Sony Xperia Sola Review

Simple & Smart

My Ratings: 3/5


I have used almost all the major brands of mobile phones except Sony. Finally I have got a chance to use it. I gifted Sony Xperia Sola to my brother and am using it vigorously to know the positives and negatives of this phone.

In the quest

I explored extensively for a right phone to gift it to my brother. There were few basic requirements before I started the search.
1. Android phone; the version was not of much concern.
2. Minimum 5MP camera (secondary camera was needed but not of primary concern).
3. Impressive screen resolution.
4. Preferably single-SIM support.
5. Amazing looks and design.
6. Minimum 3.5inch screen.
7. Pricing should be in in the range of 15-20k.

I was surprised to find out that there were not many mobiles matching these specifications . I choose Sony just because I want to try out something new and Sony is always a preferable brand for music playback.

Windows 8 Review

Window for a new experience

My ratings: 4/4


New gadgets, new releases, new technologies, new updates and upgrades attract me so I immediately installed Windows 8 Pro once it was launched. I didn’t wait for reviews or feedbacks because I want to remain updated anyhow. It’s more than a week I am using the latest version of Windows. I would share only key points that would help you decide that whether you need this upgrade or not and how to use it more effectively.

Brief description

The new windows has two versions of screens- one is the old ‘desktop screen’ and other is tiled ‘metro screen’ . There is a hidden shortcut bar (shortcut to search, share, start, devices and settings) on left edge (named as ‘ Charms Bar ’) that is visible when mouse is pointed on top right corner. The ‘ settings’ option in charm bar can be used to control Wi-Fi, Volume, Power on/off, brightness, notifications and online keyboard . You will also find ‘Change PC Settings’ at the bottom in settings pane to control general settings. When you press the Start shortcut on this bar, you will be transferred to a totally new screen having live tiles that can be scrolled from left to right.

Khiladi 786 Music Review

The Khiladi is Back... with a bang!!!

My ratings: 4/5

Akshay Kumar is back with Khiladi series after a long gap of 12 years. All were waiting for it as an action movie including me. I have no expectations with the music of this movie but it’s music album totally astonished me or I should say it is biggest turner as per me. The music of this album is composed by Himesh Reshmmiya who is playing multiple roles of co-actor, producer, lyricist, singer and composer. HR is here with a bang after lot of critics by fellow composers with 14 tracks. Can you ever imagine any action movie with 12 tracks? So let me discuss this album.

Lonely

Tujh se dur main bhi hoon majboor,
Dil ko sataye teri akhiyon ka noor,
Aah, bbat ye sachhi aaj tujh ko bataaun
bas tere liye main ye geet likhte jaaun
Din raat hi main inhe goongunaaun
Phone mein photo teri dekhu baari-baari
Ji Kardaa aa java main maar ke udaari,
O baawariyaa O baawariyaa

Samsung Galaxy Chat Review

 Best Touch-n-Type ANDROID Phone

 My ratings: 3.5/5

Recently I have purchased Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos (GYPD) and the main reason for choosing that phone was its dual SIM feature. Samsung has launched a new mobile in place of that, with better features but single SIM. I got a chance to use newly launched Samsung Galaxy Chat for few days and I am sharing my experience here.

Samsung Galaxy Chat is unique mobile for its feature and price range. There is no Android ICS enabled mobile with touch and type feature at this price.

This phone has 3-inch display with a resolution of 240x320 pixels, and comes with a physical QWERTY keypad . It is equipped with Android ICS (4.0) that is upgradable to Jelly Bean (Android 4.1); 850 MHz processor with 512MB of RAM . It is powered with 1200mAh battery and available in black and white colours.

Casio Edifice EFA-120L Review

All purpose. One watch.

My ratings: 3/5

I was passing my time on Hyderabad airport when I first noticed this watch- CASIO EDIFICE ANALOG DIGITAL EFA-120L-1A-1V . There was something in this watch that I got attracted towards it, I think it was its simple and sober look and few important features.

Looks & Design

The watch is analog and digital watch with exciting features. The dial of the watch is rectangular in shape and made up of stainless steel. There is a spherical hard glass (resistive to normal scratches) attached to the dial. This dial is attached to black colored tough leather straps . The strap is uniformly pinned on its body that improves its gracefulness and it is bordered with a red colored stitching.
The inner side of dial is black in color with two small sized overlapping chronographs on one side. There are two luminous hands for pointing hours and minutes. ‘CASIO EDIFICE’ is written on top in white in two lines. It is to be noted that working area of dial is round shaped and remaining area is adorned with 12 steel pointers for hours.
The dial displays date (in MM-DD format) and day (two letters) on top, time (in HH:MM SS format) on bottom and temperature in middle.

