ani_meher

Damn man, it's so shameful These politicos should be punished heavily.

Your query would return about 50 or so handsets presently sold in India! Good music alone is a criteria, irrespective of GSM or CDMA! Why not an iPod?

Stay away from IFB. I have their Elena front loading machine, and I think I have spent more than its cost on its repair Samsung machines are good, with very less failing ratio.

http://www.rupaliaqua.com/ I am using this purifier for last 10 months. Needs absolutely no zigzig, just you need to clean the filter once a month or so. I live in Pune, where water is bit hard as well as contaminated. This purifier is doing its job wonderfully, and each time I get surprised by the amount of dust it catches. Fully worth its price of Rs.3000. Specifications as per the site: _________________________________________________________________ Ultra Filtration Membrane Cartridge (0.01 Micron) manufactured using Patent Technology of BARC Mumbai Electricity Not Required Is almost Maintenance free except occasional cleaning of superfine solids deposited on the surface. This doesn’t take more than 5 minutes. Membrane life approx 3-5 years (Though are warranty stands for 1 year) Removes Complete Turbidity to produce Crystal Clear Water Acid wash Activated Carbon Removes foul odor from the water Acts as dead end device and so not even a single drop of water is wasted Uses 5 Micron Pre filter to remove Coarser impurities Removes 99.99% Bacteria Foul Odor and Polish the Water Removes Bacteria and Suspended Materials (Turbidity) One Year Warranty __________________________________________________ _______________

I am planning to have a secondary BSNL number for a long time, and luckily I got a good number of BSNL 3g XXY543210Y I am planning to use it as net connection, as my current Tata 1X connection is slowly pushing me to kill or die. Can someone please clarify following things. 1. I do not have a 3G phne, but I have an Idea netsetter (EDGE, not 3g) unlocked. Can I use this BSNL card in it? 2. What speed will I get in this EDGE device? 3. I want only prepaid connection. Which prepaid data connection should I take, the one with 3G or 2G? Is it worth doing all this, or should I try some different operator and forget BSNL? I am located in Pune.

Yes, actually that's the plan I was going to have a BSNL number anyways, to have it as backup on my trip. THat's why I am interested in accessing internet through that only.

I am interested in the scanner! Sent you a pm.

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. - Benjamin Franklin

They are refundable (except when it is particularly written that they are non refundable). But ibibo charges 300rs over and above the airlines cancellation charges.

I am planning to buy a motorcycle jacket and a pair of CE armour from US, as I don't like the local stuff available here. But none of my friend is in US right now. If anyone/anyone's friend is coming from US and ready to do this favour, I will pay him additional 1000rs for his help Anyone interested? EDIT: Please see the new post at the end! Jacket is already here!

Guys, I need an URGENT help, I hope some brother here will be able to help me. I am going to Leh on 28 Aug with wife. I have already got 2 jackets for each of us. One problem is, the shoulder and elbow protectors are completely broken by rain in my jacket, and I need to replace them. No one in India is selling them I gave 1000rs extra for the jacket to be brought here, but this is a small item, costing only 1500 shipped in US, and paying 2500 for them is bit costly Can someone in US or having contacts please bring this over? Its a small package, measuring no more than maybe 250-500 gms.

Thanks for sharing this, Hitesh. For anyone booking tickets, check goibibo.com too. They have an offer of 200Rs off on every ticket (use code GOOFFERS). A Mumbai Jammu ticket costs 3,899.00 on Indigo, which will come to 3455Rs, and I booked an Jetlite one of the same date for 3335Rs on ibibo. I will recommend to check a few rates before confirming, and most importantly, check the cancellation policy. Some low price operators never give refunds, they just create a token for the passangers name, which is usable ONLY by that passanger (non transferrable) within 6 months only. In short, if your journey is cancelled for any reason, your money is as good as gone Keep sharing the deals!

i use keepvid.com Just enter the youtube url in the given place, and you are given a lot of options of downloading!

Oh yes, it does look like R wonder how I missed it!

As the symbol is in devnagri, will it face any trouble in South, where people don't value Devnagri script as such?

Guys didn't I tell you these are things are beauty?! I am most probably buying the first one soon. Will post the links to ebay soon, as my home net is damn slow (Yeah, planning to upgrade to EVDO from this stinking 1x tata connection!)

Yes, all of them. Costs range from 700-1200Rs.

