Dexter, Author at Dexternights

May 20, 2009

Dell Studio XPS 16 Review – A Super ‘HOT’ Laptop

I bought a Dell Studio XPS 16 in February 2009 and I think this is a nice time to evaluate its performance.

Below is my configuration

Inter Core 2 Duo T9550 Processor @ 2.66GHz
4GB DDR3 RAM
16” 720p Half HD Display
512 MB ATI Radeon Graphics
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Disk
DVD RW
2 USB ports
HD Port
Back Lit Keyboard
Windows VISTA Premium 64 Bit, 2 year subscription of McAfee
And many other ports which I haven’t used till now :).

Dell Studio XPS 16 Performance Rating in Windows VISTA - 5.5

As expected Dell Studio XPS 16 got good numbers from Windows VISTA performance assesment.The lowest value was for the processor and Gaming graphics at 5.5

Processor calculations per second – 5.5

RAM – Memory Operations per Second – 5.9

Graphics – Desktop performance for Windows Aero – 5.9

Gaming Graphics – Gaming and Business Graphics – 5.5

Primary Hard Disk – Data Transfer Rate – 5.7

Performance : 9/10

You cant argue much against performance of this configuration. Does everything super fast, the Gaming performance, Media Playback and Audio Encoding all are excellent. High Definition videos are superb in the bright 720p LCD. The graphic details are very good. But sometimes while using trying to seek to middle of HD videos the system struggles and gets back to normal within a second. Not a big deal for a laptop.

Looks & Style : 7/10

Dell Studio XPS 16 Review

The leather finish is very good makes it look expensive. Look wise I wouldn’t say stunning but looks ok. Probably the Studio XPS 13 might look better (or XPS 1330).

Speakers: 9/10

Very loud and high quality speakers make listening to music immense pleasure in this laptop. The speakers are markedly of higher quality compared to Dell XPS 1530 and XPS 1330.

Tactile Feel – keyboard – 9/10

Very good quality keyboard and the keys feel soft and very responsive and as the laptop size is big, they are quite comfortable. Backlit on every key at times makes it hard on eyes but you can adjust the backlight brightness / turn it off on press of a button. Sadly my keyboard’s backlight stopped working within a month.

Battery Life – 7.5/10

For the HD display Studio XPS 16 has a reasonable battery backup of upto 1.30 hours.

Heat – 4/10

The real dampener here is the heat emitted by the laptop whether on charge or on battery. For a such a powerful laptop the ventilation is very poor and I guess it has only one fan and the ventilators on the back of laptop is located in a very small area. The heat is not from battery but the High frequency Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 processor, I did expect heat problem but didn’t expect it to be this bad.

Forget about using it as a “Lap” top either you should have extremely insensitive/wooden laps or you should forget your skin on your laps. Within 10-15 minutes the heat becomes unbearable. I always use a cooling fan, still not a big help, I guess it might perform better if in a cool surrounding.

Only 2 USB Ports

I knew the laptop had only two USB ports but it is really irritating now. I use wireless modem in one port and mouse on the other and Im already out of ports. It will be handy to buy a Logitech (powered) USB hub or see the upgrades with minimum of 4 USB ports.

Overall – 7.5/10

As long as you plan to use this laptop as a desktop replacement its fine, else expect some serious damage to your laps. Otherwise this is a really High quality Multimedia laptop with value for money.

May 19, 2009May 19, 2009

Why is it not a good practice to write your JavaScript code in JSP / Servlet Page?

JavaScript is one of the easy as well as difficult par of a GUI developers coding life. It’s a very handy tool when mastered can be very useful. But if you don’t understand it well or if you are trying your hand at it for the first time you can really have nightmares.

Lets discuss a security exploit very commonly targeted in JavaScript. Sites dealing in financial information, client secure data etc should be extra careful when using JavaScript. The simplest mistake most developers do is to write the script methods in the JSP / Html / Servlet Files (You can extend this to Asp client side scripting as well).

Basically this way of coding allows users to see your code and along with it unwanted information and security holes in your code. If application uses JavaScript intensively it is imperative that most of its GUI bugs will be in its JavaScript. And if your site has a reasonably good visibility, hackers will be prowling around WebPages for any information/data. Show it is always best to separate your javascript as a js file and use it in the code. This also keeps your main webpage clean.

A simple way to import javascript file in JSP is

Many developers use a JSP include of other JSP files(which at times contains solely javascript). Even this practice is not advisable as this might keep your code clean, but still will expose your code.

May 18, 2009May 19, 2009

Role of HRs in Software companies like TCS,Infosys ,Wipro et all

I recently watched a TV program in STAR Vijay (STAR’s Tamil Channel) “Neeyaa Naanaa ?” (translation : You or Me ? ). This program brings people (No celebrities,just common man) with opposing views and let them air their opinion on show.

Last week’s topic was HR vs employees in IT ? Industry. The HRs were well represented by TCS HR,Infosys HR and from many other companies. Even the employee group had diverse employees. As you would know the HR team was very good in speaking through the topic and keeping a strong hold in the discussion by saying employees fake their resumes etc etc.

Also most of the HR group indicated they fight for employees against management and they save the employees everyday. It was pathetic many of the employees couldn’t really put their views across in the show. But finally the Show anchor decided to pitch in for employees, he asked if the following are true or not?

* HR doesnt really perform any of so called Human Resources empowerment or Helping the employees, rather they are a tool to implement management ‘s decisions.
* The way employees are getting fired in recession, informing them on the very day to leave office without any actual notice period.
* HR doesn’t have any independent say in most decisions.
* HRs think they are the Boss.
* Asking woman employees not to become pregnant for few years or so as a condition for hiring them.

As you would expected the HR team refuted all the allegations and then was the twist. One of the HR member spoke in his own idiotic way to accept the fact they simply follow management orders.

And to top it all the program invites two experts in the subject of discussion, they had Pugazhendhi (HR Manager and an renowned writer).

He didn’t mince words ” Todays HR’s function is not really for welfare of employees, the word HR is not a correct job description for most of them. They are just process enforcers and acting towards enforcing the Management’s decisions”

Lets have a discussion in the newly formed IT Forum

http://www.indianitworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=3.0