2012/01/21

Videocon Sucks

I was looking for a new TV but didn't want to spend much. So I decided to go for a CRT TV.
Now we have all grown up watching them, haven't we? Other than the "bulk", never faced any issues.

Got Videocon (model# VCS21SBB) delivered from the NEXT retail shop. Turned it on only to find that it can't keep lines straight!

To rule out any optical illusions that I might be having, it used a Test Card. It confirmed, as you can see below, that none of the lines are straight.

Not only that, you can also spot unusual darkening around lower left and lower right areas.


As expected, called Videocon customer service (or rather lack of it). A technician paid a visit. Concluded that "this is NORMAL and cannot be fixed because there is nothing to fix".

So if you have grown up watching CRT TVs, do you too think that it's normal? I don't for I have never seen such distortion in a CRT TV. I mean they have had Test Cards just for the very purpose, since time immemorial.

Mr Dhoot. and Company refused to acknowledge that there was indeed a problem and did not return any of my calls for service.

At this point, totally frustrated by their attitude, I had almost decided to go to the Consumer Forum. But something happened and I took the TV to the the retailer. I showed them the "problem" - they acknowledged but also put forward a "confessional argument" that all CRT TVs these days are just like that. It's unfortunate that they were RIGHT. I also observed the alignment issues on other CRT TV sets.

But I didn't go there to give up, so I asked them to give them a replacement, because
1. I did not want a TV which can't keep the picture straight and
2. I did not want a Videocon anymore.

Had to haggle for an hour or so, but finally I left the TV at the shop, and told them that I would come back in a few days and take another TV, which in no case would be from Videocon.

Went back and got a new Philips LCD this time. No questions asked.

Because I was able to get a replacement from the dealer, I am not going to sue Videocon anymore, but the least I can do is to spread the word.

Moral of the Story:
Never buy Videocon, not only their products are genetically defective, there corporate culture is also rotten.





2011/11/22

Einstein Puzzle

This puzzle is attributed to Albert Einstein and it is claimed that 98% of the people are incapable of solving it.

Let us assume that there are five houses of different colors next to each other on the same road. In each house lives a man of a different nationality. Every man has his favorite drink, his favorite brand of cigarettes, and keeps pets of a particular kind.
  1. The Englishman lives in the red house.
  2. The Swede keeps dogs.
  3. The Dane drinks tea.
  4. The green house is just to the left of the white one.
  5. The owner of the green house drinks coffee.
  6. The Pall Mall smoker keeps birds.
  7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhills.
  8. The man in the center house drinks milk.
  9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
  10. The Blend smoker has a neighbor who keeps cats.
  11. The man who smokes Blue Masters drinks beer.
  12. The man who keeps horses lives next to the Dunhill smoker.
  13. The German smokes Prince.
  14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
  15. The Blend smoker has a neighbor who drinks water.
The question to be answered is: Who keeps fish?

Solution:

Clue#4 is NOT from the pov of someone standing outside the house. Houses DO have their own left and right directions, don't they!

House 1
House 2
House 3
House 4
House 5
Yellow
Blue
Red
White
Green
Water
Tea
Milk
Beer
Coffee
Cat
Horse
Bird
Dog
Fish
Dunhill
Blends
Pallmall
Bluemaster
Prince
Norwegian
Dane
Brit
Swede
German



2011/03/27

BREAKING NEWS!

It's not asking for too much if you want to watch 'motion' picture on your TV.

But take a look at this TV snapshot:


Not to mention, there are 3 different (and completely unrelated) news items hogging the screen at the same time. And somehow there is always a Breaking News! But that is besides the point.

The video that you are being served is only this much:


Roughly half of the viewable area!

Indian News channels are on their way to fully replace newspapers! Do tune in for your viewing reading pleasure.

For comparison's sake, here is how it is presented on BBC.