Anish Gaur
If you’re looking for a bargain, getting the Xbox 360 from the US makes sense, and you can use the extra money you’ve saved up to get a second controller or the hard drive. There are, however, possible hidden costs-there’s a chance that you could be charged customs duty for it, and it is not legally possible, as yet, to have the warranty transferred to India. You will probably need to spring for a power adapter as well. You should find out about such things before you take the leap-perhaps ask someone who’s gotten one for himself.
Wire Transfers
I recently bought a Nokia 6070. I want to download the contents of my phone-photos, contacts, etc.-to my computer. What accessories need to be purchased, and what about make and price?
D Basak
The Nokia 6070 is a mid-range phone and offers Nokia’s proprietary “pop port” for connecting it to your PC. You will have to buy the Nokia CA-42 adapter cable, which is sold as an accessory. The original cable from Nokia will be expensive; consider opting for a compatible one which retails at just Rs 300. Apart from the cable, install Nokia PC Suite on your PC-you can download it from Nokia’s Web site.
No Frills For Flash
I want to buy a 1 GB Flash, preferably branded. The drive need not have fancy features-just a plain drive for holding and transferring data. How much will it cost, and where can I buy it from?
Saurabh Sawant
There are lot of Flash drives available today; you could just go out and pick any of them. Drives by Transcend, Kingston and A-Data are worth the money, and you should be able to find them easily. We recently reviewed the A-Data Oriental Elite 512 MB drive and were blown away by its speed. For Transcend, contact Mediaman at 022-23828100; for Kingston, contact Kingston Technology at 022-26592961; and for A-Data, contact KMI Business Technologies at 022-30224715. Most of these 1 GB flash drives will cost Rs 1,200 or so. Flash drives from Lexar and SanDisk may not be available where you live, but these are the best. They come at a premium, though.
SE All The Way
I have a budget of Rs 11,000 for a good imaging / music mobile phone. Though I have shortlisted Sony Ericsson’s K750i and LG KG300, I would like to know which one is better. What is the cost of the USB cable and 512 MB Memory Stick for the SE K750i?
M M Joseph
The K750i and LG KG300 have identical features; the K750i sports a rather dated design, and the LG, with its curved edges, looks a little better. I haven’t tested it, so I will reserve opinion, but at its current price-Rs 10,500-the K750i is hard to beat in terms of features and performance. Sony Ericsson bundles the USB cable with the phone. A 512 MB Memory Stick will set you back by an additional Rs 1,000.
Intel Vs. AMD-Again
I need a laptop for business use as well as for watching movies at home. What processor / platform should I opt for as a cost-effective solution and for good battery life? I want to decide from amongst AMD Turion, AMD Turion X2, Intel Core Duo, and Intel Core 2 Duo. Is it true that with the launch of Core 2 Duo, Intel is now the frontrunner in providing the best price/performance ratio?
Manav M
With the launch of the Core 2 Duo, Intel has indeed claimed back its performance title. On the mobility front, since the launch of the Pentium M processor, Intel has had an edge over its competitors. The Turion platform from AMD is good, but falls short of Intel’s processor. Any laptop you buy right now should be Core based-Dell and HP have a decent line-up at good prices. Read our laptop test in our October 2006 issue, though the Core 2 Duo laptops were launched only after the test. If you’re looking for a laptop around Rs 50,000, stick with Core Duo-Core 2 Duo laptops will be a little more expensive.
Compatibility Conundrum
I want to buy an Intel Core 2 Duo processor based system, but no vendor I visit is very keen on selling this new processor. They say the kit comes with a Gigabyte motherboard and not Intel original. Specifically, I want an Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 and a compatible motherboard. I have a PATA hard drive, and one vendor told me I can’t connect it to the new motherboard. Is this true? Also, please suggest a decent graphics card for Windows Vista.
Avinash Singh
There are absolutely no compatibility issues between the Core 2 Duo and the Gigabyte motherboard; your vendors are lying. If you want to buy an original Intel motherboard, go with one based on the 965 chipset-there are around 11 boards to choose from. Read about them in our November 2006 motherboard test.
Your PATA hard drive will work fine, but I recommend switching to SATA as soon as you can-the slow transfer speeds of PATA will become more noticeable as the rest of your PC gets faster. The Core 2 Duo E6300 is an entry-level processor and the cheapest, and if you can spare 4K more, I would suggest the E6400-it offers better performance with more demanding applications.
To run Windows Vista, anything upwards of an NVIDIA 6600GT or an ATI X850 should be fine; I recommend a 7600GT-based card. You’ll get a decent one in the Rs 9,000 bracket.