mezzoninny

Sounds like it's a pretty good pick for 15K. If I didn't already have an overpriced smartphone, I'd probably get one

While I'm here, I'd like to ask what do people think about companies who keep updating firmware for their products?

Because there are two ways of looking at this. On one hand, you can say they're nice, benevolent, they keep giving you better bang for the buck with new features, more likely than not these will be features you never thought of.

On the other hand, why can't they give us something that's already stable and loaded with features in version 1.0? Couldn't this be an excuse to deliver crap firmware on product launch? Why make the non-savvy customers walk the rocky path of firmware updates? Why wait for 3-4 months for a promise that the companies could honestly just run away from, and the most you can do is shake a tiny fist at their multi-billion-dollar logo?

I've brought up this question before, elsewhere, and the opinion I got was... wait for it... "what's wrong with them giving you extra freebies?" But sometimes when I'm really serious, my own ethics would disagree, so I'm just wondering what your thoughts are.

OMG, ROFLMAO!

once you've lived in most western (and drier) countries, where the skin REALLY can dry out, you see little need to moisturize yourself in such a humid, tropical climate as Thailand

For some reason I'm the opposite. A couple of winters in America, and I started having the need to moisturize. Even though I've come back to fairly humid climes, in extreme cases I can get dry+itchy and it'll be hard to sleep. It might be I'm not drinking drink enough water.

At the moment I've got access to purpose-made emulsifiers, so I can take water and say, sweet almond oil (or mineral oil for cheapness), and make cheap body cream/lotion out of them. Having said that, I do have a tube of Aesop's expensive geranium body balm, for when my gayness drops below the mininum threshold.

Tom Selleck *chuckle*

But seriously, I've got plenty of hair and none of the muscle. Doomed!

Agoda is showing the Four Wings hotel for $41 a night which seems a great deal, although I don't know how well the hotel has been maintained

If Four Wings has managed to maintain itself, then I think it's a good deal. The walk down the soi might be a bit long depending on what you're used to, but it is nice. On an unrelated note... Four Wings used to have a killer Dim Sum lunch buffet for a very good price, don't know how they are now.

And thanks to everyone for this thread, I'm planning my next trip and it's come in handy.

It will be Future Park Rangsit.

LMAO! You made my day. As long as it's not Seacon Square...

The way I see Thailand, so many things that people get hung up on elsewhere on Earth seem to resolve themselves, or miraculously get better (miraculous because you don't expect them to). I actually believe the AFP article, because BKK used to be a mecca in the study of mundane Japanese cars. At one point I saw ALL ten generations of the Toyota Corolla, and all eleven of the Toyota Corona, not to mention rare gems like the Hillman Avenger, Honda N360... and I remember there were plenty of older cars even in 2002. But when I visited last year it was mostly new cars. If it's by policy/incentives that they've done this, that would appear to be a good thing.

When I first moved to Bangkok 20 years ago (I was 9), people where I'm from considered Thailand a backwards country, and we'd have quite the superiority complex over them. But a lot of things I saw back then have improved, generally made better over the years; right now in 2009 it's my own country that's regressed to become more and more like Thailand a few decades back.

The only spanner in the works is this political thing that's been going on for a few years. If you live in Thailand, you know there's always some form of political "thing" going on, but what Thaksin did, and the rise he got out of the other side, that's also happened in my country, it's not

good and it needs to stop. If the Thai folks can understand that democracy is not necessarily progress, they should be in pretty good shape, and Bangkok will continue to be the place people can't justify by so-called objective reasoning (pollution, infrastructure), but secretly enjoy on the most basic , most fundamental of levels. I know I'm being cryptic...

Both Fuji Super(market) branches have a Japanese restaurant called Jinya. The one in Suk 33/1 should be across from the market, on your right hand side when you come into the soi. You'll want to be fairly well-versed in Japanese food, at least know the names of the dishes, to be on the safe side. Last time I went , the menu had Japanese dish names spelt out in roman alphabets only, no pictures.

Why the hassle? Basically it sells really authentic, informal Japanese food (as opposed to flashy dinner party/banquet type) for a pretty good price. It's a joint that caters to Japanese expats. I frequented the place for several years when I lived in Bangkok, and got an addiction for chirashi sushi there. Caveat: it's been a while since I've been to Jinya, so the info may be inaccurate.