Good to hear that Amit! Enjoy your new house

I am leaning towards shifting to DSLR, especially before Leh trip. But the budget is as usual tight. The 1000D is around 22.5 with warranty, but max i can stretch is about 14-15k. I can get second hand 1000D in this range, but maybe in a few months the camera itself will be 18-19k new. What are the recommendations on this? Additionally, if anyone is selling his/her unused DSLR, pls do contact me!

Anyone selling their DSLRs I am again bit by the DSLR bug, but unfortunately the pockts aren't too deep. If anyone in Pune/Mumbai has a DSLR to sell about 15k, please let me know.

Good to know you got your money back, chandannasta. Make sure you take enough protection next time onwards!

Musical Me “Huh?! What is this?!” You can’t help but be surprised, when you first see the Samsung Juke in flesh – or rather plastic. The mobile is so strikingly small, yet beautiful. I was using HTC 6800 before this one arrived, and it seemed my current mobile is now cut in half to fit two mobiles in same place! Can’t believe? Well, the pictures don’t lie… The parcel arrived in a DTDC packing. The handset and all the accessories were spanking new. Even the stickers on the mobile were intact. The mobile operation is as simple as it gets. The slider motion seems a bit tricky at first, and I was bit slow at opening it in initial days because I feared that due to the fast opening action, the mobile will fly out of the hand (it did too, a couple times). First, let me state my expectation from a work handset. And by work, I mean a commuting person’s daily unpaid hard work, like waking up early, going in crowded trains and jammed roads to get to office, get back in the evening, expecting a little acceptable entertainment from the mobile and receive calls at the hardest imaginable times. I have used basic Nokias, 2112, 2865, few LGs, few Classics, even Samsungs. I then converted to smartphones, first Palm 755p and now HTC 6800. But lately, I have been feeling that smartphones are not really everyone’s cup of tea. Sure I enjoyed the connectivity, the full QWERTY keyboard, editing Office documents on the go etc, but it came at a high price and slower operating speed. Besides, anyone trying to use a smartphone in a Badlapur train at 7.30p.m. is a perfect recipe for mobile’s and perhaps even user’s suicide. Heck I remember pulling out someone else’s mobile from his pocket imagining it to be my own, because we were so tightly packed in the train compartment and I couldn’t tell whether his mobile was vibrating or mine! Based on my experience on all the different kinds of handsets, I have come to the following list of requirements that I need from my mobile: 1. small, sleek and sturdy 2. acceptable battery life 3. fast operations 4. MP3 and FM player 5. Torch 6. Price around 5000 7. Anything more than this is a bonus! I am currently using the Samsung Juke sent for reviewing. I will evaluate the handset on the above criteria, to arrive at a conclusion. I know this handset is not exactly the newest set on the block, so you will find many reviews already posted on internet. While adding anything new to already existing pool of reviews will be next to impossible, I will give my views as an Indian user who is asked by friends his opinions and experiences about the handset. Hope it will be fun! 1. Shape and feel The mobile is absolutely sleek. Every time you bring it out, you are sure to hear some OOHs and AAHs of the on-looking public. In fact, I feel looks alone is a strong selling point of this handset. Sure there are other functions, but the sleek shape alone is a winner. Many times, I have been asked what brand is this mp3 player, and when I flip the handset to reveal it fully, the reaction is of sheer awe. Till today, I haven’t found anyone who says the shape is odd or bad. Technically, the phone weighs 80 gms, and has dimensions 97 x 30 x 21 mm. That’s about a front face of an mp3 player, and side profile of a Nokia. Phone lies comfortably in the pocket. However, in Men’s shirt or pant, the feeling is bit odd, as we are not used to carry a lipstick in our pockets! Quite some times, the mobile opened itself in my pocket, while sitting or getting off from motorcycle. It has undergone a bit rough treatment too, though unplanned. Some times I put it in the same pocket with keys and change, and a couple of times it took a dive from my hand to the ground. In both the cases, I was surprised to see there is no single scratch. And I haven’t even applied the scratch guard yet! Seeing something so fragile looking, and yet so tough at the same time is really worth an experience. I read some complaints about the small button size, but those people must be having HUGE hands. My hands are manly enough, I need an XL size in motorcycling gloves, but still I find the numbers perfectly well. Texting is slow, but I am not a texter. However, it’s true that a texter may not find this phone comfortable. I think hard core texters are better off with likes of Palm 755P with full keypad. See the keypad for yourself, I don’t think it’s half bad! The scroll wheel is a great add-on. I am not used to iPod, so I was not used to the scroll wheel operations. But it took no time, and now my love for the wheel grows every time I use it. It is used not just in MP3 operations, but also in all phone operations. 