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos review

Basic ANDROID for basic users

(This review got First Prize of Rs.10,000 in 'Mouthshut.com Review contest'  Click here for details )

My ratings: 3/5

I am back with another review of a gadget I possessed recently.  Till now I have used Java, Symbian, iOS, BADA, Windows and thus I was eagerly waiting to acquire an Android phone. I want to solve many purposes with this phone, so I started my quest for a dual-SIM Android phone with QWERTY keypad . There were not many options in reputed brands so I finally zeroed upon Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos.

Basic Specifications

GPRS, Edge, GPS, 3G connectivity
Android 2.3 OS
800 MHz processor, 512 MB RAM; 150 MB internal memory
2.6-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen (320 x 240 pixels)
3.2MP rear camera, VGA front camera
Touch and type, Dual SIM functionality
1350 mAh battery

Nokia C2-02 Review

Touch. Type. Nokia. All at Rs.3400.

My Ratings: 3/5

I needed a phone to gift to my younger sister. Her requirements were very basic- messaging, calling and listening music/ videos. As she is not internet savvy, I have to choose a very basic and user friendly phone for her that comes cheap but doesn’t look that cheap. There were many phones in market but I zeroed upon Nokia C2-02 touch and type having slider form factor.

Basic specifications 
 
1. Screen:   2.6" 65K-color resistive touchscreen    
2. Operating System:  Symbian series 40   
3. Camera:  2 MP fixed focus, 15fps video recording   
4. Connectivity:  Bluetooth 2.1, GPRS, EDGE, microUSB   
5. Storage:  10MB internal, 32GB external support   
6. Others:  Stereo FM radio with in-built recorder, Alphanumeric keypad
 
Features and functions

The phone is very well built and looks quite attractive with matte finish battery cover. It doesn’t look cheap like many other mobile phones in this segment. There are only two physical keys provided for volume control and screen locking. The slider works quite smooth but with time it may not work so smooth. The USP of the designing is golden chrome plating at bottom of this phone.

Apple iPhone 4S Review

iPhone: Need, Luxury or Show-off???

My Ratings: 3/5

Many of you know that I am a gadget freak and love to possess one and all. I have written reviews of many mobiles but this one is special as it is the costliest mobile I had ever possessed. I was (still am) proud owner of Nokia N8 but many Apple lovers had asked me to try iPhone so it became a desire for me. Finally I decided to fulfill this desire of mine and purchases Apple iPhone 4S. As you all know that earlier days of acquiring anything are the most exploring days so I am sharing my views on this costliest mobile. I am not mentioning specifications or performances of this mobile (you can read that on many places), I am just discussing my own personal views.

Limitations

No user profiles- Choosing a profile as per your situation are a basic function of any mobile. Everyone used to have lot many combinations of ringtones, volumes, vibrations etc. but iPhone doesn’t give you the liberty for all that. There is only two options- Loud & Silent.

eBay.in Review

STOP. Then SHOP.

My Ratings: 2.5/5

I don’t know how I got hooked to online shopping but I have become online shopaholic from last few months. The reason may be because of my remote location and inaccessibility to latest products and gadgets. I have tried many sites in newly found passion of mine, eBay.in is one of them. So I thought of sharing my experiences with you all on this platform, it may be useful to you in taking purchasing decisions.

Introduction

EBay does not require any introduction as it is the one of the largest and oldest online shopping destination in India. It is found as baazee.com which was later took over by eBay.com. Interestingly, it is just a platform where sellers and buyers meet and sell or purchase. EBay acts as a regulatory body and acts as mediator so as to make the transactions fair and honest.

Western Digital My Passport Review

Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 2.5inch 1TB : for your storage needs

My star ratings- 4/5

As you all know that your data on computer increases with time. Mine also was soaring at a very high rate as I regularly used to download movies over Internet.  And I don’t want to delete any of my data hence arises the need of an external storage device. First of all I listed down my requirements so as to easily narrow down my search.

My Requirements

1. Compact and handy that’s easy to carry.

2. Minimum 1TB storage capacity as I don’t want to assist it with another storage device in near 3-4 years.

3. USB 3.0 compatibility as it is the latest data transfer mode.

4. No external power supply.

5. Most importantly, it should be in the price range of 5-6k.

AFL Courier Review

Courier or Snail Mail???

My Rating- 1/5

AFL courier is a part of multinational FedEx. It may be a great courier company but I would like to share three experiences I had with this courier service. Those experiences speak a lot about their credibility and services.

