# What mobile you got?



## The Basket (Feb 12, 2018)

Just wondering see what's out there.
I am Motorola as I like the history although now owned by Lenovo. And my laptop is Lenovo so coincidence.
I got a G5 because it's cheap and does a good job for cheap. I like cheap.

Reactions: Winner Winner:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## herman1rg (Feb 12, 2018)

iPhone 7 128GB


----------



## Airframes (Feb 12, 2018)

I could have a new i phone each year, free, with my contract, but opted for a reduced monthly charge on both phone use and internet, and got myself a cheap, simple, basic Nokia.
Makes and receives calls and text messages, has a few useful functions such as calendar, calculator, converter etc, and is simple to operate, without my stiff fingers messing up a touch screen and probably launching an ICBM somewhere !!

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## tomo pauk (Feb 12, 2018)

Samsung Galaxy S3., for last two years IIRC. Tough as nails, reasonably fast (if not too many apps are instaleld/loaded/in use), weak spot is battery.


----------



## Marcel (Feb 12, 2018)

Motorola G2

Simple, almost bare android and cheap.


----------



## Hansie Bloeckmann (Feb 12, 2018)

The Basket said:


> Just wondering see what's out there.
> I am Motorola as I like the history although now owned by Lenovo. And my laptop is Lenovo so coincidence.
> I got a G5 because it's cheap and does a good job for cheap. I like cheap.


Reminds me of a quote from my favorite comedian (deceased) W. C. Fields-- "It's cheapness highly recommends it!"'


----------



## The Basket (Feb 12, 2018)

I had a Samsung S3 and it was a very good phone. Never a problem. Even paid extra because I liked it so.
I think mobile phones are magical devices and still in awe of such devices.

It's cheapness highly recommends it?
Fantastic quote. That could be my motto!!!!
Love that

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


----------



## mikewint (Feb 12, 2018)

Like Terry could care less about a so called "smart" phone to do DA stuff with. Basic Verizon LG Exalt II. The one "extra" I've come to like is its ability to store and play back music. Tis a tiny 1/4" speaker but I have a bluetooth extra speaker with decent volume and fidelity that I can connect to and use. It does the usual other silly stuff like camera, calculator, text, calendar, etc. that I very seldom use and internet which is blocked


----------



## Gnomey (Feb 12, 2018)

iPhone 7...


----------



## Hansie Bloeckmann (Feb 12, 2018)

The Basket said:


> I had a Samsung S3 and it was a very good phone. Never a problem. Even paid extra because I liked it so.
> I think mobile phones are magical devices and still in awe of such devices.
> 
> It's cheapness highly recommends it?
> ...


Enjoy-- I am a serious student of the life and times of the late William Claude Dunkerfield- I know he said it in one of his movies- Might be the "Bank Dick", I'm not 100% sure--but I am pleased that you like it and may adopt it as your motto-- Hansie


----------



## The Basket (Feb 12, 2018)

I have great foreboding googling 'Bank Dick'.
People equate cheap to bad. That is not always the case. Value for money is what I do. The G5 is value for money. I got mine in sale and cost £130. New iPhone X in UK costs £999. Is the IPhone X better? Yeah. 7.5 times better? Nope. I know about phones and the gap is small enough to be inconsequential for basic functions. The camera on the G5 is mediocre but good enough. The only issue would be top end games but I don't play them on mobile. Mobiles go obsolete very quickly so a thousand dollar phone is tomorrows paperweight and it's easy to smash or lose it. I could throw my G5 against a wall and buy another. I doubt many iPhone X users would say the same! I cannot justify to myself buying a phone that cost over £250. I get very faint spending money like that!


----------



## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Feb 13, 2018)

iPhone 6S. At some point I will upgrade. I don't know why, but I am loyal to the iPhone. I don't think it is the best phone out there, and I actually dislike Apple products, but I am just loyal to the iPhone.


----------



## The Basket (Feb 13, 2018)

I am not an Apple fan.
But let's not go there!
Brand loyalty is often a case of comfort in the familiar and that's not a bad thing. Or simply a case of software as Apple and android are not the same and too much hassle switching. I know people who have got rid of expensive phones for that reason.


----------



## nuuumannn (Feb 13, 2018)

LG G3


----------



## wuzak (Feb 13, 2018)

iPhone 5S


----------



## gumbyk (Feb 13, 2018)

I've currently got the Microsoft 950, but am going to have to downgrade to an Android phone in the near future, as Microsoft have discontinued manufacturing phones. And as soon as they did that, the prospect of developers creating apps that I was waiting for disappeared.
Its a pity, because the phone and operating system is great - it integrates seamlessly with my tablet and desktop, and had features as standard that Apple have only just come to implement.


----------



## Capt. Vick (Feb 14, 2018)

I work for a wireless provider and get my phone and service for free, a nice perk. I have had a Samsung Note 3 for years, but now the battery is pretty well spent so today I ordered a Note 8.


----------



## horseUSA (Feb 14, 2018)

An abused iphone 6s plus, which is in need of a new battery.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## vikingBerserker (Feb 14, 2018)

IPhone 6S, I've replaced the screen twice and the battery once.

