Somewhere at the backs of our minds, each one of us has an idea of a dream job. I had mine too and was close to realizing the dream when I was offered a chance to work with CHIP. The computers, laptops, games and gadgets that I would be able to touch and review even before they would be launched were all I could think of. The thought of attending press conferences and other interesting events kept me on my toes as I waited for D-day to arrive. It was a different high altogether, and I just couldn’t get over it.
On the first day, after a round of introductions with everyone, I made my way to the Test Center, which I had always considered a shrine to technology. It was just the way I had imagined it to be. Every square inch of the room was occupied by laptops, printers, motherboards, graphics cards, speakers and every technology you could possibly think of. The laptop comparison test was in progress, and it was amazing to see how much hard work these guys put into the test process. Whilst getting comfortable with the surroundings, I was given a seat inside the TC. Finally, a secret dream realized. I couldn’t have asked for more!
Within a week’s time, I was provided with a work station. Being in the Test Center, I looked forward to a super fast PC with a huge LCD monitor, 4 GB RAM, and all the latest accessories. Unfortunately, those components keep coming and going after being tested, and the in-house computers everyone uses for their day-today work are far more modest. I was given a 14-inch CRT monitor, Windows XP and 512 MB RAM (but thankfully a cool Logitech optical mouse). The PC worked well for about 10 minutes and then it shut down and refused to boot. I wished I could grab the MacBook Air, Dell XPS M1730, or LG E500 which were lying around, but I couldn’t. To top it all off, I had to rely on the company’s IT department, which took four hours to fi x the PC. Even after that, it refused to boot the next morning! For about four days, my day began with a dead PC and frantic calls to the IT person to fi x it. He fi nally managed to get it working and thankfully, the PC has run peacefully ever since.
One morning, a few weeks after joining, I walked into the Test Center and found it was dark and quiet, which was very unusual. As I turned on the lights, I felt the chairs move. I jumped up in terror and almost screamed in panic, only to realize that it was a colleague, Jamshed, asleep on the chairs. He and many
others had spent the night in the test center, completing the magazine. I made a mental note of getting used to this.
Another moment of glory arrived when Gautami, Deepti and I attended a product launch. This was my fi rst ever press event. Actress Shilpa Shetty was the brand ambassador. When we arrived at the venue, it was filled with over 500 reporters from various news publications. As soon as the actress entered, the room dazzled with fl ashes from the cameras pointed at her. I had carried an HTC Touch Cruise for review and this was the perfect time to test its 3.15 Megapixel camera. I whipped it out, and joined the reporters who were clicking away to glory. Gautami was armed with a Nokia N95 and she too joined the crowd of reporters who were equipped with high-tech cameras. It was a funny sight indeed, but we managed to get some great pictures. I had the opportunity to meet with various media people as well as senior technical engineers and officials from the company and got loads of fi rst-hand information about the products. All in all it was a wonderful experience for me.
There are so many amazing things happen in the Test Center, and it is difficult to sum it all up in one page and I’m looking forward to learning all the tricks of the trade.
-Monali Gaikwad
Last Word- CHIP Magazine, September 08
On the first day, after a round of introductions with everyone, I made my way to the Test Center, which I had always considered a shrine to technology. It was just the way I had imagined it to be. Every square inch of the room was occupied by laptops, printers, motherboards, graphics cards, speakers and every technology you could possibly think of. The laptop comparison test was in progress, and it was amazing to see how much hard work these guys put into the test process. Whilst getting comfortable with the surroundings, I was given a seat inside the TC. Finally, a secret dream realized. I couldn’t have asked for more!
Within a week’s time, I was provided with a work station. Being in the Test Center, I looked forward to a super fast PC with a huge LCD monitor, 4 GB RAM, and all the latest accessories. Unfortunately, those components keep coming and going after being tested, and the in-house computers everyone uses for their day-today work are far more modest. I was given a 14-inch CRT monitor, Windows XP and 512 MB RAM (but thankfully a cool Logitech optical mouse). The PC worked well for about 10 minutes and then it shut down and refused to boot. I wished I could grab the MacBook Air, Dell XPS M1730, or LG E500 which were lying around, but I couldn’t. To top it all off, I had to rely on the company’s IT department, which took four hours to fi x the PC. Even after that, it refused to boot the next morning! For about four days, my day began with a dead PC and frantic calls to the IT person to fi x it. He fi nally managed to get it working and thankfully, the PC has run peacefully ever since.
One morning, a few weeks after joining, I walked into the Test Center and found it was dark and quiet, which was very unusual. As I turned on the lights, I felt the chairs move. I jumped up in terror and almost screamed in panic, only to realize that it was a colleague, Jamshed, asleep on the chairs. He and many
others had spent the night in the test center, completing the magazine. I made a mental note of getting used to this.
Another moment of glory arrived when Gautami, Deepti and I attended a product launch. This was my fi rst ever press event. Actress Shilpa Shetty was the brand ambassador. When we arrived at the venue, it was filled with over 500 reporters from various news publications. As soon as the actress entered, the room dazzled with fl ashes from the cameras pointed at her. I had carried an HTC Touch Cruise for review and this was the perfect time to test its 3.15 Megapixel camera. I whipped it out, and joined the reporters who were clicking away to glory. Gautami was armed with a Nokia N95 and she too joined the crowd of reporters who were equipped with high-tech cameras. It was a funny sight indeed, but we managed to get some great pictures. I had the opportunity to meet with various media people as well as senior technical engineers and officials from the company and got loads of fi rst-hand information about the products. All in all it was a wonderful experience for me.
There are so many amazing things happen in the Test Center, and it is difficult to sum it all up in one page and I’m looking forward to learning all the tricks of the trade.
-Monali Gaikwad
Last Word- CHIP Magazine, September 08
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