If you want something a little easier to navigate, Ootoya should be very good. They're non-sushi and can be found in several department stores. I've only been to the branches outside of BKK (several times in Tokyo and Taipei), but their food is just wonderful. Very good deep fried stuff like pork cutlets - they just might make you look down on the miserable breadcrumbs of pork chops elsewhere, I know I do. Be warned that most meals are in the 1000-calorie range, even if they don't look that rich; I saw the info on their Japanese website.

Personally I would avoid the Thai-operated chains like Zen or Fuji. They tend to be not so authentic - while this is a difference even Japanese people can live with, I've had Japanese food in Japan and I need stuff to be as close to the real thing as possible. Happy Hunting!

"Hitman Jazz" at Asok and National Stadium according to this page:

http://www.hitmanjazz.com/news_detail.php?id=46

Not sure if they're still around though, it's been a while since I've been to those stations.

Mind you, if Sony sticks to form, version 2 may well find its way into my pocket.

I'm in pretty much the same position: not going for the P right now, but it's actually a blockbuster release, just in need of a few tweaks in every aspect. Kind of like a female relative saying, "I love Spider-man, but why on earth would anyone want to cast Kirsten Drunkst?"

I have to say I'm a bit vain, because my major complaint is the cheap-looking silver for the keyboard surface. They have shown people the mockups they made during the design process, and I think even a charcoal grey plastic would've been a lot better. I've got the HP 1000 right now, and IMHO it's actually got a much better look and feel over the Vaio P at half the price, but some of the technology behind its looks in fact come from the Japanese.

But the P is awesome for me, for at least one reason: I know 3 or 4 pounds isn't a lot to carry for most of you, but for me the P's light weight is such a big deal. 500g+ with the SSD, and only 700g+ with large battery, and have a relatively normal-sized keyboard, that's something I've wanted for a very long time. Even the screen resolution can potentially be dealt with in Vista (and Sony fans would know Sony just loves to bump up resolution with no purpose or meaning). So I'll be waiting for an update (or an Apple netbook which will probably be twice as heavy!).

Just wondering... if you're doing some p2p at the download end, how does that affect the bandwidth for the video?

Excellent topic, even if it does make me feel a bit (okay, make that quite) un-Asian

audio/video on demand does NOT refer to simply having a screen in your seat back. It refers to the ability to start, pause, fast forward and rewind whenever you want.

Unless you get one of the new 777-300ER's, it's possible that you won't get this on a CX flight.

I flew CX831 a while back on an A340-600. While a lot of online forums (like you guys? ) misled me to believe it had AVOD, it did not -- the movies started and ended on a set cycle that the passengers do not control.

You people need to stop being so protective about an airline that's not only average, but morally questionable IMO.

And bkkjames, honey? CX does not have a single A340-500 in its fleet. Sure you don't mean TG or SQ?

For anyone who's reading, I just wanted to report back that I got a smartphone after all, against my better judgment I got a Sony Ericsson X1.

It was an impulse buy, and one I most definitely regretted, not really because of any inherent fault with the phone itself, but mostly because it's overkill for me. I don't need anything more than an iPhone or Diamond, and apart from a hardware keyboard, the X1 offers very little in extra features. It's a very bare phone with very little software work on Sony's part. If you're in the market for one, definitely wait for the price to come down a bit more.

And just as an anecdote: I was engrossed with reading a certain news thread on TV last week (all right, the one on the swinging sex party). By pages 7 or 8, the Opera browser started to complain about running out of memory. This is after I maxed out cache settings, AND turned off pictures. Would this be evidence that convergence is still more trash talk than pragmatic solution?

CX for me is an average airline at most, but that pricing looks pretty good, so I'd say go for it. They are undoubtedly top-class in some aspects, but I wouldn't say they are top-5 in the world or anywhere near that.

Unless CX puts a brand-new 777-300ER on the route, be prepared to see an average cabin and no audio/video on demand, bring your own laptop Don't be like me, I watched "Taking Lives" 5 or 6 times on CX once

P.S. I have serious beef with ranking CX "up there" with ANA. I think ANA is a lot better. If the Japanese were more forward about speaking English in general, I think ANA would get a lot more recognition. (end rant)

The Handicraft place at Paragon's got some very nice blends, but it's probably not the place to go if you want single essential oils.

Boots and Body Shop are pretty good, but they probably won't have the kinds the OP is looking for.

Ooh, I got quoted!

There are always sites that only work with IE, for instance, even in this day and age.

Personally I'm wary of Firefox, but Safari Opera and Chrome aren't necessarily compliant if you want to do shopping or do serious business.

