Sankaranand Balaradjou

Author: Sankaranand

  • My Roller Coaster Ride Buying a Sony Bravia 3 TV in Nov 2024

    My Roller Coaster Ride Buying a Sony Bravia 3 TV in Nov 2024

    Hey folks, it’s been a while since I penned down a personal experience, and this one’s about my recent adventure buying a Sony Bravia TV in November 2024. Buckle up, because it was quite the ride!

    My trusty old Sony 32-inch TV, which I got way back in 2013, was a champ. It served me faithfully for over a decade until, out of nowhere, the screen just gave up at the end of 2024. Poof, dead! Despite its reliability, I’d been itching to upgrade to a bigger screen for a while. Back in 2020, I’d taken a chance on a OnePlus 55-inch TV when it first launched. At 50,000 INR, it was a steal with great features. It worked like a dream until July 2024, when two annoying lines appeared smack in the middle of the screen. I mean, come on, LEDs these days barely last 3-4 years compared to the old ones.

    Taking a 55-inch TV to a service center in Chennai (I’m in Pondicherry) sounded like a nightmare, so I decided it wasn’t worth repairing.

    With my old Sony’s decade-long track record in mind, I figured a new Sony TV might at least last 5 years (fingers crossed, time will tell). So, I zeroed in on the Sony Bravia 3 (K-55S30), a 55-inch beauty with Dolby Vision, which was my must-have feature. Sound wasn’t a concern since I’ve got my Bose Soundbar 500 with a bass module. The official Sony site listed it at a whopping 129,900 INR, but Amazon had it for 75,990 INR—still pricier than my OnePlus, but Sony’s reliability had me sold.

    Now, I’ve bought big appliances from Amazon before, but lately, I’ve been wary of their after-sales support. Case in point: I bought 40+ Amazon Basics ACs for my company, only to find out parts and service are nowhere to be found (more on that in a future post). So, I turned to my friend’s appliance store in Pondy. He’s got a great setup, offers solid discounts, and I love supporting local businesses. Plus, the joy of buying from a physical store beats clicking “Add to Cart.” I sent him the Amazon link, and he offered the Sony Bravia for 73,000 INR, plus some credit card cashback that sweetened the deal. Sold! He delivered it the same day.

    But here’s where the drama kicked in. I usually handle TV installations myself since I don’t need a wall mount. However, Sony doesn’t include tabletop stands in the box, only their authorised installation guys bring them. That means you’re stuck waiting for them to show up on their schedule. My friend raised an installation request, but the technician asked for pictures of the TV box and invoice. Then came the bombshell: he said my friend’s store wasn’t an “authorised” Sony seller, so they wouldn’t install it or honor the warranty. What?! I was floored. I called my friend, who explained that this is Sony’s new tactic to push sales through their online store or authorised dealers, limiting small shops like his from offering competitive discounts. It all started to make sense why the tabletop stand wasn’t included in the box at least in India.

    Frustrated, I told my friend, “Fine, take it back.” He was cool about it and offered a full refund but suggested I raise a complaint on Sony’s online forums or Twitter. He argued that it shouldn’t matter where I bought it since he sourced it from an authorized dealer and issued a proper invoice, which is standard in retail. I was skeptical but gave it a shot.

    sony twitter

    Miraculously, two days later, the technician called back, saying the installation was approved. He showed up with the tabletop stand, installed the TV, and registered the warranty. Phew! Despite same-day delivery, the TV was only up and running after two days. On the bright side, Sony was running a promo that month, adding two extra years of warranty on top of the standard one-year warranty.

    So, what’s the verdict? It was a roller coaster, but I got a great deal from my friend, and the TV’s running like a dream. The whole ordeal made me realize how companies sometimes play these games to control the market, but persistence paid off. My goal with this post is to share the experience so you can plan better when buying big-ticket items like this.

    Oh, and what about my old OnePlus TV? I packed it in the Sony box, unsure whether to discard it or repurpose it for my company’s meeting room. Those two lines wouldn’t bother anyone for presentations, especially since we already have a projector. Fast forward to April 2025, I found an LED TV repair shop near my house. I sent them a video of the issue, booked an appointment, and hauled the TV there in an auto. They fixed it the same day for 3,000 INR—no parts replaced, just a cleanup and service. Amazingly, it worked like new, so I set it up in my bedroom to replace the dead 32-inch Sony.

