The AA or AAA lights that are generally available to us in India or no match to 18650(battery type) lights in their lumens(lighting power), built quality and LED life. Not just 18650 lights, but any good brands like Fenix, Solarforce, JETBeam, NiteCore, EagleTac, Olight, Quark/4Sevens, SureFire, Etc., product some high quality flashlights. But lets limit this discussion to Solarforce, Fenix, Magicshine and 18650 vs AA lights.

Here is a brief of what the 18650′s are about:
18650 lights are all tactical lights and NOT generally cheapo quality lighting. If you have a wish to loose your eyesight, just look directly into them and its fulfilled instantly. Well there are both the good quality LEDs and medium quality LEDs(Bulbs I mean) in these lights. But I am yet to see one useless LED bulb from the good brands. Single cell 18650 lights are usually around 220-320 lumens.
(FYI: there are several high quality, durable, dependable AA lights which can be used for biking but rechargeable, high power, anytime, anywhere takes me to 18650 types)

I have a huge collection of lights since years (protecting them as much as the ladies do with Gold and diamonds and as much as Bzeers/MTBrs do with their bikes) and I think I fell in love with Solarforce and Fenix lights long ago. For bicycling, Solarforce is what i choose. Fenix’s are costly, better built but the cost of the lights pushes me several steps back from mounting them on my bike. But Fenix’s are the bikini babes for light collectors. There are several other high quality light brands like JETBeam, NiteCore, EagleTac, Olight, Quark/4Sevens, SureFire, Etc., which collectors buy just for the fun of owning them (most of them will not be used more than a couple of times) but these are outside the scope of our discussion.

The basic Solarforce L2′s are good to go. The collectors however don’t buy full lights, they buy all parts like body(different colors), heads, bezels, tail caps, slings, lenses, Layard rings, belt clips, lanterns/wands/diffusers, etc and assemble to get the best looking, high performance lights which are never available on sale anywhere.

More about solarforce lights: http://flashlight-wiki.com/Solarforce
More about Fenix lights: http://flashlight-wiki.com/Fenix | http://www.fenixlight.com/newping.asp

So here is what i can tell you about Solarforce lights for biking:
The “Solarforce L2″ type lights is what I chose for biking. I have a 2 lights setup on my bike, I’ll tell you why, below. These lights give you around 270 to 900 lumens for depending upon the bulb type for about 1.5 to 3 hours on high mode. Some L2′s (high powered LED ones) have single mode, the rest have 3 or 5 modes. The best option is the 5-mode light -> High, Med, Low, Strobe, SOS.

Why 5 modes?
Because you need to switch between modes depending on your ride, time and situation. For example in city traffic, the Strobe mode is more useful than the High mode. Many times I keep one light in Medium mode and the other in Strobe. Medium is just to be visible for other vehicles(considering most of the city roads have enough lighting), and switch on the Strobe on second light when you want to say it LOUD. And sometimes when people annoy me without giving side by crossing me and occupying the left most part of the road and block me, i annoy then back switching both my L2s to STROBE. They are pretty annoying i can tell you and satisfy my ego.

Where to Buy:
Ebay.com – many international sellers (most from HK have free shipping)

What to buy:

Lights: Solarforce L2 5-output/mode lights on Ebay: http://j.mp/gyWtQe

Mounts: There are several options for bike light holders, I have tried all most all of them and here is what I suggest(look for the mount in the pics below): http://j.mp/gi3jqK – you might get each for $5 and free shipping also if you are lucky. They are not the exact fit for the Solarforce L2, but you can wrap your light with a piece of bicycle tube and if need be use another piece to wrap the handle bar where you want to fit the mount and there you go. Good enough for city riding. Trail riding, I’m not sure with this setup.

