Discuss smart phones and laptops here

Discussions computers, internet and mobile technology (cell phones, smart phones, iPads).
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Winston
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Discuss smart phones and laptops here

Post by Winston »

Momopi,
Looking at the recent fancy new laptops and cell phones, I have a few questions:

1. Are those new laptops that are half the size of standard laptops, just as good as regular laptops? Are there any disadvantages to them? They seem much easier to carry around.

2. In the cell phone stores here, I see many new models with touch screens, which do not need buttons, and are popular with many people now. They seem to be the latest fad here in the Philippines. I am interested in getting one too. Some even have wi fi too. So I'm wondering:

- If I get one with wi fi, can it surf the web like a normal browser? Would this forum appear on it in its normal forum? Would all the images of this forum show on a cell phone browser? What are the limitations of a cell phone browser?

- Are there any drawbacks to touch screen cell phones?

- Is it possible to have two cell phones that can see where the other one is geographically through a GPS satellite map? I mean if Dianne and I had such cell phones, can she see my exact location from her phone, if both our phones are hooked up to some type of GPS system?

- What is that GPRS thing I keep seeing on cell phone boxes? What does that do and what is it useful for?

Thanks,
Winston
Last edited by Winston on January 24th, 2013, 8:59 am, edited 3 times in total.
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momopi
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Re: Momopi, question about new cell phones and laptops

Post by momopi »

Winston wrote:Momopi,
Looking at the recent fancy new laptops and cell phones, I have a few questions:
1. Are those new laptops that are half the size of standard laptops, just as good as regular laptops? Are there any disadvantages to them? They seem much easier to carry around.
2. In the cell phone stores here, I see many new models with touch screens, which do not need buttons, and are popular with many people now. They seem to be the latest fad here in the Philippines. I am interested in getting one too. Some even have wi fi too. So I'm wondering:
- If I get one with wi fi, can it surf the web like a normal browser? Would this forum appear on it in its normal forum? Would all the images of this forum show on a cell phone browser? What are the limitations of a cell phone browser?
- Are there any drawbacks to touch screen cell phones?
- Is it possible to have two cell phones that can see where the other one is geographically through a GPS satellite map? I mean if Dianne and I had such cell phones, can she see my exact location from her phone, if both our phones are hooked up to some type of GPS system?
- What is that GPRS thing I keep seeing on cell phone boxes? What does that do and what is it useful for?
Thanks,
Winston

1. Netbooks are not intended as a replacement for full-powered desktops or laptops. They're designed for people who travel a lot and just need something to check e-mail and light usage. You're trading weight and luggage space for performance.

I have a large company laptop (Dell) and if I carry it with the laptop bag, it takes like 1/4 the space in my luggage. >_>

2. You can surf the web on smartphones via CDMA, EDGE, 3G, 4G, WiFi, etc. How certain web pages would appear on the phone depends on the phone's browser and the content/format of the web page. It's possible to surf this forum on an Apple iPhone but you'd have to zoom in and move the page around a lot.

3. Some people do not like to type on a touch screen cell phone and prefer button style blackberry. It's a matter of personal preference.

4. iPhone has location tracking, when enabled you can look up where the phone is. I don't use blackberry or android so you'd have to ask other phone users. The location is approximite and not exact.

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5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Pa ... io_Service
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Post by Winston »

Thanks. How are netbooks any less in performance though than regular laptops? Do you mean they are slower and more unreliable or more fragile?
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Post by momopi »

Winston wrote:Thanks. How are netbooks any less in performance though than regular laptops? Do you mean they are slower and more unreliable or more fragile?
Netbooks use slower CPU's. It's a trade-off in performance vs. weight & battery life. If you want it small, light, and cheap, it's going to be slower.

Before you buy, ask yourself why you need a netbook. It makes sense for those who fly/travel a lot, but not necessarily for you.
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Post by Winston »

Well I do plan to start traveling, and the company I just worked for may give me more work. Also, the laptop I have is so heavy. When I carry it in the laptop bag, it feels like a big burden on my shoulder. But I picked up a netbook in the mall yesterday and wow it was so light in comparison, almost weightless!

Anyhow, I saw a netbook in the mall for 12,000p. It has 250 GB hard drive, 2 GB RAM, etc. Sound like a good deal? This one was a Neo brand. Is that a good brand?

I also saw an Acer brand netbook for 17,000p with similar specs.

Btw, I just got Dianne a new dual sim touch screen cell phone. It costs only 3400p and is a local brand called "my phone". I tested it out and it looked pretty good. Plus it came with a one year warranty, and logic says that if it was a bad or risky product, they would not provide a one year warranty on it.

This is the touch screen phone I got her: (Note: The one below is a white version, but we got the black colored one)

http://www.myphone.com.ph/

Image
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Post by momopi »

Winston wrote:Well I do plan to start traveling, and the company I just worked for may give me more work. Also, the laptop I have is so heavy. When I carry it in the laptop bag, it feels like a big burden on my shoulder. But I picked up a netbook in the mall yesterday and wow it was so light in comparison, almost weightless!
Don't forget to check the weight of the A/C charger. My company laptop (Dell)'s charger is a brick at 1.2 lbs. ;p
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Post by Winston »

I asked to see the charger yesterday at the store, and it was fairly light, even lighter than a laptop charger.

Btw, what about this question below?

Anyhow, I saw a netbook in the mall for 12,000p. It has 250 GB hard drive, 2 GB RAM, etc. Sound like a good deal? This one was a Neo brand. Is that a good brand?

I also saw an Acer brand netbook for 17,000p with similar specs.

