New Laptop or handphone?

[wzeroc]

so, i'm going to australia next year (i hope) to further my studies, and i'm having a problem. See, my parents don't have alot of money, but they said that because i'm going there, they are going to give me either a laptop or a handphone. i'm quite unsure which to pick, but nevertheless, no matter which one do i take, the condition would be something like this:

if i take laptop, most probably a cheap one, the ones with low to average quality. if i take handphone, the handphone have to function as my laptop replacement ie. having word processor, mp3 player, so on and so forth. in other simpler words, the handphone can at least help me do assignments and stuffs, but not as good as having laptops. get me so far?

anyway, i need some help. can you suggest me which one to take? and if possible, the specs also? thanks in advance...

 

[jtroye32]

get a laptop and then sign up for a VOIP service so you can make calls from your computer.

 

[MaHe]

That depends on your price range, which you didn't specify. If you can get 600$, then you should get HTC Advantage, which is essentially a laptop and a phone in a single device (read some reviews). Also, ASUS Eee PC is a very decent laptop at it's price (but not meant for games, of course) in Europe, it's around 300 €, I'm pretty sure you could get it for less in Asia or USA. Or you can always make a compromise: for example get Eee PC and a very cheap phone (you can get prepaid phones for around $30 these days, although they only have SMS and phone functionality ...).

 

[wzeroc]

jtroye32: hmm, that sounds good. except that my parents would need more than that reason to actually buy me a pretty good laptop... i don't know, should i buy a smartphone ie. symbian phone or should i just go for the laptop?

if i get one, i'll get the other there later, very much later. for the price range, well...i'm not exactly sure how much will they spend to buy, but maybe around 300 bucks, maybe more. anyway, more ideas? thank you.

 

[MaHe]

What about a part-time job?

EDIT: Considering the price-range to be 300$, I suggest Eee PC. You'll have a very hard time writing stuff on a Symbian phone (although it's certainly possible).

 

[wzeroc]

MaHe: part-time job, eh? now that would be an interesting topic to talk about. not now, and i considered it a bit too late since i'm going there in mid feb. oh, and i'm actually one of the lazy bones people.

hmm... yeah, Eee looks good. not sure if my parents would agree to that. they would still think that buying a symbian phone would be better. unfortunately, i also think that having a new phone is better. but then again...Eee's specs looks good.

 

[azotyp]

If symbian phone, than maybe some used nokia communicator, there are lot of different versions of them and all have full keyboard.

 

[MaHe]

Well, then - you can get Nokia 6120 Classic and a BT keyboard for about the same, or even lower price (that's what I have). If you're not disturbed by having to use the 2-inch screen for text, then by all means, go for it.

 

[wzeroc]

MaHe: hmm...Nokia 6120, eh? do you have something that's clamshell? i like clamshell phones better. anyway what kind of BT keyboard are you using?

azotyp: yeah, i was thinking somewhat the same. better if i just take a nokia communicator, if i'm taking handphone. which model do you think is good? personally, all of them look hideous to me, but then again, desperation doesn't give choices.

anyway, this might sound stupid, but the handphones with wifi in them, you can use it to make voip calls, yes? aside from that, it would also be obvious that i can use it to connect to the internet, no?

 

[MaHe]

Actually, I only tested the keyboard, I don't own it. But anything will be fine, even Apple's superthin BT keyboard. I'd recommend using Nokia's official keyboard though. I have my desktop computer for teh interwebz.

Regarding the Communicator: They're fine phones, but except for E90, rather obsolete and you might have some issues. If you're looking for a phone with a full keyboard, try to find E70 or E61 or E61i.

P.S.: Nokia 6290 has the exact same specifications as 6120 Classic, but it's clamshell.

 

[wzeroc]

Oh la la, look at that beauty! the 6290 looks very beautiful! but yeah, thanks to you MaHe, ive just discovered something definitely crazy yet at the same time challenging, the Asus Eee PC. Wokey, now i'm very hyped to push and badger my parents to buy the Eee PC.

Maybe when i'm at Australia i will buy the 6290, but dang it! if only i can get both, i will surely be extremely happy. Alas, life is but a journey full of unhappiness, yet happiness is just like a fleeting dream...

Anyway, i think that's all, and could any one of the mods lock or delete this thread? oh, and before deleting this thread:

i seriously need to know, can the handphones with wifi built in make voip call and surf the internet? yeah, stupid and all, but please, any answer would be good enough, as long as they are 'yes' or 'no'

ps: many thanks to you MaHe! for the informations, of course. wish i could ask something better, but maybe not now. let's discuss about other things later in the future.

 

[Verocity]

This also depends on how much you will be using it. Treo's are also nice and the keyboards aren't too bad. But if you are going to be using it for a lot of typing then it would get pretty annoying.

Treo's have a SD slot and they can run many things, like Word documents, Games, Email, Web Browsing...basically anything a computer could do.

They use the palm OS, and a touch screen, my father has one and they're very nice.