If you have the money and need just one light, Magicshines is what you should look at. (I think they are coming back corrected and new after the recent battery pack exploding complaints). Note  that the magicshine is also a 18650 light (4×18650 packed into one pouch which sits separately on your top tube). Magicshines on Ebay: http://j.mp/ijULLT

Batteries:
There are a variety of 18650s available.
Major differences are Capacity and Protected/Unprotected.  For our usage, we can go with the unprotected ones too. Most of my batteries are unprotected 18650s and I don’t have any issues. If you want to dig into the protected vs unprotected topic, check this: http://j.mp/fh57N2

Battery Brands you can buy are: Ultrafire, Solarforce, Trustfire and GTL
(I use Solarforce and Ultrafire, mostly Solarforce, and Ultrafire as backup)
Beware of unbranded 18650s. Just not worth even looking at them. They can give you some serious trouble like blowing up or switching off unexpectedly.

Battery Capacity: varies from 2200mAh to 3800mAh. Buy the 2400mAh or 3000mAh, these are tried and tested.  I prefer the 2400mAh types. You can buy the protected ones if you are v.v.particular about battery performance, life of lights, or are a little afraid of these HK stuff in general. They will safe guard.

18650 batteries on ebay: http://j.mp/hjDEz1

Battery Chargers:
For years, I have tested countless chargers. Some used to work only for a few times and then die.
My wife says, “why the hell do you buy these useless chargers all the time? when you know they are shipping fake ones?”

So you get the point, its hard to find great 18650 chargers, there are many lemons and few oranges. Even the best working chargers might have lemons if you are unlucky. Luckly if you buy from ebay, there is always replacement. So, you need to test the charger for atleast 3-4 times to see how its doing before you can confirm you got an orange and before the time to ‘report a problem on ebay about the item’ runs out.

Here is what I buy for the chargers:
Ultrafire WF-139: http://j.mp/hkacyA (check for WF-139)
Solarforce 18650 Charger Version 2: http://j.mp/g8DbkX (look for version 2)

Remember, if its available for too cheap, the quality/life of the item will reflect the price. Ebay or DealExtreme or Amazon or HK or USA is no different. They are all made in a small town in Hong Kong, cheap to high quality stuff.

There might be several points you want to know and which I missed here, I can add points based on questions coming.

Ok, here are some pictures:

[Show as slideshow]

In the pictures you can see the Twin Solarforce L2′s setup for bike lights, size comparison with batteries and other lights and mounts.

For the Solarforce lights setup, if anyone goes for it, this is what i recommend:
2 lights – $60
3 mounts – $15(its 3 not 2, just in case one of these breaks)
4 batteries – $24 (2 always on the lights, 2 as backup for cycling and other purpose, read below why)
1 charger – $12

That comes to around $110. Thats some 5k INR for excellent anytime, anyday lights. any-night lights?
For that cost, you can get basic model magicshine light i think but in case of battery or LED failures, the dual lights with single cells are increasing your chances of survival. The new magicshines have 5 modes now. low mode is what you need in the cities, and mid sometimes. But if you want to switch to Fast blink(Strobe) mode, you have only the strobe mode (unlike the dual light mode setup where you can have one light pointing little forward in high or mid mode and the other pointing low with strobe mode) and the strobe mode in the magicshine might be somewhere between 700-900 lumens and thats really a lot of annoying lighting for others on the road as well as the rider.

And as i said earlier, the magicshines are more for Trail riding. They will blow you out on the trails and highways where you just want to enjoy more light than you actually need.

The 2 extra/backup batteries that i mentioned above applies to any light setup ( for single cell lights, buy 2 batteries for each light, for dual cell lights, buy 4 batteries for each light) because you never know when you want to use these lights to their full capacity for more than just bicycling. These are tactical lights and can be used for various outdoor purposes like camping, etc. and sometimes indoors too – when there are power failures. Extreme cases – earth quakes, floods, what ever you want to imagine, you never know when these multi mode lights come in handy. I have personally used them in power-cuts, paddy fields, mango gardens, palmoil/jamoil plantations and forests like places and they also make excellent car travel lights (long journeys) – in case if you have a flat tire or need to help someone in the middle of no where. These lights (not just solarforce, any tactical lights) make good house lights and personal protection lights, in case you encounter some as$hole the light physically becomes a weapon with sharp teeth in the front and the illumination also is powerful enough to block the view of the other guy giving you a few seconds of advantage to do your thing.

