What new phone and laptop should I get? a question for the technologically enlightened

Life Technology
1

It’s been a rough week for technology in the LeTete household.
(I’m gonna tell the stories of how I killed my lil digital friends first, cause I think they’re too random not to share, but if you’re a techie who’s kind enough to give me advice :notworthy: and is not interested in stories, please feel free to skip the next two paragraphs…)
First, Thursday night, the death of my laptop. - I was headed home on the train and a slightly strange, but very friendly guy sat down next to me, looking over my shoulder at my laptop, where I happened to be viewing pictures of my nieces and nephews. Happy to practice my newly acquired “family” Chinese vocabulary, I chatted with him for a while then got off at my stop. He got off too. Usually I take the time to put my laptop back in my bag before walking home, but since I had a feeling this guy was going to follow me, I just wrapped my laptop in my coat and hurried away. He followed me anyways, across the deserted street and proceeded to try to put his arm around me/try to get friendly, despite me moving away from him. I went straight to a friend’s house where my two strapping heroes proceeded to scare said strange-train-guy off. We kicked back a couple of beers to celebrate, and when I was ready to go, I picked up my coat and BLAM my laptop fell to the tile floor and the screen got busted. It was an eeepc mt touchscreen. The computer is working fairly well, touchscreen is not.

Then, last night, some fucking idiot poisoned my dog :fume: well, I think they were trying for the stray pack down the street, but my dog got it. In the cab on the way to the vet, while she was convulsing and foaming at the mouth, she projectile vomited on my cell phone. AT that point I didn’t give a shit about the cell phone so I let it sit in the puddle of bile.
(My dog is doing much better now, by the way, and I’d gladly sacrifice a thousand cell phones for her health.)

Anyways, those stories are beside the point, I just thought it was interesting how I lost the hardware.

I’m hoping someone more technologically enlightened than I am can give me some tips.

My technological hopes and dreams:
-Need Microsoft Word. I do a lot of very involved document editing (think 70 pages, track changes, comments on just about every line) and my old eeepc would sometimes flip out and freeze on me (I know- from word. I’m not kidding. It was just too much for the little guy to handle. Usually I have word and several webpages open at once cause I have to do research and stuff.)
-Would love it if the comp had a fast (instantaneous?) start up. I’ve watched people on the train with their lil ipads that just light right up when they open the cover and I am JEALOUS! I often use my computer for short periods of time (say 10 min) and it’s annoying going through start up, then putting my data card in there and waiting for 3 min before the whole thing is ready to launch to the internet.
-would love a touch screen. It really helps with my editing work, start to feel like I have carpel tunnel when I use the trackpad/mouse too much.
-BEsides the regular internet stuff (youtube, facebook and such) and my substantial MS Word use, I do very simple video editing- just combining and cutting clips and adding music. Mostly just the internet and word though.
-Oh yeah and kindle. Love my reading on the go!

So I’m trying to think of what the best combo would be.
Was thinking ipad for travel and something with windows 7 for editing at home, but then the ol’ phone died.

Now I’m thinking maybe iphone for travel (could I get a little keyboard if I wanted to type ridiculously long messages/posts like this one?) and a laptop that’s travel capable when I’ve got a big editing project and need every possible moment on the train/between classes etc to finish it.

I liked the eeepc touch but found that it was slow, had some design flaws that really annoyed me, especially seeing as how I spend so much time on the damned machine. The eeepc was only 17,000 and before that I had a little eeepc netbook. Anything vaguely fast will probably make a profound difference in my life, so I’m willing to pay a bit more for quality.

Budget: I’d like to stick close to 40 thou for comp and phone, maybe 1000 for internet and phone a month (don’t make a lot of calls, text message mostly) I’d do 50,000 nt if it’ll make a substantial difference in quality.

Also would like to use Chung Hua (Zhongwa?) because I know the signal is good at my house which is kind of out in the boonies. I’ve been with them for about 2 years, cell phone service and data card internet service. I don’t really want to sign a 2 year contract but would maybe pay for a year of service in advance (in addition to the 40 or 50 thou budget.)

Thanks in advance to any knowledgeable people who take the time out to help me.
Anybody have any ideas for hardware/plans I should get?

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As far as the phone goes, iPhone is a very good choice as the choice and quality of Apps beats the Andriod market IMO. As for typing, yes you can get keyboards but, I’ve found it easy enough to type long messages with the screen keyboard, ok it takes practice but, it can be done.

