When we go to purchase a laptop, personal computer or any other electronic gadgets we usually get confused. It is often tough to decide whether to give priority to high configuration gadgets with small brand or low configuration gadget with big brand name. Finally we end up purchasing whatever store owner convinces us best. Best thing about online shopping is you are not influenced by anyone while selecting your brand. Still if you need some buying guide ConsumerMate.com is second to none in India. ConsumerMate portal has an expertise on helping customers with choosing the best Laptops, Mobile phones, LCD/Plasma TVs, Digital Cameras and Camcorders etc within their budget. You can compare mobile phones, laptops etc from various vendors. I would rate them among the most unbiased reviewers of mobile phones india. They do not influence their customer unlike what you generally see at your nearby stores but they show you wide variety of choices from which you can narrow down to select the best one.

When I am talking about electronic gadgets I should not forget to mention about Digit, the No. 1 Technology magazine. Digit magazine has already gained trust of youth by providing reliable and robust reviews of latest laptops, computer accessories and various other gadgets. I myself have subscribed monthly edition of digit magazine. I love to go through their ultimate expert comments about the latest launches. Now to add to the flavour for their readers Digit has launched its own online shopping portal called http://shopping.thinkdigit.com/. Needless to say, it offers plethora of technology gadgets to choose from, Deep discount hot deals and convenient and secure shopping online.

Both the above portals are unique of their kind and extremely reliable. I must mention about the interactive web application by Consumermate known as Guru Gyan. This feature implemented by Consumermate is extremely helpful for the visitors to find exactly what best they can purchase within their budget. They narrow down the options of available products and gadgets based on customer’s usage, budget and brand choice. Customer care of Consumermate is very active and ready to help. You can post your queries on the portal in Ask Us section to contact Consumermate experts to answer your technical and legal queries/complaints on the gadget purchases. You will get immediate response via email or SMS for your query through Ask Us section. Non the less, you will also be provided with atleast three neares dealers in you city where you can get your products. Now that is indeed very customer centric facility.

IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity. It is a unique built in ID through which your cellphone can be identified and its whereabouts can be traced. It is associated with each cellphone during manufacturing process. Importance of IMEI numbers can be understood by the fact that if your cellphone gets snatched or stolen you can trace your cellphone using IMEI number. If you are unable to get back your cellphone then at least you can take help from police to blacklist that IMEI number so that it can not be used by anyone. Cellphones without IMEI number is a major threat to the security of any nation. Such cellphones can not be traced and terrorists can use it for malicious purpose. Most of the cheap Chinese cellphones in the market do not have IMEI numbers. Some of them use the duplicate IMEI numbers too.

Have you ever wondered that how your IMEI number gets traced and how the blacklisted IMEI numbers gets blocked? IMEI numbers of all the mobile terminals are stored in the database known as EIR i.e. Equipment Identity Register. EIR stores three different lists of IMEI numbers – A white list, A Black list and A Grey List. White list consists of all the IMEI numbers who are allowed to access the network. Black list consists of the list of those numbers which are blocked. These are usually stolen terminals whose service have been barred. Grey list consists of faulty or non-approved equipment. These equipments are under monitor.

Recently I India put a ban on cellphones without IMEI number. If you had purchased cheap Chinese cellphone and you want to continue with your same cellphone then all you have to do is to immediately apply for unique IMEI number. It is possible to use your cellphone. You need to approach to ICA i.e. Indian Cellular Association for unique IMEI number. They embedded a new IMEI number into your cellphone. So you can continue using your same cellphone.