    But, two days ago, a single line appeared at the bottom of the screen. It’s still watchable, but I’m wondering how long before more lines show up.

    I’m curious—have you had similar experiences with your old TVs? Did you repurpose them or just chuck them?

    Drop your stories in the comments; I’d love to hear what you did!

  • Ordering the New Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation: A Lesson in Patience

    Ordering the New Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation: A Lesson in Patience

    On September 14, 2024, I ordered the new Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation. The basic version was priced at 12,900 INR, while the one with Active Noise Cancellation was listed for around 17,900 INR. I started browsing different sites, looking for deals, cashbacks, and bank offers.

    To my surprise, the official Apple website offered a 1,500 INR cashback on most credit cards and a no-cost EMI option for six months. Plus, Apple offered personalized engraving, which you can only get from their official store.

    Cashback details from Official Apple India Website for Airpods

    However, at the time of ordering (Sept 14), the AirPods hadn’t launched yet. I knew I’d have to wait until September 20 — the official launch date — for the product to be dispatched. I even checked the iPlanet website, but didn’t bother calling the local iPlanet store. In hindsight, I should have, because they usually have the products on the launch date itself.

    On the other hand, Amazon showed that I could get the AirPods delivered by the 20th itself and also had the same 1,500 INR cashback offer. On top of that, I was getting an additional 850 INR in Amazon Pay credits! Excited by the faster delivery date and extra cashback, I decided to sacrifice the personalized engraving and placed my order on Amazon instead.

    For context, I bought my last AirPods (2nd generation) on May 2, 2019. Now, they barely last five minutes without dying, so they’re practically useless. I’ve been without AirPods for a while, and taking calls without them has been incredibly inconvenient.

    Today is September 25th, at least five days after the official launch, and my Amazon order still says “Preparing for Dispatch.” I’m starting to wish I had gone directly to the store or stuck with the Apple website, which might have delivered on time, with the engraving included. For example, I bought my MacBook Air M2 directly from Apple with customized 16GB RAM (upgraded from the base 8GB). That order was shipped directly from China, and I received it within 10 days of placing it.

    Now, here’s where things get tricky: I had already converted the purchase into an EMI plan, and my credit card statement had already been generated. If I cancel the order now, it could mess up the EMI process. I’m not sure what will be refunded, and if it gets cancelled, I might end up paying the EMI charges plus additional GST and reversal fees, losing out on the no-cost EMI benefit.

    So, in trying to save 850 INR with Amazon Pay credits, I could end up paying more due to cancellation fees and EMI complications. At this point, patience is the key. I’ll wait and see if the order gets delivered by the updated date of September 29th, as mentioned in Amazon’s order tracking.

    This whole experience has been a reminder that sometimes it’s worth prioritizing reliability and convenience over small savings. If I had gone to the store or stuck with Apple’s website, I’d probably have my AirPods by now — maybe even with that nice engraving. I’ve learned my lesson, and I’ll consider all options more carefully next time.

  • The best macOS clean up app: CleanMyMac X

    The best macOS clean up app: CleanMyMac X

    I use a Macbook Air 2017 as my fulltime laptop. As my usage increased, my system is cluttered with junk files, files left by improper uninstalls and lot other things. I am lazy enough to re-organize my files, declutter, cleanup and remove junks. Practically it is not a manual process IMO and we need to use the right tools to do it. After a lot of research and reviews, I came across CleanMyMac X.

    What was I looking for?

    Unlike Windows, I believe macOS does not need a lot of maintenance, however, I wish somethings could have been handled better like a clean uninstaller and non-app store updates.  So I was looking for a reliable, authentic tool that understands the semantics of macOS and not some useless bloatware. macOS to me is all about being clean, minimalist and secure. Quick research on several sites leads me to just one name, it is CleanMyMac X.

    The best part that let me try CleanMyMac X is that it is notarized by Apple. That cleared my concerns about the security of the app. (i read in few articles that some so-called macOS cleaners are not safe at all).

    The first impression:

    cleanmymac x

    The interface of the app is so minimal, elegant and felt it was designed as per Apple design standards. It is very smooth, intuitive and easier to use. Instead of throwing up some advanced options, the app simply suggests you scan your system for any potential cleanup and improvements. That’s the first win! Be it any application, the first impression should not let the user get lost or at-least make the user wonder what to do.