I cant see the value in upgrading tot he 8 or X

Reactions: Agree Agree:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## fubar57 (Feb 14, 2018)

IPhone 6. I had the provider going around in circles and managed to get 2 for free. I got a call from his boss and she said he wasn't allowed to do that but they decided to allow it. They are slowing down my phone now trying to get me to upgrade after 2 years. My son-in-law got a major deal plus upgrades from them for changing providers so I'm going to get him to write it all down, show the provider and say "good enough for him....good enough for a loyal customer. I'm still happy with my current phone other than the slowing down part. I was going to start a slightly different thread asking to post lock screen images. Might as well put it here: this is mine

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Bustedwing (Feb 14, 2018)

I don't even own a cell phone ! I figure if people want to call me they can call me at home. Here's what kills me though, my brother in law has every Beatles song released in North America on his smart phone. I have a stack of Beatles albums about a foot high that I still listen to on a turntable. Ok so call me a dinosaur !

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## The Basket (Feb 15, 2018)

Oh yeah. In the UK we call it a mobile. Lost in translation.


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 16, 2018)

ZTE cheapie. For $28 it has more usable features than my last year's $150 Samsung, and what's more it works at my new place and the Sam didn't. Cheap is good!
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## The Basket (Feb 17, 2018)

It will be interesting to see where the Chinese will be at with mobiles in a few years time.
Manufacturers like OnePlus have been able to build a loyal fan base and high end phones for less money than Apple or Samsung.. And OnePlus were unheard of 5 years ago. How Apple can sell £1,000 phones when competition is strong and get away with it is greater mystery than the pyramids. I'm sure that won't continue for ever.


----------



## rochie (Feb 17, 2018)

Have a Moto G3, quite like it but has small built in storage so after 2years no room for updates.

Replacing it next month !


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 17, 2018)

Why do you think Apple is the richest company in the world? It sure doesn't cost anywhere near what they charge to produce, advertise, and market an iPhone! There's a HUGE profit in there too. They pioneered the genre with a stylish capable product that built on their mystique of classy innovation, and now they're riding the wave at it's crest. The high price just adds to the "swank appeal" that sold Accutrons and Breutlings before Apple came along (and, of course, adds to the the bottom line).
My $28 ZTE works for me and has 16G of RAM and a better receiver/transmitter/antenna than half the pricey phones out there. PRC scores again!
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## The Basket (Feb 17, 2018)

My partner had one of the first iPhones back in the day and I was certainly impressed. It was fantastic and years ahead of the competition.
But how you can get away with selling a product at top dollar and them queuing up with open wallets is the perfect business model. Kudos to Apple for sticking it to there own customer. 
Which ZTE model is it? $28 certainly has my attention and I wonder if that model is available in the UK and how much it would be here.


----------



## gumbyk (Feb 17, 2018)

XBe02Drvr said:


> Why do you think Apple is the richest company in the world? It sure doesn't cost anywhere near what they charge to produce, advertise, and market an iPhone! There's a HUGE profit in there too. They pioneered the genre with a stylish capable product that built on their mystique of classy innovation, and now they're riding the wave at it's crest. The high price just adds to the "swank appeal" that sold Accutrons and Breutlings before they came along (and, of course, adds to the the bottom line).
> My $28 ZTE works for me and has 16G of RAM and a better receiver/transmitter/antenna than half the pricey phones out there. PRC scores again!
> Cheers,
> Wes


And none of that margin is there for the retailers - typically less than 5% margin for them on phones, etc.
Apple is a marketing company first, a manufacturer second, and an innovator third.

There are plenty of Chinese phones that are as good, if not better than Apple or Samsung. Huawei are one of the best that come to mine. However, there are a couple of features that I've upgraded to in my last phone that I don't want to be going backwards from (USB C, wireless charging) so it looks like Samsung or Nokia for me.


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 17, 2018)

The Basket said:


> Which ZTE model is it? $28 certainly has my attention


ZTE Z899VL Majesty Pro Plus, A model for the North American market and sold through Walmart and TracPhone. Never seen it sold anywhere else.
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## The Basket (Feb 18, 2018)

Wow.
So that's £20 for the Majesty. The specs are excellent for £20!!!! Far better than I would have expected and it actually seems a half decent phone.
The cheapest ZTE phone I can get is Blade A110 which is £60 or $84 so $28 is cheap. Also the Blade A110 has much worse specs for more money! For £20 I can only find basic dumb phone so your phone is certainly a bargain. Although ZTE is the favourite kick ball for your government as they want to ban ZTE products been used!


----------



## ARTESH (Feb 18, 2018)

Asus Zenfon 2 !!!


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 18, 2018)

The Basket said:


> Wow.
> So that's £20 for the Majesty. The specs are excellent for £20!!!! Far better than I would have expected and it actually seems a half decent phone.
> The cheapest ZTE phone I can get is Blade A110 which is £60 or $84 so $28 is cheap. Also the Blade A110 has much worse specs for more money! For £20 I can only find basic dumb phone so your phone is certainly a bargain. Although ZTE is the favourite kick ball for your government as they want to ban ZTE products been used!


Unfortunately, this Z899VL uses old school CDMA technology; I don't think it knows how to talk GSM, so don't think it will work outside North America. If your market was the size of ours, and if you had the equivalent of Walmart in every city, town, and podunk crossroads, ZTE would probably market a GSM version over there.
As for our infamous Twitler, the notorious nit twit, he doesn't dare declare military war on PRC (though I think he'd like to), so he's settling for a trade war. If he thinks he can revive American industry by pricing out cheap foreign technology, he's in Dreamland!
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## The Basket (Feb 18, 2018)

ZTE and Huawei are in trouble because it's believed they have spyware which sends the porn choices of USA Government officials directly to Peking.

I have no idea if this is true.

