Painting your own house may not be as daunting a task as you think it is. With the right tools and techniques, a paint job can be enjoyable and rewarding. What’s more, your finished work will be something you will be proud to call your own. Here are some quick tips for a fuss-free paint job.

To pull off a paint job with flying colours, you will need to do the proper research and planning. The most common reasons why paint jobs face problems are inadequate preparation of the surface, using the wrong type of paint, buying insufficient paint, not giving enough time for the project, and not using the right tools.

Here are a few important tips that will help you get your paint job done as easily as possible with maximum impact and minimum hassle.

Use the right paints

Before you start painting, you should not forget about applying the right coats underneath. Sealers, primers and undercoats will bring out the full beauty of your paint job, while ensuring durability and long-lasting protection.

 

Image Courtesy : nipponpaint.com

Sealers: This helps to prevent underlying as well as subsequent coats from reacting with each other, while ensuring adhesion to the surface.

Primer: Primers function to bind subsequent coats to the surface, while inhibiting deterioration of the paint system as a result of rust, weathering or other forms of corrosion.

Undercoats: This intermediate coat prepares the surface for the finishing coat while giving opacity and film build to the paint system.

After this is done, you’ll also need to choose your paint carefully according to the surface you want to paint.

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Way back in February, we had written an article:

Using Kitchen Scales - Tip for Indian homemakers

Today’s article is actually an inspiration by seeing the egg like device on our shelf (see picture below).  

Image Courtesy : mybabygiftsnthings.com

The device which you see above resembles and egg. But it is actually a mechanical timer which is capable of counting back from 60 minutes down to 1 minute. At the end of this countdown, it would buzz like a typical mechanical alarm clock.

How it operates is simple - you take the device and twist it clockwise (wind it up). Care should be taken not to over-wind the device as it may get spoilt completely. After winding it up, you merely turn the dial anti-clockwise till the red market coincides with the time you want to set.

For example if you want a timer for 5 minutes, you can turn the egg’s top half anti-clockwise till the red market coincides with “5″. Its that simple. Once that is done, leave the device on the table and at the end of 5 minutes the thing will ring.

The uses for such a timer in the kitchen are many. You can time cooking, soaking, baking and virtually anything which needs some timing. Most recipes require you to do time based activities and this is the perfect solution for that. Before the advent of electronic timers on microwave ovens these devices were more popular with conventional ovens.

They are available in wide variety of shapes and colors!

Image Courtesy : designspongeonline.com

 

Image Courtesy : gadgets.boingboing.net

As for the availability, we are not sure where in your city these would be available. Our piece was purchased in Germany. If you already have on, please do let us know where you purchased this.

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Continuing from here

In my slightly involved earlier post, I had pointed out why an independent house was a better investment over a run of the mill apartment. The argument basically tried to highlight that there was a hidden risk of downward bias in apartment prices, hinging on when the state governments decide to relax the strict FSI norms prevalent in most states of India. It talked about a scenario that may or may not happen in the immediate future.

However, there is an even clearer/surer reason why apartments should be less preferred. A typical flat owner in Chennai (one of those places with the low 1.5 FSI)  will have ownership of maybe 700-900 square feet of undivided land. A luxury flat may have 1000-1200 square feet. Compare this to an independent house; the land there will have to be atleast 1200 square feet (if you want to construct a small house).

Clearly, there is more land associated with even a small house than with even the larger  luxury flats. When FSI is relaxed, this difference will become even wider.

Now 2 things:

1. Construction styles change over a period of time and buildings get fully depreciated in value after 30-40 years. In the short term one maybe tempted to believe that increases in construction costs mean that one’s home gains in value - it is true enough, but only for the present. In the long term, most constructions are worthless because newer tastes will become fashionable. The only part that continuously gains in value is land.

2. Even in the current times when construction costs are increasing as fast as anyone can remember, land prices in cities is appreciating faster. So even for those whose horizon is a short 1-2 years, a unit with more land maybe the preferable purchase.

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Williams bough this fridge about a week back and we wanted to cover it on aavaas. The main criteria for Williams was that he didn’t want a big unit. He is a single guy and his requirements are very limited. The main use for the fridge would be to store beverages, some bakery items and cold water. So purchasing a standard 160 0r 180 litres model would not have made any sense. Also the space constraints at his place prompted him to look for a small model.  

