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 Acer Travel Mate B117

Price: Rs 27,000

A bit pric­ier than the Lenovo, the Acer Trav­elMate B117 is just as robust and strong. Built with educational insti­tutions in mind, the laptop comes with a moderate Intel Celeron N3050 Dual Core 1.6 GHz processor with 4GB of RAM. The screen is also as big as the Lenovo’s, coming at 11-inch, which nonetheless performs slightly better than the Lenovo panel in terms of saturation and bright­ness. The device is also slightly thin­ner, adding to its portability. With the given internals, the laptop is capable of handling basic word pro­cessing, web browsing and light processing. Anything heavier than that will tax the device heavily but at this price point, you can’t expect it to do any more.

Dell Inspiron 3552

Price: Rs 35,600

If you are willing to pay a bit more, the Dell Inspiron 3552 is the perfect laptop for budget-friendly buyers. The device is a solid low-end performer that comes in a full-sized package. It has a decent 15.6 TN screen and is equipped with Intel Pentium N3700 1.6 GHz processor with 4GB of RAM. More power, however, adds to the bulk of the device and makes it harder to lug around. But good inter­nals and a bigger screen also mean content consumption is going to be better and the added screen real-es­tate is also going to do wonders for your workflow. But, again, the Dell is a low-budget laptop so don’t expect anything jaw-dropping in terms of performance. Regardless, the laptop should be capable of handling your everyday tasks was ease.

Lenovo X131e

Price: Rs 24,990

The Lenovo X131e is the perfect laptop for students and profession­als alike. The device is built like a tank, with a sturdy and rugged plas­tic design. The laptop has decent internals with an AMD E2-1800 APU processor supported by 4GB of RAM. It also has a moderate 320GB of hard drive space, which should be plenty for smaller documents like Word files, pictures and videos.

If you want a laptop for your children, the Lenovo X131e is perfect for you to keep track of your child’s computer usage: it comes with a light on the lid that is turned on when the computer is connected to the internet. A quick glance will make it clear if your ward is working on a project or wiling away time on social media. Since the laptop is cheap and built to last, investing in the Lenovo X131e might not be a bad idea.

 In the previous issue, we showed you what the numbers and letters on the sidewall of your tire really meant. On this one, we are doing the same for engine oil. Engine oil, widely known across the country as “Mobil” acts like the blood of any vehicle, two-, four- or ten-wheel­ers. If it has an engine and wheels, chances are it needs Mobil to run. While petroleum acts as a means of propulsion, engine oil does every­thing else, from proper cleaning and lubrication to efficient usage of fuel.There’s a wide range of engine oils to choose from so it is difficult to know what type would be best for your vehicle. Thankfully, you never have to, because the vehicle manufacturers already know what oil you need when you go for your routine service and they use what is best for your ride. But it doesn’t hurt knowing a little more about the “Golden Blood” that makes the wheels go round.

Okay, let’s start with the basics. There are three core types of engine oils in the market: mineral, semi-synthetic and synthetic.

Mineral oil is the cheapest and is essentially a constituent of crude oil, produced after it is refined.

Synthetic oil is the most expen­sive, but for a reason. It has been engineered by scientists to work over a wide range of tempera­tures and conditions, while reducing drag on the engine to help reduce fuel consumption. It also actively cleans the engine’s internals as it’s pumped around.

Semi-synthetic oil is a blend of mineral and synthetic oil, the blend made basically to bring the price down.

Next is the most important and widely heard term when it comes to engine oil, “Viscosity”. This is the large numbers on a bottle of oil like 5W30 or 10w40. Simply put, vis­cosity is the ‘flowability’ of oil. Put another way, thin oil has low viscos­ity, while thick oil has high viscosity.

The viscosity of oil changes with temperature. When it’s cold, the oil will flow more slowly and when it’s hot, the oil will flow more quickly. However, in order to lubricate an engine properly the oil must be able to flow at a consistent rate through a broad range of temperatures.

To put this in perspective, imag­ine a bottle of ketchup, put it in the fridge (at roughly 1-3 degrees Celsius) for a few hours, then take off the lid and try to pour the ketchup out. It will start to flow but extremely slowly as the cold temperature has made it more viscous. Now take your bottle of ketchup and stick it in the oven for 20 minutes at 100 degrees Celsius then take the lid off and pour it out. It should flow out extremely easily. The heat has reduced the viscosity and allowed the syrup to flow more quickly.

The same thing happens with engine oil. If you live in Lukla and its -20 degrees outside, when you go to start your car’s engine, the oil inside it needs to be thin enough to flow and lubricate all the internal com­ponents as soon as you turn the key. Similarly, if you live in Birgunj and its 40 degrees outside and you’re driving in heavy traffic your engine oil needs to stay viscous enough to lubricate properly.

Most oils these days are multi-grade (multi-viscosity) and will have two numbers instead of one on the label separated by a ‘W’. Multigrades were first developed some 50+ years ago to avoid the old routine of using a thinner oil in winter and a thicker oil in summer. The numbers look somewhat like this: 10W-40

The first number followed by the letter W describes the viscosity of oil at low temperatures (the W stands for winter). The lower the number the thinner the oil. A thinner oil at low temperatures is good because it flows more easily and is therefore able to protect the engine when it is first started from cold. If the oil is too thick when cold, it will not circulate freely and will reduce fuel economy.

The second number describes how thick the oil is at the engine’s normal operating temperature. The higher the second number, the thicker the oil. If it’s too thin when hot, it may not protect effectively. If it’s too thick, you lose efficiency. The correct viscosity grade will be displayed in your car handbook.

Apart from this, there’s one more thing to engine oil. The oil speci­fications, which is the answer to what engine oil is best for you. Oil specifications define what type of engine a particular oil is suitable for and its performance against a range of criteria. There are a handful of specifications but we’ll only talk about OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) as they’re most used in our country.

All OEMs have their own engine oil for their cars: Honda has its own, Volkswagen has its own and so on. So be advised that the oil you put in your car at the autho­rized service station is the best for you. Most OEMs publish lists of all the oils they have approved, so the consumer knows which prod­ucts are suitable for their vehicle if they want an oil change outside the service station. These approvals are especially important for cars under warranty. Usage of unap­proved oil will instantly render it null and void.

 If you go to GG Machan in Pulcho­wk before August 30, you will be able to marvel the works of visual artist Sabita Dangol. The free exhi­bition “Interconnected Affection” is Dangol’s fourth solo effort. The vivid colors of her artworks exude positivity and love. You will quickly notice that in all her paintings, the central motif is comb. “The purpose of a comb is to untangle hair, so metaphorically speaking, it signifies resolving prob­lems. This is why I have been using comb as a symbol that solves prob­lem and brings harmony,” she says. Also, married couples are the other key feature of her paintings. Sooth­ing and peaceful, these paintings suggest pure conjugal bliss.

The price range of the artworks is between Rs 10,000-Rs 195,000. Rahul Shrestha, 28, an art enthusiast who was visiting the exhibit, reckons the paintings are relatively cheap considering the quality of work. He says that these artworks “would look especially good above the mas­ter bed in the bedroom of married couples.” Also, he observes that the paintings are vibrant, with unusual color combinations like blue and golden blending perfectly.

If you are an art lover, you can spend time analyzing the meta­phors, techniques and motifs Dangol uses in her paintings. You can see many symbols of her native Newari culture in her artwork, and reli­gious symbols too. “I am including Astamangala or the eight auspicious signs which are religious symbols of Buddhists and Hindus,” she says.

To see the exhibition, visit GG Machan anytime between 11 am-6 pm.