Electronics shopping in Pune

1. Some of the comments in this article may well apply to stores of the chains mentioned in other cities as well, but my experiences are limited to the specific outlets I visited. I don’t aim to generalize my opinions for the entire chain.

2. The disclaimer above is to ensure that none of those big stores sue my a** off!

Now that we’re done with disclaimers (and their disclaimers!), it’s time to tell you the dirty truth about electronics store chains in Pune.

Recently, I have been around looking for an iPod docking station, a laptop, an LCD/Plasma TV and cell phones. I have bought all these items from different stores. That itself begs the question: what are these massive one-stop stores good for?

Yes, the hint is at Croma. As someone who takes his electronics quite seriously, I do expect store salesmen to be well informed. I don’t expect them to know all the minute details, but their suggestions should mean something. And at no store in Pune have I found this. The obvious incentive for them to push a brand/product is the commission they or the store stands to earn. In this regard, Vijay Sales (Sadhu Vaswani Chowk) is perhaps the best of the lot. Continue reading »

Mac versus Windows

To many, there is no winner in this contest. Mac wins hands down. And I belong to this group. I am an Apple Fanboy! But ever since Windows 7 Beta (W7B) hit the scene, I’ve been wavering in my loyalty. And it’s not only about the looks that W7B has brought. Which, for the record, are quite slick.

One of biggest problems with Windows was that BSOD. And so far, I’ve seen only one instance of it come up since the Beta was announced about a couple of weeks ago. Not bad!

Continue reading »