Review: Nokia N97

The impulsive buyer I am, a month back I bought a new Nokia N97. I am not going to talk about its features, because the list is long and you can as well find them here. So let’s keep straight go to its pros-n-cons.

Pros

This is really well loaded with lots of cool applications. With OVI store, you can download many of them for free. It has a huge 32GB storage with 5MP camera. Camera results are good. QUERTY keyboard is handy, and I have stopped hating sending SMSs. Many messenger are available for free, which allows you to remain connected to your friends round the clock. Widgets are good on the home screen.

Cons

1. It is very slow – couple of reasons
   1. Low RAM
   2. Low processor

   With so many powerful features, the phone is as good as a mini computer. But the processor and RAM does not keep pace with it rich features.

2. Low battery life

   Again this is a serious problem. With a WLAN or GPRS & bluetooth running, the battery lasts for not more than a day. Add to this, if you play music, than it drains like anything.

3. Frequent Crashes & Hangs –

   Many times the problem is due to less RAM

My rating is 6/10. It would have been best, only if it was faster and had more battery life.

The day the earth stood still

Well.. the original was release in 1951 was a classic and iconic in many ways. It was a super hit at that time. Michael Rennie did a superb job of playing Klaatu. He was charming and mysterious at the same time. The plot was simple – An alien lands and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets. It was a timely movie with a message of peace during a time that the Soviets and U.S. were deep into the ‘cold war’.

2008 saw the remake of the original sci-fi with Keanu Reaves playing the role of Klaatu. Keanu Reaves does not leaves an impression as Klaatu. While in the original movie, Klaatu was shown more humane and friendly, the new movie showed Klaatu to robotic & stone faced, which may not be liked by someone who have seen the original.

Overall, message may be good, but it is no where close to the original blocbuster. You can happily miss it.

Jethro Tull & Anoushka Shankar Concert in Hyderabad – 3rd Dec

Well I have not heard Jethro Tull before, and this was the first time.  I went there more because of Anouska Shankar.

The show started with performance of Anoushka and her group which also had Tanmay Bose on tabla. She performed for around 40 minutes based on two ragas one from south & another from north India. Her music was too enchanting and relaxing.  

Second performance was by Jethro Tull classical rock band, which was mind blowing -Ian Anderson, the lead singer and flute player is truly a Piper. It was amazing to see his energy levels even at the age of 62. He is multi-instrumentalist and can play guitar, harmonica, & saxophone.

The third part was the fusion of both Anoushka & JT. This was the best part… I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Total paisa vasool!!!

I recorded few last minutes of jugalbandi, which is not of good quality… but below are few videos from their Banaglore concert which are of fairly decent quality.

Great Kabab Factory

When I moved to Hyderabad 5 years back, there were few things that I missed more than others and one of them was Great Kabab Factory.

GKF recently opened here and when I got there message I was more than happy to go.

Some things never change. Food and price is still the same. What has changed though is the color of the waiter’s dress – earlier it used to be orange and now it’s blue.

There biriyani & galouti kababs are too good. The only thing which is not so good about this place is the restriction to stick with your choice of food – veg or non-veg. Both cost the same (600/-) and you can eat unlimited but you can not mix and match.

Never mind. I can go again there to try veg soon.

Rock On!!

Many times interval in a movie is a boon, because you can get out of a theater but not in movies like Rock On. It is one of the best movies ever made in India. The movie connects with your heart, with rock solid performance by all the 4 lead actors. The theme of the movie may seem to be similar as Dil Chahta Hai - friendship broken due to some misunderstanding but reunites in the end. This movie will remind you of “That thing you do” directed by Tom Hanks.

Music of the movie is amazing, may not be typical Bollywood music, but anyone above 25-28 will be able to connect with the movie. Wonderful lyrics and equally amazing music shankar-ehasan-loy will make you carve for more.. It will remind you of your school & college life, rock bands, jamming sessions, late night rock parties at a friend’s room with free flow of liquor and smoke!!

Well the life is good now, but it was better in college…

It is a must watch movie. My rating is 4/5.

ROCK ON!!

Review: Indiatimes Shopping – From bad to worse

From my last blog on Indiatimes to this one, there is no change in the services. In fact, the quality of service has deterioted. My wife ordered a Rakhi hamper for her brother on 11th-Aug. The order was shipped on 13th-Aug, and till yesterday (21st-Aug), it was not delivered. Merchant has shipped the order via TNT, and the reason of non-delivery was cited as ‘bad weather conditions’. On digging into details I found out that the order was shipped on 21st-Aug morning.

So this is the state of online shopping with Indiatimes. When I called up customer care, Tapan responded to the call. He was polite and told all the details and offered that the order can be cancelled and mone can be refunded if I want.

All said, Indiatimes is decades behind in online shopping. Hope they learn something or if that is too difficult for them then they should close there shop…

Skoda recalls Fabia Petrol

In my earlier posts I mentioned about the problem with Skoda Fabia. Today, morning a Friend of mine who knew about the problem with my car, called and told me to go thru the news on Times-of-India. This proves that were some serious problems with the car.

Anyway, I m not emphasizing on the problem. What I do want to emphasize is that Skoda is professional & bold enough to accept the problem. In fact, when I first raised the concern, which was few month back, with the dealer they actually went ahead and replaced the car with the Fabia Diesel. The best part of this was that they only gave the option of changing the car.

Replacing a car may be a new phenomenon in India, but across Europe and US, that has happened in past. The good thing is that the manufacturer is accepting the fault and is ready for fix it.

I have been driving Fabia Diesel since last 1 month without any problem. In fact, it is a really nice car meant for city driving, with an excellent millage. I am getting 16 kmpl in city conditions. So no regrets on buying it… Its the best in this segment!

http://alienworld.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/skodas-promise/
http://alienworld.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/letter-to-skoda/

Skoda’s Promise

In one of my earlier post, I have told you that my new Fabia petrol had a sever flaw – “Breaks don’t apply in slow speed”. Skoda acknowledged the problem and tried to fix it. The car was with them for a long time, but the car still had problem after it came back from the workshop.

This was when I went to meet the owner of Mahavir Autos (Skoda Dealer). He was very polite and professional and straight away gave an option of replacing the car. Not only did they replaced the car, they also upgraded it to a higher diesel version.

My experience with Skoda has been really good, not exactly in term of the car, but with the interaction I had with all the people at the showroom. They have truly lived up to their name. I doubt any other car manufacturer or dealer would have been so professional in dealing with replacing the full car.

Read “Letter to Skoda“