The Smart Shopper: February 2022

Sunday 20 February 2022

Product Recommendation - [Microwave Oven]

For defrosting and re-heating purposes:-
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8 and Best Choice 9

For grilling and baking purposes:-
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6 and Best Choice 7

For all your cooking needs:-
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10 and Best Choice 11

Note: In our constant endeavour to assist you in making an informed buying decision, we test the new launches of the products on multiple parameters, and if they stand tall in our analysis we periodically add them to the below mentioned list of our recommended products. So, if you plan to make the purchase at a later time, you may visit the links once again at the very time of buying to ensure that the purchase turns out to be a very fruitful one.

Recapitulating on the most crucial aspects of buying a microwave oven -

COST CUTTING TECHNIQUES

Construction using sub-par, poor grade outer sheet metal

Microwave ovens operate on the principle of passing microwave radiation through the food items so as to excite the food molecules. The excited food molecules produce thermal energy which in turns warm the food. Now, to contain the microwave radiation within the microwave oven requires sturdily built outer body. For its significance, the sheet metal constitutes to about 30% of the entire cost of the microwave oven.

However, to reduce the manufacturing costs and to increase profits, some brands resort to fabricating the outer body of the microwave oven out of a thin sheet of metal which is not potent enough to contain the microwaves within the walls of the microwave oven. This often results in microwave radiation getting leaked into the surroundings, which when exposed to human tissues and cells over a period of several years might lead to development of health issues.

Low-quality, pervious door seals

For the same purpose that I have mentioned above, the seal on the door is made in such a manner that none of the harmful micro waves escape to the surroundings. But again, this is the area where most manufactures cut costs by applying seals that are not potent enough to keep all the micro waves inside and a major part of these waves leak to the surroundings.

CAPACITY OF THE MICROWAVE OVEN

There is a thumb rule to follow - take into consideration the number of members in one’s family. Based on that, below is mentioned the capacity one should opt for in a microwave oven that would accommodate the one’s requirements -

For one-three members, a microwave oven with the capacity up to 21 litres would best cater to the requirements, considering that food for the entire family would be prepared/reheated at once.

For a family consisting four-eight members, a microwave oven with the capacity up to 28 litres would be adequate to cater to the needs.

For more than eight members, it would be wise to decide on a microwave oven that has the capacity of at least 30 litres.

The above mentioned analysis is based on the consideration that food for the entire family would be prepared/reheated at once. If different members are to eat at different times, the capacity of the microwave oven that would suit one’s home’s requirements would differ slightly.

For an extensive buying guide on microwave ovens, head over to our detailed post - https://sabhyatashergill.blogspot.com/2017/12/are-you-risking-your-life-while-buying.html

An elaborate guide to buying a Microwave Oven

Author- Vibhor Shergill (Brother of Sabhyata Shergill)

Alright guys, now, choosing a microwave for your home could be quite a tedious and mind stirring job. Microwave oven is one such consumer electronic item that every brand wants to try their hands upon, though only few products of few brands are safe for use (discussed in detail in this post). Choosing which product to short list and which one to avoid is quite a daunting affair.
So, before we go on to decide which would be an ideal microwave oven for your home, let’s know the basics of how this device works, which will help you in making a good buying decision.

Let’s begin..

The Basics
A microwave oven consists of a device which generates micro waves (which is a kind of electromagnetic wave with very small wavelength). These micro waves hit the inside walls of the microwave oven and bounce back and forth between them. When a food item is placed inside the oven, these micro waves hit the food item and cause vibrations inside the food matter. And as you might be aware, that when a particle vibrates, heat is liberated, this heat warms your food.

Now let’s proceed to discuss the ways by which some manufacturers cut manufacturing costs to maximize their profits and in turn deliver a sub-standard product to the customers that are highly inefficient in performing their intended function and may also pose a threat to human life.

COST CUTTING TECHNIQUES

Construction using sub-par, poor grade outer sheet metal

Microwave ovens operate on the principle of passing microwave radiation through the food items so as to excite the food molecules. The excited food molecules produce thermal energy which in turns warm the food. Now, to contain the microwave radiation within the microwave oven requires sturdily built outer body. For its significance, the sheet metal constitutes to about 30% of the entire cost of the microwave oven.

However, to reduce the manufacturing costs and to increase profits, some brands resort to fabricating the outer body of the microwave oven out of a thin sheet of metal which is not potent enough to contain the microwaves within the walls of the microwave oven. This often results in microwave radiation getting leaked into the surroundings, which when exposed to human tissues and cells over a period of several years might lead to development of health issues.

Low-quality, pervious door seals

For the same purpose that I have mentioned above, the seal on the door is made in such a manner that none of the harmful micro waves escape to the surroundings. But again, this is the area where most manufactures cut costs by applying seals that are not potent enough to keep all the micro waves inside and a major part of these waves leak to the surroundings.