The best way to use your 4 cells on 2 lights is this: Charge all 4 cells, use 2 till they drain out or get dim. Bring the backup ones and use them, meanwhile charge the drained out ones, so at any point you definitely have 2 cells fully charged and the other 2 drained or sometime they are also ready to go. One more thing, if your lights are 2-cell lights, do not mix and match the cells, maintain sets of 2′s strictly all the time to get the best out of them.

To the Bollywood first- Guys, what the heck is wrong with you all? sometimes you talk like you are great people, know only to do good things and can lead people in the right way. But when it comes to actually doing the deed. You play dead?

Fuck Man. Seriously! – Animals are better than us. If one Crow is dying or dead, all the crows come together. When one of your own is being bombarded with threats by some goondas, you all play dead?

Ya we know you have professional rivalries. Professional rivalries should be only be kept to professional matters. But when one of your own is being targeted by some ass hole goons – where the heck were you all? Don’t have balls to come out?

MNS/Shivsena, these people are not the underworld for gods sake, they wouldn’t kill your families if you open your mouth. They are just ass hole political parties who have nothing to do except to make everything a communal issue. We all know this fact. Oh, if you are supporting those people, fuck you.

Our country is a democratic country. And anyone who believes in democracy should be on the right side. You were on the wrong side or no side at all? You don’t believe in democracy – meaning you don’t believe in India and you are not fit to be an Indian. Or are you thinking you on the majority?

Aamir Khan – There is no one else in Bollywood or the whole the whole of Indian film industry whom I and many people like me adore or respect more than you. That’s right, I said it. Not SRK. Matter of fact I don’t like him at all because I feel there is something wrong his attitude. But that’s my opinion. – But he is an Indian and I don’t hate him for that reason. You came out to support but people like me expected something bigger. A much stronger statement. Not statements – openly call them into the boxing ring. You are loved for not just your movies but all the social things you do. When people see your ads about Respecting Foreign Tourists, oh ya people love you for that. The fact that when we cannot respect and support fellow Indians, how can we expect some useless goons on the streets to respect foreign nationals?

Why not an all-out war against the Shivsena? Why not challenge them you will bring them to their knees? Oh ya only you can do that I believe. We all know BigB wouldn’t do that anyway. Where are the others? Why Isn’t the entire Bollywood clan coming out when one of your own is in trouble?

To all others –
When we are inviting the Pakistani foreign minister to talks and when our Prime Minister consistently tries to talk to Pakistan for bilateral relationships, why desert someone who is just supporting a sports team? Its sports, guys, we are not inviting some terrorists. All Pakistanis are NOT terrorists. I am not supporting Pakistan on the whole. There is a bigger angle you need to look at. I am sure all the terrorists are in Pakistan. Its the system in their country that failed. The government there is a victim of its own acts(feeding the terrorists) and is a puppet now in the hands of terrorists. Yes it still feeds them to gain a piece of India. Yes we all hate Pakistan for that. Ah… feels good to say that. Isn’t it? But don’t you think there are also good humans living there. If all Pakistanis are terrorists, WHY didn’t we kill the Pakistani players when we had hundreds of chances? One single bomb thrown into the dressing room when they are here in India would do the needful right? But we didn’t do that. WHY? We love to watch those India-Pakistan matches. don’t we? But that’s where our rivalry with the players ends. We wouldn’t mob and beat them to death if see the pakistani players on our city streets shopping when they are here for a match right? I wonder how many of us would lineup for autographs. But that stupid team is spoiling its own credibility and name by doing all those mindless things they have been doing in the recent times. Pity them for that.

