Telephone recommendation

[riki]

Hi All

 

can help me out here with any recommendation on a telephone that -

 

1.Allows me to write messages in Thai and increase the font size so that I can actually see the characters.

 

2.Has the function to download an app for a Thai-English dictionary  ( any recommendations on a dictionary also welcome )

 

3.Has a decent memory to play Thai MP3's and a few songs on

 

Anything else is not so important other than making actual phone calls :-) 

 

I'm looking at a Samsung model ideally as they seem to popular but I really don't want to spend more than nesseccary on functions that I don't and won't use.. so cheaper the better

 

Thanks Richard  

[robert69]

All android devices. Use SwiftKey or go keyboard and add thai keyboards

[riki]

I Live here so the phone I buy here will more likely have a Thai keyboard...

 

 

[robert69]

I Live here so the phone I buy here will more likely have a Thai keyboard...

 

Not by definition, the settings can be changed. Swiftkey is a nice keyboard with super easy switch between different keyboard. Same goes for gokeyboard

[Woofiee]

1.Allows me to write messages in Thai and increase the font size so that I can actually see the characters.

 

2.Has the function to download an app for a Thai-English dictionary  ( any recommendations on a dictionary also welcome )

 

3.Has a decent memory to play Thai MP3's and a few songs on

 

Anything else is not so important other than making actual phone calls :-) 

 

You're probably predisposed to buying an Android device - perfectly fine choice - but as a point any iPhone device does all this too:

 

1. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility. You can change font sizes up to 56pts (usually it's 16pt), invert colors, go b&w for high contrast, etc. Works for Stevie Wonder, should be good for you.   ;)   You can also add a Thai keyboard in the Keyboard section - it's already built in. 

 

2. Plenty of Thai-English dictionaries, but also check out the "Learn Thai with Mod" YouTube channel - a nice how-to on learning the language in a practical way. Good to augment texts and get the correct sounds down. 

 

3. 8-64GB should be enough for any Thai music (usually 640K does it for me… who'd ever need more than that?  ;)

 

Most any modern smartphone should work for you - just a matter of finding the right price/performance for your wallet

[riki]

You're probably predisposed to buying an Android device - perfectly fine choice - but as a point any iPhone device does all this too:

 

1. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility. You can change font sizes up to 56pts (usually it's 16pt), invert colors, go b&w for high contrast, etc. Works for Stevie Wonder, should be good for you.   ;)   You can also add a Thai keyboard in the Keyboard section - it's already built in. 

 

2. Plenty of Thai-English dictionaries, but also check out the "Learn Thai with Mod" YouTube channel - a nice how-to on learning the language in a practical way. Good to augment texts and get the correct sounds down. 

 

3. 8-64GB should be enough for any Thai music (usually 640K does it for me… who'd ever need more than that?  ;)

 

Most any modern smartphone should work for you - just a matter of finding the right price/performance for your wallet

  

Thanks for the feedback regards the i-phone.

 

I went out looking at the Samsung range today and it appears that the font size cannot be increased to a level that I would not need to wear glasses to read and type messages in thai.

 

Will go look at the I-Phone's later this week.

 

Thanks

[robert69]

Thanks for the feedback regards the i-phone.

 

I went out looking at the Samsung range today and it appears that the font size cannot be increased to a level that I would not need to wear glasses to read and type messages in thai.

 

Will go look at the I-Phone's later this week.

 

Thanks

haha use a tab2 7inch

[Woofiee]

Thanks for the feedback regards the i-phone.

 

I went out looking at the Samsung range today and it appears that the font size cannot be increased to a level that I would not need to wear glasses to read and type messages in thai.

 

Will go look at the I-Phone's later this week.

 

Thanks

 

 

No worries - if you have any questions, feel free to PM me..

[GorGuy RIP]

I have an iphone, but I would not recommend it for mp3's

 

I was looking for an alternative, but at the time, there was nothing close.

 

Now there are many that do a similar job. They have many cheap alternatives now, and if buying now I would go to Tukcom in south pattaya road and check out what they have.

[Garzan]

I have a Samsung S2 purchased at Big C Pattaya Klang that does all that. My preference for android over Apple is: common microusb charging, removable battery(spare in pocket), removable storage. A phone where you can swap memory cards gives you essentially unlimited storage. The only question is how big you want the screen. I don't think Apple has a phone close in size to the Note.

[hetepatat]

Apple : you 've got a point that it's nicer to have a phone with swappable memory card and swappable battery.
For the memory part : it's true that most android have the possibility to swap memory cards. However, i see that i never go over the 16GB on mine so i will never swap it.
16Gb, if 14.5 is usable, will make it possible to have around 4000 mp3 songs in normal quality.

