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South African mobile discussion |
brix25
Joined: Aug 20, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Cape Town, South Africa
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Now that we've discussed politics...Have you guys noticed the new Vodacom4me tv advert for the Samsung D600, it seems to have been shot using a phone camera. How did I notice? Because it looked so pixelated. Just check it out next time its on.
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Kryptik
Joined: Jun 24, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Port Elizabeth, S.Africa
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Now that you mention it, Z was telling me something similar the other evening... Will keep my eyes open for the ad. Getting used to the heat, Brix?
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brix25
Joined: Aug 20, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Cape Town, South Africa
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@da krypsta: I'm getting used to the crazy heat, one thing that has done me in though is the dry air...If I had to run 4 km's here I'd end up killing myself.
Talking of video, I'm getting myself a DVD recorder when I get home.
Liar liar pants on fire/ You burning up like David Koresh- Ghostface Killah |
Kryptik
Joined: Jun 24, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Port Elizabeth, S.Africa
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lol, in the old days doctors used to send their patients inland to recover from "consumption" as they called it, the dry air being good for their lungs :-) Anybody ever hear of a disc shattering inside a dvd drive? My brother had a disc which he was trying to copy the other evening, not only did it totally disintegrate into, by my count, roughly 50 pieces, it totally de-laminated as well. My IT buddy reckons he hasn't come across this phenomenon before...
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amawanqa
Joined: May 08, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Hornchurch UK & East London SA
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@ da brixsta,
strange that you mention dvd recorders, as I bought one less than a month ago. I have boxes full of videos,which I have been yearning to put onto dvd for some time. It took me a while to get the Sky receiver/decoder,tv, video and dvd recorder to 'speak' with one another,but it works fine now.
Was tempted to pay an extra £100 (R1150) and get a dvd recorder with an 80 gig HDD,but as we are fairly 'light' users and a dvd-rw costs so little,I deemed it unwise.
All my audio-video stuff I get from a growing chain store called Richer Sounds,who are very competitive with their prices.
http://ws4.richersounds.com/home.php
We ended up buying a multi-region Panasonic DMRE S10 for £130. (approx R1450.)
As da Wanqing One has been a (fairly) good boy this year, I will be getting a tape deck separate (remember those?  ) for Christmas to couple to a Yamaha cd recorder and the hi-fi's amp,as I also have loads of old tapes that I want to put onto cd. Urrgh...more wires and inter-connects...! |
brix25
Joined: Aug 20, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Cape Town, South Africa
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@da krypsta: That's the advice they gave to my mother who suffered from asthma in her 30s.
@da wanqsta: DVD recorders are quite cheap compared to this time last year when only a handful were available locally.
Will probably go for a model from Phillips for around R1500-R1800 at HiFi Corp. Nicam stereo and the ability to record in both formats is essential.
Liar liar pants on fire/ You burning up like David Koresh- Ghostface Killah |
amawanqa
Joined: May 08, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Hornchurch UK & East London SA
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Another delightful example of cellphone value depreciation:
http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic.php?topic=111850
The 8800 now going for exactly half the price it was yesterday from play's website.
Now only £300 (approx R3400)...
Do we pity the people that paid full-whack for these yesterday and further back?
I know I would be feeling well and truly sick if that happened to me...coulda got 2 of them today for what 1 cost yesterday. Incredible.
PS: these are brand new, sim-free phones,so no network subsidising here either...
He who laughs last... thinks slowest.
Nokia 5800, Sony Ericsson P1i, Nokia 7600. |
skhuu
Joined: Feb 08, 2005
Posts: 88
From: Johannesburg, South Africa
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@Wangsta. The way I see it, phones are really cheap in UK. I doubt one can come across such deals here at home.
On another note, patience pays. |
brix25
Joined: Aug 20, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Cape Town, South Africa
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I don't pity the fools who paid full whack for the 8800.
The only reason phones are cheaper in the UK is due to the competition in the handset market.
More available handsets+ more dealers=cheaper prices for handsets.
