Couple of questions

Ajay thanks for the info.

I just went to the MTNL link you sent. But wow, to a person who's totally unfamiliar with such things, it's very confusing.

Like any newcomer, I want the best of all worlds without having to pay a packet. ( Even 500 per month is a bit too steep.)

There are packages offering unlimited access at 199 and 299.

Frankly I don't understand what they mean.

I'll be using the net only at nights. Or on weekends since I'm away at work on other days. Does unlimited access also apply to time of use?

Unlimited access (with unlimited downloads permitted sounds the best.)

But is the speed of 256 a good enough speed?

They talk of extra cost on every additional MB over their limit. But to give me a rough idea, Ajay, how many MB would say a 1 minute film from youtube be?

Or if I'm on chat, how many Mbs will I use per minute?

Can I download an entire 2 hr movie? Or can I just watch it in streaming mode and avoid downloading it to my HD? I was told by Raj that even streaming is a sort of download. But would I be using up less Mbs by streaming?

Sorry. I've no idea about these things. I still have to figure out which package is best for me.

Well, the unlimited MTNL package is limited by time. So although you can download unlimited data you have only 10 hours of surfing time.

Your best bet would be to go with the "DSL 399" pakage which costs 399.00/month and monitor your usage by loggin into your online MTNL account. If you think this is way too much for you needs you can always downgrade to the 199.00/month package.

If you plan to download movies, etc then you would definately need an unlimited package like the one from Tata Indicom -> Broadband from Tata Indicom: bringing you Prepaid and postpaid Hi Speed broadband internet service, in India. Apply for super fast internet connection now. Get Hi Speed broadband from tata Indicom. Broadband India s way to sucess

You mentioned that surfing time on MTNL is limited to 10 hrs.
Is that 10 hrs a month? If it is 10 hrs a day, I could go for it late into the night. In any case I'm out at work during the day.
Sorry Ajay, I honestly don't know a thing about these things.
The Tata Indicom guys themselves didn't know very much when I get in touch with them yesterday. I got two seperate people on the phone and both gave me two seperate sets of answers to my questions.

When (if) you have the time, could you, or Raj or anyone tell me what the following means. This line pops up when I switch on the computer:-

JAVA Platform SE binary has stopped working.

Also, what is a Bluetooth adapter? My computer says I need to install a bluetooth adapter for the net. ( I am already using wireless bluetooth headphones and they work beautifully.)

But I'm having a constant problem with watching DVDs. Every single time I watch a movie, the machine hangs at least 3-4 times during the movie.

If this happens because of the Vista home premium on my 2 GB RAM machine, should I delete Vista and install XP instead? (How should I do this?)
Or should I add more RAM? (How should I do this? I have capacity for a total of 4 GB RAM.)
If I install XP will everything work well? I've been told I'd have to reinstall all the other drivers after installing XP.
What does that mean?

There are many many questions in this one mail. But if you answer them by and by, I'll be really obliged.

Its up to you how you complete the 10 hours. It can be in one day or one month.

You can ask the Tata Indicom people to send you their sales executive as he should be able to answer all your questions.

The error "
JAVA Platform SE binary has stopped working" is specifically a Windows Vista error. I think you should contact the Dell support to help you sort it out.

I think you should try to upgrade the RAM to 4GB on your Notebook. Although this is no guarantee that this upgrade will sort out the DVD movie problem. Again it is best you contact DELL SUPPORT about this as they would be better suited to guide you in this regard.

Ajay thanks,

Understood. I'm about to contact Dell support now. I'll tell you what they say.

Hey Ajay,

Since yesterday, I've been trying to get someone at Dell to talk to me. But like it's always been with Dell, I haven't managed to get through.

Unfortunately the Company does not have it's infrastructure right. You don't actually speak to anyone from the Company itself. But get young college girls and boys from call centres taking your call, and none of them know their business. You're put on indefinite hold, and transferred from department to department. And when asked a question, your representative says "one moment sir" and disappears. Very often when you call back and ask for the same person you spoke to 5 minutes ago, you're told that there is no person by that name.

So far my questions to Dell have not been heavily technical. Since I am not familiar with computers, most of my queries have been simple and basic. But I have never once got an answer. Mostly, I do not get anyone to speak with even after trying repeatedly for 20-30 minutes. There's a recorded message telling you that "all our representatives are busy". If someone does finally answer, s/he can't give me the information I need.

Although Dell is supposed to be an internationally acknowledged company, I have come across several complaints by Dell customers on the net. I thought that buying a DELL would be a good investment, but several of my friends have contrary opinions.

Currently, my problem is just getting to speak to someone at Dell. But there seems to be no one senior and responsible enough to answer customer calls.

If the infrastructure itself is so hollow, I'm sure their hardware must be equally insubstantial.

Dell customer service SUCKS! I finally sold off my DELL PC to replace it with a Thinkpad. IMHO, I find their service much much better.

To give you an idea about how bad DELL customer service is read New York Court Finds Dell Guilty of Fraud