Buying phone

[thailandsgreat]

I have been looking at a Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus/512 GB. In the shops where I am it is around B40.000. But mail order is around 30.000. I believe some mail order shops are in Bangkok MBK and Panthip.

 

1. I pass Bangkok in a couple of weeks. What are the prices over the counter in MBK, Panthip (Pattaya Tukcom)? Can I buy cheap over the counter there?

 

2. Which mail order page should I choose? What are the risks w/ mail order? If the page is in Thai I hope I can ask hotel reception for help. (Do they deliver the same setup with charger/headphones etc)

 

3. I don't have a computer right now, so I use a good Samsung phone. Is there any other, cheaper brand/model that could compare with a Note 10+. I mostly use it for editing text and up/down-load but I have plenty of apps for other functions.

 

Thanks for any ideas on this.

 

Cheers

 

My 3 yr old Samsung still works fine but the updates are filling it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by thailandsgreat

[CharlieH]

MOVED to phones/mobile devices

[OneeyedJohn]

Over one thousand quid for phone, are you mad?

[pgrahmm]

We have found the Oppo phones to be very good....We have 4 in the family & they have been bullet proof, (even my wife's that I dropped in a river worked after drying)....Excellent picture quality.....2 of us came over from Samsung (We'll never have another).....

Take a look, you might be surprised.....

[OneeyedJohn]

My phone has 4 cameras for chrissakes, just bought it yesterday.

[pgrahmm]

2 minutes ago, OneeyedJohn said:

My phone has 4 cameras for chrissakes, just bought it yesterday.

 4 eyes better than 1 ????

[Pilotman]

4 minutes ago, OneeyedJohn said:

My phone has 4 cameras for chrissakes, just bought it yesterday.

why? 

That is, why has it got 4 cameras, one is usually enough for most sane people and why did you buy it? 

[Tonyt00]

Im not a very technical person and still have old style Nokia. Can someone recommend a simple smart phone, that isnt too smart, and not too expensive. Oppo sounds good, but maybe there is another one that is even better. 

[richard_smith237]

5 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

why? 

That is, why has it got 4 cameras, one is usually enough for most sane people and why did you buy it? 

(on camera, 4 lenses) Not necessarily -

The iPhone 11 Pro has 3 lenses. I have found the ‘wide angle’ option extremely useful in both videos and photos. 

 

‘most sane people’ like improvement and something better. 

 

If thats not your cup of tea, it has nothing to do with sanity, to think so may bring ones sanity into question ????

 

[Pilotman]

Just now, richard_smith237 said:

(on camera, 4 lenses) Not necessarily -

The iPhone 11 Pro has 3 lenses. I have found the ‘wide angle’ option extremely useful in both videos and photos. 

 

‘most sane people’ like improvement and something better. 

 

If thats not your cup of tea, it has nothing to do with sanity, to think so may bring ones sanity into question ????

 

Different lenses is sensible and a real innovation, but 4 cameras? 

[Pilotman]

2 minutes ago, Tonyt00 said:

Im not a very technical person and still have old style Nokia. Can someone recommend a simple smart phone, that isnt too smart, and not too expensive. Oppo sounds good, but maybe there is another one that is even better. 

all smart phones are stupid, so go ahead, you can't go wrong. My Vivo is fine, 9,000, Baht, perhaps less stupid than a lot. 

[thailandsgreat]

1 hour ago, pgrahmm said:

We have found the Oppo phones to be very good....We have 4 in the family & they have been bullet proof, (even my wife's that I dropped in a river worked after drying)....Excellent picture quality.....2 of us came over from Samsung (We'll never have another).....

Take a look, you might be surprised.....

I had Note 2, Note 3 and now S8+. All Samsung worked perfectly. Now the updates are putting S8+ on the brink. I must have a big screen. S8+ is a little too small but when I bought it the Notes were not sold since batteries caught fire.

 

I always have good reception even when my hotel room is far from the router. I can edit large files and web forms etc. Never any delays. And I use no computer. (I once bought a cheaper Samsung that just gave me headaches, it didn't work outside Asia, now it doesn't take any SIM. Low resolution.)

 

I will check the equivalent Oppo. Thanks.

 

So Oppo phones are probably bought at good price in most shops. I wonder why the Samsungs differ so much if you mail order them.

Edited June 6, 2020 by thailandsgreat

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, Pilotman said:

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

(on camera, 4 lenses) Not necessarily -

The iPhone 11 Pro has 3 lenses. I have found the ‘wide angle’ option extremely useful in both videos and photos. 

 

‘most sane people’ like improvement and something better. 

 

If thats not your cup of tea, it has nothing to do with sanity, to think so may bring ones sanity into question ????

 

Different lenses is sensible and a real innovation, but 4 cameras? 

He means 4 different lenses on the phone. 

[OneeyedJohn]

• Rear camera: 48MP + 8MP + 2MP
• Front camera: 13MP
• For a phone in this price range to have a macro ability is very good, it also has a wide view capability.
• I find the graphics and clarity on screen excellent, better than my old Huawei.
• Less than 5000 baht.
•  

[Pilotman]

8 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

He means 4 different lenses on the phone. 

oh, okay , that makes more sense. But haven't I seen the new  iphone with 2 actual cameras?  What is going on there? 

Edited June 6, 2020 by Pilotman

[OneeyedJohn]

Thanks for the clarification.  4 lenses easy to misunderstand like 4 candles.

 

Anyway I was a computer technician in the 90's and it is frightening where technology has got to in the 20 + years since then.

I can take a picture on my phone and have it on the net in seconds without wires, usb connections etc,  or any cr ap like that.

 

 

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, Pilotman said:

oh, okay , that makes more sense. But haven't I seen the new  iphone with 2 actual cameras?  What is going on there? 

Cameras on phones don’t work in the conventional SLR context... its just a lens with an image sensor behind each lens. 

So theoretically, each lens is in fact an individual camera, however, the jiggery pokery starts with the software.

 

Thus: you could have a Zoom lens (with its own sensor) a Wide-Angle lens (with its own sensor) and a Normal lens (with its own sensor) - each being no larger than the lens itself and about 2mm thick.

 

I think much of the confusion these days is just the semantics of camera vs lens, and then the software which handles it all which again, is part of the camera. 

 

[thailandsgreat]

Many good comments here. Maybe I am too focused on Samsung, prices always going up, I will check out Oppo.

 

But why is the the price so different? A Note 10+ in the shops around here is a shocking 40k but "only" 30 in mail order. Could I buy a Note 10+ over the counter @30k in Bangkok or Pattaya?

[richard_smith237]

Op, have you considered Xiaomi - Potentially the best bang for your buck out there.

[tlandtday]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Op, have you considered Xiaomi - Potentially the best bang for your buck out there.

Realme too.