Liar liar pants on fire/ You burning up like David Koresh- Ghostface Killah |
amawanqa
Joined: May 08, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Hornchurch UK & East London SA
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@ skhuu,
Yes,there are numerous factors,including supply and demand that contribute to this.
However, mention has been made on this forum before that the local suppliers (apparently) do indeed get phones at very good,similar-to-UK-wholesale prices,which in turn means that (if this fact is true) that there are generally far greater mark-ups made on cellphones in SA.
I'm not saying this is true,as I do not know what the wholesale value of phones are in SA,but we all know that knowledge is power. Thus I often watch phone pricing here in the UK for you guys to:
1. use as a reference/comparison,based on the exchange rate and...
2. So that if any SA citizens reading this forum that know of someone in the UK,perhaps they can bring back a phone or two which may be far less affordable in SA.
There is certainly not much difference between the very basic/low end,cheaper range of cellphones in the 2 countries,but the price increments seem to leapfrog from there as the phones have more features,whereas in the UK there is generally far smaller 'steps' in price.
On that note,the P910i can be had sim-free and brand new,including free delivery,for £264.95 from the same UK website found in the forum link in the previous post. (approx R2800).
Having said all this,and as mentioned before as well,WAP /GPRS is far more expensive here than SA,again if using the exchange rate only as a reference. Peak calls to other networks are also more expensive here,and most networks charge you about 10p (approx R1.12)to check your voicemail.(Except T-Mobile and Virgin.)
On the other hand,there are a tons of PAYG network promotions here, for example O2's online PAYG service gives you 300 sms's or 100 minutes any-time,any-network when you top up with £10 a month,or Tesco or Easymobile have a flat rate of 15p (approx R1.70) a minute to any UK network,any time.
Do you know what seems truly crazy?
The biggest UK cellphone chain store,Carphone Warehouse,have a simcard called Mobile World,which also has the 15p flat rate to UK numbers,BUT it is brilliant for international calls.
An example: to phone SA landlines directly from the cellphone using this sim,it costs me only 8p (approx 90c), and to SA cellphones it costs me 20p,yet if I use the SAME simcard to phone the guy next door in the UK on his landline,it obviously costs me the 15p flat rate for any UK calls!
So it is nearly twice as cheap for me to phone SA landlines than UK ones. To send an sms to SA costs 15p with them too...
Bottom line is I can't stand to see people being ripped-off, and enjoy trying to expose the best deals around here, in the hope that it makes things (cellphone-related) more affordable and available to more people...particularly in our developing warm and beautiful country.
He who laughs last... thinks slowest.
Nokia 5800, Sony Ericsson P1i, Nokia 7600. |
brix25
Joined: Aug 20, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Cape Town, South Africa
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@da wanqsta: Speak brother, speak. I wouldn't go as far as direct comparisons but it's been obvious for a long time that the SA consumer has been ripped off by the cellphone industry...we don't need govt regulation to force prices down just introduce a 4th and 5th network.
Liar liar pants on fire/ You burning up like David Koresh- Ghostface Killah |
Kryptik
Joined: Jun 24, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Port Elizabeth, S.Africa
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So, everybody got their gifts wrapped yet?
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brix25
Joined: Aug 20, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Cape Town, South Africa
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@da krypsta: I'm not one for Christmas so I haven't bought any gifts.
Liar liar pants on fire/ You burning up like David Koresh- Ghostface Killah |
Kryptik
Joined: Jun 24, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Port Elizabeth, S.Africa
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Okey dokez, fair enough. Me, i love giving gifts, most of all to kids. I'd probably spend my last cent on the kids, can't get enough of seeing their faces when they unwrap gifts.
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amawanqa
Joined: May 08, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Hornchurch UK & East London SA
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Yep,just gotta write out one or two cards and that's it.
Have yet again over-spent (not by too much though) this Christmas...and then I still wait to see what the massive post-Christmas sales bring...!
You guys all having the usual Christmas family get-together and lunch tomorrow?
He who laughs last... thinks slowest.
Nokia 5800, Sony Ericsson P1i, Nokia 7600. | |
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Posted: 2005-12-22 06:03