GPRS was a real hit in the cell phone industry. Almost all the telecom service provider now offers GPRS services. Internet access via GPRS on the mobile phones is common these days. I used it with Airtel. All you need is a GPRS enabled mobile phone. But now it is the age of 3G driven by EDGE technology. EDGE or Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution, I heard a year ago that this technology was introduced in Europe and mostly used with iphones for global internet connectivity. Also that it allows global roaming facility. Its high data transfer rate of 384 kbps is 3 times the data transfer rate as compared to GPRS. It consists of the 8 pattern time slot, and the speed of 384 kbps could be achieved when all the 8 time slots were used. Based on an 8 PSK modulation, it allows higher bit rate across the aerial Interface. 3 bits represents one symbol. And EDGE Rate = 3x GPRS Rate. (Got this from tripod.com).

EDGE is nothing but EGPRS. GPRS uses various radio channel coding schemes allow bitrates from 9 to over 171.2 kbit/s (if device were to use all 8 channels without error correction) per user. And one more thing, EDGE is not related directly to 3G, rather EDGE belongs to 2.5 G category. GPRS belongs to 2G.

Recently I bought Nokia 3600 cell phone and I was so delighted by its features that I was dying to write it in my post. Though the features of Nokia 3600 are not new, but the most exciting thing is that these features are available at very less price, and more than that it’s the Nokia handset.

Nokia 3600 is a first low price sliding screen and one of the most stylish handsets by Nokia. Here are its features:

1. Slim shape and sliding screen: It is a slim, thin and small black cell phone which would easily slip to pocket. It has nice screen size and soft keypads.

2. 3.2 MP camera: This is 3.2 MP Camera with dual flash facility. Picture clarity is decent. Such resolution is rare at such low price. You can also record your precious moments in videos.

3. Data transfer: It has Bluetooth facility. You can connect it to PC via data cable which comes with the set.

4. Connect to TV: You can connect your Nokia 3600 cell phone to the TV via separate cable. The cell phone has special port for this purpose which lets you view your videos on your TV. Isn’t it amazing!

5. Memory: I got 512 MB card with the cell phone. Memory is extendable to 8 GB according to the configuration mentioned. Phone memory is near about 26 MB.

6. Battery: Battery has 4 hrs of talk time period and 4 days of standby capacity which is quite decent.

About Applications:
Nokia 3600 uses Symbian OS and has ultimate graphics. I must say its graphics is one its lucrative features. In Applications, it contains scientific calculator, wonderful games with improvised graphics etc. For internet, it consists of browser called Mini Opera. The cell phone is good for WAP users. There are much more lucrative applications such as GPS maps etc. but I could not use them. Its music player is amazingly good and gives the look and feel of Media players on PC. You can also tune in to your favorite FM station for listening music.

Limitations:

Playing music or using camera consumes lots of battery power. Its battery could have been better. However, it is not a great concern as its effect is negligible.

Overall, Nokia 3600 is a good deal to make. I bought it from The Mobile Store, new market Bhopal. I got an ear phone, a data cable and 512 MB memory card with the set.
Wish you MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

Ever since its entry into the mobile handset industry Sony Ericson has established itself as one of the leading brand both in style and innovation. The firm is a global provider of cellular multimedia devices, along with feature-rich mobile phones, accessories and PC cards. Sony Ericson’s W910i Walkman® has won the award of Best Handset at the GSM Association’s 13th Global Mobile Awards 2008 for its magnificent definition of music. It’s just few months that Sony Ericsson W350 has also been launched and the kind of response it has got is really amazing. People have loved its sound quality.

The cell phone weighs 80g with 1.9 inch screen. As others it supports Polyphonic, MP3, and AAC ringtones. It also offers the feature of Photo call. The W350 supports M2 i.e. Memory Stick Micro memory cards. It provides data transfer facility with GPRS at18 kbps, Bluetooth and of course the USB port. You can enjoy SMS, EMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging too. Its browser is quite advanced and supports WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (NetFront), RSS reader. Its also has Camera with 1.3 Mega Pixel resolution, FM, image viewer, walkman player and much more for your leisure. Its battery life is quite good and most interestingly, it is free with an AT&T contract. Though there are some really good handsets with similar features in the market from other companies but its cheap price with tiny and weightless design definitely puts it in the preference list of buyer.