2. Acceptable battery life I haven’t tested the battery life scientifically. However, as a reliance user in Pune (who gets good range of Reliace) , I can say that with moderate talking, this mobile gets you two days very easily, with daily half an hour of speaker mp3 playing and 15-30 mins of talktime. A marathon talking spree takes its toll on the battery life though, as in one 1.5 hrs chat session drank up the battery like free beer. Still, the phone limped to the day end. All in all, the battery life is sufficient for normal user. For infrequent user, it gives 3-4 days of standby time, which is very much sufficient for a phone this small. The phone gets charged by the data cable too. This effectively gives you two chargers, and I have never been left without a charge in Juke, because I keep the data cable at home and charger at office. 3. Customization options and additional tools There had been a time when I was an avid customizer and would customize every phone and computer to show my distinct personality. I have passed that phase now. Now the phone’s reliability and speed is more important than its wallpapers and colors. The menu offers some good options for personalizations. We will walk through the customization options one by one: 1. Sounds: You can adjust the ring tones, SMS tones, keypad sounds and their volume from here. Also you can edit whether you want indication sound on various events like device connect, or service alert, while powering ON and OFF etc. 2. Display: You can display your own name or any text on the screen, control the backlight duration and brightness, select wallpapers, themes, change dial fonts and main screen clock fonts. There are two themes, red and blue. To my blue phone, blue matches best. Red one will match the Red and black color. You are blocked only with these two themes for the rest of the life, as there is no third theme yet available. 3. Phone: We can select airplane mode, set shortcut keys, configure the voice commands etc. 4. Call: You can select auto answering, auto retry, one touch dial etc, and all technical stuff that a regular user doesn’t bother. Within these options, I found some very interesting ones. First, selecting the dialing font. There are four options, Normal, Rainbow, Quill pen and Sticky. The first two are normal affairs, regularly seen on LGs and Samsungs. Third option, the Quill pen, is the best I have seen on any mobile. It’s like a quill pen writing on a paper. The effect looks very cool, and never fails to amuse a new user. Fourth one, Sticky, is again novelty where the numbers are shows as if written separately on different colored Sticky notes paper. The ring tones and wallpapers are not downloadable by default. Verizon, the original supplier of this phone in US, in its great wisdom, disabled these options. Users in US are supposed to be milked out of their money for downloading ring tones and wallpapers, and even for getting their own photos out of the camera. Each time the user is supposed to pay a fee for doing any of these things. However, here a technological wonder comes to assistance, which is helping CDMA users since long. It’s called BITPIM. This software is around since past 3-4 years, and luckily even this Juke is supported. Initially I surfed a lot for finding out how to upload and download from the mobile, and found many complex ways using BITPIM, downloading this system file and uploading that hidden file and what not. But to my greatest surprise, the latest version of BITPIM supports Juke out of the box. This means, you just need to connect the phone to BITPIM, and all the operations of uploading and downloading photos, videos, ringtones etc are open and free. The quick steps for this: 1. Download and install BITPIM from http://www.bitpim.org/ 2. Download and install Samsung Juke drivers from http://www.samsung.com/us/support/detail/supportPrdDetail.do?menu=SP01&prd_mdl_name=SCH-U470 3. Go to tools and press #, press 000000 (six zeroes) as password, select third option ‘MTP Setting, and select MSM. Ignore the ‘Music Sync not allowed’ error message on phone. 4. Start BITPIM. Click on Edit – Detect Phone. Upload your ring tones in ringers folder and wallpapers in images folder, and press Send Get Phone Data. 5. ??? 6. PROFIT!!! After using BITPIM, again follow step 3 and select MTP mode to enable music sync. In same way, you can download your photos, and even upload phonebook to Juke. You can set your photos as wallpapers, but somehow they are never full screen. Some part of the screen on the upper and lower side will always be protruding out of the wallpaper. There are a bunch of tools included too. You can set any tone as alarm, but there is one flaw. The alarm sounds exactly for one minute. In a minute, if you are not awake, then you are doomed. The alarm switches off, leaving you at the mercy of your sleep. I faced this many number of times, and then found out the reason of oversleeping. This way, the alarm is useful to notify you when you are awake, but if your sleep is like mine, competing with a dead body, you are better off buying an alarm clock. Calendar provided is strictly sufficient. As I have downshifted from PPC to Juke, the change is vast. Still it’s comparable to other Nokia’s and LG’s ones. Calculator has normal calculator, a tip calculator, and interestingly a Unit converter. Many times I was needed to convert pounds to Kilos; meters to foot etc, and this converter came in very handy each time. Standard stuff like Stop watch, world clock, notepad etc are there, but I haven’t used them. Voice dialing is very handy. You have the choice to rely on the phone’s software to pickup the number by your voice, without assigning any voice tag, but that is very difficult. The phone seems trained for English names, and Indian names like Sanjay, Kamal etc are very confusing for the phone. A better option is to give voice tags to your frequently called contacts, and use them. Once trained, the picking up of the phone number by your voice commands is accurate. 