Guest Posted December 5, 2012 Posted December 5, 2012 Where can I buy a GOOD mains to USB charger in Bangkok? Preferably Silom. ie 2 pin AC input, USB output Must: Reliable product from reputable store Want: 100~240V input I think there used to be an electrical store high up on the shopping centre by Sala Daeng. Is that still there after the redevelopment? I'm a bit too late to order something with a 5star review on Amazon. Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted December 6, 2012 Posted December 6, 2012 MBK or Pantip Plaza. I've bought them both places. Actually, where can't they be found? They're practically everywhere. Quote
mahjongguy Posted December 6, 2012 Posted December 6, 2012 Yup. Everywhere. Prices range from 300 to 600 baht. If you want a brand name then buy one at an Apple dealer. The only quality issue is this: a poor quality charger that claims to 100-220vac might not produce full output when you take it back to a 110 volt country like the U.S. so it will charge very slowly. Quote
Guest Posted December 6, 2012 Posted December 6, 2012 Thanks for the advice. I've visited numerous Bangkok shopping centres, usually without checking the name. So I checked Wikipedia. Comments on the MBK centre are mildly amusing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBK_Cente Buying a knock off is out of the question, as I need reliability . Quote
mahjongguy Posted December 6, 2012 Posted December 6, 2012 "I need reliability" Have you considered buying two of them? Quote
Guest Posted December 6, 2012 Posted December 6, 2012 Have you considered buying two of them? Compact size is another prerequisite. Some people might be content to travel with about 200 kg of luggage, but I like to keep things to a minimum. I could take the OEM charger, but a UK plug and adaptor is just too bulky. Quote
mahjongguy Posted December 6, 2012 Posted December 6, 2012 My Kindle and my cellphone both use USB chargers. If I were going on a long trip to remote places I too would be nervous about relying on a single item, even though I've never had one fail. I'd take two of the ones I got with Kindles. They are the smallest and seem to be well made. A Sony phone that I just bought at Tukcom came with a UK/HKG plug. Not a problem at home using an adapter but still kind of annoying. If I had to buy and depend on a single charger I'd look for one from Apple. Quote
Mysteryman Posted December 10, 2012 Posted December 10, 2012 Hmm, where to buy a thai-keyboard in Pattaya? I guess you can find one in Tuk-Com? My bf struggles with copy and paste with an online-thai-keyboard when he writes in thai to his friends, so I thought it could be a good idea to buy one, and connect it to his laptop. Do you know how much it would be? 200-300 baht? In case you wonder why I ask: I will be there in about 13 days Quote
Guest Posted December 11, 2012 Posted December 11, 2012 The charger that came with my Samsung Tab has UK 3 pin charger. I eventually got an "Innergie" 3A charger in one of the big shopping centres. Wanted a "proper" brand name like Panasonic or Samsung, but couldn't find any and these are quite common. 3A should allow simultaneous charging of the Tablet and a phone. It's quite compact and light. Quote
Guest abang Posted December 12, 2012 Posted December 12, 2012 Dear Z909, Go to Pantip and ask for a USB charger - prefer with 2 inserts. The going price should not be more than THB 300+. Otherwise, buy a multi-socket....for your original charger. Quote
Guest Posted December 12, 2012 Posted December 12, 2012 Otherwise, buy a multi-socket....for your original charger. That would be likely to overload the original charger. It's important to ensure the charger has sufficient current capacity to support all devices plugged in. I've seen chargers ranging from 0.7~3A outputs. Quote
Bob Posted December 12, 2012 Posted December 12, 2012 Hmm, where to buy a thai-keyboard in Pattaya? I guess you can find one in Tuk-Com? My bf struggles with copy and paste with an online-thai-keyboard when he writes in thai to his friends, so I thought it could be a good idea to buy one, and connect it to his laptop. Do you know how much it would be? 200-300 baht? In case you wonder why I ask: I will be there in about 13 days A couple of notes: (1) You can buy a Thai keyboard anywhere that has computers for sale. Pantip Plaza (Bkk and Chiangmai), Computer World, or wherever (I actually am unfamiliar with what stores Pattaya has but it must be several). (2) Rather than buy a keyboard, why not just get the dual stickers and put them on the existing laptop keys? Rather simple and extremely inexpensive. That's what I did with my laptop 3-4 years ago and have been writing away (in English and Thai) ever since. I've got Windows Vista on my laptop and it's easy to switch between English and Thai (somehow I got a symbol on the bottom bar and I just hit it to switch back and forth). ฉลาดไหมครับ Quote
Mysteryman Posted December 13, 2012 Posted December 13, 2012 (2) Rather than buy a keyboard, why not just get the dual stickers (somehow I got a symbol on the bottom bar and I just hit it to switch back and forth). ฉลาดไหมครับ You mean there are stickers that have thai and then what? I guess they don't have å, ä, ö for example. Them we need here. And how on earth have you managed to learn thai??? Bob does not sound like thai...you must be ฉลาด.... Quote
