On Tue, 16 Aug 2016 08:01:26 +0100, Woody wrote:
"Rob Morley" wrote in message
news:20160816012021.707a7529@Mars...
On 15 Aug 2016 13:50:02 GMT David wrote:
A friend may be off in a few months to two separate locations (work
related) and is likely to be spending around 3 months in each
location.
Requirements a
(1) Smart phone
(2) Work in Africa (Ghana) and India
(3) Repair/replacement cover in case of damage
Someone has told him that iPhones are the best for India, but I am
sceptical.
For compatibility, I found:
http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.co...t.do?view()=c%
7B06748ad0-d047-11de-e56d-000000000000%7D
which suggests that dual band would be fine but quad band might be an
investment in the future.
My thoughts a
(1) Buy an unlocked phone then PAYG - especially as the phone is going
to be out of the country using other SIM cards for about half the
year.
(2) Buy something waterproof, if possible shock proof.
(3) Buy something which can take an SD card to expand memory.
(4) Buy something with an exchangeable battery so spares can be
carried. Power banks are O.K. but spare batteries are much lighter.
(5) Take out insurance so the phone can be repaired or replaced in
country. I assume any repair cover from a UK supplier bundled with a
contract will require returning the handset to the UK, but I could be
wrong.
What does the team think? This does seem to comprehensively rule out
an iPhone.
How about two or three of the same cheap Chinese phone (that's your
spare replaceable batteries sorted) and a couple of those zip-up PVC
waterproof bags on a string? And a BlueTooth headset or two. No need
to insure them as they're pretty much disposable, unlikely that they'll
all fail or get nicked (who wants a no-name Chinese phone anyway?).
They seem to come with dual-SIM, quad-band, SD slot as standard, for
£40-60 a pop. Whatever he goes for, a solar charging USB power bank
might be useful.
Didn't I see recently that there is now a smartphone available in India
for something like £20?
Read in (I think) the Register that there is a 12% import duty on all
smart phones so Samsung and Apple are planning to build factories in
country.
Further discussions required.
One plan seems to be a reasonable smart phone for UK use and possibly city
use abroad, and one or more "burner" phones for rural travel.
I keep reading that in India especially you need dual SIM.
Is that because one carrier does a good deal for voice, and another for
data?
Cheers
Dave R
--
Windows 8.1 on PCSpecialist box