Image Courtesy : .videoconworld.com

Surprisingly, in India, there are only two companies which make sub 100 litre models. One is Videocon and the other is Haier. The former is easily available though.

We purchased the unit at NEXT shop at Usman Road in T-Nagar. The unit cost was close to 6000 rupees if I am not mistaken and the special offer gave us a steam iron from an unknown brand along with the unit - FREE.

This is the address of the shop:

Address  : New No.50 , Old No.39 , South Usman Road , T.Nagar , Chennai - 600017 - Tamil Nadu
Contact No  : 044-32972768
Email  : tnagar.retail@next.co.in

Specifications of the fridge

Model No. S-091DX
Capacity (L) 80
Door Finish: Stainless Steel Grey
Colours: Stainless Steel Grey
Door Handle: Recessed
Door Emboss: No
Freezer Door: Transperant
Lock: No
Chiller Room: Yes
Ice Trays: 2
Shelves: Wire shelves, 1 nos.
Crisper cover: Glass
Crisper Box: Transperant
Bottle Rack: Yes
Egg Tray: Yes
Utility Tray: Opaque
Water Dispenser: No
Table Top: Yes
Humidity Control knob: No
Special Refrigerator Mount: No
Dimensions (W X D X H) in mm : 437 x 530 x 777
Net Weight (in kg): 25

Review

The unit is not an excellent value for money. For about 2000 rupees more you can get a standard 160 litres fridge. The space inside is not that great either. We will try to post some pictures of the interior later on. The bottle rack can hold only one litre bottles and that too only 3 at the most. The bigger bottles such as 1.5 and 2 litres are impossible to accommodate inside.

The unit only came with one ice tray than the two which is mentioned on the website. The cooling of the unit is ok. It has an inbuilt voltage stabilizer. So there is no need for a separate one. The compressor is visible from the behind and there is plenty of gap at the back. This could be a great place for pests if you are not careful.

There is a small cooling adjusting knob inside the fridge which allows you to select your preference. In the centre there is a defrost button (red color) which would shut the compressor off and thaw the ice which has formed in the freezer compartment.

The quality of plastics inside is average and could have been more solid. There is also a dedicated egg shelf. I think it can hold around 6 eggs. There is also a small vegetable tray available.

The unit has an energy efficient compressor. It operates between 135 V to 145 V hereby consuming less power and better energy efficiency ratio.

The unit has a 6 year warranty.

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I have been wanting to write this review for a long time now. So here goes. Dell is a reputed brand worldwide. My search for a notebook was going on for a while. About a year back I happened to see the Dell XPS and kind of fell in love with it. It took me more time to go ahead and purchase one.

Let us see the pictures first:

 

Image Courtesy : datori.lota.lv and trustedreviews.com respectively. Click on image to enlarge.

Specifications of my unit

• Intel Core2Duo processor. T8100 - 2.1GHz
• 3 GB RAM
• 250GB Hard disk (I will come to this later)
• Slot loading optical drive - DVD 8X burner - dual layer
• Built in 2.0 MP webcam
• 2 USB 2.0 ports
• 1 HDMI port
• 1 IEEE 1394 port
• 1 Ethernet port
• 1 VGA out port
• 1 Express card 54 slot
• Finger Print scanner
• Touch sensitive media control buttons
• Built in Wi-Fi - 802.11a/b/g
• Shipped with external USB dial-up modem, Bluetooth stereo headset, Creative noise cancellation earphones and a multimedia remote control
• Carry sleeve (not bag)
• Windows Vista Home Premium

At the time of purchase the system cost me approximately Rs. 54,000/- all inclusive.

Now lets get to the review. Please note that I am expressing my views about the notebook here. It is upto you to take it or not.

It has been nearly 2 months since I am using this product and my satisfaction levels are 50-50. The unit surely attracts a lot of attention. Dell has done some good job in designing this notebook. But do not think it is a very slim machine. The rear end can be as thick as a conventional notebook. The tapering design makes people believe that it is a slim.

The unit weighs under 2 kilos. My guess is that it weighs 1.85 kilograms. The price is more or less dictated by Dell. While inspirons and vostros have a good variety of processors to choose from, XPS starts with a killer processor and therefore adds to the price. Infact I didn’t choose anything extra at all. I had the option of going in for a more powerful processor, or go for a LED backlit screen, of go for more RAM, or upgrade the hard-disk to a performance one. All this costs more money, money which I didn’t want to spend.

