New phone! Sony Ericsson J110i
Saturday, December 22nd, 2007My Motorola PEBL that I bought a year or two ago (used on eBay, of course!) has recently started to die, so I walked around the Guanghua (光華) Electronics District1 near National Taipei University of Technology and bought a new one. I asked around for the cheapest, simplest phones, and settled with this one: an unlocked Sony Ericsson J110i. It’s ridiculously simple, but that’s what you get for NT$1700 (≈$50). No pictures, and no Bluetooth, but it does display Chinese and I can type in bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ). The phone is about the same size as the PEBL, but much lighter (and thus feels cheaper).
The one single annoyance thus far is that it doesn’t have a little hook for the strap that was given to me. 
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It’s Akihabara, but in Taipei! Take Exit 1, the elementary school exit, at the Zhongxiao Xinsheng (忠孝新生) MRT stop, go straight, turn right after the school, and walk down a block or so. The district opens up on the right. The big shops line the main road, but the crazy little specialized bargain stands/stores are within a block or two north and south of there.
One of my favorite places around there is Youth, the local Apple Authorized Reseller and Repair place (they helped me out earlier this summer…) and also have a cute café with free wifi on the second floor. In fact, I’m there right now! ↩