I would like to mention that I reside in a remote area in West Bengal (just 150kms from Kolkata) that is serviceable by Speed Post and very limited courier services.

Experience #1

I opened my account in a bank and they made a mistake while entering my address (mistake in quarter no. only, rest of the address was correct) in their database. They send my ATM PIN to that address before I could ask them to rectify the ad dress. One fine day (that day came after many days) the delivery guy delivered my letter to that wrong address to a wrong person even though he was informed that it is not my quarter. My contact number was mentioned in the letter and I was expecting a call from them but no one took pain to confirm that whether the highly secure letter was delivered in right hands or not. One more thing, the delivery was done at 10:00pm . I would love to deliver at this hour if it is delivered on urgent basis but when it is already delayed there is no need to deliver at such odd hours.

Yebhi.com Review

This Too...

My Ratings: 2.5/5


Yebhi.com was started as bigshoebazaar.com but now they have diversified their product categories hence the change in name. It offers free delivery on all items with 24x7 customer support, 48hrs delivery and 30-days return policy.

They have wide categories, mainly

1. Shoes

2. Clothing

3. Bags

4. Lifestyle- Eyewear, fragrances, camera, tablet, mobile and mobile accessories.

5. Jewelry & Watches

6. Home and Kitchen- Home appliances, entertainment, home furnishing, gifts, home décor & home furnishing.

There are few other categories and you can even recharge your mobile through this site.

Khandani Rajdhani Review

 Try out something different...

My ratings: 2.5/5


Last year I have written a review of a restaurant in Bhubaneswar that serves unlimited thali meals and have several other attractions.
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Sai-Bhog-Restaurant-Bhubaneshwar-review-rsquornrmn

On that review I got a comment that Rajdhani Restaurant is the pioneer in offering unlimited thali meals. I recently got a chance to have lunch at one of the Rajdhani Restaurant at Chandigarh.

Location

The restaurant is located at ground floor of DT Mall in IT Park . You can easily reach there by public or private conveyance. There are AC & non-AC buses running frequently from ISBT-43 (also originating from few other locations) that passes through almost all the major locations of Chandigarh.

Chidiya Ghar Review

LOL vs. ROFL :)

My Ratings: 4/5

LOL: Laughing Out Loud
ROFL: Rolling On the Floor Laughing

I am fond of SAB TV from the beginning as the programs aired on it are really meant for families and full of fun and entertainment. Two months, a new comedy program- CHIDIYA GHAR was started on this channel and I am complete fan of it. I love the show, concept, actors, performances and the situational comedy. And yes, many times am confused after watching wonderful hilarious scenes that whether I have to LOL or ROFL so gave this title.

Concept

Unlike the name suggests, the serial is not about a zoo but a house named after the owner’s wife - Chidiya Narayan. This serial tries to show the animal traits in humans - restlessness like monkeys, appetites like elephants, swiftness of a horse, slowness of a donkey etc. This show showcases the journey from a four legged creature to a two legged one inculcating basics of human values like love, respect for others, patience and the true meaning of a family and togetherness is what makes us humans.

Manorama Yearbook 2012 Review

 Desi GOOGLE

My Ratings: 4.5/5

It was 1996 when I first got a copy of Manorama Yearbook from one of my classmate. I became a fan of this book since then. It is a one stop search for major GK questions. It was the time when there was no Wikipedia, Google or internet. Time has changed in almost 15years since then, but my loyalty towards this book is still the same. Though I have many online search engines always ready for me and Wikipedia with all the detailed information but still I love to flick through its pages to get information on many hot topics or topics that never came to my mind. Interestingly, I took help from Wikipedia while writing this review but that doesn’t make this book any inferior. I am writing this review considering the latest edition of this book- Manorama Yearbook 2012.

Simply said, it is an encyclopedia of current affairs published annually in Bengali, English, Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil languages by Malayala Manorama Group of Kerala, India. It was first printed in 1959 in Malayalam and seven years later, the first English edition was published. It mainly covers information related to people, places, events and other major incidents happened during the past year.

Ek Deewana Tha Music Review

Feel the Music!!!

I have heard about this movie when it was in news regarding the music launch at Taj Mahal. There were no expectations attached to this album but was totally mesmerized by it. It has some uniqueness attached to it, seen rarely in Hindi Movies.

This movie is remake of Tamil movie Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa that was a great musical hit by A R Rahman. Rahman tries to replicate that magic and he is successful to an extent. The lyrics are penned by Javed Akhtar in very simple lyrics with mix of English phrases and even pure Hindi phrases.

The album has total twelve tracks, out of which three are instrumentals. Interestingly, there is no remix version of any song that has become a normal trend in music albums nowadays.