(Image of the seal on the door that prevents the micro waves from escaping out)

Now, one obvious question in your mind would be, how am I aware of all these cost cutting techniques of the manufacturers. Well, you would be glad to know that my father works at a company that manufactures home appliances like geysers, microwave ovens, washing machines etc. So at home, we frequently have a conversation about commercial appliances, what goes into making them, how brands try to do cost cutting etc. This is my father’s experience and knowledge that I am sharing with you, here.

Now, having discussed the cost cutting techniques some manufacturers make use of to enhance their profits, it is imperative to learn about the various configurations - Solo, Grill and Convection, the microwave ovens are manufactured in and which configuration among them should one purchase a microwave oven in, as per one’s family’s cooking requirements.

Configuration of the Microwave Oven

Depending upon the purpose they serve, microwave ovens are primarily manufactured in three configurations:-

Solo - Such microwave oven performs only the basic functions such as re-heating and de-frosting of food items. It finds its application in homes with members having hectic work life or in the homes of bachelors and students where only re-heating the stored food is the priority. The cost of this type of microwave oven is significantly lesser than the other two types.

Grill - This microwave oven in addition to performing the normal re-heating functionality, can also perform grill, bake and toast food items. This type of microwave oven finds its application in homes of passionate cooks who like to make new dishes and/or desserts.

Convection - This category of microwave ovens is popular in majority of homes. It can perform the regular functions of re-heating food and also perform functions like grilling, baking etc. Therefore, it is a future-proof machine for all one’s present as well as one’s future cooking requirements.

Furthermore, the capacity of the microwave oven - the unit that dictates the amount of food one can prepare/reheat at once, too is an important factor that needs to be kept in consideration while making the purchase -

Capacity of the Microwave Oven

There is a thumb rule to follow - take into consideration the number of members in one’s family. Based on that, below is mentioned the capacity one should opt for in a microwave oven that would accommodate the one’s requirements -

For one-three members, a microwave oven with the capacity up to 21 litres would best cater to the requirements, considering that food for the entire family would be prepared/reheated at once.

For a family consisting four-eight members, a microwave oven with the capacity up to 28 litres would be adequate to cater to the needs.

For more than eight members, it would be wise to decide on a microwave oven that has the capacity of at least 30 litres.

Having discussed that, let’s proceed to zero down at some of the best microwave ovens available in the market manufactured by a few good brands in each of the above three categories that are not only safe to use, perform efficient cooking/heating operations, but also provide the best value for one’s money.

Tuesday 15 February 2022

Product Recommendation - [Vacuum Cleaner]

Bagged Vacuum Cleaners
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5 and Best Choice 6

Bag-less Vacuum Cleaners:-

Wet & Dry Vacuum Cleaners
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7 and Best Choice 8

Cyclone Vacuum Cleaners
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7 and Best Choice 8

Robotic Vacuum Cleaners
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7 and Best Choice 8

Recapitulating on the most crucial aspects of buying a vacuum cleaner -

CONFIGURATION OF VACUUM CLEANERS

Based on the configuration of components, vacuum cleaners can primarily be classified into two types, namely:-

1. Bagged Vacuum Cleaners

2. Bag-less Vacuum Cleaners

Bagged Vacuum Cleaners

This configuration of vacuum cleaners typically makes use of five components to get the entire cleaning operation done. Those are:- An intake hose, An electric motor, A fan, A collecting bag and An exhaust port.

As the vacuum cleaner is turned on, an electric motor starts spinning at high RPMs. The electric motor is attached to a fan that creates low pressure towards the suction side of the intake hose. This pressure is significantly lower than the atmospheric pressure present in the surroundings, and because of the low pressure inside the suction hose, air from the surroundings is sucked into the intake hose, as air moves from area of high pressure to low pressure, thereby taking the dust and debris up the hose towards a collecting bag or a bin.

The collecting bag is made up of porous woven material which acts as an air filter. The pores on the bag typically range between 0.3 to 1.5 micron in diameter thereby trapping all the dust and debris from the air. This relatively clean air makes its way out of the bag into the surroundings through an exhaust port.

Bag-less Vacuum Cleaners

The working principle of bag-less vacuum cleaners is very similar to that of bagged ones, except for the fact that instead of a collecting bag that collects all the dust and debris, bag-less vacuum cleaners make use of a collection bin known as a canister to collect all the mess.

Bag-less vacuum cleaners can be sub-categorized into three types based upon their cleansing mechanism:-

1. Wet & Dry vacuum cleaners

2. Cyclone vacuum cleaners

3. Robotic vacuum cleaners

Wet & Dry vacuum cleaners

This sub-category of bagless vacuum cleaners has a HEPA/special cartridge filter fitted inside the canister which filters out dust and debris before they get accumulated in the canister.

The fan driven by an electric motor creates low pressure towards the suction side of the intake hose. Due to significant difference in the atmospheric pressure and the pressure created by the fan, air along with all the dust and debris gets sucked into the intake hose and moves towards the dust holding canister. The air, free from dust and debris is expelled out of the exhaust port after passing through a HEPA filter that virtually traps all the microscopic and large particles, including allergens and mould before expelling them out through the exhaust port, thereby facilitating sanitized air in the home.