In SRK’s issue, We’ve came down to a stage that we wanted a fellow Indian to prove his patriotism or to prove if he was an Indian at all? Shame on us all. Isn’t this so close to the “Chak De” SRK role where he is seen as a traitor by fellow Indians? We all had tears rolling when we saw that scene in the movie. Why act dumb now when the same thing is happening to a fellow Indian for real? for that matter, unfortunately the same fellow who was acted that scene. But he isn’t acting now. Do you know that? You think this is a publicity stunt? If its his religion in doubt, he married a Hindu, Both Namaz and Hindu Prayers are offered in his house, What does that tell you? His kids – What religion are they?

Guys, organizations and assholes like Shivsena, MNS, RSS are no-good to us. They will only bring more trouble to our country which is already lacking in development and lot of things. Lets not feed these people.
Lets not act like a bunch of sleeping cock sucking morons. Wake up.

To the fellow Muslim-Indians - this is just not my personal opinion, I’m addressing a larger issue and opinion here and this part is not related to this topic – Stop acting like aliens. I know most of you are not doing so. Most of you are educated and broad minded. But for the others – Stop thinking my community, my people and seeing Hindus as muslim killers or something? We are not that bad. Are we? We shared our country with you are continuing to do so with great affection and patience. It is we Hindus who are in majority here and do not try to remind that to us. (that does not mean you can claim special minority reservations in everything, minority does not mean backward you see?) – (sorry for that attitude of mine). Because you are doing so, we had to feed anti-muslim organizations/vote-banks and they have grown so much that we all became victims to these goons. – Everything that you do, reflects on the other side of your city or on the other community. We had rivalry in the past, we can’t change that now. But lets not teach hatred to our children. Lets teach them how to love. How to be better Indians and better Human Beings. We can have different Gods but they are not rivals you see? Gita or Quran exists to teach us good in the language we speak and understand but not to teach hatred. So, lets all stop doing this communal thing. Lets all live like Indians first and not Hindus, Muslims, Maharastrians or Andhraites. We are going no where with these attitudes. Sorry guys, if you hate me for speaking out. Love me as an Indian, you will be loved back for sure. Nothing else matters. I would happily marry a Muslim girl or any girl from a different religion if she(who ever it is) was my girl friend – but sorry that part is already done. btw, I love my wife, she is in her 9th month of pregnancy and I’d be soon leaving for the delivery – on that front, i’m on a little emotional high right now but staying far away in 2 different states for this Valentine’s day sucks (which is day after tomorrow – too bad). Wondering what stopped me from going. grrrr… ok lets come back now.

Ok, Coming back to the SRK issue, I appreciate the small number of stars who came out and supported openly. Here is the certificate that you all have balls. Seriously. Adorable Ladies, – sorry if that offends you, but let me put it the other way, you all have the guts. Others Do Not.

Here is also appreciation for all those in Mumbai who went to see the movie today (Febuary 12, 2010) on the release date of My Name is Khan despite the threats from Shivsena. Let the spirit of our great cities and country be with us and not with some goondas.

Here is appreciation for one particular sweet looking girl that I saw talking on NDTV – here is what she said in front of some theater and its being aired again and again on the national channel –
“I’ve heard that Bal Thakrey stays here somewhere near this theater and I really want to show him that I can watch the movie in front of his house.”
Wow – Now that’s something.

For all others, here is something for you, it happened to SRK, it happened to several people in the past, tomorrow it will happen to you too. It might not be MNS/Shivsena, it might not be about supporting Pakistani players. It could simply be about your very own constitutional right – “Right To Freedom” and more specifically “Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression”. Lets not bring things to that stage.

Its not too late now. Its better late than never. Or you leave a sorry state of India to your next generation. We don’t want to be another China right? If we are in China, you would not be reading this blog, because it would have been blocked long ago. But this is India baby!

What are we afraid of? If its about fearing the goons, oh comeon…. r u kidding me?
If we all clap TOGETHER just once, they will die to that sound.