    My first action:

    As soon as I hit the beautiful round scan button, it started to scan my system, a delightful experience indeed to see the beautiful animation during the scanning process. At this point of time, I am still not sure of the actual capability of the app, but the UI was so good so far :p

    Tada! the scan was over in less than 3 minutes, then comes the result screen.

    clean my mac x

    Again a winner! Instead of showing an advanced report and making user wonder what action to perform, it simply shows what you need to clean up, status about the protection of the system and some performance improvements. The classification of this report & feature is very user-centric. I am surprised and happy that I have about 10.84 GB of junk files to potentially clean. However, with a slight doubt and curiousness, I clicked review details to make sure this app does not remove any important files accidentally.

    clean my mac x

    so if you are wondering what those junk files are? See the above screenshot! They are mostly user cache files which took a lot of space. So my mission accomplished finally and I was content of the results.

    Other features:

    Primarily scan button is your one point button that takes care most of the cleaning things, however, this app offers much more than cleaning such as neatly categorised features called Protection, Speed, Applications, Files along with Cleanups.

    Cleanup lets you clean system junk, mail app attachments and emptying trash bins as we saw above. Protection allows scanning your system for malware removal and removing private data such as browsing history, auto-fills, browser saved data and chat history. Speed provides the option to manage launch agents, login items and heavy consumers. Maintenance does free up your ram, purgeable hard disk space, flush DNS cache, rebuild launch services, reindex spotlight, repair disk permissions and optimising time machine snapshot.

    My favourite feature is uninstaller and updater, which I believe should be part of macOS natively. It does a clean uninstall of any app you want to remove, plus the updater feature keeps tracks of the latest update of your apps even if they are not installed from AppStore. See below an example of one such update prompt for Sketch app.

    sketch update clean my mac x

    The best part is, it shows a release log which comes handy when you are not sure if you want to update. Other features include extensions which let you manage extensions and plugins installed in your laptop including your browser.

    Some other essential features include Space lens which gives you a visual size comparison of your folders and files for quick tidying up, large and old files to identify large files and folders that we did not open for months. Shredder is a very essential feature which you can use to delete any confidential file without leaving any trace in your hard disk.

    Verdict:

    CleanMyMac X is an essential tool for any mac users, which at the first place should be a part of macOS system itself. You can download from here.

    Cons: The AppStore version of CleanMyMac X does not let you use your activation key, you need to download a direct version from the site to use a license key. Not sure if it is an AppStore norm, but it is not a big deal!

    Credits: Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash

  • How to check Apple AirPods case battery level in macOS

    How to check Apple AirPods case battery level in macOS

    After Apple AirPods 2 was released, I got excited and decided to buy one. This is my first AirPods experience and I made this choice because Macbook Air is my primary device and my job role demands at least 4 hours of calls every day.

    The first thing I realized is unlike the iPhone or iPad, the Macbook does not have an interactive screen like below to show battery status. This is a drawback for users like me who use an Android and Macbook combo.

    But eventually, I figured out there is a quick way to see the battery status of not just the AirPods but also the AirPods case in macOS. As soon as you connect your AirPods to the Macbook, hover over the Bluetooth icon in your Mac, choose your connected AirPods, and then it will display the battery level of both your left and right Pods. But here is a catch, if you want to see the battery level of your AirPods case, just take only the right Pod and place it in your ear, while leaving the left AirPod still in the case, now follow the above steps to hover over the icon. Tada! you can see the case battery level as well.

    Try to disconnect and connect again if it does not work. Unfortunately, this is not straightforward and I wish Apple would take into account the feedback and provide us an intuitive screen like in iOS for macOS.

    Credits: Photo by Adam Przeniewski on Unsplash

  • How to clear Amazon Echo yellow blinking light ring

    How to clear Amazon Echo yellow blinking light ring

    The other day I noticed my Amazon Echo dot blinking and pulsing yellow light ring.  So I came across this official page that explains the different types of light rings and their meaning. According to the page, the yellow blinking light ring means

    A message or notification is waiting for you. Say, “Play my messages” or “What are my notifications?”

    I tried to read my notifications by saying above commands but still, the yellow light did not disappear and Alexa said there are no messages or notifications.  So opened my Alexa app on the phone, to see if I can manually delete or read the notification but no it did not help and I cannot see any notifications or messages.

    I finally said this command and

    Alexa! Delete all my notifications

    voila the ring did not appear anymore.

