So why the sudden need to get a phone? I am going to Indonesia and I figure I will need a better phone. In my old phone, the speaker wasn't very good. I was told to get an iPhone 4 by my mother. The price was not an issue. iPhone was recommended because that phone is a must have tool for doctors as it contain medical refernece books, calculators. But somehow I didn't feel safe walking around with a RM2199 phone inside my pocket.
The way I figure, a medical student doesn't need an iPhone. Besides owning an iPhone will obviously make you an instant target with the neon sign "Rob me. I am loaded".
I was put off by buying an iPhone because Digi said you must take the plan or we won't sell you the phone. Maxis said you must have a number with us. No number with us, we won't sell you the phone. They have a customer that wants to buy the phone but they refuse to do business with me. Below is the total price of the iPhone with the plan.
As you can clearly see, if you use a plan with the iPhone, you are actually paying more for the phone. Many think "Oh, the price of the phone is cheaper if I get a plan" True. But what about the total price that you will pay after 1 year?
The phone that I am going to buy must have the following specs :
i. Able to install medical apps/medical reference
ii. Great battery life (> 1 day)
iii. Minimum a 5MP camera that is able to take good photos.
iv. Good speaker and microphone to ensure both ends are able to hear clearly each other clearly.
v. Have the ability to connect to WiFi.
In short, I was looking at iphone 4 or Android phones.
or
I decide to choose an Android phone as it is cheaper and the features is similar to the iPhone. Although the medical apps aren't as rich as those found in iTunes for the iPhone, I believe Android phones will one day be on par with iPhones when it comes to medical apps. This is because the Android communtiy is open source. Which means easier for people to develop their apps. There are some medical apps which was design for iPhones are now available on the Android Market for free.
What phone did I choose? After reading up on reviews, I finally settle on HTC Desire S. Below are some pictures of HTC Desire S taken from the HTC site.
Nice right the phone? The phone fits my criteria perfectly.
The specs can be found here :
http://www.htc.com/sea/product/desires/specification.html
The only downside is I can't get the gps to function without WiFi or an internet connection.
So how about the price? As the phone is phone of the year, I am guessing the price will be expensive. True enough. This phone is sold only by Maxis form RM1799. I called up all HTC shops and they said they don't sell the phone. What a bummer. Add extra few hundred ringgit, and I can get an iPhone already. After digging around Lowyat Forum, I found this shop in Subang Jaya that sells all kinds of phone.They even sell iPhones without plan at a price of RM2050/contract. They have HTC Desire S in stock.
Of course I was suspicious as the price they offer was low. But upon further reading, I found out that the quite a lot of Lowyat Forum members buy their phone from this shop. They recommend this shop. This shop even courier you the phone if you cannot come and collect it.
The price of HTC Desire S was RM1250. Way way cheaper than what Maxis offer. 1 year warranty by the shop. I pay an addition RM60 for a case with screen protector. The case is a Case Mate Tough. The price of a Case Mate Tough in Malaysia if I am not mistaken is RM69. Although my HTC Desire S is build with a Gorilla Glass (a new type of glass that is scratch resistant, and very durable), it is better to get a screen protector. Case Mate protects my phone in the even my phone drops.
Below are what apps I install into my phone:
Medical Apps:
1. Medscape (The most popular iPhone must-have medical app that provide medial reference and news) - Free
2. Calculate by QxMD (Clinical calculators & decision support tools for healthcare providers)- Free
3. Dorland's Medical dictionary - Not free but I found the free one online
Apps :
1. Barcode scanner (To scan QR Codes) - Free
2. RealCalc (A scientific calculator) - Free
3. Timeriffic (A Timer that allows you do specify certain action at certain time) - Free
4. Viber (Free calls and SMS to anyone in the world using VIber provided there is WiFi) - Free
5. Dictionary.com (Reference) - Free
6. Exchange rates (Know the exchange rates even when offline) - Free
7. GpsFix (Helps to make the GPS lock faster) - Free
8. Evernote (To Take notes) - Free
9. Silentboot (Shut the awful sound at boot) - Free
10. Opera Mini (A browser that is faster and use lesser internet traffic than the default browser) - Free
Games Apps :
1. Reversi
2. Action Chinese Chess
I guess that is all I have to write about my new phone.
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