Since virtually all modern smartphones are made in China then it's a bit late to be concerned if they are all reporting to Peking. 

Different phones for different markets with different prices. How ZTE can make a relatively good phone for that price is a mystery to me but if that phone was available on the UK market at £20 unlocked then by jiminy that would fly off the shelves. Absolutely bargain for that. I would certainly try it out and use one because at that price I've seen more expensive cases!


----------



## fubar57 (Feb 18, 2018)

The cost to make a $1000ish iPhoneX is under $400
Here's how much it reportedly costs to build the iPhone X


----------



## gumbyk (Feb 18, 2018)

The Basket said:


> ZTE and Huawei are in trouble because it's believed they have spyware which sends the porn choices of USA Government officials directly to Peking.
> 
> I have no idea if this is true.
> 
> Since virtually all modern smartphones are made in China then it's a bit late to be concerned if they are all reporting to Peking.


Where TF is Peking?



> Apple doesn’t build iPhones in the United States, in other words, because there is no longer an ecosystem here to support that manufacturing. There’s no supply chain, there aren’t enough super-low-cost workers, and there are not enough mid-level engineers. And many Americans looking for work are still hoping for a return to jobs, salaries, and lifestyles that have simply disappeared.


from a 2012 article: This Article Explains Why Apple Makes iPhones In China And Why The US Is Screwed


----------



## The Basket (Feb 19, 2018)

Yep. Third world sweatshops so we can buy cheap junk.
And they say slavery was abolished.


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 19, 2018)

The Basket said:


> Yep. Third world sweatshops so we can buy cheap junk.
> And they say slavery was abolished.


We've been there, done that, we called it "the industrial revolution": Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, US in the 19th and 20th. Then we got prosperous and forgot what it was like to be hungry and hardscrabble.
"Our kids will have a better life. They'll never have to experience what we're going through!"
Right! And they'll never appreciate or understand what you went through before their time.
"Whatever has happened since my first awareness is current events; all else is ANCIENT HISTORY and irrelevant!"
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 19, 2018)

XBe02Drvr said:


> We've been there, done that, we called it "the industrial revolution": Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, US in the 19th and 20th.


18th CENTURY: hardscrabble American gunmakers aspired to the techniques of fine European gunsmiths such as Britain's Joe Manton.
19th CENTURY: American gun manufacturers taught British armories how to engineer the precision machine tools to make true assembly line manufacture of military rifles possible. "Enfield's grandpappy grew up in Windsor, Vermont."
20th CENTURY: American and British universities trained exchange students from the third world in all the latest technologies, thus "sowing the fields with dragon's teeth".
We're "hoist on our own petar..oops..prosperity".
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## The Basket (Feb 19, 2018)

Norinco is a case in point.
Chinese guns are banned in USA.
Many reasons but Norinco could easily flood the market with cheap stuff. And the American gun industry could be washed away. 

Empires fall because they get fat and lazy and forget what made them empires in the first place.


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 19, 2018)

The Basket said:


> Norinco is a case in point.
> Chinese guns are banned in USA.


WHO SAYS??
90% of the guns I see in the stores today are ASSEMBLED in the US (in plants owned by respected American companies, but run by Chinese contactors), from parts FABRICATED entirely in China. So you can buy a Winchester or a Remington or a Colt and feel like you're being a good Doobie because you "Buy American".
Behold, the Trojan Horse is among us!
Cheers,
Wes
PS: I just bought a Turkish shotgun, which makes no bones about being a foreign import. Nice gun. Has all the earmarks of a quality product.


----------



## gumbyk (Feb 19, 2018)

XBe02Drvr said:


> WHO SAYS??
> 90% of the guns I see in the stores today are ASSEMBLED in the US (in plants owned by respected American companies, but run by Chinese contactors), from parts FABRICATED entirely in China. So you can buy a Winchester or a Remington or a Colt and feel like you're being a good Doobie because you "Buy American".
> Behold, the Trojan Horse is among us!
> Cheers,
> Wes


That's the result of protectionism from a 'capitalist' 'free' market. The US has, for decades promoted the idea that capitalism is the way forward, and now that it's come back to bite them...


----------



## The Basket (Feb 19, 2018)

Motorola did have a assembly plant in Texas. Which was closed as soon as Lenovo got hold.
At least assembly jobs are still jobs. If the Chinese ever pull the plug then who gonna build my TV then? I wonder what will happen to Apple profits then?


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 19, 2018)

The Basket said:


> If the Chinese ever pull the plug then who gonna build my TV then?


The Chinese won't pull the plug; they'll OWN the plug. And we still think of ourselves as an economic power, and we are, but only as a captive audience with little if any economic autonomy.
Our capitalist impulses drive us to seek the lowest common denomin..oops, I mean dollar, and we're sucking Chinese tit, thinking we're getting the milk of human kindness, but 'taint so, Bro. They're investing in our corporations, our infrastructure, and our financial system with the goal of owning us lock, stock, and barrel, and it isn't going to take the "seven generations" that their tradition says a major project should take.
Our capitalism drives us to the short view; their tradition teaches patience and the long view.
They won't pull the plug, not with us as captive consumers to fuel their economic growth and there remains plunderable capital in our economy. Once they've sucked us dry, they'll let us sample the treatment they got from the West for the last seven generations.
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## The Basket (Feb 20, 2018)

There are bones of contention between China and USA such as North Korea or Spratley Islands or the sale of tech to less desirable states. And of course internal pressure in China against what is after all a dictatorship.
But you're right that the price of capitalism is the race to the bottom. Is it acceptable to be against the Apple factory and the way they make phones and yet still buy a phone made in China? 
Child labour and slavery was stopped in the UK by moral busybodies and not by the market or capitalism. I doubt that morality is part of the Chinese business model.