Laptop sounds like you need a pc, although Macs run Microsoft office you will run into the odd problem. So I would stick to PC, to be honest, if it’s not going to travel and go no further than the rooms in the house, most will do. I would go cheap and get an Acer! :astonished:

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Sorry to hear about doggie. :frowning:

My friend’s kid tap danced on her EeePC and it cost her nearly 4K to have the screen repaired. That is an option, momentarily. But if you need something faster -or just fast- then not.

The LostSwede had made some suggestions to me regarding the cellphone on the smartphone thread -should have listened to him, though. Being also computerless at this point, let me tell you typing on a cellphone a long message gets one very tired very soon.

When you get a cellphoen with contract, normally you pay a bulk sum from which they discount your “fixed” agreed rate -which depends on “eat all you can” or different plans, as per your phone of choice and Internet use -yes, for the phone.

Zhonghua has some laptop/Internet packages which seem pretty nifty, a Sony for les than 20K. But check with the experts here, see what they say about whether that is cost effective.

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Thanks Bike n Icon!
I’m reading through the substitute PC thread now. I’ll look up your smartphone thread too. What’d you end up with and why do you regret it? You going with the mac on the pc? I still want one but can’t if there are going to be any conversion problems between word and Page or whatever apple runs.

Oh and by the way my sweet dog is sleeping beside me now. I thought I was going to lose her. Nothing can beat the euphoria of realizing that the pet you thought wasn’t going to make it is going to make it after all. 6 am when we got home and I was on cloud 9! She’s weak but pulling through :smiley: HEre’s to good vets :bow:

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I got the wrong Samsung model, the Europa, the one everyone warned about. It is slow, it freezes, and the screen you have to hit to react -and it is not me, my friend who accompanied me to buy it feels bad about it because she’s tried it several times and yes, she is also sure it is not very fast responsive and it is not touch but drag reactive. :fume: My coworker has the Galaxy II, a bit better.

Computer, we’ve settled for the Mac Air but since my heater/dehumidifier/TV/bathroom/door/closet etc. broke down and have to be repaired, I think I’ll wait until I get my New Year bonus to buy it. Computer at home is not essential for me, as I do not, like you, work at home. But Swede suggested a couple of Asus and Acer models which were pretty strong and reliable.

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I do the same kind of editing, often on the iPad with a bluetooth keyboard. At the moment, tracking changes and inserting comments isn’t an option, but rumour has it that Microsoft is going to have a version of Word out for the iPad in 6~8 months. Hopefully then…

For now, I use Pages on the go. When I get home, or to the office, I export the Pages doc to Word, use the Track Changes/ Compare Documents feature, and bingo. No biggie, but I’ll be happy when the work around is no longer necessary. There are other document editors, I just happen to prefer Pages at the moment.

If you’re working on the train, you may want to consider it. I can work, well enough, standing on the bus with the pad. And loaded with audio books and a few games, it makes the commute a hell of a lot better.

7

More words of wisdom from Jaboney!
So, when changing a document from pages to word, how do you get it to compare and track changes? Man, if this isn’t too hard it might be the answer for me! So you edit standing up without a keyboard? Is the on screen keyboard on the ipad that good? Yay!

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Also can you do pages on the iphone, or is that just asking too much?

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Sometimes I edit standing on the bus or MRT. If I get a document on short notice and I’m on the go at rush hour, yeah, I find a place to lean and work on screen. If I’m having a drink somewhere, I pull out the keyboard and work that way. The only real annoyance is that the delete key only works in one direction. :fume:

To compare documents – using Word on a Mac – the function is here:

There can be formatting issues, but it hasn’t caused me any grief (yet).

Suggest you try it out first. I like it, a lot, except for the need for a work around, and the uni-directional delete key. If I had to go back to a laptop, I’d get an Air, but I’d be pissed.

Yes, you can use Pages on the iPhone, but it’s small. If you’re getting a phone at the same time, think about getting both an iPhone and iPad (or two Android devices): buy an app once, use it on both platforms. It’s a pain in the ass, but I have, in a pinch, edited speeches in Pages on the iPhone with one hand while cradling a babe in the other arm.

edit: Is the on screen keyboard that good? It’s good enough. It’s not my first choice, but it works. I’m waiting to see if Siri is made available on the iPad 2, and if so, what that might make possible. Editing by REALLY GOOD transcription could be handy.