I was frustrated and angered till some time back. I still have it. But right now I’m a little happy or may be very happy this evening seeing all the people rushing to see the movie and support SRK. I would go see the movie may be tomorrow, i don’t know – may be the movie is good, but I will see for the sole purpose of showing my support. Oh, ok let SRK make some more money. No problem. I’ll hate him a little more for all his bank balance and attitude. That’s a different story. Now plz don’t bomb me for that.

note to readers: I speak for myself, you may sync to my opinion or you may have an entirely opposite opinion, but I would still love you for one reason – you are a fellow Indian. There is nothing more that matters.

Oh – A Very Very Happy Valentines Day – Go Celebrate Love.
Though there is no day that Love shouldn’t be celebrated, When there is a Day why not celebrate it? Don’t care if it came from the West or The Ancient Egyptians, who cares man?  Let no goon tell you what you should do this Valentines Day, if you are an adult and are doing no crime (as per our laws) – you are allowed to do anything. Go Love!

Love ya’ll.

Narrated by none other than David Attenborough – the series is spectacular in showing the goodness of nature as well as telling the story in a way that you will forget yourself and wont realise your mouth is open since a loong time.

Sir David Attenborough is Britain’s best-known natural history film-maker (and is known to all Discovery/NGC/BBC fans throughout the world). His career as a naturalist and broadcaster has spanned nearly five decades and there are very few places on the globe that he has not visited.

His Knowledge – unbeatable, His Narration – Outstanding! Always.
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Most of us live in cities away from wildlife making us forget/ignore about the world beyond humans. ‘Life’ takes us on a journey into nature we never get to see in our normal lives or the regular Tv shows, and for the most part, we never knew things existed. “Life” is one such series which will remind you that there is nothing more beautiful than nature and that its also full of mysteries.

“Life” is a must watch for all those Nature lovers and Discovery/NGC/AnimalPlanet fans. Watch only the HD/Bluray on a HDTV/Full-HD-LCD or DON’T watch at all.
I’ve watched it on my new Benq 24″ full HD LCD and the experience is awesome.
(Downloaded 65GB (6.5GBx10episodes) of Bluray(1080i) rip and I will buy the blurays for sure when I have a Bluray player, for now Sorry BBC, couldn’t help downloading when I watched a sample and being a fan of David)

Official Description of the series:
David Attenborough looks at the extraordinary ends to which animals and plants go in order to survive. Featuring epic spectacles, amazing TV firsts and examples of new wildlife behaviour.

Discover the glorious variety of life on Earth and the innovative, intelligent and sometimes bizarre tactics animals and plants employ in order to survive. More than four years in the making, taking full advantage of the latest advances in filming technology, this breathtaking ten-part blockbuster reveals the natural world’s most remarkable behavior in unprecedented depth and detail. Full of amazing filming ‘firsts’ on every continent and in every habitat – from 250 six foot Humboldt squid hunting as a pack to Komodo dragons (the world’s largest venomous animal) stalking buffalo and cheetahs (notorious lone hunters) working cooperatively to hunt prey twice their size – this is evolution in front of your eyes. Yet this astonishing series is not simply about revelation, it is also about entertainment. With sequences that inspire awe, wonder, sadness and humor, Life allows us to truly relate to the animals and their endeavors, and to understand and appreciate them as never before.

If you are interested to buy the Blu-ray copy,
Amazon has the full series on sale. (pre-order as of Feb-5-2010)
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For those who want to watch all the 10 episodes online, here you go:

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For Best Experience: Once you click play, switch to full screen by clicking on the full screen button . If you have a good broadband internet connection, watch in 720p mode – you can switch the modes while playing.
(But I strongly suggest buying the Blu-ray version, you wont regret!)

Note: Each episode has 6 parts (10 minutes each) and they will play continuously.

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————————— Now, Enjoy the Show! —————————

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Episode 1: Challenges of life
A look at how some animals and plants go to extremes to give themselves a chance to breed.

