[itwasntme]

Thanks both. The cheaper Chinese ones are just not bright enough and slowly collapse from excessive rain and are not durable. I would also prefer bigger LED 'bulbs'. The Amazon one looks promising - let me see.

My local electrician is offering to visit Gandhi Bazaar in BLR CBD, buy all components directly from wholesalers and make it for me with his labour thrown in. Will explore that too.

[Sebring]

Hi, I'm in Gandhi Bazaar area for ages and dont know of any. Is he pulling a fast one? There are few on JC Road, and Urvashi theater areas.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

My local electrician is offering to visit Gandhi Bazaar in BLR CBD, buy all components directly from wholesalers and make it for me with his labour thrown in. Will explore that too.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Hi, I'm in Gandhi Bazaar area for ages and dont know of any. Is he pulling a fast one? There are few on JC Road, and Urvashi theater areas.

Thanks, Sebring for the clarification. I haven't actually researched his lofty statement yet. Maybe he meant JC Road which now seems more logical to buy such stuff.

If you are aware of any reliable importers/stockists of the high quality lights do PM me. I am planning this for Christmas so have some time on hand.

[Sk8r]

Originally Posted by longhorn

I am looking at some options for a microwave oven around 28L capacity, preferably with convection. I see multiple price ranges for a 28L Samsung itself. Any advices on brand / capacity or anything to watch out for? Looking for something that will last long.

we have a LG Microwave with Grill and convection mode (Amazon Link), we have been using it for the past 6 - 7 years specially during christmas time where we bake 5 to 6 cakes back to back and it is working flawlessly till date.

[Sebring]

My friend informs there is indeed one guy on Netkalappa Circle but he is real high-end (Gandhi Bazar/Krishna Rao Park roundabout), if its nearby for you you can check out the showroom. The other guy is on RV road, at that intersection where you take a left to get to Jayanagar. Best bet is Abhinay Theatre road, in Majestic. There are lots there, and they have the best collections.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

If you are aware of any reliable importers/stockists of the high quality lights do PM me. I am planning this for Christmas so have some time on hand.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Sebring

My friend informs there is indeed one guy on Netkalappa Circle but he is real high-end (Gandhi Bazar/Krishna Rao Park roundabout), if its nearby for you you can check out the showroom. The other guy is on RV road, at that intersection where you take a left to get to Jayanagar. Best bet is Abhinay Theatre road, in Majestic. There are lots there, and they have the best collections.

Excellent, many thanks! I will post my findings when I visit next week.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by saket77

So years after robust and reliable service, my IFB front load washer seems to now have issues with spin cycle and I suspect that it’s the motor.
Will call the service guy and take his advice. Any idea of the cost of a new motor; if the same is still supplied by IFB? The exact model is IFB executive plus. I’d prefer to get this repaired. Getting a new machine would be my last option.

The IFB service couldn't source the spares and hence had to discard the machine with a heavy heart. It was a real well built washer and served us exceedingly well for almost 20-21 years without fail.

Looked into the current gen IFBs and the LG, Samsung etc but the closest match in robust build quality I saw was Bosch. Current IFBs are not even the shadow of what they used to be back then when they were in collaboration with Bosch in the 90s. My opinion is also formed on the basis of using an IFB dishwasher as well for past 7 years. It doesn't seems to age very well.
LG/ Samsung didn't click to me.

I got the Bosch WAK24268IN finally.
(https://www.amazon.in/Bosch-Fully-Au...2427364&sr=8-2)

The machine feels well built but the electronic controller feels a little feeble and a bit vague to operate. Probably I am used to the fantastic electro-mechanical controllers of the previous washer. The wash quality is really good and in this particular model, there are options to customize the wash cycle preset which gives a lot of flexibility. Noise and vibrations are very well controlled. And the washer itself looks very nice.

One thing I am still wondering is as to how to make use of the prewash willfully. Right now it seems embedded in the wash program.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Thanks both. The cheaper Chinese ones are just not bright enough and slowly collapse from excessive rain and are not durable. I would also prefer bigger LED 'bulbs'. The Amazon one looks promising - let me see.