----------



## The Basket (Feb 20, 2018)

This is a case in point. This is tartan ribbon with the word Scotland and pride and ID in different colours and mad in China!!!! Take pride in your Chinese tartan?!
Apologies for the pix the camera on the Moto G5 is not the best. Buying cheap can sometimes backfire!


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 20, 2018)

The Basket said:


> And of course internal pressure in China against what is after all a dictatorship.


The Chinese people have a long history of tolerating autocratic governance when it kept them fed and protected and was perceived to advance the status of their people and their culture in the world. Western style democracy is a "barbarian" concept alien to Chinese culture. They're the ultimate "ubermenschen" who define their rightful empire as "anywhere people of Chinese ancestry live". Sudetenland anyone? The Ruhr valley? Anschluss? Poland? Does this ring a bell? It's 1938 again and we're enjoying "peace in our time".
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 20, 2018)

The Basket said:


> Is it acceptable to be against the Apple factory and the way they make phones and yet still buy a phone made in China?
> Child labour and slavery was stopped in the UK by moral busybodies and not by the market or capitalism. I doubt that morality is part of the Chinese business model.


At this point you either buy a Chinese phone or relegate yourself to Luddite status and jump off the technology bandwagon. My $28 ZTE outperforms my old $150 Samsung. I used to buy Nokia phones back when they were still made in Finnland. Same for tires. Now the Chinese make Hakkapalitas for Nokia and keep some for themselves to sell as Hankooks and undercut Nokia in the market.
Do you really think morality is part of ANYBODY'S business model?? An unaffordable luxury in today's world. Show me a moral business executive and I'll show you next year's bankruptcy or take over victim.
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## gumbyk (Feb 20, 2018)

The Basket said:


> There are bones of contention between China and USA such as North Korea or Spratley Islands or the sale of tech to less desirable states. And of course internal pressure in China against what is after all a dictatorship.
> But you're right that the price of capitalism is the race to the bottom. Is it acceptable to be against the Apple factory and the way they make phones and yet still buy a phone made in China?
> Child labour and slavery was stopped in the UK by moral busybodies and not by the market or capitalism. I doubt that morality is part of the Chinese business model.


But the reason that Apple isn't returning to the US isn't money. Its skills. The US don't have the toolmakers and skilled labour in sufficient numbers to make it work. The article I posted above has some quotes from Elon Musk about it.


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 21, 2018)

gumbyk said:


> But the reason that Apple isn't returning to the US isn't money. Its skills. The US don't have the toolmakers and skilled labour in sufficient numbers to make it work.


An indictment and charge to which I, as a former member of the educational system, willingly plead: "Guilty, Your Honor". We have been so unwilling to compromise any part of our ideal of "a classical liberal education" that we have failed to pursue anything less than a bachelor's degree for everyone. The argument has always been that level of education is necessary to ensure informed, engaged voters, so vocational education has been allowed to drift out of touch with reality. It's been allowed to teach the skills of the past to the (unemployable) workers of the future, while the rest of us in our college-bound ivory tower paid no attention. (Except to shrug and say "Boy am I glad I don't have to deal with that bunch of losers!")
Mainstream educated culture has diverged so far from rural poverty culture now that elementary school teachers have a hard time getting on the kids wavelength, especially in math and science. So by the time kids reach a level where they understand the relevance of it, they're so far behind that they're frozen out and give up on the whole thing. From then on the teachers might as well be speaking Greek.
So we crank out car mechanics that can't calculate fractions and decimals and hairdressers who can't figure out how many clients a bottle of shampoo is good for. Heaven help us if we try to teach them microprocessor chip masking.
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Feb 21, 2018)

Ok everyone I’m letting the discussion continue, but do not let this dabble too far into politics. We’ve been over this...


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Feb 21, 2018)

Mea culpa! Once again I've let (or led) the conversation drift off topic into social and economic ills, which are by definition political in this highly polarized world. Why are we discussing cellphones on a WWII aircraft site, anyway?
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Feb 21, 2018)

XBe02Drvr said:


> Mea culpa! Once again I've let (or led) the conversation drift off topic into social and economic ills, which are by definition political in this highly polarized world. Why are we discussing cellphones on a WWII aircraft site, anyway?
> Cheers,
> Wes



It’s ok, the conversation may continue as is, just don’t let it go to far.

I’m trying to give a lil here...


----------



## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Feb 22, 2018)

Well...........................................................after over 20 years with a $14.00 flip flip phone, I got a IPhone 6. I am LOST I TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOST!


----------



## Capt. Vick (Feb 22, 2018)

Well as far as phones go, I was just given a Samsung Note 8. It's a big leap from the Note 3 I had so I'm having a bit of an issue with some features. Don't even get me started about the transfer of information between the two, still has not been perfected. What a pain in the keaster!


----------



## The Basket (Feb 22, 2018)

Google is your best friend here. Anytime I get lost on a phone someone somewhere has the answer and we move forward.
There are still basic phones out there so if your current phones are difficult then get rid and try one of the more cheaper basic ones.


----------



## Wayne Little (Feb 23, 2018)

I have an i phone 5, work hand me down phone...hey it ain't costing me nothing....

Wish it could produce a decent cup of coffee....


----------



## Lucky13 (Feb 23, 2018)

Sony Xperia XZ....