Bob Posted December 13, 2012 Posted December 13, 2012 There are stickers you fit over the keys that have your standard English/QWERTY (I'll let you google that one if you don't know) and Thai.....the same as many of the Thai keyboards you find in the stores here. Don't remember the cost, but I think under 100 baht (don't remember). Just carefully put the stickers over each key and you're done. Has worked fine for years for me. I would guess they also have stickers for German with Thai and whatever....but I never paid attention to that as I was only looking for English/Thai. I'm only guessing the German as some of your weird letters have those nasty umlauts. โชคดีครับ Quote
Mysteryman Posted December 13, 2012 Posted December 13, 2012 Yes thanks for the answer. This was just what I wanted to know. The stickers cover the original letters on your keyboard. Then I assume there will not be any suitable for us. I would need Thai + scandinavian Qwerty. The German keyboard layout is however not the one I want., it has ä and ö, but for example not the å. And I don't need the ü... I need this: http://tinyurl.com/bwryjle Quote
Bob Posted December 14, 2012 Posted December 14, 2012 Sorry, Mysteryman, I have no clue if they have Thai and Swedish stickers (or even keyboards). I'm going to a movie in a couple of hours with a Swedish pal (he lives here in Chiangmai too and is a classmate in the same language class) and I'll ask him if he has one or knows where to get one (either stickers or a keyboard). Will advise later. Quote
Mysteryman Posted December 14, 2012 Posted December 14, 2012 Thank you so much. We will do fine with a normal thai-keyboard also (USB), just connect it to his laptop. Then he needs a bit more space on the table, of course. I just looked at his keyboard, unfortunately, it has the letters in the middle of the keys, so if you would find some transparent stickers like this for example: http://www.4keyboard.com/thai-transparent-keyboard-sticker-p-128.html, it would not look so good maybe, perhaps covering a bit of the original letters. But I will wait for some advice from your swedish friend, if you remembered to ask him.... Quote
Bob Posted December 15, 2012 Posted December 15, 2012 Yo, Mysteryman. I asked three Swedish expats (didn't know my Swiss buddy was bringing two compatriots) yesterday about whether they knew about or ever heard of a Swedish/Thai keyboard or stickers. They all said that they were sure that such things didn't exist (and all said they'd buy same in a second if they ever found them). So, sounds like a Thai keyboard (or, maybe better yet, a Thai/English keyboard - which are easy to find) is your only solution. [On a somewhat related issue - and I may have mentioned this before - Windows, of course, can handle many languages and there is a way (I don't remember how but I did it and I'm no tech genius, for sure) to set Windows so a language icon sits on your lower task bar. To switch between languages, you simply click on the permanently displayed icon and select the language you want to use in Word, google, email, or wherever.] Quote
Guest abang Posted December 15, 2012 Posted December 15, 2012 I am using a standard keyboard to type out Mandarin words. Just add your language of your choice to the setting bar.. The following steps may be helpful..assuming you are using Windows 7 as your operating system Select 1. Control Panel 2. Clock, Language, and Region 3. Change keyboards of other input methods 4. Change keyboards 5. Add You will see a list of languages listed... go to the desired one and click on it... (keyboard only) 6. OK (it will bring you to the screen you see in Step 5) 7. OK (it will bring you to the screen you see in Step 4) and you are done... There will be a language bar at the bottom of your screen... EN - for English and let say, CH - Chinese Simplified Try it, please.... no need for an additional keyboard Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted December 15, 2012 Posted December 15, 2012 Just add your language of your choice to the setting bar.. I am confused by this post. What am I misunderstanding here? With a standard CPU and a keyboard, how can this be done? However, this sounds like a fine solution to software keyboards you would use on a tablet or smartphone. Quote
Mysteryman Posted December 15, 2012 Posted December 15, 2012 Of course you only need to add an additional language, and then use your present keyboard, but do you really know where all the different thai-letters situate? If I would be a good typist, then I would not need to look at the keyboard when writing, but I am not. I do use the 10 finger system: 9 searching and 1 writing, even in my own and learned languages, hehe. I guess it would be hard for a thai too, to write โชคดีครับ, without seeing the keys. I have already added Thai to my bf:s laptop, so we dont need to begin downloading it in Pattaya, with slow internet. It was quite a big file for windows 8. I tested it and he did write his name in thai, but only through trial and error, finding the right keys. We have to remember laptop-keyboards differ a bit from normal, to which he is more familiar regarding thai. Quote
Mysteryman Posted December 15, 2012 Posted December 15, 2012 Yo, Mysteryman. I asked three Swedish expats Thank you for your effort in this! Quote