For me it's the same thing with using both Windows and OS X. There will always be the odd thing that's supposed to be compliant, but you can't get to work, no matter what. And I'm never truly comfortable unless I've got tools to cover for everything I do. And I hate idealistic people who say stuff like "well if sites don't adhere to web standards then screw them", that's not the way life is.

Being a nice dude who's open to public opinion, I introduced Firefox to my mom, and after about a year of normal use, it spontaneously degenerated into a bit of a mess, to the point that she can't use it anymore. Uninstall/Reinstall couldn't fix it. I introduced her to Opera, and then Sleipnir (an Japanese app that turns IE6 into a tabbed browser), but there's this ONE website whose navigation gets totally messed up. So I ran out of options from the gigantic sea of IE-cursing netizens, she decided to switch to IE7 and she's fine now.

Right now I'm using a combination of Opera, Safari, Chrome, IE and Firefox.

Firefox has a tendency to suddenly screw up on the 3 or 4 computers I've been through. Once it just crashed for no reason, and lost all of my bookmarks. The other time the toolbars became permanently messed up, and could not be fixed by uninstall/reinstall. I'm not comfortable with Firefox being my only web browser.

Safari is a mess of endless spinning rainbow beachballs (Mac users will know what I mean).

So right now Opera is in fact my favorite, I jump between IE, Opera and Chrome depending on which websites will take which browsers.

I actually believe in spending money intently to help other people, e.g. I would pay the full price instead of seeking discounts, if I feel I've been given good service at a more expensive place. I do that on a regular basis, and I wouldn't hesitate to do that for Thailand.

The problem is that right now, living outside of Thailand, I don't have enough of a grasp on the situation. For one, I don't know what's available right now, if there are supposedly still so many visitors stuck in Bangkok. I probably won't even be fired if I get stuck (lucky me), but I wouldn't want to be caught up trying to run off to BITEC or what not, wait in lines to check-in, and rip a hole out of my travel budget for the rest of the year.

If you feel you can comment on my adolescent worries, why not chime in, because I do want my holiday, and I'm not happy about the uncertainty and how everyone's going to treat my cancellation as my own initiative. The airline's not exactly giving me my money back

(uneducated opinion warning!) I remember living in Bangkok, and everytime there's a coup, I'll have to try and explain to friends abroad that no, it's not the kind of coup their mind conjures, not the latin american types. At least to my sheltered self, it's usually not a melodramatic process, it's not people going out and fighting for some falsified image of glory, it's kinda like swapping the hard drive on your computer.

I'd venture to say that today's Thailand has shifted somewhat from the Thailand I knew and used to live in. People have become increasingly agitated over local politics, undoubtedly spurred on by the media and what some people try to sell as progress (blind leading the blind?), that they're going to feel the need to fight over these things.

My trip was going to be in two weeks' time, I got my visa right before the protestors went to swampy, and I cancelled my hotel booking right before they decided they're going to get out. It's just bad luck on my part, and my bad mood will color my opinion... but I think the situation will just keep on being unstable for a while yet. My airline ticket's not cancelled, so I could go if I wanted to, but you know, it's not the same Thailand I remember. I too will probably have to settle for Songkran or later, and pay those crap cancellation fees.

Thanks, I'll look out for it.

I can't get the Apple BT keyboard to connect to the HD. It doesn't see it as a device.

Thanks again anotheruser! Your help is greatly appreciated 

My situation isn't quite exactly what's being discussed in this thread, but I saw quite a few good points being made here, and thought I'd chime in.

What peekint has said actually makes sense to me, that our own businesses is in fact everybody's business to some degree (we as humans can't help it), and that "by taking the consequences, the consequences become less for you and other people as time goes on." I say that because I'm one of those people who haven't come out, even though I don't seem to need the safety of the closet. I'm not even out to people whom I'm sure will be fairly accepting and open-minded around me. I don't even think about trying, and the reason is that I feel I have nothing to gain from being openly gay.

I'm having a lot of problems in my life, and none of them are tied into my sexuality. I wonder about my job, about money, the whole nine yards, I question my sanity, and they're not going away just because I might have an alternative lifestyle. Every time I come into contact with a particular "gay" universe, either online or in real life, I don't feel relieved or vindicated. All I see is how different I am from them, and what a difficult sale I'd make in that universe. All I see is people who don't want me for one reason or another. You know, like not shaving? I take the razor to my pubes and after 30 minutes of trying,finally conceding that I'm incapable of shaving, and am therefore not part of the gay world?

I'm fine with people saying that I might be a coward, because I really just might be that. But it's also fun to note that, being gay doesn't stop other people trying to tell you how to live. If you have faced your fears, it might be pretty easy to recommend that the rest of us follow, but until I learn to shave, I say let us cowards be cowards, and stop telling us what to do. We just might work out what to do in our own time.

