Review: ConsumerMate.com

If you are looking to buy a mobile / laptop / Plasma TV / digital camera, a visit to ConsumerMate is highly recommended.

In case of mobiles, ConsumerMate provides really helpful tips / utilities. Now you can easily compare mobile phones, find mobile phones India, laptops, etc. There are also other tools like Guru Gyan, comparing different models, mobile buying guide, etc. ConsumerMate also has a consumer support section (which is missing in several similar sites)

What really distinguishes ConsumerMate from other sites is the Ask Us section. Here you can submit a request for a particular model and 2 to 3 vendors in the city will contact you with the best price offers for the products selected or mentioned in the message. This really helps in getting the best deals since you are comparing offers from different vendors before buying the product and that too from the comfort of your home / office.

ConsumerMate also has Test Center Ratings page which sets out the test results of several brands on four criteria: Build quality, Ergonomics, Performance and Features.

The interface of the site is innovative and easy to navigate and use. You just need to move the “sliders” to narrow down the search for your mobile / tv / digital camera or laptop.

So before making your next purchase of mobile / laptop / digital camera or plasma TV, make it a point to check out the test results, features, etc. of your shortlisted gadget at ConsumerMate.

Play Mafia Wars on Nokia N82 or S60 devices

To play mafia wars (facebook) on your Nokia N82, download and install Opera 10 Mobile browser on your mobile. There are no extra settings that you require to do and you can instantly start browsing and playing mafia wars.

The Opera 10 beta browser is the best one I have used on Nokia N82. The interface, speed and features are excellent.

Review of Tata Indicom Wimax in Mahim, Mumbai

Preliminary review:

I migrated from Tata Indicom Wired broadband service to Tata Indicom Wimax in Mahim area of Mumbai (Plan Power On and On 6-384 prepaid to [plan yet to be finalized])

Cost of installation – NIL

The transfer was a smooth process and apart from external installation of the antenna, it wasnt much time consuming thing.

Please note that Wimax doesnt mean free of all cables. The only cable that goes is the one that comes from Tata to your building. Instead, a receiver is installed on your terrace and it goes into a device which Tata provides you. Then a wire from that device comes out which goes into your computer (a wifi router can be installed so that the wire coming out of the device connects to the router)

Speed:
There is hardly any noticeable difference in the speed between the wired broadband service and the Wimax.

Update: Using Belkin wireless router N150. Installation was very easy. Just had to connect the cable to the router and thats it……

Update – 13th November, 2009:
The connection is performing flawlessly and I haven’t faced any issues (except for some minor disconnection on 2 occasions which was sorted out on the call itself). The rains did not affect the performance at all.

The call center remains easily accessible and the representatives seem to have upto-date knowledge.

I will definitely recommend Tata Indicom Wimax connection for people in Mahim, Mumbai.

Play Mafia Wars on Blackberry

For people who are addicted to Mafia Wars and want to play it on their Blackberrys, here is an easy way:

You will need to download Bolt browser and you can start using mafia wars on your blackberry.
Website

I am using it on Blackberry 8900.

Though the display is little messed up and slow, you can still do some jobs and fighting though it is not recommended for hitlists.

For Vodafone users in Mumbai who do not have GPRS package, use the Bolt browser using wifi.

Connect to PC internet through wifi using N82

Here is a simple procedure for connecting your Nokia N82 (or other nokia handset with wifi) to internet using PC wifi.

I shared Tata Indicom Broadband Connection (through cable) on my PC to my Nokia N82 handset using wifi.

The procedure is simple and will just take a few minutes.

The procedure is for Vista and with appropriate modifications, it can be used with Windows XP as well.

Procedure:

1. Right click your Network icon in the system tray – Network and Sharing Center;

2. Go to your internet connection icon (in this case Tata) – View status - Properties - Sharing - select Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection and clear the Allow other users to control…. option;

3. Now go to Network and Sharing Center - Setup a connection or network - Setup a wireless adhoc (computer to computer) network ;

4. You can give your adhoc network a suitable name and select the appropriate security settings in the next steps (for trial purpose I would suggest to do without the WEP / WPA security);

5. Just turn on the wifi on your Nokia N82 handset, connect to the adhoc network and start browsing from your handset…

[Info] Organ timings

Some useful information relating to organ timings – click here

Evaluation copy watermark on Vista SP2

Have you updated to Vista SP2 and are getting a “Windows Vista (TM) Evaluation Copy. Build 6002″ watermark on your desktop? Well that’s how it is meant to be… Careful reading during installation of the SP2 will reflect:

Service Pack Information

SP2 Beta is pre-release code which will change before the final release of SP2

Windows Server 2008 SP2/Windows Vista SP2 Beta is time-limited software that will operate until May 1^st, 2010 – Un-install Windows Server 2008 SP2/Windows Vista SP2 Beta before May 1^st, 2010

After SP2 installation your desktop may display the text “Evaluation Copy”. This does not mean that your system is no longer “Genuine”, only that you have installed a test version of software which is time-limited

After installing the service pack, the “Evaluation Copy” text may show up on the 2^nd boot

After un-installing the services pack, the “Evaluation Copy” text may remain during the first boot, but will disappear after the next reboot

Starting any Windows Server 2008 SP2 or Windows Vista SP2 installations will result in Microsoft collecting information about the installation process

To remove the watermark – read here.

However, I haven’t still figured out a way to make the updates work… My updates have somehow got disabled and my system crashes on trying to update.. Even the defender updates don’t work.. Plus there is no uninstall option in add / remove programs..

Waiting for a solution… Will update this post once I find a solution.

[Freeware] Pazera Video Converters Suite 1.2

Pazera Video Converters Suite 1.2

Pazera Video Converters Suite is a collection of portable video converters which helps you to convert between almost all video formats like AVI, MPEG, MP4, MOV, WMV, FLV, M4V, 3GP. The package also includes specialized converters to convert audio and video files for Zune, iPod and PSP players. In addition, the collection contains audio extractor & converter, which allows you to extract audio tracks from video files and convert audio files between the most important audio formats (MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, AAC, AC3, FLAC).

All converters have a very similar interface and they are simple to use, even for novice users.

To install, just extract archive Pazera_Video_Converters_Suite.zip to any folder on a hard disk or USB drive, then run StartPVCS.exe file.

Download here
SIZE: 29.74MB

Remove Personal Information from Office Documents

Source – TweakVista (Steve Sinchak)

Microsoft Office and other Windows Applications store all sorts of personal information when you save a file. Your name, computer name, company, date and time last edited are all examples of data included in a simple Word document file.

If you are concerned about your privacy there is an easy way to strip this information from a file.

1. Right click on the file and select Properties
2. Click on the Details Tab
3. Click Remove Properties and Personal Information on the bottom of the window
4. Select Remove the following properties from this file option and check all the items you want to remove. I suggest using the Select All button.
5. Hit OK and you are finished. All personal information is now removed.

Microsoft Fixit Solutions

Microsoft Fixit Solutions

If you have issues with or want to:

Reset security settings back to the defaults
Uninstall Internet Explorer 8;
Show Internet Explorer desktop icon;
Delete Media Center database;
Disable Internet Explorer script debugging;
Reset Internet Explorer Settings;
Disable feature restrict about protocol wizard;
Fix Windows Update error 0×8000FFFF;
Enable WinHlp32 Macros;
Unblock HLP Files on intranet site;
Restore Recycle Bin;
FixIt_DisableAddon_AskToolbar;
FixIt_DisableProcessStartup_GoogleDesktop;or
Enable Hibernate and Hybrid Sleep Feature,

Visit here.
For sidebar gadget download here