Smartphones

@Stil: What did you do with the 4S? Give it to the gf?  Keep it as a backup? Trade it in? Sell it? If one of the latter two, how much did you get for it?

Quote from: Arnold J. Rimmer on September 26, 2013, 06:55:50 PM

After much deliberation, I (think) I am going to get the HTC One when my pay day comes up soon.

I want a phone that's really well-built (like an iPhone), is customisable (unlike an iPhone) and on which I can side load any apps I want.

The One seems tom top all lists of the best phones in the world right now, and tick all the boxes for me.

I did consider a Nokia Lumia Windows Phone, but I'm very concerned that there is no side loading and I couldn't even access the UK/US apps because I'm in China.

A few years back I bought an HTC Desire. Loved the phone. Obviously not enough because I left the damn thing in a taxi and lost forever. 

So, I bought the One. Faster, and pretty much like the other one. The maps are awesome, used them when we travel and helped tremendously. I'm not big on many apps, but fairly easy to do.

Shame about the Desire, but I guess the One is the silver lining 

How much did you pay for it? A store in my town quoted me 5000 the other day 

We got it on a promo. It was listed as 5200 initially but marked down to 3999 We also got her to throw in an 8GB card. She wouldn't do 16 and laughed at us at the 32gig

We got it on a promo. It was listed as 5200 initially but marked down to 3999 We also got her to throw in an 8GB card. She wouldn't do 16 and laughed at us at the 32gig

It's a really solid phone isn't it... I mean the build of it?

Also, have you managed to get the full Google Play store on it?

It's a really solid phone isn't it... I mean the build of it?

Also, have you managed to get the full Google Play store on it?

Yes it is. Things need to be with me, I can break a diamond! I break EVERYTHING! (I don't mean promises and contracts)

I've used some of the GooglePlay stuff, don't know if I have the full scope. There are trolls with better tech-savvy than me. I download what I want, not just anything and everything. I have a shitload of music and lots of reading material

Quote from: Arnold J. Rimmer on September 27, 2013, 12:37:25 AM

It's a really solid phone isn't it... I mean the build of it?

Also, have you managed to get the full Google Play store on it?

Yes it is. Things need to be with me, I can break a diamond! I break EVERYTHING! (I don't mean promises and contracts)

I've used some of the GooglePlay stuff, don't know if I have the full scope. There are trolls with better tech-savvy than me. I download what I want, not just anything and everything. I have a shitload of music and lots of reading material

Did you actually buy stuff on the Play store?

No, nothing I need nor want to use

It's like a cool small computer when I'm out, walkman, and, and, oh yea, it's a great phone

In Foreign, Google Play has six sections: Apps, Games, Movies & TV, Music, Books, and Magazines. You can buy stuff if you plug in your credit card. From China, though, the only accessible sections are Apps and Games, and the only accessible content in those sections is whatever is downloadable for free. This is not entirely useless, but nearly.

Other Google stuff works though. Maps and translations and voice typing and data syncing and whatnot.

@Stil: What did you do with the 4S? Give it to the gf?  Keep it as a backup? Trade it in? Sell it? If one of the latter two, how much did you get for it?

They offered me 1600 for it. I decided to keep it.

In Foreign, Google Play has six sections: Apps, Games, Movies & TV, Music, Books, and Magazines. You can buy stuff if you plug in your credit card. From China, though, the only accessible sections are Apps and Games, and the only accessible content in those sections is whatever is downloadable for free. This is not entirely useless, but nearly.

Other Google stuff works though. Maps and translations and voice typing and data syncing and whatnot.

Yes.

However there is supposed to be a way to get the western Play store. Have you heard anything about how to do that?

Velvety Pfeffer Nutz. The irony being that some of the better apps for that are paid apps available on Google Play. (Note: apps, not service; you need the service before you can use the app.) However, I don't know if you can make purchases that way. You get the full store and all the content, but does the use of Nutz bamboozle your credit card security? I don't know. Never tried.

There's also a thing called Market Enabler, but that too I have never tried.

Velvety pf what now?? Just googled it and nothing relevant came up.

I've tried Market Enabler before and it didn't work.

This is why Apple kicks butt for expats. As long as you sign up to their app store with a card from your country, you can access the full store as you would be able to back home. I do this on the iPad mini.

Velvety Pffefer Nutz

Personally I find Google Play kind of crap as a discovery engine. If I were ever struck by lightning and woke up with a desire to buy something online without paranoia, I don't know that Teh GooPlah would be my first stop. I do get the impression Apple has this stuff worked out better.

Ahh I see. You can tell I haven't been on RESLC for a while!

That makes no difference either though. Your google account is linked to your phone number, so they know where you are 

This is why Apple kicks butt for expats. As long as you sign up to their app store with a card from your country, you can access the full store as you would be able to back home. I do this on the iPad mini.

Yep.

Better yet, you can sign up for multiple Apple App store by country. I'm registered in the U.S. one on a credit card, and the China one using my local China bank account (debit card). I prefer to use the China one when possible because it's easier as I'm being paid in China in RMB into that account, rather than having to send money home to cover a charge on a US card. Most apps (not all) that I want are available in both stores, so I run the purchases through my China account. Apple doesn't care where your phone is located or what language it's using (Apple devices handle multiple languages with the click of a button, not the downloading/flashing of a separate ROM/OS.)