As far as I know the HD can use a Bt keyboard. I haven't tried and you most likely need to pay for the keyboard plus some software script to make it run. I really don't know but it is rumored you can do so.

Thanks again for the help. Specifically, I'm hoping I can use Apple's bluetooth keyboard, and I gathered from several sources that it works fine (or can be made to work) with any Windows laptop, but can't be guaranteed to work with WM. It might connect with some keys inoperative (the letter A?), or it might not work at all.

I made the decision to get a Mac for aesthetic reasons. I figured that if I spend 10+ hours a day staring at a screen, I would rather stare at something beautiful. Same with the hardware. I use this thing 10 hours a day, surely it's worth a dollar a day to make it something pretty?

I completely agree with that, though I'm noticeably less grumpy with earlier macs. Not counting the Macintosh Plusses we had at school, my first one was a Lombard in 1999, and I have a nagging feeling (paranoia?) that it's still more robust than any apple laptop that came afterwards.

I still have a copy of Parallels unused, gathering dust on my shelf, because I used the boot camp partition and M$ insisted that it counts as a separate activation. So I've shelled out money for another copy of XP, and I'll probably put it in the next time I reinstall. Meh is my middle name

I think it comes down to the finer details on each system, e.g. the way they lay things out in windows explorer/finder. And the apps.

I'm doing OS X for personal use, but my satisfaction has dropped with each subsequent release. I'm in fact not happy with Leopard; I think it's a bit of a bloat compared to Tiger, the dreaded rainbow beachball comes up all the time now, and you have to learn to tweak stuff just to regain some of that speed. I think Leopard is a crap release, and if Snow Leopard really turns out to be a ginormous bugfix, I can fully see why (and yes, frankly, Leopard needs it).

But while I'm so vehemently against Leopard, there's one killer app left for me on OS X (hear me out, I AM an average user, I learned the hard way that I'm NOT a power user). Audio Hijack Pro lets me record 3 or more audio streams at the same time, with a huge set of options. I can find no equivalent app with an equal feature set for Windows, and when I do recording in Windows I can't watch TV anymore, because I can't mute the recording. I can take 60,70,80K Baht and buy a very nice Windows subnotebook, with everything else, and I'll be fine with Vista, but I'll lose that flexibility in "time-shifting" all the lousy radio stations in Bkk and beyond. That I simply can't live with.

At the same time, I also consume a lot of things that might be Windows-only, or runs better in Windows. I remember in the earlier days of the Mac, when any USB file transfer seems to force an unbearable weight upon the system. Will the fanbois admit to this apparent strain? Nope, but it's there, and I'd just quietly use a windows computer to move files.

And as a key weakness of mine, I am a jinx when it comes to command line features, and that has stopped me personally from going to Linux, even though it'll undoubtedly be a great choice for some folks. For me right now, the best solution is to have two computers on hand at all times.

Thanks for the review, anotheruser. I enjoyed the read and you've raised a few points that nobody's mentioned before.

I've been wondering for several months if a smartphone would be right for me. Quite a few devices seemed fun and interesting (I was fixated on the SE X1) and a lot of my observations agreed with yours: every WM app that's apparently solid with an important use seems to cost $30! But I think in the end, I'm just too casual of a user to need a smartphone the way you or some of the other members here do. And there's always a deficiency here or a price premium there when I did the math. So I think I'm back to buying an ipod touch or a netbook.

If any one of these devices supported a full-size bluetooth keyboard, I'd be more than happy to fork out $800, 900 for the setup, but it's just impossible to confirm. Windows Mobile support is no longer a sure thing with version 6.1, and of course Apple would prefer if I just bought a $1299 macbook. I don't really want to buy a keyboard that may or may not work, and then take it to one of those IT malls and squeak "lemme try the ___ thing and if it works, maybe I'll buy it!"

I don't think they need to be faster or more capable just over all more reliable, easy to use, and most importantly put a good cell chip in it.

And although I think that's the best direction to take, I really doubt that would happen. Nowadays all anyone seems to want is to get new stuff out the door, they work the firmware up till the day before launch, they don't care about bugs, and they're not given the resources to care if they wanted to. I think it's especially obvious with Apple products. This is against my personal ethics, but I guess that must be the zeitgeist right now. I once observed that Samsung kept releasing updates for MP3 players up to a year after launch, and several people needed to know why I thought that's a bad thing!