|
Stationary Bicycle
Get a recumbent bike that has lumbar support
and exerts minimal pressure on your knees. Special features can
include ergonomically designed groove seats, multiple programme
modes, LED indicators, upgraded data window readouts and resistance
adjustment. Major brands: Cybex (US), Life Fitness (US) and Techno
(Germany).
Price range: Rs 95,000 to Rs 3,00,000
 Treadmill
It's the building block for a good cardiovascular
workout, so don't be tightfisted when choosing one. Treadmills
can be used for walking, jogging and even sprinting, so choose
a sturdy one that has accurate motor and good displays. Look for
features like built-in heart rate monitoring, display speed and
elevation. Major brands: Cybex (US), Life Fitness (US), Techno
(Germany) and JKExer (Taiwan).
Price range: Rs 2,15,000 to Rs 6,60,000
 Multigym
A multigym can be an all-in-one machine,
enabling you to work out all the muscle groups, including the
chest, back, shoulder and leg muscles. Look for machines that
are stable and, since they have many moving parts, good engineering.
Major brands: Parabody (US), Vectra Fitness (US) and Techno (Germany).
Price range: Rs 59,000 to Rs 2,50,000
 Dumb-bells
The ubiquitous gym equipment is a pair of
dumb-bells. Dumb-bells are good for all kinds of exercises. Get
eight to 10 pairs of varying weights and look for non-rusting,
preferably rubber sheathed ones. Major brands: Life Fitness (US),
JKExer (Taiwan) and Gym 80 (Germany).
Price range: Rs 3,500 upwards
 Benches
A bench is a must for your home-gym. You
can get different types of exercise benches-inclined benches,
utility benches, flat benches, multi-adjustable benches, ab crunch
benches, leg raise benches and arm curl benches. Get one where
the angle is adjustable so that you can do exercises that call
for inclines or declines. Major brands: Cybex (US) and Life Fitness
(US).
Price range: Rs 8,500 to Rs 1,46,000
THREE HOME-GYMMING TIPS:
1 Ensure that the home-gym has enough space
to move around and is not cramped with equipment. Get racks built
to store dumb-bells.
2 Ensure proper insulation for the floor;
rubberised mats are good dampeners for sound as well as impact
of weights.
3 Get a trained instructor to start you off
on a weight-training programme, particularly if you're a beginner.
Better still, appoint your own personal trainer.
PRINTED
CIRCUIT
Living in a flat and
thin world
Here's how the new
Samsung Bordeaux stacks up.
An
oft-played ad on television says: "Some people buy an LCD
TV just to show off!" Honestly, that is the single most important
reason for buying Liquid-Crystal Display (LCD) TVs and the new
Samsung Bordeaux is a magnificent show-off piece; but that said,
it also is a great television.
And after watching the FIFA World Cup on
the Bordeaux, I doubt that the next TV that I purchase will be
anything other than an LCD TV.
Why?
Well, there are a couple of reasons. First,
tube televisions, despite advertisements to the contrary, are
anything but slim. Have you seen how grotesquely huge a 34-inch
tube television is? It is massive and uselessly consumes almost
a quarter of your room.
At under two-inches thick, even a 42-inch
LCD TV, the largest available commercially, actually frees up
space.
And here is the incredible bit, unlike tube
televisions which are more or less technologically limited to
around the 34-inch screen diagonal barrier, LCDs are becoming
bigger and better. Two years ago, 30 inches were as far as they
got. Today, companies like Toshiba talk of 50-inch LCD screens.
Man, imagine watching TV on one of those! In fact, thanks to their
far lower power consumption and superior picture quality, LCD
screens have more or less surpassed Plasma Display Panels (PDPs).
OK, so it is great when someone comes and
installs one in your office (for a test-bah!), but should you
buy one?
Honestly, not just yet. While I loved the
Bordeaux, the 32-inch la32r7 model will set you back Rs 96,990
plus installation. That's rather expensive. In this range, Samsung
also has a smaller 26-inch LCD TV which costs Rs 69,990 and a
bigger 40-inch TV with a price tag of Rs 1,55,990. The Bordeaux
is one of the most advanced commercially available LCD TVs, with
a high-colour range (12.8 billion colours) and superb contrast
ratio (5,000:1-this means the TV displays better 'blacks'), but
there are cheaper sets out there. Twenty-inch LCD TVs from Samsung
itself, LG, Philips, Sony, Panasonic and now Onida start at around
Rs 30,000 mark. The standard 34-inch monitors start at the Rs
50,000 mark. But it's better to stick with Samsung or LG for two
simple reasons-they are the two largest LCD manufacturers in the
world and are currently also making all the big breakthroughs
in LCD technology. Also, keeping in mind that similar sized tube-televisions
cost a third of LCD monitors, price is obviously not a major determinant
of choice here.
Remember this: LCD monitors like the Bordeaux
are what you call HDTV (High-Definition TV) ready. Though broadcasters
in India are still not beaming HDTV signals, the expected Direct-To-Home
(DTH) invasion later this year might change that sooner than you
expect. And guess what? It is LCD that is leading the HDTV charge;
almost every LCD TV sold on the market is HDTV ready-the picture
quality on HDTV is so good you'll be able to say if your favourite
television news anchor has done her upper lip or not. Hmmm, I'm
not so sure HDTV will be quite popular with the news channels
though!
Plus, we all know that technology's getting
progressively cheaper, so LCD TV prices will probably head south
as well. And while you might give them a skip for this particular
World Cup, the next one-which will involve a smaller ball and
a few pieces of wood-next year will be a great time to buy such
a telly.
Anyway, I have a match to watch right now,
so if you'll excuse me, I have to go!
-Kushan Mitra
|
