android phone in beijing

tuvia

举人
great news about the beta ready to go with android. anyone got a recommendation what might be a cheap choice (in beijing) for an android phone good to use with pleco? many thanks.
 

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
tuvia said:
great news about the beta ready to go with android. anyone got a recommendation what might be a cheap choice (in beijing) for an android phone good to use with pleco? many thanks.

Can't comment on Beijing availability specifically, but in general I'd say that a normal-screen older device is better than a tiny-screen newer one; HTC Desire > HTC Wildfire S, in other words. Of the 2010-models-that-are-likely-to-be-significantly-discounted-now the Desire would probably be my top pick, though that all depends on what sort of pricing you can get for it.
 

bbe

Member
If it's not obvious already (and/or you're not locked in with a number you need to keep) go with china unicom. Nobody wants to be stuck having to hunt for a deformed that uses TD-SCDMA.
 

tuvia

举人
bbe (or anyone who knows)- i dont know what you mean by the unicom vs china mobile (in regards to deformed that uses td-scdma). can you please explain further? thanks.
 

Sarevok

进士
Well, China Mobile uses it's own 3G standard called TD-SCDMA, while China Unicom uses WCDMA, which is much more widespread (it's the common 3G standard here in Europe). This means there are fewer TD-SCDMA phones (as this standard is not used outside PRC) coming mostly from Chinese manufacturers like ZTE, Huawei etc. (a few Android phones from HTC do indeed have the TD-SCDMA version as does the Samsung Galaxy S, but the choice is much more limited overall). If you have a WCDMA phone, you can still use it with China Mobile, but only on GSM and not on 3G network - that means fast data services won't be available to you, which kinda defeats the purpose of having a smartphone. China Unicom is thus the obvious choice for most people...
 

JRyn

Member
ou can save a lot of money by buying from TaoBao. I thought smart phones on the mobile shop are way overpriced, here. I got my Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S for At&t) for just around 2,000 yuan. Now you can get HTC Desire S for just 2,600 or cheaper for Galaxy S (one)
 

tuvia

举人
yes i saw that some prices on taobao are a lot better than in the shops. but i am still a little confused about the china unicom vs china mobile issues ; i basically understand the explanation by sarevok but does that mean i have to buy the phone at a china unicom center, or that i must be careful (for example) that if i buy an htc desire that it is compatible with unicom ? or are htc's only useful with china mobile?
 

ogami_ito

秀才
HI,

Just like in USA, there are multiple telecoms. Each use their own frequency and technology. For example, Verizon uses CDMA, and hence the phones are not compatible with ATT and T-Mobile. T-Mobile and ATT both use GSM for the 2G low-speed network, but use different 3G tech.

In China, China Mobile and China Unicom both use GSM for low-speed. China Telecom uses CDMA, so less comparable with everything, but their plans are the cheapest (many free minutes bundled with the telephone service you get anyway). China Mobile uses TDSDMA or something for their 3G. Its a standard only used in China and only works with some phones. And NO ONE BUYS IT. ITS stupid. China Unicom uses WCDMA for the 3G, which is the same as used in Europe, HK, Taiwan, and many places.

BUT, China Mobile has the best 2G GSM network in China. I disagree with previous poster...you don't need 3G to enjoy a smartphone. China Unicom really does not have nearly as good coverage (2G and 3G) as China Mobile, so I get a lot of dropped calls where I live. That may be different in Beijing though.

China Unicom is cheaper. I have 500 minutes and 700MB for (if I remember correctly) 190RMB/month. China mobile account I last used had 800minutes for 260 RMB, plus 20RMB for 150MB data.
 
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