5. Entertainment As told before, I am looking at the phone from a commuter’s point of view, who doesn’t have the time (or the luxury of sitting while commuting!) to see movies. In any case, anyone wanting to see movie on the miniscule screen must carry a microscope. The mp3 player is where the phone comes out in full glory. In other phones, the phone has an app for MP3. Here, an MP3 player has a phone attachment! MP3 comes so damn naturally to this phone, and the way it stretches the functionality to the phone part is just wonderful. The phone itself is look-a-like an mp3 player only. Juke doesn’t have any annoying tie up with proprietary softwares to sync up music. Sure you can use Windows Media Player or even Apple iTunes to sync up your playlists, but I like the old school way of dragging the files over the drive. There is no need of installation of any stinking drivers. You just connect the phone to the PC and you are good to go. If at all you’ve got a PC with an attitude and refuses to show the phone, only in that case would you need the drivers, easily available from http://www.samsung.com/us/support/detail/supportPrdDetail.do?menu=SP01&prd_mdl_name=SCH-U470 Then its just a simple drag and drop for copying the music to your Juke. The file types supported are MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA. I faced one little nuisance here. I am used to Transcend MP3 players, which show the folders in their actual format on the screen. It becomes very easy this way to browse your way around. In Juke, no matter how you load the music, whether in one single folder or in separate folders, it will always show the music as per the ID3 info. Now this is great for some files where ID3 tags are proper, but s**ks HUGE dirt for those files that don’t have ID3 tags. They are unceremoniously listed one below the other as Track 1, Track 1, Track 1, and you need to develop sixth sense to guess which song is which. It doesn’t even display the names, just the ID3 tags. The song playback is superb. The packaged headphones are good for daily use, and comfortable. However they are of usual type, and not noise cancelling ones. For this, you will want a 2.5mm to 3.5mm converter, which enables one to use normal headphones. The lack of FM is disappointing though. I don’t miss the idiotic blabbering of DJs one bit, but having this option of listening to a variety of stations would be great. Unfortunately, this can’t be cured. The mobile has a 2GB space. This seems small for today’s MP3 players’ standards, which have 4GB, 8GB for MP3 playback, and 16GB, 32GB for video playback. However, if you use WMA files rather than MP3 files, you can squeeze in a lot of files maintaining a similar quality in your audio files. For example, currently my Juke contains 560 WMA files and still has 327MB free space! Now if only it would show the damn file names! 6. Additional features The phone sports a camera, but each time when I was asked ‘how many mega pixels?’ I had to change the topic. The camera is 0.3 mega pixel, which means the max photo you can shoot is 640x480 pixels. Though this size is good for emailing and blogging, its use ends there, and you can’t print it in any respectable size. Also, the lens is located at the worst possible location, so expect many finger shots from the mobile before you figure out the holding position of the phone! Hey, why is the screen showing a finger in this photo?? Oh, it’s because the camera is hidden under my finger! The quality of the photos seems strictly OK on PC though. Here, be the judge yourself! This phone sports bluetooth connectivity. Connecting the phone to bluetooth headset was easy and idiot proof. Too bad you can’t transfer any files over bluetooth though. The connectivity holds good. Sadly, the phone doesn’t sport any torch. Considering the audience it was built for, US music lovers, a torch would be very out of place. Still, it is my personal bias that every Indian mobile must have a torch. Its backlight is bright enough, actually too bright to keep on Full. Mid brightness is just perfect for all day, including right under sun. This can work as a makeshift torch, but it really gives very negligible light, so no, no torch at all! 7. Price around 5000 This is where the phone shines truly. Considering its shape and function, the price of Rs.4700 comes really as a shocker. Every person I have met said this is a wonderful price, and many wanted to buy one. I went to a shop for buying an iron. When wife received a call on this phone, the shop seller lost interest in me and started inquiring about this ‘iPod’! When he saw this was actual mobile, he went berserk. And specially after hearing the price, he decided to buy this handset next! This would be a first for me, went in a shop to buy something, and stepped out by actually selling something to the shop owner. Conclusion I will quickly list out the mobile’s traits, and then will give the conclusion, as to the target audience of the phone: 1. Shape: It’s a beauty 2. MP3 playback is a blast 3. Phone connectivity is very good. 4. Basic bluetooth and camera functionality 5. Acceptable battery life Cons: 1. Small screen, so no video 2. No FM 3. no torch 4. Not much customization possible. I think this phone belongs and suits to fairer sex rather than men. It doesn’t look bad, but in a lady’s hand, it looks wonderful. By the accidental stress testing that I did, the phone proved strong enough to sustain minor scuffs and bangs. Even after a month of usage, the flip action is as tight as ever, not even a little loose fit or anything. The phone locks in action in the same assuring manner. All in all, a crowd puller phone which is great on usable features and easy on the pocket. Highly recommended. CLICK HERE to Buy Samsung juke