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Nice. Thank you for a detailed answer to a question that I now realize I should have googled. :bow:
Since my old laptop is technically working, I suppose I could just get the iphone and save some cash. Or could get the iphone ipad combo (could I get the same internet plan for both of them?) and buy a cheapie 8000 nt eeepc for back up if things go wrong. Hmmmmmm decisions decisions.
I’ll go to chung hua tomorrow.

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[quote=“NonTocareLeTete”]

– Get a Mac and iphone.
My technological hopes and dreams:
-Need Microsoft Word. I do a lot of very involved document editing (think 70 pages, track changes, comments on just about every line) and my old eeepc would sometimes flip out and freeze on me (I know- from word. I’m not kidding. It was just too much for the little guy to handle. Usually I have word and several webpages open at once cause I have to do research and stuff.)
– All compatible on mac and ipad.
-Would love it if the comp had a fast (instantaneous?) start up. I’ve watched people on the train with their lil ipads that just light right up when they open the cover and I am JEALOUS! I often use my computer for short periods of time (say 10 min) and it’s annoying going through start up, then putting my data card in there and waiting for 3 min before the whole thing is ready to launch to the internet.
– I never turn my Mac off. So it is always on just like the ipad or iphone. Pull it out of the bag, open the screen, log in, close screen, put back in bag.
-would love a touch screen. It really helps with my editing work, start to feel like I have carpel tunnel when I use the trackpad/mouse too much.
– ipad complements Mac.
-BEsides the regular internet stuff (youtube, facebook and such) and my substantial MS Word use, I do very simple video editing- just combining and cutting clips and adding music. Mostly just the internet and word though.
– Built in software on Mac does this and more and even can do it automatically.
-Oh yeah and kindle. Love my reading on the go!
– Ipad. I’ve read a book as large as 900 pages on my ipad.

So I’m trying to think of what the best combo would be.
Was thinking ipad for travel and something with windows 7 for editing at home, but then the ol’ phone died.

Now I’m thinking maybe iphone for travel (could I get a little keyboard if I wanted to type ridiculously long messages/posts like this one?) and a laptop that’s travel capable when I’ve got a big editing project and need every possible moment on the train/between classes etc to finish it.

I liked the eeepc touch but found that it was slow, had some design flaws that really annoyed me, especially seeing as how I spend so much time on the damned machine. The eeepc was only 17,000 and before that I had a little eeepc netbook. Anything vaguely fast will probably make a profound difference in my life, so I’m willing to pay a bit more for quality.

Budget: I’d like to stick close to 40 thou for comp and phone, maybe 1000 for internet and phone a month (don’t make a lot of calls, text message mostly) I’d do 50,000 nt if it’ll make a substantial difference in quality.

Also would like to use Zhonghua (Zhongwa?) because I know the signal is good at my house which is kind of out in the boonies. I’ve been with them for about 2 years, cell phone service and data card internet service. I don’t really want to sign a 2 year contract but would maybe pay for a year of service in advance (in addition to the 40 or 50 thou budget.)

Thanks in advance to any knowledgeable people who take the time out to help me.
Anybody have any ideas for hardware/plans I should get?[/quote]

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Tethering’s free. I bought the 3G iPad, but tether it to the iPhone and use that to go online. Why pay twice?

I almost never use the phone, so if the app were there, I would probably ditch the phone and jack into the pad when necessary.

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Guys, be very careful of the Word Mac to Word PC, there are formatting issues that can occur due to font usage. In most cases it won’t matter but, the issue is there. The best way to avoid issue it is to use known fonts only (arial, times). Other than that all is good. You can also use Open Office on the Mac, but I like pages too. TBH on the Mac I often just use TextEdit and save RTF.

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iPhone and Macbook Air with 4GB RAM.

Add the iPad as a nice-to-have item if you want. Change Macbook Air to Macbook Pro with i7, 8GB and the SSD options if you need more performance (most people don’t).

You’re just simply not going to get any better computing experience these days with any other combination of devices.

A lot of the things the iPad did exclusively can be done on an iPhone now (eg: iMovie, Garageband, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Flipboard), so the iPad is more of a nice-to-have if you can spring for it. My iPad was broken for a little while I was waiting for a replacement LCD for it, and I ended up reading entire books on my iPhone 4 while waiting for the parts. It was actually nice because of the screen sharpness and also because I could read anywhere without having to carry anything extra from what I already put in my pockets. There are a number of scenarios that only really work really well on an iPad, however, (eg: whiteboarding, having a 10hr battery life for those long haul flights to America, etc.).