Cyclone Vacuum Cleaners

Cyclone vacuum cleaners are a very popular choice among buyers. They work on the principle of centrifugal force to eliminate dust and debris from the sucked air.

Air along with dust and debris enters the intake hose pipe because of the low pressure created by the fan. At the other end of the intake hose, air laden with dust and debris encounters a vertical cyclonic separator which is a cylindrical device with a conical bottom. The mixture of air and dirt enters the cyclonic separator from an inlet port located on its wall and travels down the cavity of cyclonic separator at high speeds in a helical fashion. Dust and debris being heavy in comparison to air are unable to follow the helical path and rather strike the walls of the cyclonic separator, thereby losing all the momentum, which results in them falling towards the conical bottom of the cyclonic separator where a canister is attached to collect all the mess.

Robotic vacuum cleaners
This category of vacuum cleaners has gained lot of appreciation in the past few years, and perhaps for all the good reasons. Robotic vacuum cleaners rely on their multiple onboard sensors to help them determine the path they are following and the area of the floor they need to clean. One of the onboard sensors, the pizeo-electric sensor, generates electrical impulses when something strikes it, in this case, dust and debris. When dust strikes the pizeo-electric sensor, the sensor directs the robot to move slowly over that region such that dirt can be effectively cleaned. The robot can effectively clean the locations that conventional vacuum cleaners can not, such as, beneath the tables, under the beds, etc.

The greatest advantage of robotic vacuum cleaners comes from the fact that they do not require any sort of human intervention. Once directed to perform the cleaning operation, they autonomously get the job done. Robotic vacuum cleaners work wonders in homes where working members have a hectic work schedule and remain at workplace for most part of the day. However, they are not a substitute to conventional vacuum cleaners and should be used for minor cleaning purposes and for catering to the difficult sites that the conventional vacuum cleaners can not reach.

COST CUTTING TECHNIQUES

Low-grade overheating electric motor. The electric motor rotates at very high RPMs to power the fan that creates low pressure inside the intake hose for suction to take place. This makes the electric motor one of the most crucial components of the vacuum cleaner and therefore accounts to almost 30 per cent of the entire cost of the product. Hence, it is one of the favourite areas of some manufacturers to cut costs and increase their profit margins. Some manufacturers resort to using a below-par electric motor that is not powerful enough to keep the fan rotating at high speeds for long periods of time. After only a few minutes of use, these electric motors tend to get extremely hot. As you might be aware that metals expand on heating, which causes the copper windings in the motor to initially distort and then finally melt, thereby leaving the vacuum cleaner unit out of operation. Cost of repairing the motor might range from a few hundred bucks to more than a thousand bucks and this process is recurring.

Inefficient rubber gasket and seals. To facilitate airtight operation so as to prevent dust and debris from leaking out of the canister, rubber gasket and seals are provided around it. These seals and rubber gasket do a fantastic job of withholding the mess inside the canister and prevent it from going back into the surroundings. However, high quality seals and gaskets are costly. Therefore, in order to reduce the initial cost of the vacuum cleaner so as to lure the customers, some manufacturers resort to using inferior quality rubber gasket that starts to develop cracks and incompetent seals that lose their adhesive characteristics only after a few months of use. This makes the canister lose its airtight properties. As a result, the accumulated dust and debris might escape back into the surroundings, rendering the cleaning operation less effective.

For an extensive buying guide on vacuum cleaners, head over to our detailed post - https://sabhyatashergill.blogspot.com/2019/02/a-meticulous-guide-to-buying-vacuum.html

A comprehensive guide to buying a Vacuum Cleaner

Author- Vibhor Shergill (Brother of Sabhyata Shergill)

After the hustle and bustle of the day, it’s one’s home where one finds the sense of absolute respite in. As soon as one steps in, the only desire one has is to have some filling refreshment and spend time with one’s loved ones or take a peaceful nap. This perfect wish of homecoming withers down as one finds belongings covered in a layer of dust and floor lying untidy with some debris scattered in every nook and corner. Instead of spending quality time with loved ones, one often finds oneself mopping the floor and dusting the odds and ends with a dusting cloth to make the home a livable place.

Maintaining the sanitation of home would not have been so much of an issue had cleaning/dusting were a one off event and once done would not require any more effort. However, that is not the case. Keeping the house in a habitable condition is a job in itself and requires continual effort, therefore one typically employs a maid to take care of the various aspects of cleaning.

However, with rising work responsibilities and long, inflexible work hours, one often finds accommodating the maid’s work schedule in one’s work routine an impossible task as majority of maids tend to provide their service late in the morning or in early afternoon, when most of the office-goers would be at their workplace. Additionally, the quality of work done by maids might not be up to one’s liking either. So in this situation what alternative does one have?

Apparently, there is an alternative, rather, a better alternative - A vacuum cleaner.