Good articles and cute too

By Kashmir, it means mainly Srinagar. I usually plot my travels by simply typing the destination and number of days and nights I wish to spend in that area, + - 2 days. This gives many tour operators' itinerary, then I select the best one or combine a few. In your case, try searching for Kashmir tour 6 days 7 nights, Kashmir tour 8 days 7 nights etc. Here is one interesting result for 6 days 5 nights and to and from by Air: Day 1: Arrive Srinagar Arrive Srinagar airport, assistance on arrival and proceed to hotel / houseboat check-in. Srinagar is also known as "Paradise on Earth" and "The Venice of Asia". Afternoon free. Dinner and overnight at hotel / houseboat. Day 2: Srinagar - Sonamarg - Srinagar After breakfast leave for full day excursion tour of Sonamarg (9000 fts a.s.l) the "The Golden Meadow". Sonamarg is the beginning of the enchanted journey into a natural wonderland. Surrounded by mountains upto 5300 meters high the valley is divided by a spur of the "Thajwas Range". Baltal (The Base Camp for Amarnath Pilgrimage) 15 Kms. North of Sonamarg. This little valley lies at the foot hill of Zojila. Return back to Srinagar for Dinner and overnight in hotel / houseboat. Day 3: Srinagar Local Sightseeing After breakfast leave for Sightseeing tour of Mughal Gardens visiting Cheshmashahi (The Royal Spring), Nishat (The Garden of Pleasure), Shalimar (The Abode of Love) and famous Shankracharya temple. Afternoon free (One can go for Shikara ride on self expenses basis). Dinner and overnight at hotel / houseboat. Day 4: Srinagar - Gulmarg - Srinagar After breakfast leave houseboat / hotel and proceed for full day excursion trip of Gulmarg (8700 fts a.s.l) "Meadow of Flowers". Gulmarg has a famous Golf Course during summer (which is one of the highest 18-hole golf course in the world) and Ski Resort during winter. One can have Gondola ride (Cable car) (on self expenses basis). Return back to Srinagar for dinner and overnight in hotel / houseboat. Day 5: Srinagar - Pahalgam After breakfast check-out from hotel / houseboat and proceed to Pahalgam (7200 fts a.s.l) "Village of Shepherds" enroute visiting the world famous Saffron growing fields, Awantipura ruins (9th Century) and Martand Temple (Sun temple). On arrival in Pahalgam check-in hotel. Pahalgam is also famous for Indian film Industry (Bollywood). Pahalgam is also famous for some trekking routes & also base camp for Amarnath Pilgrimage. Enjoy the Natural beauty and river lidder. Dinner and overnight in hotel. Day 6: Pahalgam - Srinagar Airport After breakfast Check-out from hotel and drive to Srinagar to board the flight for onward destination. Lastly, congrats on getting married!

True, but this phone was introduced in Indian market in 2009, and still selling. The phone is not for higher end users who want the latest OS and fastest speed, but for normal users who use mobile as an entertainment plus phone device.