Thursday, June 16, 2016

How to make you passengers angry- Thank you spicejet

I was booked on spice jet flight SG613 from BOM to MAA with a scheduled departure time of 2215. The inbound flight was SG 418 from BLR that took-off 40 minutes behind schedule at BLR.

I arrive at the check-in counter at 2100 and after waiting for about 15 minutes, I get my boarding pass. The time was around 2120, the inbound flight was 40 minutes into it 1h40minute filght, spice jet by now knows that the fight is delayed at least 40 minutes late, They could have informed the passengers that the fight is late pro-actively, It was my fault to assume that they would tell the passengers of the day, I should have asked.

Once I have my boarding pass, I pass security very swiftly and arrive at the gate.

The FIDS shows that the flight is on time even though spice jet knows that the fight is delayed at BLR.[1]

The inbound aircraft arrives at around 2210 and is deplaned.

I don't remember when boarding started so I will not speculate on the time.

I board the 737-800 only to find the air conditioner not being switched on inside the plane. The air-hostesses provide water to the passengers which was a welcome move considering that I was sweating profusely on the plane. The plane felt like a MTC bus less like a state of the art aircraft.Boarding get done around 2257.

The cabin lights are dimmed and we push-back to taxi to the runway. A lot of passengers are unhappy that the A/C was not powered up. I felt bad for the air-hostesses working on the plane. It was finally switched on just before or after take off.

The plane finally takes off at 2317 [2] which is a full hour behind the scheduled time and the cabin cools down.

I dosed off some time just after the plane took off. just to be woken up in a few minutes with the lights fully switched on for dinner service. Dinner at 2330, that very very late for dinner and very aggravating for the passengers that are sleeping.

I don't remember much of what happened in till the flight lands.

The flight finally landed at 0052 [3]. I have never been more relieved to find myself entering MAA.

So what did I learn from this?
I'm never flying spicejet again.
I might be a small fish for spice jet in the giant ocean but I'm never flying spice jet ever again.


[1] https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SEJ418/history/20160615/1425Z/VOBL/VABB

[2][3] https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SEJ613/history/20160615/1645Z/VABB/VOMM






Monday, June 6, 2016

A laymans guide to buying a thinkpad

Thinkpads are great laptops. originally sold by IBM, now they are sold by lenevo


Why should you buy a Thinkpad over other laptops?

  1. They are built like tanks
  2. function over form
  3. Cheap (when you buy used)
  4. Spilling water on the keyboard does not ruin the laptop
  5. The service manuals are available online
  6. The can be used with docking stations
  7. Trackpoint - much much better than a trackpad
  8. Great linux support


There are several Thinkpad ranges

W series - work station's( desktop replacements, think big bulky monstrosities )

T series - Everyday business laptops

X series - ultra-portables before ultrabooks became popular

P series - replaces the W series

And several others branded thinkpad, The other ranges in my opinion are thinkpads in name only, They are not built to the same quality as the above ranges.

Naming of Thinkpads

A modern  Thinkpad name is four characters long, a letter that denotes the model and three digits following it

Example

W530

W- series

5 - size ( 2=12" , 3=13" ,4=14", 5=15" )

3 - Generation of laptop and it corresponds to which generation intel core i processor is in it ( 0= 1st gen, 2 = 2nd gen , 3= 3rd gen and so on)

0 - just a place holder

What Thinkpad to buy?

1.Just need a Thinkpad for browsing/face-booking/media consumption

  • The T series- Great over all laptops, choose between 14" and 15"
  • My favorites- TX20 and TX30 
2. Something small and powerful

  • The X series
  • X220 X230, X250 and X260
3. You want a laptop that can be used as a room heater

  • W530 with the i7
  • P50 , P70
one small warning , there are Thinkpads with an s or an i suffix to the name
eg - t420s or a x220i - they are equipped with slower processes so I would avoid them.


What to look for when buying a Used Thinkpad

1. Look at the physical condition for the machine, A little wear is acceptable any thing more than that points to abuse.

2. Make sure that there is no BIOS supervisor password set. A bios password points to a laptop that might have been stolen

3. Make sure that there are not dead pixels on the screen.

4. Test the hinge, Open the screen and move it to about five centimeters above the keyboard. The screen should hold it self up, lack of this might point to a loose hinge

5. Make sure that you are getting the original power adapter with the laptop.