Now, if you are a frequent visitor to the posts on this blog, you might be probably aware that we take each topic from the grass root level and we will do the same with this post as well. We will begin with the basics first, understand how a vacuum cleaner works. Then, we will discuss the different types of vacuum cleaners available in the market along with the advantages and disadvantages of each. Following which, we will proceed onto discussing how some brands try to cut manufacturing costs and manufacture below par products that have a very short shelf life and require frequent service. After which, we will move onto deciding which are some of the best vacuum cleaners available in the market that are not only made of high-quality durable components but are also efficient in their working and thus offer most value for one’s money.

You might be glad to know that my father works at a company that manufactures home and kitchen appliances like washing machines, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, air fryers, etc. So, at home, we frequently have a conversation about these appliances, what goes into making them, how some brands try to cut manufacturing costs to increase their profit margin etc.

Today, I will try my best to pass on the knowledge that I have acquired from my father over the years, to you so as to help you make a good buying decision.

So without further a do, let’s begin…

THE BASICS
A vacuum cleaner is a home appliance that relies on the principle of suction of air to collect dust, debris and other fine particles from the floor and other surfaces such as carpets. The movement of particles from one site to the other when pressure difference is created between two sites forms the basis of the working of a vacuum cleaner.
Based on the configuration of components, vacuum cleaners can primarily be classified into two types, namely:-

Bagged Vacuum Cleaners
Bag-less Vacuum Cleaners

Bagged Vacuum Cleaners
This configuration of vacuum cleaners typically makes use of five components to get the entire cleaning operation done. Those are:- An intake hose, An electric motor, A fan, A collecting bag and An exhaust port.

As the vacuum cleaner is turned on, an electric motor starts spinning at high RPMs. The electric motor is attached to a fan that creates low pressure towards the suction side of the intake hose. This pressure is significantly lower than the atmospheric pressure present in the surroundings, and because of the low pressure inside the suction hose, air from the surroundings is sucked into the intake hose, as air moves from area of high pressure to low pressure, thereby taking the dust and debris up the hose towards a collecting bag or a bin.

The collecting bag is made up of porous woven material which acts as an air filter. The pores on the bag typically range between 0.3 to 1.5 micron in diameter thereby trapping all the dust and debris from the air. This relatively clean air makes its way out of the bag into the surroundings through an exhaust port.

In some models, a HEPA filter is also brought into use to further cleanse the air moving out of the collecting bag, before making its way into the surroundings via the exhaust port.

(Image of installation of dust collecting bag in a Bagged Vacuum Cleaner)

Now, having learnt the working of Bagged Vacuum Cleaners, let us proceed to discuss their Pros and Cons.

PROS:-

Hygienic. Since all the dust, debris and contaminants get accumulated inside the collecting bag, once full, the user can safely dispose of the bag and replace it with a new one. This is by far the safest and most hygienic method of waste disposal as one does not have to manually clean the mess accumulated in the vacuum cleaner, thereby preventing the potential allergens from making their way back into the air. Furthermore, the bags are airtight in nature, which implies that once dust or debris enter the bag, they can not escape into the surroundings again. This makes bagged vacuum cleaners an ideal choice for families having infants or elderly people at home.

Requires less maintenance. The collecting bag of the vacuum cleaner can easily hold up to one week’s worth of dust and debris. Apart from the periodic replacement of collecting bag, bagged vacuum cleaners are virtually maintenance-free appliances.

CONS:-

Recurring expenses. Since bagged vacuum cleaners require periodic replacement of collecting bag, this adds up to the operational cost of the vacuum cleaner. Though, the bags are quite inexpensive, over a period of years, the total of initial and operational cost of the vacuum cleaner might go beyond one’s liking. However, in recent times, some vacuum cleaners are being manufactured with reusable collecting bags, where the user just needs to empty the collecting bag after use and re-install it in the vacuum cleaner for next use.

Performance dips as bag fills. The suction and cleaning performance of bagged vacuum cleaners are dependent upon the available space inside the collecting bag. When the bag is fresh, one would get the most optimal performance in terms of cleaning efficiency from the vacuum cleaner. However, as the bag starts to fill up with debris, the cleansing performance significantly drops. As a rule of thumb, one should replace the collecting bag once it is filled with dust and debris up to the three-fourth level in order to derive the best performance out of one’s vacuum cleaner.

So, having understood the advantages and disadvantages of Bagged Vacuum Cleaners, let us proceed to analyze the Bag-less Vacuum Cleaners.

Bag-less Vacuum Cleaners
The working principle of bag-less vacuum cleaners is very similar to that of bagged ones, except for the fact that instead of a collecting bag that collects all the dust and debris, bag-less vacuum cleaners make use of a collection bin known as a canister to collect all the mess.

Bag-less vacuum cleaners can be sub-categorized into three types based upon their cleansing mechanism:-

Wet & Dry vacuum cleaners
Cyclone vacuum cleaners
Robotic vacuum cleaners

Wet & Dry vacuum cleaners
This sub-category of bagless vacuum cleaners has a HEPA/special cartridge filter fitted inside the canister which filters out dust and debris before they get accumulated in the canister.

