This little blurb on the Freakonomics blog about men sporting cell phones to attract mates may explain, in part, why luxury phones are such a rage all over the world, including SE Asia. People tell me that Nokia's Vertu phones enjoy a healthy market there.
Moving overseas means a new phone for me (because I'm not on a GSM system here), and a bit of sticker shock when browsing handset prices. I was quoted figures of $350 to start, with a "nice" phone, like a Nokia 8800 at a cool $1k. Whoa.
The prices are a bit high because, unlike the States, Vietnam (and most everywhere else in the world) sells "unlocked" phones. No contracts, no two year committments, no early termination fees. Pop in a prepaid SIM card and go. I've even read that it's illegal to sell locked cells in Belgium, due to issues about coupled sales and lack of consumer freedom. I wonder how Microsoft does in Belgium?
Anyhow, my top choices right now are the Nokia E61 or something from HTC. Or perhaps I'll wait for the next-gen Nokia E61i. Too many choices out there really. However hot or humid Vietnam gets, at least I'll have a cool phone.
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4 comments:
Back in July, 2005, I paid $400 in Bangkok for my Motorola e680i. Of course, it runs on Linux. My second phone, the Motorola ROKR E2 runs Linux as well but I am not really happy with it. I want to sell it and possibly pick up one of the new Linux Nokia phones :-)
O2s are worth looking at and I really love that Nokia N93 video phone...
Somehow, a Nokia doesn't appeal as much to me anymore... The new line of Sony Ericsson mobile phones is neat interesting. That of course depends on what you *really* need from a phone. I'm still happy with my SE w900i Walkman phone. 2mpx + 4GB memory + a fantastic camera come in handy for me here in Vietnam. Heck, I was able to video Bush's entry into Le Loi Street! Hahhaha
I know...I used to be a cell phone junkie when I lived in Hanoi. People seem much less cell phone crazed here, perhaps because of the package deals. My first was a dinky little Erikson; then I moved on to the Nokia banana (all the rage in Hanoi circa 1998) and on and on it was. I now have something that somewhat resembles a toy car and I don't know or care what make.
I'm probably looking for something staid and boring, but with good text entry abilities. That may just limit the field to full QWERTY phones unfortunately.
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