PDAs in China

C

caesartg

榜眼
Hi

Couldn't find other posts on this, although I'm sure one or two must exist somewhere.

What's the popular PDA in China? Are Pocket PCs popular out there? I'm planning on heading to Beijing to find work this summer and was considering moving from Palm to PPC once I got there. Is it worth waiting and buying a PPC in China that has built-in handwriting recognition? Are there any native PPC manufacturers and if so, are they a lot cheaper/reliable/good value? Anyone had any issues or regrets about buying a PPC before heading out there?

Anyone who can answer or elaborate on any of the above questions, thanks very much in advance!

Cheers

Ben
 
S

Smoodo

举人
Pocket PC's in China.

There are a couple of brands that I've been seeing in Tianjin and Beijing, "dopod" and Dell's Axiom.

Dopad's website and one of their new models is at:
http://www.dopodasia.com/Dopod/Singapore/En/Products/PDAPhone/818_Pro

http://www.dell.com, they try to be smart and detect where you are by your connection, not by the website address you go to.

I feel that the prices I've seen on them have been comparable to the US. The Dopad is a phone and PDA, while Dell's batch are only PDAs. If it were me, I'd probably buy one in China. The software to add input support and such usually runs from $20 to $50 when purchased in the US (Monster something comes to mind.) Hope my 2 cents helps.
 
M

Mao Zhou

秀才
PDA's in China

I recently bought a slightly used PPC in Beijing. It cost an amazing 1000RMB after much haggling. It is a T-Mobile MDA III and has a slide out keyboard as well as touch screen.

You might want to check out the used cell phone market that is near LaiTai in Chaoyang. LaiTai is the huge fresh flower market in Chaoyang and the used cell phone store is hidden near by on Super Bar Street. Called Xing Ba Lu. You can recognize it by the door which are olive drab colored canvas. If you go up to the second floor to the back you will find hundreds of used phones. There are usually a good selection of PPCs and I even saw an Ipaq and a Palm Treo there. You should bargain with the sales person and bring your Chinese SIM with you to have them config the phone for you. They can unlock it and set it up working for you which will save you a trip back. Just be careful because when it is crowded there are pickpockets. I just wear my tightest jeans and hold my billfold in my hand rather than back pockets. Just be careful and you'll be alright. If you don't speak Mandarin well enought bring a friend to help you bargain. Good Luck in Beijing! It's the center of the World.
 
C

caesartg

榜眼
Cheers Mao Zhou

I'll certainly look into that when I get to Beijing this summer.

Thanks for the warning about pickpockets! :) I was living in Kobe, Japan for about a year and then Taipei for a year and a half and never had anything stolen. However, when I went to the mainland for a month's holiday, I was cheated once in Beijing (within one minute of exiting 'arrivals' at the airport, no less), once in Tianjin and twice in Yunnan, mainly through counterfeit money and sales assistants giving me the wrong change. At the time, my Chinese was almost non-existent, so I couldn't really do much about it, except look like an angry confused laowai to passers-by. On top of that, there were another two incidents where I caught the person trying to cheat me before they managed to. It was a real eye-opener! I'll have to remember all that when I'm packing clothes and belongings. I'll probably also have to be very careful with my laptop too.

Cheers

Ben
 
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