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Episode 2: Reptiles and amphibians
David Attenborough, Reptiles and amphibians look like hang-overs from the past. But they overcome their shortcomings through amazing innovation. The pebble toad turns into a rubber ball to roll and bounce from its enemies. Extreme slow-motion shows how a Jesus Christ lizard runs on water, and how a chameleon fires an extendible tongue at its prey with unfailing accuracy. The camera dives with a Niuean sea snake, which must breed on land but avoids predators by swimming to an air bubble at the end of an underwater tunnel. In a TV first, Komodo dragons hunt a huge water-buffalo, biting it to inject venom, then waiting for weeks until it dies. Ten dragons strip the carcass to the bone in four hours.

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Episode 3: Mammals
Mammals’ ability to learn new tricks is the key to survival in the knife-edge world of hunters and hunted. In a TV first, a killer whale off the Falklands does something unique: it sneaks into a pool where elephant seal pups learn to swim and snatches them, saving itself the trouble of hunting in the open sea. Slow-motion cameras reveal the star-nosed mole’s newly-discovered technique for smelling prey underwater: it exhales then inhales a bubble of air ten times per second. Young ibex soon learn the only way to escape a fox – run up an almost vertical cliff face – and young stoats fight mock battles, learning the skills that make them one of the world’s most efficient predators.

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Episode 4: Fish
Fish dominate the planet’s waters through their astonishing variety of shape and behavior. The beautiful weedy sea dragon looks like a creature from a fairytale, and the male protects their eggs by carrying them on his tail for months. The sarcastic fringehead, meanwhile, appears to turn its head inside out when it fights. Slow-motion cameras show the flying fish gliding through the air like a flock of birds and capture the world’s fastest swimmer, the sailfish, plucking sardines from a shoal at 70 mph. And the tiny Hawaiian goby undertakes one of nature’s most daunting journeys, climbing a massive waterfall to find safe pools for breeding.

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Episode 5: Birds
Birds owe their global success to feathers – something no other animal has. They allow birds to do extraordinary things. For the first time, a slow-motion camera captures the unique flight of the marvelous spatuletail hummingbird as he flashes long, iridescent tail feathers in the gloomy undergrowth. Aerial photography takes us into the sky with an Ethiopian lammergeier dropping bones to smash them into edible-sized bits. Thousands of pink flamingos promenade in one of nature’s greatest spectacles. The sage grouse rubs his feathers against his chest in a comic display to make popping noises that attract females. The Vogelkop bowerbird makes up for his dull colour by building an intricate structure and decorating it with colourful beetles and snails.

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Episode 6: Insects
There are 200 million insects for each of us. They are the most successful animal group ever. Their key is an armored covering that takes on almost any shape. Darwin’s stag beetle fights in the tree tops with huge curved jaws. The camera flies with millions of monarch butterflies which migrate 2000 miles, navigating by the sun. Super-slow motion shows a bombardier beetle firing boiling liquid at enemies through a rotating nozzle. A honey bee army stings a raiding bear into submission. Grass cutter ants march like a Roman army, harvesting grass they cannot actually eat. They cultivate a fungus that breaks the grass down for them. Their giant colony is the closest thing in nature to the complexity of a human city.

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Episode 7: Hunters and Hunted
Mammals’ ability to learn new tricks is the key to survival in the knife-edge world of hunters and hunted. In a TV first, a killer whale off the Falklands does something unique: it sneaks into a pool where elephant seal pups learn to swim and snatches them, saving itself the trouble of hunting in the open sea. Slow-motion cameras reveal the star-nosed mole’s newly-discovered technique for smelling prey underwater: it exhales then inhales a bubble of air ten times per second. Young ibex soon learn the only way to escape a fox – run up an almost vertical cliff face – and young stoats fight mock battles, learning the skills that make them one of the world’s most efficient predators.