 

Battery : if you want swappable battery, be careful with what you buy. Iphone : can't !     But also many Androids don't have swappable batteries any more.
My best advice is to buy a 10.000 mAh spare battery for mobile phones. About 1200 baht in my country. You can charge any standard smartphone about 5 times completely with it.
Great for emergencies. Also nice to load a tablet computer a few times maybe.

Note or Samsung Galaxy II 7.0 inch are good advices for bigger screens. You could also find out what software you want to use and then find it in Google Play store. For everything you want to do on an Android, there are 20+ apps. Most of the time, they are free.

Iphone : one of the letdowns for me is it can't give a sms confirmation... something Nokia figured out 15 years ago already. Other stuff you don't expect like this will turn up when you buy Iphone. (example : not possible to make it a mobile hotspot if you don't do the jailbreaking).

[Woofiee]

Iphone : one of the letdowns for me is it can't give a sms confirmation... something Nokia figured out 15 years ago already. 

 

It's there, just not how you like it. 

 

Settings > Messages > Send Read Receipts. 

 

If you want people to know you've read a SMS, you turn it on and all sent SMSs get a note that they've been received. It's a privacy issue, not a technology issue.  

 

I have an iphone, but I would not recommend it for mp3's

 

Why not? iPods (hence iPhones) did MP3s before there was MP4's AAC.. 

[GorGuy RIP]

 

 

Why not? iPods (hence iPhones) did MP3s before there was MP4's AAC.. 

 

Because the iphone does not let you use mp3's for ringtones... It is restrictive, it has to be less than 40 seconds and an itunes ring tone.

 

It is also "clumpy" for transferring photos - I know there are work arounds, but come on , make it simple.

[Phats]

Although going Android is probably the way to go for your purposes with the Samsung's bigger screen and a lower price point there is a lot of disinformation about the iPhone here.  Myself I've owned most of the iphone models and some of the issues raised have never existed and the others don't exist in the latest firmware.  I hear good things about the upcoming HTC also (is it out yet I haven't looked?)

[hetepatat]

It's there, just not how you like it. 

 

Settings > Messages > Send Read Receipts. 

 

If you want people to know you've read a SMS, you turn it on and all sent SMSs get a note that they've been received. It's a privacy issue, not a technology issue.  

 

My Iphone 4S with firmware 6.1 does not have this possibility.  Don't know where you are from , what kind of network you use or what version you have of the Iphone. I heard there are 3 different versions of Iphone5 , depending on the country and kind of network, so that could be a reason.

 

The thing I want and which i consider basic basic basic for any phone is that when i send a message to you, i can see a few seconds later that it has arrived on your phone.

I don't care if others know that i read THEIR messages :-)  Maybe we are talking two different things but this setting is not available on my phone either.

Before, there used to be a Cydia app that did the trick for jailobroken iphone <4 i think... but now : not any more.

 

On any other phone, you just change this in settings. For Iphone , there is no setting for this.

But there is one other way around it :    every operator has his own code. Mine has one with * and # and numbers in it which makes me type the code alone in about 10 seconds cause i need to change to an other panel of the screen three times or use an extra program to add the code automatically.

When i do this i get a long text back and the message tone which is quite annoying. 

It's a pain in my but for an expensive phone like this.

I CAN guide you to forums and articles that confirm what i said about this.

It's just the truth (out here), believe me on this one :-)     It's my job ! In return I promise to believe all you tell me about LOS !

 

The mp3 question :   I just don't think Iphone is as handy as Android phones to copy mp3 to the memory. And that is just the start of it. Lack of swapability of the card to other machines is also an issue (cause no memory card in iphone).

 

I'm not really an Iphone hater. But not a lover either.

[Phats]

I'll give you that one, the feature to request read receipts is missing but since my network was charging 9p (£0.09) a pop for them many years ago I stopped using them anyway.

 

As for the mp3's etc, apart from the fact you are tied to using iTunes to sync (which isn't terrible software) it is pretty much 1 click idiot proof.  My iPhone has mp3's on it, it can act as a personal wifi hotspot etc.  Batteries being swappable are largely a pre smart phone concept and have been sacrificed for form factor, these can still be replaced at dealers but often your phone will be obsolete before the battery dies.  Coincidently the first generation iPhone was declared obsolete this week (vintage in California where you can still get parts for another year or two).

 

As far as I can tell the outer shell of the iPhone 5 seems more prone to chipping than any of the previous models and if you care what TG's think they seem to prefer the Samsung models and even the iphone 4 over the iphone 5 (bigger is better I guess).

 

Still like I said before for someone who is concerned about font sizes for reading etc I would go for the Samsung/Android since the screen is bigger.