If you need a Windows machine occasionally for something specific, just set up the Macbook to dual boot into Windows and OSX, or run a Parallels of Windows inside OSX.

Keynote kills Powerpoint. Mac Word is OK. However, Mac Excel is a steaming pile of doodoo compared to Windows Excel. One way to overcome this is to run Parallels in “Coherence Mode” while in Mac OS. You can install Windows Excel onto the Windows partition of your Mac, and run Windows Excel as if it were a Mac App.

Like this:

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HOly shit that sounds complicated, but all kinds of awesome! Thank you. :notworthy:

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It’s really not that complicated. I installed Windows 7 on my Mac for a while (to play Civ), but it made me cry, so I gassed it.

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I recommend the Asus Zenbook. It runs Windows, is cheaper that the Air, just as light, and has at least as much power.

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All true, BUT… and this is a big one. It doesn’t run Mac OS.

This alone is IMO is well worth the difference and much much more.

The productivity boosts that the MacOS paradigm give are just too much to ignore. Windows 7 just doesn’t have a good way to do virtual desktops and basically still employs variants of the decades-old Alt-Tab to context switch through multiple open documents and folders, which is how we work these days.

MacOS has Spaces and Expose. With Lion it has both desktop-wise Expose and app-wise Expose and a blazing fast sideways gesture to swap between virtual monitors that is literally as fast as swiveling your head if you had multiple monitors. Windows also doesn’t have a gestural system, which helps quite a bit, although in all honesty, this can be closely matched with keyboard shortcuts. Windows does have the very-nice aero-snap feature, which MacOS does not have out of the box, but the aero-snap feature can be replicated on Mac OS with an $10USD program called Cinch.

The productivity speeds ups are even more pronounced if you are working primarily on the laptop’s screen and not on a larger external monitor. Because of its relatively poor context switching facilities, Windows basically doesn’t work optimally without multiple monitors, whereas the MacOS overcomes the absolute need for multiple monitors by having very fluid and fast way to switch between virtual monitors and between documents and apps on the same monitor.

This is a guess, but especially since Lion, it’s probably well north of 10 minutes a day for me and I work with a hi-res monitor. That basically adds up to like having an additional work week each year and it would be more if I only used the laptop’s screen. To me, that’s worth paying a lot for.

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My love affair for Macs started over 15 years ago, with OS7 and I have never looked back. mabagal is spot on the money. The productivity on the Mac OS Vs. Microsoft OS variants is >10%, that adds up over the years. Since Mac introduced system10 the system stability is about 99.9% and most applications run not far off that (mac software and adobe). The cost of a Mac is high and that puts people off but, the Mac will out perform the pc and outlive the pc too.

You will not regret buying a mac (if you have the budget).

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So Mac seems to be the consensus here.
If I use the phone to connect to the internet on a laptop, whether with iphone/mac combo or android/windows laptop combo, will the internet be fairly speedy? Is it easy to do that? Do you just search for connections with your laptop and it’ll pick up the cell phone signal?
A friend is trying to steer me away from macs because he says they are expensive, limited and slow (which isn’t what I’ve heard elsewhere but okay) and he’s offered to help me go shopping for the new laptop on Saturday. We’ll see what he comes up with but leaning toward a mac.
I contacted an English speaking guy at Chung Hua and he offered these two phones:

  1. Samsung Galaxy GIo 6500nt without contract
    183(talking)+ 760(unlimited 3G internet) for 2 year contract , the phone is free
  2. HTC Explorer 7900nt without contract
    183(talking)+ 760(unlimited 3G internet) for 2 year contract , the phone is 1480nt.

Or the iphone4 8gb but not sure how much that is. Any thoughts on those (also posted this on android thread)

I have to be honest, due to what’s been said here and just what I’ve seen in design, I’m way more attracted to the mac/iphone combo. But I’m a little concerned about installing windows on a mac. Am I going to need a friend’s help, or hours of internet searching to do that? (anyone, off-hand, know a good how-to guide on installing windows on a mac) My boss says that they always have formatting issues when working between mac word processing software and windows. Although it’s academic papers so they usually use normal fonts.
I would LOVE to be able to access microsoft word but use the mac os, as was shown in that video. That would be awesome!