My original choice was a Vostro 1200 because that would have been a true portable. But somehow I chose the XPS. The day after I bought the machine over the phone, Dell released  the Vostro 1330! Something which really turned me on towards the Vostro was that it was a more rugged piece of equipment.

I will first attack the cons of this machine and then move over the the pros.

• Poor customer support from Dell. Yes you heard me right. I made 5-6 calls to attract their attention. I wanted to tell them about some of my concerns, but they just wouldn’t get back to me. They seemed to be interested in dismissing my problems as known limitations! For instance I got this lady from Bangalore convince me (or so she believed) that the noise from the optical drive was normal and so was the shake of  the screen. Duh! 
• Very noisy optical drive (loading and ejecting). This is one of the biggest let downs for me. Having thought that the slot loading drive is a premium feature and to realize that people stop by and ask if my laptop was ok, is a something which I do not want to discuss further
• Heat - The unit does tend to get warm after prolonged usage and I find this extremely irritating. Being in Chennai it only adds to the misery.
• Finger Print sensor recessed too much - I have medium sized fingers and even I find it tough to register a good print while authenticating myself. People with broad fingers would have a tough time swiping and re-swiping their fingers.
• Wi-Fi switch is kind of loose. This again is seen on more than one machine. I don’t like the feeling but I guess it is not a deal breaker.
• No bag supplied with the notebook. We pay 50,000 rupees and more for this and we don’t even get a carry bag with it! I agree that the notebook came with a sleeve. But that is not a practical solution.
• Earphone jacks on the front - This is again an issue for me. If you are working with your notebook on your lap then the earphone wires tend to get in your way of typing and even sitting comfortably.
• Display is a bit loose - Small movements can displace our LCD screen by a few inches. This is not a big issue but at times can be very irritating.
• Hard Disk Partitioning - Dell has the option for you to choose an extra partition at the time of installation/delivery (factory installation). But this costs approximately 500 rupees more. I thought that partitioning is something which I could do by myself. I guess I was wrong. You see, every hard disk can have only 4 primary partitions. Each of these can have multiple drives allocated to them. But in case of my machine, the machine came installed with 4 partitions! The first one was for EISA recovery routines, the second one for the operating system, the third for recovery partition (ghost image) and the last one is used for media direct - Dell’s quick booting embedded OS for watching movies, seeing pictures and listening to music. This neat software can also open select office files.
• The hard disk activity LED is on the front panel and not on the top. Every-time you want to see if your HDD is busy, you need to bend down and check it near the earphone jack ! I wonder why Dell chose this sort of an arrangement.

Now let us focus on the Pros. A lot of review sites would have already covered these. So I will keep the list brief.

• Very good design. Sleek and functional form factor.
• Good keyboard. No key is too small. It might take a little while to get adjusted too though.
• Decent battery life. I have a six cell battery life. On the machine (dell) default settings I can squeeze a good 3 hours out of my machine. Please note that I do not have a graphics card installed on my system. For those who want that extra life - you can go in for a 9 cell battery which costs around 8000 rupees and also makes your system more heavy and the unit gets an additional stand off height.
• Good display. The unit has a very good display which is bright and crisp. I chose the conventional CCFL based backlight as this allowed my camera to be a 2.0 megapixel type. If you want to shave a few millimeters off your screen, you could opt for the LED backlit display, but that would not only cost you approximately 4000 rupees more but also reduce your camera’s resolution to 0.3 megapixels (VGA Cam). But the LED backlight display will make your machine more battery efficient and reduce the weight and heat dissipation of the unit.
• Color options available. I chose black coz it is the best. Other color options are Red and Blue.

My verdict is as follows.

Not a budget notebook, but considering the accessories, configuration and certainly the oomph factor, Dell XPS is a decent machine which gives a great balance for looks and performance.

If you are too conscious about budget and do not mind a low end processor or the extra weight, then Vostro/Inspiron from dell are good options.

Make sure you see a unit before you buy one and keep all the points which I have mentioned above in mind before ordering one.

If you have questions , do ink them on comments section and I will answer them.

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