The fan driven by an electric motor creates low pressure towards the suction side of the intake hose. Due to significant difference in the atmospheric pressure and the pressure created by the fan, air along with all the dust and debris gets sucked into the intake hose and moves towards the dust holding canister. The air, free from dust and debris is expelled out of the exhaust port after passing through a HEPA filter that virtually traps all the microscopic and large particles, including allergens and mould before expelling them out through the exhaust port, thereby facilitating sanitized air in the home.

As the name suggests, Wet & Dry vacuum cleaners can work efficiently, both for cleaning dry mess as well as liquid spills. In some models, one might need to remove the HEPA filter when requiring to clean liquid spills, whereas, in others, special wet/dry filter is used which caters to both solid as well as liquid debris simultaneously, thereby not requiring any human effort to add/remove a filter.

In recent years, considering the hygiene factor that the dust collecting bag offers, some manufacturers of Wet & Dry vacuum cleaners have started to offer in their products, a dedicated collecting bag to gather dust, in addition to a canister which is used solely to accumulate liquid mess. Depending upon the specific model, one might need to remove the dust collecting bag when using the vacuum cleaner for cleaning liquid spills.

(Image of a Wet & Dry Vacuum Cleaner working on liquid mess)

Cyclone vacuum cleaners
Cyclone vacuum cleaners are a very popular choice among buyers. They work on the principle of centrifugal force to eliminate dust and debris from the sucked air.

Air along with dust and debris enters the intake hose pipe because of the low pressure created by the fan. At the other end of the intake hose, air laden with dust and debris encounters a vertical cyclonic separator which is a cylindrical device with a conical bottom. The mixture of air and dirt enters the cyclonic separator from an inlet port located on its wall and travels down the cavity of cyclonic separator at high speeds in a helical fashion. Dust and debris being heavy in comparison to air are unable to follow the helical path and rather strike the walls of the cyclonic separator, thereby losing all the momentum, which results in them falling towards the conical bottom of the cyclonic separator where a canister is attached to collect all the mess.

The air, free from dust and debris reaches towards the bottom of the cavity where it changes its direction and starts moving upwards and finally exits from an outlet port located at the top of the cyclonic separator. This relatively cleaner air is then fed into a HEPA filter which sanitizes it by removing the microscopic contaminants and allergens.

Robotic vacuum cleaners
This category of vacuum cleaners has gained lot of appreciation in the past few years, and perhaps for all the good reasons. Robotic vacuum cleaners rely on their multiple onboard sensors to help them determine the path they are following and the area of the floor they need to clean. One of the onboard sensors, the pizeo-electric sensor, generates electrical impulses when something strikes it, in this case, dust and debris. When dust strikes the pizeo-electric sensor, the sensor directs the robot to move slowly over that region such that dirt can be effectively cleaned. The robot can effectively clean the locations that conventional vacuum cleaners can not, such as, beneath the tables, under the beds, etc.

The greatest advantage of robotic vacuum cleaners comes from the fact that they do not require any sort of human intervention. Once directed to perform the cleaning operation, they autonomously get the job done. Robotic vacuum cleaners work wonders in homes where working members have a hectic work schedule and remain at workplace for most part of the day. However, they are not a substitute to conventional vacuum cleaners and should be used for minor cleaning purposes and for catering to the difficult sites that the conventional vacuum cleaners can not reach.

(Image of a Robotic Vacuum Cleaner)

Now, having examined the three types of bag-less vacuum cleaners along with their working, let us proceed to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of bag-less vacuum cleaners.

PROS:-

Cheaper maintenance. Perhaps the greatest advantage of bag-less vacuum cleaners is the fact that that they do not have any disposable elements which need to be replaced periodically, unlike collection bags in the case of bagged vacuum cleaners. Mess is accumulated in the canister which can be disposed of as and when required. Though, one might need to replace the HEPA filters of bag-less vacuum cleaners from time to time, in most cases, the frequency of requirement of replacement would not be more than once a year.

Reusable and washable canister. The canister, unlike collection bags in case of bagged vacuum cleaners can be emptied and washed as per one’s discretion. This functionality facilitates the user to dispose of the mess after every use or as per one’s liking. Whereas, in case of bagged vacuum cleaners, one does not have this liberty. Since collection bags come at a price, one would not want to throw away the bag unless full. Therefore, if one does not wish to store the mess for several days, and desires to get rid of all the litter as soon as the cleaning process is over, bag-less vacuum cleaners provide that facility.

CONS:-

Slight exposure to Allergens. As previously discussed, one needs to periodically empty the canister to get rid of the accumulated mess. While emptying the canister, allergens as well as various pathogens in the dust particles might get suspended into the air forming a cloud of dust, which, if regularly inhaled over a period of years may lead to breathing issues. People suffering from asthma and/or other lung diseases should avoid cleaning the canisters.