----------



## fubar57 (Feb 28, 2018)

My contact has been up since November and now Apple is starting to slow my phone down trying to force me to upgrade. I still like my 6 and right now I don't want an upgrade


----------



## XBe02Drvr (Mar 1, 2018)

fubar57 said:


> My contact has been up since November and now Apple is starting to slow my phone down trying to force me to upgrade. I still like my 6 and right now I don't want an upgrade


You're behind on your Technology Tax payments and the Collector of Delinquent Taxes is on to you! Better pay up, man.


----------



## The Basket (Mar 13, 2018)

If you noticed the Samsung S9 came out to pretty much total indifference.
Says a lot.


----------



## Marcel (Mar 17, 2018)

So with my new job I got an IPhone 8. So now I carry 2 phones . My private android phone and the iphone. I prefer the eco system of android over Apple. But well....

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## The Basket (May 13, 2018)

I wouldn't worry about ZTE phones for a few years. That goose looks cooked.


----------



## XBe02Drvr (May 13, 2018)

The Basket said:


> I wouldn't worry about ZTE phones for a few years. That goose looks cooked.


I haven't been paying attention. What's cooked about ZTE?


----------



## fubar57 (May 13, 2018)

Here's how the US has paralyzed Chinese phone maker ZTE


----------



## The Basket (May 14, 2018)

ZTE are going to be hit with sanctions using American kit and any American company is not going to sell to ZTE.
So no gorilla glass no Google play no Qualcomm. Although from what I've read it still means they can sell in USA but they no longer have any suppliers.
So they have been effectively been put out of business.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## GrauGeist (May 14, 2018)

You know, I have to toss my hat into the ring...

I have an iPhone 4S, it's my former company phone and they gave it to me after letting me go after my wreck back in 2013.

Still performs as solid as ever, does everything a newer phone does and I haven't found a reason to replace it...

Reactions: Agree Agree:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## melinda (Jul 30, 2018)

I got my Samsung J pro last Feb this year. They it is a nice phone. But up to now i haven't check all the details of it.


----------



## The Basket (Aug 14, 2018)

Older iPhones can be a dodgy affair as Apple have admit they have slowed them down so don't accept software updates.
The iPhone 6 is still on sale but in 2018 the only reason to buy one s the badge as is still pricey.
My view is that Joe Q Public has no idea what a piece of technology is and buys what the adverts tells them. My laptop is now about 6 years old and still can word processing with the best of them.


----------



## GrauGeist (Aug 14, 2018)

My ipad is about 7 years old, my PC is a Compaq Presario running Windows XP (sp3) running FireFox ESR.
I suppose I'm old school - if it works, don't fix it.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (Aug 14, 2018)

GrauGeist said:


> My ipad is about 7 years old, my PC is a Compaq Presario running Windows XP (sp3) running FireFox ESR.
> I suppose I'm old school - if it works, don't fix it.


Hmmm, XP. Not supported for about 3 years now. I guess it's not very safe anymore.


----------



## The Basket (Aug 14, 2018)

Buy a new laptop when it breaks 
That's my motto.
On windows 10 so I'm ok.
Odd when I go looking at new laptops and the guy says about a 2018 been slow. Even the cheap stuff. I says I got a 2012 laptop and it was cheap then and I can still print a word doc. Unless you're a gamer or a graphic artist then buy the cheapest laptop you can


----------



## Marcel (Aug 14, 2018)

Yeah, I usually install Linux and can use the laptop for years. I still have a Toshiba build in 2006, Core Duo, 2 GB RAM. (Bought it 2nd hand for 10 euros about 6 years ago). I'm running a light weight version of Linux on it and it looks as modern as Windows 10 and still runs fine. The battery is flat, but for the rest it's in top condition. My youngest son uses it for internet and I hear no complains. It isn't even slow.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## The Basket (Aug 19, 2018)

In ye olde days I used a laptop for basics but now a smartphone can do that.
And a good games console will play games.
So I only use a laptop for photo editing and word processing. 
So not much use of a £3,000 Apple Mac.


----------



## The Basket (May 26, 2019)

Huawei have gone next in line. 
Problem is what going on? 
This is a big issue. Really big. 
My phone is a Sony so no issue but my laptop is Lenovo and are Lenovo next? 

Are oneplus next? The canny smartphone buyer may take a wide berth from any Chinese manufacturer.


----------



## mikewint (May 26, 2019)

Big Chinese business firms especially in the electronic field, IMHO, fall into two broad categories:
A. The "Fly-by-Night" group that slap it together out of mismatched surplus parts so that it works '_*for now*_'. When they fall apart there is zero accountability or customer service and when enough ill-will has built up they fold and open up a week later under a new name and begin the cycle all over again. Walmart's new electronic brand *ONN* is, again, IMHO part of this group. We looked at a 50" ONN TV last Black Friday, $230. Sounded like the deal of a lifetime until check out, it was so bad that Walmart offered only a 30 day warranty and refused to offer *any *type of extended warranty, a giant red flag. Another waving red flag is their location in Shenzhen, Guangdong. In the last two years I've opened 9 complaint cases with Ebay/Paypal for products that never arrived or products that were nothing like their Ebay ad. ALL were from companies in Shenzhen, Guangdong. My bank has also blocked 5 other transaction because of excessive fraud coming from, you guessed it, Shenzhen, Guangdong based companies.
B. A group that is as reputable as any Chinese business group (just a tad better than A) ever gets that produce a reasonably quality product that becomes a clandestine arm of the Chinese government. IMHO your Huawei group is a prime example. Their high tech telecommunication devices had back-doors that allowed high-tech Chinese government hackers to access them. The US government came down pretty hard on them in 2018 and in 2019 put them on a export blacklist for violation of Iranian sanctions. China is also notorious for sending some of their best students to the US to be trained by our best Universities who then return to China with our intellectual knowledge and skills.


