you might be issued a license and your device released to you, or if not it's confiscated and sold off in auctions as 'scraps' years later 

None of this is true.  C'mon dude...Be real!

13 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

and it comes in Chinese, Hindi or whatever other language it used to have and you have no idea what spy software is left in it.  Stay clear is my advice and buy somewhere you can have a come back if it doesn't meet expectations.   

Sounds like you are a bit paranoid (victim of too much fake news, perhaps?) ????  You do know that iPhones are are manufactured mostly  in China, don't you?  As for Lazada, it is actually a pretty good sales platform and takes extraordinary steps to assure customer satisfaction. 

1 hour ago, Celsius said:

If you need to return it then what are you going to do? Ship it back from Thailand to USA?

 

Both Shopee and Lazada are pretty safe marketplaces with a huge selection of used phones.

 

 

Oh yes.... ^  the batteries 

I'll be damned!  I never even thought of Lazada, assuming they only sold current issue phones like the $1000+ ones.  I just took a glance, and you're right!  There are plenty of just the one I am looking for (iPhone 8)!

With Lazada I can pay with credit card and be protected by my credit card company if I am scammed (which sometimes happens on Lazada).  Not only that but Lazada has a good reputation of making sure buyers are not taken advantage of if a dispute arises, and of course you're right about the hassles of having to send it back to the USA if issues arose.

So, THANK YOU for your helpful suggestion ????

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

I wouldn't be surprised if you got hit with a heavy duty, or they refused to forward it, after point of arrival.  As you're not allowed to mail LiPo batteries.

 

If just a back up, buy a new phone here (Xiaomi fan myself), then you have the best of both worlds, IOS & Android.

I don't think that's true.  I spoke to the consolidating company shipping agent specifically about any shipping restrictions of a smartphone with lithium batteries, and he said, without hesitation, there was not any as long as the batteries were not removable.  I'll check again but he assured me there would be no issue with that.

As for getting a non Apple phone, I can not since it must sync with iCloud.  And BTW, I am also a Xiaomi fan; they make really excellent quality products. ????

21 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

If the connection of your device is wireless rather than by cable I believe you will need to logon to your sister's network to wake it up as I do.

When you do that if you set that up you will get security issues on your browser used to login to her network which you will need to override.

 

https://www.teamviewer.com/en/info/wake-on-lan/

 

The only requirement for operating Wake-on-LAN over the internet is that the remote device is connected to a power source and is connected to the internet via a network cable. 

 

You could I suppose just message your sister when you want a session and she could turn on your device manually.

I'll have to look into that; thanks for mentioning it, but I have heard of people who are able to log into their office computer remotely from their home and are able to do that with no assistance from someone in the office (like in the middle of night for instance).  How are they able to do that then?

I want to buy a used iPhone off of eBay in the US.   Cost to ship is cheap for me since I use a shipping consolidator in the US (around 20 USD) for air which would arrive in 10 days.  I believe there are no Customs duties (only VAT).  Is that correct?  I just want to be sure before I order it.

I already looked into buying a used one off of Facebook Marketplace which I buy from all the time and am happy with BUT for high-valued items there is no protection against fraud since most sellers want cash.  I want the protection afforded me by paying with a credit card through PayPal, which I can do on eBay.

Easy question to answer.  SKYPE!  You can get a US-based phone number so people from the US can call you, and you can call them toll-free from here in Thailand on a plan that costs just a few dollars a month.

The connections are usually fine with no static or dropped calls.

If you have certain people you chat with frequently like family and friends, and they have a facebook account, Facebook Messenger is totally free.  The connections are just as good as Skype, though you can not have your own number for strangers to be able to call you (like if you have a business in the US that you want customer to be able to reach you).

I have both and use Messenger most of the time just to chat with friends, and then if I need to reach anyone I dont already know on Facebook, then I use Skype.

So, bet BOTH!  And it doesn't matter what country you want to reach on Skype.  I have contacted people all over the world with Skype and there's no per-minute charges, and call quality is always superb.

My advice, Don't put anything in your iPhone except a legitimate apple designated battery.  You're asking for real trouble if you do, especially here in Thailand where a lot of shops buy cheap and dangerous no-brand chinese batteries while they may tell you they are genuine Apple.

I had mine replaced with a GENUINE apple battery.  I watched the guy install it, and it cost me all of 800 THB, and that included some troubleshoot on an issue I was having with the phone.

You Have to do some searching to find a reliable and honest shops.  Just search through Google Maps Reviews and you find one really easily.

17 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yes to the sites seeing you as if you are in the US 100 percent.

 

No to there being no maintenance issues for your sister.

What maintenance issues other than rebooting the computer if there is a power outage?  If the computer is in sleep mode, I can maintain it remotely.  If there were to be a hardware issue, she has an IT guy that can handle that.