So, having learnt about the three types of bag-less vacuum cleaners along with their Pros and Cons, let us proceed to discuss the ways in which some manufacturers (names not taken) try to cut manufacturing costs in order to maximize their own profits and in turn deliver a sub-standard product to the customers, the components of which have a very short shelf life and may require frequent servicing.

COST CUTTING TECHNIQUES

Low-grade overheating electric motor. The electric motor rotates at very high RPMs to power the fan that creates low pressure inside the intake hose for suction to take place. This makes the electric motor one of the most crucial components of the vacuum cleaner and therefore accounts to almost 30 per cent of the entire cost of the product. Hence, it is one of the favourite areas of some manufacturers to cut costs and increase their profit margins. Some manufacturers resort to using a below-par electric motor that is not powerful enough to keep the fan rotating at high speeds for long periods of time. After only a few minutes of use, these electric motors tend to get extremely hot. As you might be aware that metals expand on heating, which causes the copper windings in the motor to initially distort and then finally melt, thereby leaving the vacuum cleaner unit out of operation. Cost of repairing the motor might range from a few hundred bucks to more than a thousand bucks and this process is recurring.

Inefficient rubber gasket and seals. To facilitate airtight operation so as to prevent dust and debris from leaking out of the canister, rubber gasket and seals are provided around it. These seals and rubber gasket do a fantastic job of withholding the mess inside the canister and prevent it from going back into the surroundings. However, high quality seals and gaskets are costly. Therefore, in order to reduce the initial cost of the vacuum cleaner so as to lure the customers, some manufacturers resort to using inferior quality rubber gasket that starts to develop cracks and incompetent seals that lose their adhesive characteristics only after a few months of use. This makes the canister lose its airtight properties. As a result, the accumulated dust and debris might escape back into the surroundings, rendering the cleaning operation less effective.

Note: In our constant endeavour to assist you in making an informed buying decision, we test the new launches of the products on multiple parameters, and if they stand tall in our analysis we periodically add them to the below mentioned list of our recommended products. So, if you plan to make the purchase at a later time, you may visit the links once again at the very time of buying to ensure that the purchase turns out to be a very fruitful one.

Bagged Vacuum Cleaners
For Indian residents:- Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5 and Best Choice 6

Bag-less Vacuum Cleaners:-

Saturday 12 February 2022

Product Recommendation - [Printer]

Inkjet Printers

Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3 and Best Choice 4

Ink Tank Printers
Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4 and Best Choice 5

Monochrome/Grayscale Laser Printers
Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6 and Best Choice 7

Colour Laser Printers
Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, My Preferred Choice and Best Choice 3

Recapitulating on the most crucial aspects of buying a printer -

Print Resolution

Print Resolution is the amount of ink that a printer can place in a one-inch line of a print document and is measured in Dots Per Inch(DPI). For instance, a printer with a 300x300 DPI print resolution puts 90,000 dots per square inch of the document. Now, as a rule of thumb -
For someone considering to purchase a laser printer, it is imperative to decide on the one that provides at least 600x600 DPI print resolution. With such DPI, the printed text is visibly crisp and the images are decently high in resolution. Printers with print resolution of 1200 x 1200 DPI or higher produce images in fine detail and rich in colours.

When inkjet/ink tank printers are in consideration, a printer with a print resolution of 1200x1200 DPI for Monochrome printing and 4800x1200 DPI for Colour printing makes for a decent choice.

Print Speed

Typically, inkjet printers are capable of printing about 12–15 pages per minute in Black ink and about 10 prints in Colour. On the other hand, laser printers typically print about 20–25 pages per minute in Black ink and in Colour the average is about 15–18 pages per minute. The nature of the print and the resolution too influences the print speed to some extent.

So, if one has extensive print requirements and under a time constraint, it would be wise to decide on a laser printer. Whereas, for regular use and in situations where time is not at a premium, an inkjet/ink tank printer would be a suitable option.

Your Needs

Print requirements

An inkjet/ink tank printers make for a better purchase in situations where one intends to print high resolution colour images for work/academic projects. Furthermore, since the cost of these printers is comparatively lesser than that of their laser jet counterparts, if one does not have heavy printing requirements, inkjet/ink tank printers make for a better choice.

If one requires to print more than 50 pages a week, where most of the prints are textual in nature, deciding on a laser printer would be a wise choice as the ‘per print’ cost would be substantially lesser than the ‘per print’ cost of an inkjet or ink tank printer. The cost of toner cartridge of a laser jet printer is considerably lesser than the cost of the ink cartridge as well. Additionally, an ace laser printers have up their sleeves is their toner cartridge. Because inkjet printers use liquid ink, the ink is prone to smudging if it is rubbed before it dries. Laser printers do not have this problem since they melt the solid toner to the paper.

If you require a mix of both the worlds, i.e. bulk printing as well as some color prints that are not very graphic, you too are in luck as color laser printers are available in the market and offer the best of both the worlds, though high quality printing is still a forte of the Inkjet ones.

