Mobile phones

[blindcinderella]

i think 大哥大 u mentioned is actually the first mode of mobile phones, which is also called 砖头机 (bricklike phone)due to its size and its shape. ppl call this 大哥大 because when it appeared in china during the 80's it was really costy and known as something luxury. 大哥大 was a symbol of social status during that time. only the rish could be able to afford it. so here came the name da ge da. ( 大哥 reffers to some rich businessman or boss) but now since the popularization of cells on in china. 大哥大 is considered really old fashion. nobody would be so stupid to show off his/her 大哥大 on the streets.

[skylee]

My next dream phone (dream because it costs about HKD 4,700) ->

http://www.nokia.com/nseries/index.html?lang=en&country=AP#product,n73

http://www.ringhk.com/index_phone_spec.php?id=1040

High time for a new phone now that I've used my N70 for over 9 months ...

[Ian_Lee]

I don't care much about cell phone. So this question may be dumb.

Everytime when I am in HK, I just borrow my friend's old phone and buy a SIM card at HK$38 for 1,000 minutes (CSL) which is enough for my one-month's stay over there.

Recently I don't want to bother my friend. I asked Verizon sales representative in US whether I can bring my LG flip-phone (free from Verizon) to use when I travel overseas. He told me places like Japan and HK cannot because they use SIM card while Verizon cell phone which uses GSM technology can be used in places like Mainland China or Thailand.

But how come I saw many folks from Mainland China collecting old cell phones in HK at bargain price if there are two different systems in two places?

[gato]

I asked Verizon sales representative in US whether I can bring my LG flip-phone (free from Verizon) to use when I travel overseas. He told me places like Japan and HK cannot because they use SIM card while Verizon cell phone which uses GSM technology can be used in places like Mainland China or Thailand.

So far as I know, Verizon and most other US networks use CDMA, not GSM. I only know T-Mobile to use GSM.

HK uses GSM, though the bands used there might be slightly different from that used in the Mainland and Taiwan. But as long as your phone is tri-band, you should be able to use it in all three places. Maybe dual-band would work, as well.

[imron]

GSM = uses SIM card. But if your phone is from the US then even if you have a GSM phone, the frequencies used in the US for GSM are different from the frequencies used by everyone else. This is because the default GSM frequency was already in use in the US before GSM adoption occured.

As far as I know, the GSM frequencies used all over Asia (and most of the world except Japan/Americas) are the same, so a GSM phone from HK will work fine in Mainland China, and vice-versa. Perhaps the Verizon Sales representative had his technologies confused.

All is not lost however if you have a multi-band phone that uses a SIM card, in that case you should be able to use your North American phone with a HK SIM card, provided that it hasn't been SIM-locked.

[DrinkDrankDrunk]

Everytime when I am in HK, I just borrow my friend's old phone and buy a SIM card at HK$38 for 1,000 minutes (CSL) which is enough for my one-month's stay over there.

Will those 1,000 minutes work on mainland China as well? CSL's website indicates free calls TO mainland but I do not know if the reverse is applicable. Thanks in advance.

All you gadget fanatics will surely faint at the sight of my "ancient" Sanyo 4900 which was only replaced last month after five years of enduring service. That was one reliable phone; it worked even after falling from a roller coaster (Superman ultimate flight). My new phone in contrast feels so brittle.

[skylee]

This is my new handset -> Nokia 6288

[anonymoose]

Presumably the ability to be able to write Chinese characters on a phone is a feature of the phone itself (and not something that can be added with the sim card).

I have a Nokia which I bought in the UK last year. I will be moving to Shanghai soon, and don't know whether I should take my phone, or buy a new one in Shanghai. In any case, I would like to be able to send text messages in Chinese.

Any advice?

[roddy]

It's not so much a feature of the phone as of the firmware - software - which the phone runs on. This can be updated, although it's not necessarily simple to do. Mobile phone shops can also do it for you sometimes. You'd need to have a search around and see what's available for your particular model.

[Ardison]

I used to have a Nokia for its stability, but now a SonyEricsson as given by my Ba.

dàɡēdà(大哥大) originated from Hongkong and about 20 years ago a movie star hónɡ jīnbǎo(洪金宝) having privilege on Hongkong film industry was called 大哥大. (He is the senior to Jackie Chan 成龙) Thus later people related privilege with mobile phone by calling it 大哥大.

[badr]

my Z600 has served me very well for the past 3 years and never missed a beat but it is starting to show its age. I got a samsung D820 to replace early this summer and ended up giving it to the wife and going back to the Z600.

now, the search is on for a replacement!!!

I'm split between the Treo 650, treo 680, SE W850 and M600... wow.. To make things better, my lifedrive just died on me so I'm SOL... I never realized how much I used pleco until I didn't have it..

[geraldc]

I just the Sony Ericsson 990i, and it pretty much rocks. Does take a while to boot up, and it's a bit big, but it's great to have a phone that can switch to wifi when available.

[skylee]

My next dream phone -> Samsung Omnia

The Samsung OMNIA will be unveiled at CommunicAsia, Singapore from June 17 to 20 and commercially launched in the Southeast Asian market starting from the same week. The phone will be available in the European market from July.

[adrianlondon]

The one with the low-res screen which was briefly discussed and then dismissed (by me anyway, but then I have an Ericsson T39m so probably don't have an opinion worth listening to) on the "which pda for Pleco" thread.

[skylee]

Turns out instead of the Samsung dream phone I bought a Sony Ericssen C905, which looks great (so far). It's a bit big and a bit heavy but if it takes great pictures then I think it's worth it.

I've used my SE K810i for a record-breaking 1.5 years and I still think it is a very nice handset.