Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nukeday]

lost my old clunker. figure i might as well get a nice phone.

things im most interested in: -a nice screen to read ebooks
-decent mp3 playback (to possibly replace my cowon d2 as well)
-the possibility of using it in other countries..specifically china or the US
-INSURANCE since i just lost a phone.
-a payment plan instead of paying up front

any advice on a phone and a place to get it?

[lalartu]

Ive been looking at a few models now and would recommend Galaxy S or HTC Desire if you want a top notch phone.

for ebooks, android phones are great.

not sure about insurance, i dont think you would get that anywhere actually, but i could be wrong.

android phones and korean iphones work fine overseas, but you might need to talk to the guy who sells you the phone for him to modify it.

all phones today play mp3s and quite decently.

Galaxy S has better playback than competition though and iPhone is an ipod on steroids, but you'll have to go through the hassle of itunes.

you cant pay for any of these phones upfront, so you would HAVE to get a data plan.

You would need a two year contract and since you are getting a smartphone, the price difference in terms of paying for the phone itself is not that big.

I went to a store earlier today and the guy there pretty much explained how it works

the more expensive data plan you get, the less you pay for your phone.
If you want the cheapest plan, it will be approx 15 000 won a month for the phone and 45k for data with mins and msgs too (so total of just over 60k a month) or get a 90k plan and pay nothing for the phone and huge amount of mins and messages.

the phone is free of course as long as you sign up for two years.

I think most smartphones start with a 45k data plan as minimum, so you're bound to pay AT LEAST 55k even for a cheaper smartphone, so might as well go top notch and pay a little more a month

[nukeday]

yeah, that's the problem. i'm on an E2 so I can't do the monthly plan for a 2 year contract.

[lalartu]

i assumed that when you were asking for payment plan, that's what you meant.

in that case I think there is very little you could except for maybe looking for a vendor in Yongsan/itaewon who would be willing to sign a contract with you. which would probably be very very hard for a smartphone.


other than getting it on a korean friend name, i don't see an alternative, sorry

[jhicks99]

The Galaxy S is amazing. I'm on an E2 and got mine new, but I had to plunk down 750,000 for it up front. The good news is that I'm contract free (well I had to go on contract for 3 months), and unlimited data for 55,000 is a great deal (I never turn on wifi anymore, thus saving big time in the battery dept).

The best bet for you is to keep your eye on used phones (that aren't tied to a contract!) popping up. I've already seen used Galaxy's for 400,000 or so and Motoroi's and Nexus One's around the same. You could probably land a nice Blackberry for even less... then it's just a matter of signing up. You won't have insurance, but no one is going to give you a smartphone with the lower up front costs and insurance that Koreans get with an E2... unless you have a Korean friend to put it in their name for you...

[nukeday]

[jhicks99]

Good decision.

I justified the expense as I didn't have any plans for July vacation, I figure I easily would have blown far more than that. I also figured it eliminated the need for a portable media player (look at ipod touch prices, yikes) and I'd be able to sell it for a reasonable amount when I leave, or unlock it and take her home (although my Canadian carrier is GSM so I'd have to change...). That and I just got tired of not having a smartphone after previous iphone/blackberry and android ownership in Canada.

But yeah, unless you're in love with the idea, they're freaking expensive to buy up front - I'd still check out the used market, sometimes teachers going back home are desperate to unload at a nice price.

[Mrclean]

I really debated buying a smart phone, but decided not to due to cost of the data plans. If you are like me and have computers at home and work, why not just go with a feature phone? My new LG LU4500 was basically free with new account. It has wifi, plays DRM free music and can use a sd-micro card. For book reading I just use Calibre to convert epub books or kindle books to text files and then I can read just as well as anyone with a smartphone. Just tell Calibre to format the books with a character width that fits your screen. I know it isn't as much fun or as powerful, but so far I'm just fine with this phone. Only downside for me is that it doesn't play audible files.

[lalartu]

From what ive heard so far, Galaxy S can also be used as a WIFI hotspot
which means you could set it up as an internet router and save on getting internet services. but im still figuring out how to do that

so smart phone is a really smart investment imo

[nukeday]

[lalartu]

no because i havent bought the phone yet haha

it is doable in US though from what I've read and requires an app available in Samsung app store.

so theoretically it's possible

practically, ill find out when i get it