----------



## Bustedwing (May 26, 2019)

Wow ! I don't even own a cell phone or smart phone or "soother" as I like to call them. Laptop ? Tower with Windows 7. I did break down last year and bought a flat screen monitor. My desk top was getting too crowded, an actual desk top, with wood and drawers and everything.

Reactions: Agree Agree:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## gumbyk (May 26, 2019)

mikewint said:


> Big Chinese business firms especially in the electronic field, IMHO, fall into two broad categories:
> A. The "Fly-by-Night" group that slap it together out of mismatched surplus parts so that it works '_*for now*_'. When they fall apart there is zero accountability or customer service and when enough ill-will has built up they fold and open up a week later under a new name and begin the cycle all over again. Walmart's new electronic brand *ONN* is, again, IMHO part of this group. We looked at a 50" ONN TV last Black Friday, $230. Sounded like the deal of a lifetime until check out, it was so bad that Walmart offered only a 30 day warranty and refused to offer *any *type of extended warranty, a giant red flag. Another waving red flag is their location in Shenzhen, Guangdong. In the last two years I've opened 9 complaint cases with Ebay/Paypal for products that never arrived or products that were nothing like their Ebay ad. ALL were from companies in Shenzhen, Guangdong. My bank has also blocked 5 other transaction because of excessive fraud coming from, you guessed it, Shenzhen, Guangdong based companies.
> B. A group that is as reputable as any Chinese business group (just a tad better than A) ever gets that produce a reasonably quality product that becomes a clandestine arm of the Chinese government. IMHO your Huawei group is a prime example. Their high tech telecommunication devices had back-doors that allowed high-tech Chinese government hackers to access them. The US government came down pretty hard on them in 2018 and in 2019 put them on a export blacklist for violation of Iranian sanctions. China is also notorious for sending some of their best students to the US to be trained by our best Universities who then return to China with our intellectual knowledge and skills.


Done much business with the Chinese Mike?

They are definitely a culture of 'you get what you pay for' and I've had this confirmed from a number of business associates who regularly do. If you beat them down on price (as most American businesses do) then they simply maintain their margin by dropping the quality. That's good business practice. I spoke to one guy who offered $5 more per unit than what they wanted, and everything that they offered was "better quality" parts.

If the Walmart TV's were crap, its as likely that the Walmart buyer negotiated a price that seemed too good to be true....


----------



## mikewint (May 26, 2019)

I'm only part Luddite. I've had a cell phone for 15 years or so. Initially because I was driving 35 miles (56km) to work every day with 90% through the country where houses were several miles apart. Especially in the wintertime with snow/ice covering the roads (Ill-Noise don't waste NO money on snow plows) it would be possibly a long cold snow packed walk to get any kind of help with a strong potential of not being found til spring. With the cell phone in an emergency I could at least call for help and remain in the car. The small flip phone I have today is not much different than that first phone - IT MAKES PHONE CALLS.
And yea they force me to text from time to time but that is it.
These portable entertainment devices loaded with 8,432 Apps that cost as much as a used car that the vast majority of the populace can't seem to get their noses out of or live without...I simply can't begin to understand the why of it. We go to a restaurant and 95% of the men, women, children present NEVER look up from their 'smart?' phones. Again I will admit that SOME features are nice and useful. Being lost and being able to GPS your way to civilization or arriving in BOOFOO, and locating a gas station or restaurant are really nice features
I do have a laptop as my 12yr old tower has pooped out a few times and when we travel a tower is tough to tuck under your arm...Oh yea i'm still running Vista on the tower and the damn laptop CAME with POS Windows 10


----------



## The Basket (May 26, 2019)

Huawei are top of the line so certainly no fly be night.
In China everything is one party state so I would wager any Chinese company plays the game. 

My issues are 3fold.

Why Huawei in particular and who is next? 

If the Chinese are spying and *shock horror* if they are then shouldn't the USA put that into the public domain to say they have proof? One could say no as its giving security knowledge away but then again so is saying Huawei is spying in the first place. Coz from some angles it could look like a commercial decision to shut down Huawei as a full USA ban would be devastating. 

Even non Chinese electronics such as Apple is manufactured in China so they could be as vulnerable as anything else.


----------



## mikewint (May 26, 2019)

gumbyk said:


> Done much business with the Chinese Mike?


No but then again as things stand we're all being forced to do so whether we want to or not through our own shortsightedness and, yea, greed for the quick buck. Perhaps I'm being xenophobic but seems pretty obvious to me that the state-owned and massively subsidized companies of China are just plain dangerous because China uses its state-owned enterprises as a strategic tool of the state. By pretending they are private companies abiding by free-market rules. Consider the following:
In January 2014, Motorola Mobility was sold by Google to Chinese computer corporation, Lenovo, which means that the nation that invented smart phones is just about entirely out of the business of producing smart phones in America. Lenovo is also the same company that bought IBM’s line of personal computers in 2004.

The world's largest pork producer, American company Smithfield Foods, was acquired by a Chinese corporation in 2013. Smithfield was sold to Shuanghui International Holdings Limited, the biggest meat processor in China.