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Episode 8: Creatures of the deep
Marine invertebrates are some of the most bizarre and beautiful animals on the planet, and thrive in the toughest parts of the oceans. Divers swim into a shoal of predatory Humboldt squid as they emerge from the ocean depths to hunt in packs. When cuttlefish gather to mate, their bodies flash in stroboscopic colours. Time-lapse photography reveals thousands of starfish gathering under the Arctic ice to devour a seal carcass. A giant octopus commits suicide for her young. A camera follows her into a cave which she walls up, then she protects her eggs until she starves. The greatest living structures on earth, coral reefs, are created by tiny animals in some of the world’s most inhospitable waters.

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Episode 9: Plants
A look at plants and the ingenious and manipulative ways they counter life’s challenges.

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Episode 10: Primates
Primates are just like us – intelligent, quarrelsome, family-centred. Huge armies of Hamadryas baboons, 400 strong, battle on the plains of Ethiopia to steal females and settle old scores. Japanese macaques in Japan beat the cold by lounging in thermal springs – but only if they come from the right family. An orang-utan baby fails in its struggle to make an umbrella out of leaves to keep off the rain. Young capuchins can’t quite get the hang of smashing nuts with a large rock, a technique their parents have perfected. Chimpanzees, our closest relatives, have created an entire tool kit to get their food.

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What do you think? Leave your comments.
Have a Great Day!

1. Does it really cost Rs. 100,000? (About $2,000)?
Yes, but that’s for the base model, without tax. The higher-end versions will cost more.

Checkout More on Time.com

Bought it for the price of 32,500/- in Jagdish Market, Hyderabad with bill and warranty. Though it was locked with Idea network, the distributor provided with the unlock code. Also bought an 8GB SDHC memory card so that I don’t have to worry about memory usage for things like MP3s, Photos or Movies.

Personally, I think the phone is great and is upto my expectations or even a little more than my expectations. After my old Samsung SGH E880 died 6 months back, I was using my wife’s Sony Ericsson W580i, she was kind enough to not let me use an old Nokia phone which I am not so comfortable with. Thank You Sweetheart. She says, the purpose of a mobile phone really is to make calls and receive calls. What else would you need from it (when I was looking at options in business phones which are all highly priced)? But never did she discourage me from buying the HTC and now she agrees HTC would be helpful for both of us to check emails on the go and do a lot more than just calls. So we think its worth the 6 month wait (since I knew it was going to launch) though I had other options for a business phone which I ignored.

Anyway, coming to the features, you cant except more than what’s already there on the phone given the exception of the “not the best camera for a premium segment phone (anyway, its a business phone)” and the “battery backup which lasts only for a day”. But developers at the XDA forum say that the custom ROMs and a few tweaks on the phone will improve the performance of the battery (I didn’t test that yet). But I see a lot of people giving good feedback on the customizations.

Few things that I love on this phone are:

1. The resolution (VGA). I love that!
2. The full QWERTY keyboard. I think I am atleast 5 times faster now when it comes to sending messages, typing names or sending emails on a mobile phone.
3. The Touch Flo App, its graphics and The Touch Screen itself.
4. Browsing and emailing, Best in all phones till now which I have seen.
5. Better hardware, so better performance when you are running resource hungry applications.
6. The TV Out (haven’t tested this yet).
7. The G-sensor based games: Teeter (default on Phone) and Resco Bubbles (downloaded one), I don’t know if there are more of these games, need to explore that. Also, the Pocket Uno (touch based game) is really good on this phone.
8. And all those Microsoft mobile features which makes this phone a tiny laptop.

I would like to thank the people at GSMArena.com for their detailed review which really helped me in taking a decision in September to buy the phone.(Yes there are hundreds of other reviews and videos but this one is really detailed). That’s really very very useful review guys.

“The Touch Pro quite deserves every penny you spend on it. There is no better device on the market in this class (yet) and if this is the kind of phone you are after – just go for it.”

Thanks a Ton Guys!

So that’s about it. What do you think of your HTC Touch Pro?