Buying a handset in Hong Kong. Can the choice be so limited?

[Mudhead]

Hi there,

I am very interested in Pleco; particularly in the flashcard function. I am based in Hong Kong and my mobile contract is with “Peoples.” When I went to buy a handset I ran into a couple of unanticipated difficulties and would very much appreciate help on this.

What I need: apart from running Pleco, I need the phone to recognize and display simplified Chinese. I would prefer English Windows but could also deal with a Chinese version. Other functions are of minor importance.

Peoples currently offer only one Windows Mobile capable phone: the Motorola A3100 (HK$ 2200/US$ 284 for subscribers). However, I was told the traditional Chinese version can only recognize traditional writing (which I can’t write) or stroke-order based input (can’t use either). The English one, I was told, can’t display any Chinese. Since even my five year old no-name phone can do English, Simplified and Traditional I was quite baffled by this problem.

Question 1) Would Pleco enable me to write short messages in simplified and send them through the Motorola A3100 even though the phone can’t display Chinese or can’t recognize simplified (depending on the system language)? Will I be able to use simplified for Pleco, even though the phone does not display Chinese in the English version?

Checking the Fortress price list, it seems the market in Hong Kong basically boils down to four handsets: LG KS20; SAMSUNG OMNIA II; SAMSUNG OMNIA i908, MOTOROLA MOTOSURF A3100
http://www.fortress.com.hk/fortress/jsp ... HI908ALBKC

According to Fortress only the “Samsung Omnia II” can display English, Traditional Chinese & Simplified Chinese.

Question 2) Can it be true that the choice is so limited? Since the price of the Samsung Omnia II HK$4,888 (US$ 630) is quite hefty, I hope that there are cheaper alternatives. Anybody here with experience in HK with any advice on other models? And no, I won't go for the Iphone because I want Pleco for the flashcards.

Thanks a lot!

Christoph

 

[mikelove]

On #1, Pleco's Chinese input / display system only works inside of Pleco. It works independently of Windows Mobile's text handling system, so it'll run just fine on an English-language phone that doesn't have any built-in Chinese support, but it won't add Chinese support to other applications like text messaging.

However, you can add Chinese display support to just about any WM phone using a technique called "font linking" - there's a free font floating around the internet called SunGlobe which enables font linking automatically when you install it, search the forums here for more information / links. There are also a couple of free Chinese input systems called ZTA4 and PlumSIP - those should come up on any internet search.

(we've really ought to put up some sort of a FAQ/guide on this, people ask us about it a lot and it'd be nice to have all of the information consolidated on one page)

On #2, I can't speak for Peoples specifically, but you're certainly not limited to just the A3100 / Omnia / KS20 in Hong Kong - the HTC Touch series are available just about everywhere, and there are a number of models in that that should cost considerably less than HK$4888 - the Touch Viva for example tends to be quite cheap.

If the iPhone is appealing to you aside from the lack of flashcards, you could always get a used non-phone Palm OS or Windows Mobile handheld as a short-term solution until we release a flashcard-equipped iPhone version. We can't state definitively yet whether or not it'll be possible to transfer licenses from the Palm OS / Windows Mobile versions of Pleco to the iPhone version, but hopefully we'll know about that within a few weeks.

 

[Mudhead]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply.
1) I see. If that would work I might go for the Motorola. Seems to make sense to put this on a FAQ.

2) Thanks also. I was judging according to a search "Windows" among mobile phones on the Fortress website. Strangely the HTC wasn't amongst it, although it is on their website. Shouldn't trust search functions. :wink:

 

[mikelove]

Well please do make sure it's one of the HTC Touch models running Windows Mobile that has a touchscreen - there are a few HTC phones running Android OS, which we don't support (and have no plans to support in the near future unless we run into serious problems with Apple's approval folks), and a few that do run Windows but are keyboard-only and don't have touchscreens (without which you can't use Pleco).

 

[mferrare]

The Fortress near where I live (at Tung Chung) has a few more phones than what you've listed. There are a couple of HTC (like the Touch II, Touch Pro, HD), LG (can't remember) in addition to the ones you mention. So it might pay to browse through a few more stores.

There are a few mobile phone shops in Argyle St in Mong Kok which carry a much larger variety of phones. You should be able to find just about anything there. Also there's a stack of phone places at New Town Plaza (Lucky Plaza actually I think) that are worth browsing. Even the warranty phones there are cheaper than at Fortress or Broadway. I tend to go there or Mong Kok when shopping for a new phone.

Any 'with warranty' (行貨) english language WinMo phones should come with chinese fonts and input methods either pre-installed or with a CD. That's what happened when I bought my Touch Dual - I got CEStar bundled with it which does simplified and traditional inputs. Even some parallel import (水貨) phones have the s/w bundles.

As for me I have a HTC Touch Dual which I upgraded to WinMo 6.1 myself (cooked ROM). I have a free chinese font (sunglobe) installed and ZT-A4 as my input method (also free). ZT-A4 does stroke order and pinyin. It doesn't do handwriting.

 

[Mudhead]

Thanks guys.
Went looking for a phone in Mong Kok yesterday and finally bought the Motorola A3100 for 2180 at Broadway. It was impossible to find any kind of below HK$ 4000 phone in the English version yesterday. Broadway, Fortress, small shops etc. all told me they are out of stock. Finally I got a simplified version in Broadway which is fine for me too. Will post experience with Pleco in the relevant thread later.

"There are a few mobile phone shops in Argyle St in Mong Kok which carry a much larger variety of phones. You should be able to find just about anything there. Also there's a stack of phone places at New Town Plaza (Lucky Plaza actually I think) that are worth browsing. Even the warranty phones there are cheaper than at Fortress or Broadway. I tend to go there or Mong Kok when shopping for a new phone." Since I am living in Shatin, that sounds like a good advice for next time.

"Any 'with warranty' (行貨) english language WinMo phones should come with chinese fonts and input methods either pre-installed or with a CD."
I am not too sure about that. At least for the Motorola, I was repeatedly told that the English version can't even display Chinese.

 

[mferrare]

"Any 'with warranty' (行貨) english language WinMo phones should come with chinese fonts and input methods either pre-installed or with a CD."
I am not too sure about that. At least for the Motorola, I was repeatedly told that the English version can't even display Chinese.

Even if they don't bundle something like CEStar with the phone you can still display Chinese. Just download a Chinese font (I use Sunglobe. This forum may have other opinions), install and viola! Chinese fonts. To be able to input Chinese you then need to install a chinese input method like ZT-A4.