The Hoover brand was sold to Hong Kong, China-based firm Techtronic Industries in 2006 after Maytag, which owned Hoover, was acquired by Whirlpool.

Additionally China is positioning itself to be our energy supplier as well. Since 2009, Chinese companies have invested billions of dollars acquiring significant percentages of shares of energy companies, such as The AES Corp., Chesapeake Energy, and Oil & Gas Assets. In 2010, China Communications Construction Co. bought 100% of Friede Goldman United, and in 2012, A-Tech Wind Power (Jiangxi) bought 100% of Cirrus Wind Energy.

In a Fortune article titled “The Biggest American Companies Now Owned by the Chinese,” Stephen Gandel provides the following list of American companies acquired by Chinese investors in 2016:

Starwood Hotels acquired by Anbang Insurance, a Chinese insurance company that is rapidly buying up U.S. hotels...It is the latest hotel acquisition by the Chinese insurer, which last year bought the company that owns New York’s Waldorf-Astoria. Starwood would add 1,300 hotels around the world to Anbang’s portfolio.

Ingram Micro, which is No. 62 on the Fortune 500, bought by Tianjin Tianhai Investment Development Co., a Chinese firm that specializes in aviation and logistics.

General Electric Appliance Business was bought by Qingdao Haier Co.

Terex Corp., an 83-year-old Connecticut-based company that makes machinery for construction, agricultural, and industrial purposes, was bought by Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science.

Legendary Entertainment Group, which has co-financed a number of major movies like Jurassic Park, Godzilla, and Pacific Rim, was bought by Dalian Wanda
Dalian Wanda also bought AMC Entertainment Holdings, the U.S.’s second largest movie chain at the time of purchase, but is now #1.


----------



## gumbyk (May 26, 2019)

That's no different really with what companies like Tyco, etc were doing 20 years ago.

USA, although espousing 'free market' ideologies, has always protected its own market. Just try certifying a Japanese-built aircraft in the US.


----------



## fubar57 (May 26, 2019)

Should We Allow the Chinese to Buy Any US Company They Want?


----------



## The Basket (May 27, 2019)

China has 2 things. Lots of money and lots of cheap skilled labour. 
I have nothing wrong with USA doing stuff but the horse has bolted. Closing stable door now is a bit late. 
The Western consumer wants cheap sports shoes and cheap colour TV. Unless we in the west rebel against working practices which are illegal in the west then it will continue. The big companies who sell us dreams of freedom and choice are using people who are not free.

Reactions: Agree Agree:
1 | Winner Winner:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## nuuumannn (May 27, 2019)

mikewint said:


> Perhaps I'm being xenophobic but seems pretty obvious to me that the state-owned and massively subsidized companies of China are just plain dangerous because China uses its state-owned enterprises as a strategic tool of the state. By pretending they are private companies abiding by free-market rules.



Say hello to globalization. US companies have invited these sales with open arms because of the profit margins. In order for the Chinese to get their hands on any country's goods, there has to be agreement between the interested seller and buyer. You cannot solely blame the Chinese for this, like the current US administration tends to do. China has been exclaiming that it will become an economic powerhouse for forty or so years now and everyone has embraced the opportunities to trade with it, knowing full well how the Chinese choose to do business. The driving factor behind these business deals has been profit and execs who get rich from that profit, clearly not the ethics of trading with China.

Reactions: Agree Agree:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## The Basket (May 27, 2019)

If you let the fox in the hen house then don't be surprised if it's chicken dinner time.


----------



## mikewint (May 27, 2019)

nuuumannn said:


> with open arms because of the profit margins.


Most assuredly true as I stated. It is as I stated, our own shortsightedness and greed. On the other hand read again the part you quoted *"*_*the state-owned *and *massively subsidized* companies of China are just plain dangerous because China uses its state-owned enterprises as *a strategic tool of the state*. By pretending they are *private companies abiding by free-market rules*."_
I may be totally wrong in this but IMHO I think that these American companies are babes-in-the-woods when it comes to dealing with these Machiavellian Chinese companies who are, in fact, arms of the government thinking in terms of multiple decades down the road. Consider the American acquisition when Maytag, which owned Hoover, was acquired by Whirlpool. Was there even the slightest concern that Whirlpool was a hostile entity with the goal of subverting the government and its political processes?
Again, I may be entirely off base here but I see China as a highly dangerous and aggressive entity that we are at war with even though no one is shooting bullets. In terms of the quote often attributed to Yamamoto: _I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve._
China has a long memory and was shaped by what the Western colonial powers did to China in the late 1800s culminating in the Boxer Rebellion. 
Do you really think that our buddy China out of sheer love and good will loaned the US $1.12 TRILLION? Do you think one more step towards turning the US into a client state wherein we work for them.


----------



## special ed (May 27, 2019)

Back in 2002 one of our fellow employees, originally from Guatemala, went back for the funeral of his toddler grandson. While there, he found that his son and others were out of work because the Chinese bought the furniture factory where the son worked from local owners and brought in Chinese immigrants to work in it.
Locally, in Jefferson parish Louisiana, the Chinese have bought a large movie theater.