My local electrician is offering to visit Gandhi Bazaar in BLR CBD, buy all components directly from wholesalers and make it for me with his labour thrown in. Will explore that too.

I bought two of these a couple of years back. The are still bright and rain does not seem to affect them. Just make sure that they are IP65 certified.
https://www.amazon.in/Waterproof-Out...%2C288&sr=8-56

[carboy]

Originally Posted by saket77

I got the Bosch WAK24268IN finally.

I always had the idea that Bosch was very expensive. But I looked at a Bosch 6.5 kg toploader & the price seems to be similar to an LG (around 15K), so that was surprising to me.


I am disappointed with my recent LG purchases & hence on the lookout for other good appliance vendors. How is Bosch quality & Bosch Service? How does it compare with the Korean Brands in After Sales Service?

[saket77]

Originally Posted by carboy

I always had the idea that Bosch was very expensive. But I looked at a Bosch 6.5 kg toploader & the price seems to be similar to an LG (around 15K), so that was surprising to me.

I visited a Bosch (& Siemens) brick and mortar shop here before getting one online. I compared the price with other brands and there was hardly any difference, esp when compared to IFB & LG. I did have a look at LG direct drive but the drum looked quite shallow, as a result of probably to house the direct drive motor. But the build didn't seem as good as Bosch. Didn't look into IFB models, but only the price. Could be a notion because of German build that Bosch is expensive, but given the product quality, I felt it is actually cheaper. Siemens, although similar to Bosch (& owned by Bosch too), was just a wee bit expensive than Bosch, but surprisingly, Bosch's build quality looked better.

Originally Posted by carboy

I am disappointed with my recent LG purchases & hence on the lookout for other good appliance vendors. How is Bosch quality & Bosch Service? How does it compare with the Korean Brands in After Sales Service?

Have not used Bosch service as yet (installation was done by a 3rd party arrange by Amazon) but ironically, I distanced myself from LG about 15 years ago just because of poor quality of service. I don't have any LG and Samsung product in my house.

The person in charge of Bosch service here in Ranchi is known to me; since he previously owned the IFB service & later moved to Bosch, so we have good relations and hopefully service, when required, should not be an issue.

Regards,
Saket

[carboy]

Originally Posted by saket77

I distanced myself from LG about 15 years ago just because of poor quality of service. I don't have any LG and Samsung product in my house.

Hmm, I have had extraordinarily good service from LG over 15 years. But the recent crop of products I have purchased from have been sub-par quality, unlike the earlier ones.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by carboy

I always had the idea that Bosch was very expensive.

It is. They seem now to make "cheap" machines for India.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Excellent, many thanks! I will post my findings when I visit next week.

Any idea about what happened to the "meteor showers" LED string lights? I wanted them for this diwali, but did not find them anywhere. In fact, didn't even see them displayed on any buildings this year. Maybe they don't last, and all of them failed?

[meerkat]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

... They seem now to make "cheap" machines for India.

Not just Bosch, too many big international names market awful India-spec products! e.g. Panasonic has been marketing trash for years! So does Samsonite, ... and many others. The funny thing is, such India-spec products often have world-class prices!

I'm in the market for a microwave oven. In the recent sales, Amazon.in was advertising a Bosch model with good specs at a good 30% less cost compared to similar LG/Samsung models! I was tempted, but backed out after reading very poor user reviews, -- most complaining about their awful service! I don't know what to make of those, -- whether to shun all Bosch India products ( I know that some of their tools are plane awful), or trust some select types (like Saket's washing machine, although my IFB of the same vintage hasn't quit yet :-))!
.

[Sebring]

Do you have any personal experience with Panasonic products gone bad? I have picked up a lot of Panasonic stuff and they last years. Most of it is imported from Malaysia, they global supply hub. (In fact, their microwave is the best you an get anywhere)

Originally Posted by meerkat

Not just Bosch, too many big international names market awful India-spec products! e.g. Panasonic has been marketing trash for years! So does Samsonite, ... and many others. The funny thing is, such India-spec products often have world-class prices!