The other day though, a friend told me that it's better to get an IPad than a netbook, cause an IPad can do everything that a Netbook can, and more. Plus it is lighter, easier to carry and always on stand-by.

Do you agree with that? Is it better to get an IPad than a Netbook? How much do IPads usually run?

He showed me his IPhone too, and it was incredible in what it could do. Is it wise to get China imitations of it? How can you get them cheaper?
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Post by momopi »

Netbook = $200-$400
iPad = $500-$700 (plus $80 for apple care extended warranty)

Go to an Apple store (or reseller store) and play with the iPad and iPhone first. If you want to buy an iPhone, get the real thing and not a poor imitation.
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Post by Winston »

Momopi,
My Hungarian guests said that they got a netbook in the USA for $200. Wow, that's cheaper than the cheapest one in the Philippines at 13,000p.

Should I try to get one from the US through Ebay? If so, it's hard to find a seller that will ship such a thing to the Philippines. That's what sucks about being here.

Maybe I should go back to Washington and get one and rest and enjoy the clean air there for a while?
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Post by odbo »

Ya, enjoy the clean chemtrails. I'm about to come down with asthma it's getting so bad. I'm trying to GTFO of here and you're trying to get back in. :lol: Some shit might go down any minute this or next year (food shortage, false flag terrorist attack, major earthquake, who the f**k knows). Unless you got a place (not a hotel room), a gun, and a few weeks worth of food & water, I'd stay the away, especially to save some chump change for a netbook. Those are just the Acer's that are $200. Plus you're going to have to pay some taxes and/or environmental fees. You can always just ask a friend to buy you one and ship it over. Or check big online sellers. http://www.tigerdirect.com/sectors/help ... tional.asp < Tiger is well known and bought Circuit City's name when it went bankrupt. Try to get an Asus, Fujitsu or Toshiba, something nice. Acer and Hp are a little crappier, including the drivers/support. Which matters because netbooks are especially slow with Windows 7 Starter and it can be a pain to put XP on there. I recommend both XP & a light-weight Linux distro.
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Post by Mr S »

If you try to ship a laptop to the PHilippines the government will tax the shit out of it and whatever you though you saved will be pretty much the same as if you bought one here!

Just fly to Hong Kong and buy one, they should be just as cheap there. Flights are cheap from Clark or Manila.

Why fly all the way back to the states to enjoy a cleaner environment? Just go to Malaysia, or Guam it's should be decent over there.
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Post by keius »

Winston wrote:Momopi,
My Hungarian guests said that they got a netbook in the USA for $200. Wow, that's cheaper than the cheapest one in the Philippines at 13,000p.

Should I try to get one from the US through Ebay? If so, it's hard to find a seller that will ship such a thing to the Philippines. That's what sucks about being here.

Maybe I should go back to Washington and get one and rest and enjoy the clean air there for a while?
Any netbook you get in the states for 200 isn't going to have the newest generation hardware for netbooks, including a slower cpu, and only 1G of ram (you'll need to pay more to upgrade). Hell, you might even see a label stating it's 802.11n draft (which is a rip). There is a reason it's so cheap. The specs may look the same, but if it's that much cheaper, then it's older gen hardware inside. That said, i do have an Acer netbook and after customizing it, it does everything i need it to do.
Windows 7 starter works fine for netbooks. You just have to remove all the useless junk that's installed, or do a full reinstall. 2G memory really is the minimum and it'll cost you at least 30 bucks. Netbooks typically only have 1 memory slot so you'll have to buy a 2gig stick. Anything more than web browsing and it starts slowing down w/o the mem upgrade.
If you plan to actually use it for work, like actual development, a netbook just won't cut it. I have a netbook, and a regular 17 inch laptop (heavy as shit btw), and an iphone, and a desktop. I use all 4 regularly depending on what i want to do. You get what you pay for.

If your going to being using it for development, then get a compact 15 inch laptop with some oomph to it.
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Post by Winston »

Why would you need more than 1GB RAM though? I did fine on 512MB RAM. If you use it for web browsing and word processing and watching youtube, you don't need that much RAM right? I'm not gonna be using it to play the latest high tech games or anything.
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Dual-SIM cell phones from Kingcom Digital at cheap prices!

Post by Winston »

In the mall today, I found a new Filipino cell phone brand with manufacturing plants in Taiwan that has cheap dual SIM phones for 1600p, called Kingcom Digital. An expat friend of mine uses a similar phone from Cherry Mobile, another new brand, and he says it works great. That's an incredible deal for a dual SIM phone. With it, I can put a Philippines and Taiwan SIM card in it when I go to Taiwan, so I can still receive txts from the Philippines while my SIM is on roaming. It comes with a one year warranty too, so I think it's a decent product, for a cheap price.

I like using basic phones in third world countries so you don't have to worry about it getting stolen all the time, like you would if you had a 15,000p phone.

Here is the website of Kingcom Digital if you want to look at it and see what deals they have and where their outlets are.

http://www.e-kingcom.com
Last edited by Winston on May 24th, 2011, 10:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Check out my FUN video clips in Russia and SE Asia and Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind video series and Full Russia Trip Videos!

Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!

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Winston
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Post by Winston »

Momopi,
The Hungarian guests that stayed with me said that they bought a netbook in the US for $200. Wow. That's cheap.

Is it better to get a netbook from Hong Kong or the US? Which has cheaper electronics and laptops? What do you think?
Check out my FUN video clips in Russia and SE Asia and Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind video series and Full Russia Trip Videos!

Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!

"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
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