    Credits: Photo by Jan Antonin Kolar on Unsplash

  • LastPass not updating in Chrome

    LastPass not updating in Chrome

    Recently LastPass pushed a new update for their vault and it prompted everyone to update. On clicking Update, the vault screen is opened with a pop-up showing LastPass is updating. But to my surprise, the update progress did not work. I thought it was some temporary connectivity issue, but the prompt to update always used to appear in my browser and began to annoy me. I even tried removing and reinstalling but it did not work!

    Finally, a solution posted by a user in LastPass community forum worked for me. All I did was remove any auto-fill information stored in my vault and the update went through.

     

  • Resolving ENETUNREACH – Network unreachable issue with Filezilla

    Resolving ENETUNREACH – Network unreachable issue with Filezilla

    Recently I added a new site credential to Filezilla and when I try to connect it I got the following error message

    ENETUNREACH – Network unreachable issue

    Initially, I thought the network was probably down. The error logs simply show the above error and no trace of any other useful information to debug. A google search of the same ended up showing several different answers such as FileZilla update error, firewall issues, etc

    Quickly I realized my other sites having different credentials using the same hostname is working which means there is no issue with the hostname or network and the site appears to be online only.

    How did I solve it?

    When I copy pasted my username and password from Evernote, I noticed there is an extra space in the username. Not sure what this extra space is filled with, maybe some special characters or some junk value or even space? The ideal scenario is that I should be prompted with incorrect credentials message, however, FileZilla does not know how to parse this text and that’s why I ended up getting the above issue. A quick copy paste of the username in notepad or a browser window allowed me to copy the plain text without any special characters and it works like a charm.

    In case, you come across the same issue as me, just try checking the username, password and hostname are copied properly in plain texts.

     

     

  • Configuring Airtel VDSL router 777VR1 after resetting accidently

    Configuring Airtel VDSL router 777VR1 after resetting accidently

    I accidentally reset my airtel VSDL router (777VR1) made by Beetel. After a couple of calls to airtel customer care, I was able to reconfigure it and is working absolutely fine. I highly recommend calling customer care for any issues. Posting the following information just for knowledge and information purpose.

    • As soon as the router is reset, allow few minutes for it to boot up.
    • Once the router finished rebooting, access the router configuration page (by default it should be 192.168.1.1). In case if you have changed the router IP, figure it out by accessing your network settings and see which gateway IP you are connected. If you are directly connecting to the airtel VSDL modem without any router in middle, then usually your gateway IP will be the router IP, in case you are connecting to a primary router which is bridged to your airtel VSDL router, then I suggest looking into the WAN settings of your primary router to figure out the gateway IP your primary router is connecting to.
    • The default username for your VSDL router is “admin” and the password should be “your airtel account no.” or “admin” or “password”. (Reset if you cannot find your router password)
    • After logging into your router, Click  Setup -> Wan as shown in the screenshot below
    • Go to the WAN Interfaces Table below and select PPPoE2. On clicking the radio button, you will be able to edit the configuration in the same screen above. If you do not see PPPoE2, then use the form above to create one.
    • Ensure the following settings are configured correctly
      • Default Route Selection: Specified
      • Channel Type: PTM
      • Channel Mode: PPPoE
      • Check Enable NAPT and Enable IGMP
      • Username: Call customer care to get it. It should be usually in the form of the following format [email protected] (Where the numbers indicate your phone no with std code and sometimes it is also different than your phone no. second “tn” indicates your circle state.)
      • Password: your account no which you used to login your router
      • Type: Continuous
      • Default Route: Enable
      • Click Modify to save it.
    • Restart your router, you should now be able to connect.
    • If you still face problems, then please sort it out by calling airtel customer care. They will send an onsite technician to configure your modem again.

     

  • Preparing your GMAT like a Rockstar with Experts’ Global!

    One of the growing Edtech trends in 2018 is the drive for using technology to learn with the same experience as in a classroom. Thanks to the cheap and affordable internet access that we get even in remote corners of India. Almost everyone has access to a mobile and a computer but the question to ask our self is, do we have access to a good learning resource and guidance?

    I am writing this post to share my experience about Experts’ Global, an EdTech firm that helps MBA aspirants maximize their chances of securing a seat at their preferred business school, by providing professional MBA admission consultation.