Other functionality requirements

Multi purpose printer- As the name suggests, this category of printer serves various other purposes in addition to printing. The functionalities include scanner, copier, fax etc. and thus, is an ideal printer for home.
Single purpose printer- This category is intended to serve only one functionality, i.e printing. This type of printers are most commonly seen at work places and business environments where intention is just bulk printing.

For an extensive buying guide on printers, head over to our detailed post - https://sabhyatashergill.blogspot.com/2018/01/how-your-new-printer-is-looting-your.html

Saturday 5 February 2022

The complete guide to buying a Printer.

Author- Vibhor Shergill (Brother of Sabhyata Shergill)

This world revolves around documents, pie-charts, presentations etc. We can not imagine a single day when we don't take a piece of printed paper in our hands, be it your company's latest project details, your Resume, your classroom notes and even a newspaper, all are able to give us meaningful information in the printed form because of a simple yet very essential machine known as printer.

Now, if you are a frequent visitor to the posts on this blog, you might be probably aware that we take each topic from the grass root level and we’ll do the same with this post as well. We’ll begin with the basics first, understand how a printer works, wherein we’ll discuss about the various types of printers available in the market along with their pros and cons, then we’ll move on to discuss how some brands trick the consumers and make recurring and often huge profits from them and then proceed onto deciding which type of printer would be the best for you, according to your needs.

You might be glad to know that I am a web designer and my job requires me to print a lot of high quality designs for the websites that I design at my workplace and then comparing them with each other. This requires a printer that is precise in the colors it prints, the cost and the time taken for each print. Having printed more than 3000 designs till date, I have formed a good opinion about what makes a printer a good one, what goes into making them, how brands try to do cost cutting etc. Today, I'll try my best to pass on the knowledge that I have acquired over the years to you, so as to help you make a good decision.

So without further a do, let’s begin…

The Basics
A printer is an output device that can print everything from text, photos, charts etc that you make on your computer onto a piece of paper. Printers have been in the market since the late 1980s in the name of dot matrix printer, though the technology used then was vastly different and often inconvenient from what we see nowadays. Currently, there are broadly two types of printers that are available in the market:-

Inkjet/Ink Tank Printer
Laser Printer

Inkjet and Ink Tank Printer
An inkjet printer uses liquid ink to print the information onto the paper. This liquid ink is sold in the form of cartridges in the market and each cartridge is compatible with a select few printers.
The cartridge consists of a series of nozzles that spray the ink in the form of dots that are even smaller than 50 microns onto the paper. The ink inside the cartridge is heated with an electrical charge and an extremely small amount of ink is vaporized in the form of a bubble. This bubble comes on the surface of the nozzle and then collapses. The pressure difference pulls a droplet of ink out of the cartridge and sprays it on the paper.

A slightly enhanced variation of this print technology is gaining popularity in the market in recent times and are known as ink tank printers. The working principle of both the inkjet and the ink tank printer is the same and the only difference between the two is the manner in which the ink is utilized. An ink jet printer makes use of cartridges to store the ink whereas with ink tank printers, there is a dedicated tank attached to the body of the printer.

(Picture of the working mechanism of Inkjet Printer)

Pros of Inkjet/Ink Tank Printers

Compact design. Inkjet printers are relatively smaller, lighter and easier to maintain than laser printers.

No warm up time is needed and hence can print as and when required without warm up delay.

Suitable for printing high quality images and presentations.

The ink cartridges though have high one time cost can be refilled and reused. This is the biggest plus point of ink jet printers.

Cons of Inkjet/Ink Tank Printers

The ink used in Ink jet printers are susceptible to blotting and fading and thus, one has to be careful with the printouts and they should not be exposed to moisture.

The print speed of Inkjet printer is lesser than the Laser printer and so, if your lifestyle requires you to print in bulk, go with the Laser printers.

Laser Printer
A laser printer does not make use of liquid ink. Rather, a powder (toner) is stuck onto the paper. With the help of photosensitive static electricity the toner is melted onto the paper using a hot roller.
This printer in addition to the hot roller and static electricity use mirrors to print the document on the paper. When a document is sent to a laser printer, laser light is reflected by the mirrors on to the cylinder which neutralizes electric charges in specific areas.

Due to the rotation of both cylinder and the mirrors, as well as the lasers, that are turning on and off at precisely correct moments, the areas hit by the laser correspond to the actual print. So when the toner particles hit the cylinder they only stick to the areas exposed to the laser light, since the toner itself has an electrical charge. Then a sheet of paper is pressed against the cylinder and the toner is transferred through the paper using heat and this is the reason that pages printed by a laser printer are warm to touch.

(Picture of the working mechanism of Laser Printer)

Pros of Laser printers

Per print time is much less than Inkjet counterparts. So if you require multiple prints on a daily basis, go with the Inkjet ones.

Laser toner cartridge prints more number of sheets than a similarly priced ink cartridge of the Inkjet printers and thus in the long run, Laser jet printers prove to be more cost effective.

Designed to produce larger quantity of prints and due to their less complex internal design, laser printers are hassle free devices and require less maintenance.

