Tech Satori

 There are obviously thousands of deals this sale but I, as a PC enthusiast, am making a list of deals you shouldn't ignore if you are shopping for a budget-midrange PC build/setup. So without any further ado, let's look into all the great deals. Processors i3-12100F and i5-12400F . When Intel 12th gen was launched in 2022, they were good but affordability of AM4 was pulling the budget market towards AMD. But in 2024, tables have been turned. 12th gen Intel processors often go on sale with such good pricing that cheaper AM4 motherboard doesn't make a difference in final build cost.  Speaking of motherboards, there aren't any noteworthy discounts on motherboards, so I'm skipping them. RAM G.SKILL Aegis 8GB 3200MHz CL16 Now it doesn't seem to be any better than a typical 'naked' RAM at first glance but it does have better CL timings. Which makes it better choice for low budget i3-12100F build. Yes you can get better RAM with proper heatsink by paying ₹500...

There are often times when someone cannot afford to or does not want to pay a premium for "industry standard" software. Then they find out about Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) that people say is an alternative to the premium/proprietary software they need to use. In fact, I have even made lists of software that are great alternatives to such paid software, available at no cost. So, even I am guilty of misleading you (consumers) with FOSS. Let's begin with the cold, harsh truth about FOSS that most of its advocates won't tell you when recommending alternatives to paid software: "No FOSS software is a true alternative to any paid software." Now, I'm not accusing anyone of spreading misinformation. In fact, most FOSS software really are great alternatives to paid software, but (extra emphasis on the but), they aren't direct alternatives to paid software; they are alternatives to people's needs. Let me elaborate on this statement. When we nerd...

 When Ryzen 7000 series was released, it made clear that they're the new top dogs. Even the cheapest of the bunch(Ryzen 5 7600) was trading blows with i7 and i9 of that time in gaming. So unless you had some specific use case for those extra cores of i7 and i9, there was no point spending more on those processors for a gaming PC.  BUT, the new AM5 platform had the Achille's heel of any new tech product; the cost of new technology. While a Core i7 and i9 were more expensive, they were available with DDR4 support, making the entire platform cost in less favour of AM5. The cost of early AM5 motherboards didn't make it any better for AMD. For context, cheapest AM5 motherboards in India were ₹17-18k at launch and decent "AMD recommended" DDR5 RAM(6000MHz) kits were in the neighbourhood of 20k. Making the cost of a Ryzen 5 7600X platform about ₹45-50k. You could've gotten a i5-13600K with 32GB DDR4 and a "decent enough" motherboard for that price. While a ...

 Since the pandemic, there has been rise in work from home culture as well as content creations. While many of work from home jobs don't require you to have a camera and microphone, content creation often require both. Where buying a camera is typically "you get what you pay", buying a microphone gets a bit more complex. To put that into perspective, there are just 3 major camera types(we're talking about reasonable budget here): Webcam, DSLR and Mirrorless. Webcam is best for regular office meetings and online classes, even livestreaming if you just started. On the other hand, DSLR and Mirrorless cameras are for more professional look and outdoor usage, like vlogs and music/skit videos.  But if you search microphone on any shopping sites then you will get all sorts of results with audio jargons like Lavalier mic, condenser mic, USB mic, XLR mic, shotgun mic, etc. I will not go in depth with all the available mics for 2 reasons, first, there are just way too many vari...

 A while ago I made a list of free PC apps that were worth checking out . But, as big of a PC nerd as I am, I can't deny the fact that most people spend more time on their smartphones than on PC. With the rise of efficient and free AI, almost anyone with basic programming knowledge can create apps for Android withing days. That's where the issue of free Android apps becomes obvious. Google play store is flooded with hundreds of apps that serve the same purpose. Now, one might ask, how is that an issue?  The issue isn't the number of similar apps, it's the quality of those apps. Like I said, almost anyone can create an app with the help of AI chatbots. So 90% of those apps are made by non professionals that are only creating them for the sole purpose of making money. The result: millions of frustrated users that are so fed up with ads that they'd rather pay for an premium app than deal with absurd amount of ads shown to them. And that's where this article comes i...

 Typically I'd strongly advise against buying a PC in this budget. But, as an Indian, I know ₹30-40,000 low budget PC aren't really affordable in many household. In fact, even spending ₹10,000 is a huge deal for many families. So if a kid shows interest in computer science and coding, they often end up with recycled Core 2 Duo builds. While it is enough to learn fundamentals of coding, I wouldn't personally recommend Core 2 Duo for learning coding for any kid serious about their future in computer field. Because, as I mentioned, Core 2 Duo is still technically capable of running all the compilers and interpreters out there, but companies use different IDEs and frameworks than the ones taught in schools. These companies prefer someone already familiar with the IDEs and framework they use so that they don't have to invest their time and resources training someone from scratch.  So if you are that kid dreaming about a career in computer science/application or you are the p...

 Last year I published an article teaching how to pick a good PSU . While the main reason for that post was amount of people buying E and F tier PSUs, there's also a fair share of PC builds I see where people spend too much on higher wattage PSU which compromises their budget for other components. But, at the same time, there are some people who buy a PSU that isn't powerful enough.  Out of the aforementioned 2 types, people who buy higher wattage than needed are on safer side, but like I mentioned, it often cost them a large amount of their budget. Specially in India where average salary of people is often less than the cost of a decent budget gaming PC, it becomes a big problem.  So why do people make mistake of calculating their wattage wrong? There are two big reasons.  There aren't many definitive guides out there for wattage calculation. The online wattage calculator results are all over the place. Also there is one more reason that affects people choice: PSU e...