    Experts’ Global’s GMAT software was developed entirely in-house and has played a pivotal role in helping students to conquer the GMAT. Their training has helped students from fifty nations secure admits to some of the world’s best business schools. In fact, ten percent of all Indians studying in the top fifty American business schools are an Experts’ Global alumnus. The firm offers a number of services, designed to perfect any aspirants MBA candidature. Here is a brief overview of their offerings.

     

    About the Company

    Founded by Mr. Mayank Srivastava, Experts’ Global is an EdTech firm. The central idea behind this firm’s conception is to utilize cutting edge technology for the purpose of education. For the last ten years, Experts’ Global has been guiding students worldwide, helping thousands in securing admission to some of the world’s top institutions. The firm boasts of the most complete and exhaustive GMAT training software

    GMAT Online Preparation

    The cornerstone of Experts’ Global’s repertoire is their GMAT Online Preparation Program. This program is incredibly extensive, with over three-hundred videos, which explain every concept in the GMAT syllabus and over four-thousand questions, designed to test the student’s absorption of those concepts. Experts’ Global has taken great care to replicate the actual GMAT experience in these questions. The question screen is built to closely resemble the one employed in the GMAT exam, so as to familiarize students with the GMAT setup. The program also features a rigorous diagnostics feature, which pinpoints the areas that the students are struggling in. This makes it that much easier for the students to target and overcome their weaknesses.

    GMAT Practice Tests

    The second major element of the Experts’ Global GMAT training is their Practice Test series. The firm offers fifteen full-length mock tests, for their students to hone their capabilities on. This is considerably more than other firms in this field. Each one of the mock test questions has a video and textual explanation for its solution. These explanations not only help the students understand the questions that escaped them but also provide them with more efficient ways to arrive at the correct answers. These tests are also intended to be as close to the GMAT experience as possible. They have been written to mimic the GMAT questions, in terms of style, the scope of content, complexity, and overall difficulty. These mocks also employ the same GMAT-like screen and analytics software as the training questions. Even the scoring pattern has proven to be incredibly in sync with the GMAT, as countless students have marveled at just how well the mock tests predicted their GMAT performance.

    Classroom Program

    Experts’ Global also offers GMAT preparation classes in Noida, conducted by the company’s founder, Mr. Mayank Srivastava. As one who secured the Ninety-Ninth percentile on the GMAT and an MBA from Boston University, with a one hundred percent scholarship, Mr. Srivastava understands the GMAT like few others do. Mr. Srivastava teaches these classes out of a sincere love of teaching. According to his students, Mr. Srivastava is a highly devoted teacher, always willing to devote as much time to his students as needed as he teaches just 1-2 small batches per year.

    MBA Admissions Consulting

    Experts’ Global’s offerings do not end with GMAT training. The firm also offers end-to-end MBA admissions consultation. From the first profile evaluation to the final mock interview, Experts’ Global is behind its students all the way. The admissions consulting services are boutique in nature. Only a small, pre-determined number of students are trained each year. This focus on quality over quantity has clearly paid off, however, as since 2008 Experts’ Global’s students have secured admits to each of the world’s top one hundred and fifty business schools.

    MBA Interview Preparation Module

    As mentioned earlier, Experts’ Global offers interview training, as part of its MBA admissions consultancy. This training is an excellent example of Experts’ Global’s methodical approach to admissions consulting. First, the students are provided with more than fifteen training videos, which cover all the basic aspects of good MBA interview presentation. After the videos, the students fill out an exhaustive questionnaire, based on the most frequently asked MBA interview questions. This gives the interview mentors a baseline understanding of the students’ skill level. Finally, the student undergoes a series of mock interviews. These interviews are designed with their specific weaknesses and requirements in mind. Each interview is followed by an extensive feedback session.

    ISB Admissions Consultation

    With the popularity of the Indian School of Business amongst their students, the admissions teams at Experts’ Global have made it a point to develop an impeccable understanding of the ISB admissions process. Since 2010, ninety percent of the Experts Global ISB applicants have been called in for an interview, by that coveted institution. The firm is so confident in their ability to crack the ISB admissions that they even have an ISB interview call guarantee.

    Over the last ten years, Experts’ Global has developed a well-earned reputation for excellence. Their consultation teams are extremely well-trained and dedicated. Their methodical approach to GMAT training and admissions, as well as their constant innovation, makes them the prime choice for every MBA aspirant.