----------



## gumbyk (May 27, 2019)

mikewint said:


> Most assuredly true as I stated. It is as I stated, our own shortsightedness and greed. On the other hand read again the part you quoted *"*_*the state-owned *and *massively subsidized* companies of China are just plain dangerous because China uses its state-owned enterprises as *a strategic tool of the state*. By pretending they are *private companies abiding by free-market rules*."_


Subscribe to read | Financial Times


----------



## nuuumannn (May 27, 2019)

mikewint said:


> Again, I may be entirely off base here but I see China as a highly dangerous and aggressive entity that we are at war with even though no one is shooting bullets. In terms of the quote often attributed to Yamamoto: _I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve._



You may well be right, Mike, or not. But business is business and US and other world businesses and governments have ignored this perceived threat for years. This is the point. Grandstanding and saying the Chinese are bad after the deal is done is just closing the stable door. Just remember, the Chinese will do it their way with or without Western assistance.

Let's put it this way, inciting trade wars is just hurting the US economy. It isn't harming China as much as it will do to America. It's also severely stifling these free market ideals that the US is so keen to espouse.

Reactions: Agree Agree:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## nuuumannn (May 27, 2019)

The Basket said:


> China has 2 things.



They have lots of weird theme parks.





Boats 2




Binhai 1





The carrier deck




Xian H-6

How does a nuclear bomber in the middle of a go-cart track grab you? Or a fake aircraft carrier?

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## The Basket (May 28, 2019)

End of day if China did loan trillions then that's good business.
Can't go to war with USA unless they pay it back!

Don't think much of the Badger there as its take off capabilites are severely restricted and any combat load will see it into that building. But its VTOL abilities are spot on. Fancy the skill landing in a go cart circuit! Top notch.

Reactions: Funny Funny:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## gumbyk (May 28, 2019)

The Basket said:


> End of day if China did loan trillions then that's good business.
> Can't go to war with USA unless they pay it back!


They don't need to go to war. They just start selling the treasury bonds, and financially cripple the US.
China might have just tested its 'nuclear option' in the trade war | Markets Insider

It would hurt China too, but so would going to war.


----------



## The Basket (May 29, 2019)

I guess this could be analogous to Japan last century. The west fell over themselves to modernise Japan with the consequences that are known.


----------



## special ed (May 29, 2019)

I would rather purchase from a former enemy who has become a loyal ally, than to deal with someone who has your destruction in mind in every transaction.

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


----------



## XBe02Drvr (May 29, 2019)

special ed said:


> I would rather purchase from a former enemy who has become a loyal ally, than to deal with someone who has your destruction in mind in every transaction.


Destruction? I don't think so. More like subjugation. We're far more useful to them enslaved and exploited than destroyed. In the oriental mind, that would be the harmonious and just retribution for what we (the white western world) subjected them to for centuries, as well as being economically advantageous.

Reactions: Agree Agree:
2 | Like List reactions


----------



## gumbyk (May 29, 2019)

XBe02Drvr said:


> Destruction? I don't think so. More like subjugation. We're far more useful to them enslaved and exploited than destroyed. In the oriental mind, that would be the harmonious and just retribution for what we (the white western world) subjected them to for centuries, as well as being economically advantageous.



The US is a consumer society - they consume goods, China is largely a producer. A weak US isn't an advantage for China at all.

You may not see it from inside the US, but China are just doing what the US have done for many years, IMO.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## XBe02Drvr (May 29, 2019)

gumbyk said:


> The US is a consumer society - they consume goods, China is largely a producer. A weak US isn't an advantage for China at all.
> 
> You may not see it from inside the US, but China are just doing what the US have done for many years, IMO.


Yes, they are gradually evolving from a producer society to a consumer society, as we did, and accumulating a gigantic quantity of capital, as we did, and will eventually get too proud and too affluent to take care of their own menial needs, as we now are, and will need a compliant, cheap, expendable labor force to do their dirty work, which we will be, and they have been.
"Oh, we are the navvies that work upon the railway,
bending our backs in the hot blazing sun,
living on beans and drinking bad whiskey,
while across the far ocean, our loved ones lie sleeping,
far, far, away in a land called Cathay."
(Apologies to Gordon Lightfoot)
Yin displaces yang displaces yin, ad infinitum, and the cycle continues.
Cheers,
Wes


----------



## The Basket (May 30, 2019)

Certain guy is saying the Huawei business can be resolved with an economic deal.
Either they is spying or is not. 
But from my limited view, this seems more like general shenanigans than spying.


----------



## fubar57 (Jun 5, 2019)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/meng-wanzhou-huawei-extradition-1.5162591


----------



## The Basket (Jun 25, 2019)

Look at South Korea. 
It was utterly dirt poor and now got colour TVs and them motor cars. I got a Korean car so I buys it. 
See in China they got 996. That's 9am to 9pm for 6 days a week. So the working week is like 72 hours! In South Korea they had to regulate homework schools for children so they closed at 10pm.

Somebody somewhere is putting the hard yards in and my Sony smartphone and Kia car and Lenovo laptop and Toshiba TV and Sony alarm clock and my Liverpool souvenir which I bought in Liverpool with Beatles on it made in China says to me that there maybe the West ain't doing it.


----------



## fubar57 (Jun 25, 2019)

OK....I'm gonna need a lot of help here....


----------



## GrauGeist (Jun 26, 2019)

fubar57 said:


> OK....I'm gonna need a lot of help here....


How may the Imperial Navy be of service?


----------



## The Basket (Sep 21, 2019)

Apple selling phones cheaper than last year. So always a plus ➕

I has been like not bovvered with Apple until I got a foto sent to me from the Apple XR. That's some good foto.

I always buy cheap end phones so I knows the difference. Whether it's worth paying £500 for a nicer photo 📸 I certainly wouldn't like to think so.


----------