Cons of Laser printers

Restricted use. Inkjet printers do a fabulous job in printing text and simple graphics. But, if one needs to print high quality images, Inkjet printers do a much better job.

Requires warm up time, thus if you like to print things on the last minute, Inkjets would serve your purpose better.

One time up front cost of laser printers are higher than the Inkjet ones, though the toner cartridges are cheaper than ink cartridges.

Now, having discussed about the Pros and Cons of the print technologies, it is imperative to learn about two important aspects related to printers, the knowledge about which go a long way in making the buying decision to cater to one's requirements -

Print Resolution

Print Resolution is the amount of ink that a printer can place in a one-inch line of a print document and is measured in Dots Per Inch(DPI). For instance, a printer with a 300x300 DPI print resolution puts 90,000 dots per square inch of the document. Now, as a rule of thumb -
For someone considering to purchase a laser printer, it is imperative to decide on the one that provides at least 600x600 DPI print resolution. With such DPI, the printed text is visibly crisp and the images are decently high in resolution. Printers with print resolution of 1200 x 1200 DPI or higher produce images in fine detail and rich in colours.

When inkjet/ink tank printers are in consideration, a printer with a print resolution of 1200x1200 DPI for Monochrome printing and 4800x1200 DPI for Colour printing makes for a decent choice.

Print Speed

Typically, inkjet printers are capable of printing about 12–15 pages per minute in Black ink and about 10 prints in Colour. On the other hand, laser printers typically print about 20–25 pages per minute in Black ink and in Colour the average is about 15–18 pages per minute. The nature of the print and the resolution too influences the print speed to some extent.

So, if one has extensive print requirements and under a time constraint, it would be wise to decide on a laser printer. Whereas, for regular use and in situations where time is not at a premium, an inkjet/ink tank printer would be a suitable option.

Now, having learnt about the different types of printers and their pros and cons, let’s proceed to understand how some brands use smart marketing tricks to loot the customers in the long run.

Nowadays, some brands, to lure the customers are manufacturing printers which are very friendly on the customer’s pocket and so, the innocent customer falls for the low price trap. Everything works as intended until the cartridge ink needs to be replaced or refilled. Here comes the trap, the replacement ink cartridges are very steeply priced to recover the initial low cost of the printer. Most customers, though unwillingly purchase the replacement cartridges and thus over time, one ends up paying more than five times the initial cost of the printer to the brand.

Secondly, to cut costs, some manufacturers use low quality parts in manufacturing the printer. Since, printers work by the integration of numerous tiny parts, malfunctioning of even one part leads to the malfunction of the entire printer, repairing which, again is a costly and tedious process.

So now, having discussed the cost cutting techniques that are used by some manufacturers to trick the customers, let’s proceed to discuss what type of printer would be the best one according to your needs and work/life style.

Your Needs

Print requirements

An inkjet/ink tank printers make for a better purchase in situations where one intends to print high resolution colour images for work/academic projects. Furthermore, since the cost of these printers is comparatively lesser than that of their laser jet counterparts, if one does not have heavy printing requirements, inkjet/ink tank printers make for a better choice.

If one requires to print more than 50 pages a week, where most of the prints are textual in nature, deciding on a laser printer would be a wise choice as the ‘per print’ cost would be substantially lesser than the ‘per print’ cost of an inkjet or ink tank printer. The cost of toner cartridge of a laser jet printer is considerably lesser than the cost of the ink cartridge as well. Additionally, an ace laser printers have up their sleeves is their toner cartridge. Because inkjet printers use liquid ink, the ink is prone to smudging if it is rubbed before it dries. Laser printers do not have this problem since they melt the solid toner to the paper.

If you require a mix of both the worlds, i.e. bulk printing as well as some color prints that are not very graphic, you too are in luck as color laser printers are available in the market and offer the best of both the worlds, though high quality printing is still a forte of the Inkjet ones.

Other functionality requirements

Multi purpose printer - As the name suggests, this category of printer serves various other purposes in addition to printing. The functionalities include scanner, copier, fax etc. and thus, is an ideal printer for home.

Single purpose printer - This category is intended to serve only one functionality, i.e., printing. This type of printers are most commonly seen at work places and business environments where intention is just bulk printing.

Having said that, let’s proceed to zero down at some of the best Inkjet and Laser printers that are available in the market currently, that not only offer one of the best printing solutions but offer the most bang for the buck as well.

Inkjet Printers

Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3 and Best Choice 4

Ink Tank Printers
Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4 and Best Choice 5

Monochrome/Grayscale Laser Printers
Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6 and Best Choice 7

Colour Laser Printers
Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, My Preferred Choice and Best Choice 3

About Us

Hello readers. In this blog, I, Vibhor and my sister Sabhyata try to make people aware of the common malpractices that go on in the market of household as well as personal products, which general public is unaware of.

After intensive research, analysis and guidance of our father who works at one of the popular consumer electronics company are the posts written so as to help you take a better and informed decision. In this blog, we deeply appreciate and value your comments and reply to them with the best of our knowledge, experience and guidance.