Buying My New MacBook Air

How RansomWare attacked my system and encrypted my system life

Holla Dearies,

You would be knowing that my laptop crashed earlier this month, leaving me high and dry. It was a long-standing Dell Inspiron that became my knight in its shining black coat armour. It was an old buy but helped me with my requirements just right.  Darn, the malware criminals who planted a "ransomware" in my laptop, that encrypted all my documents, pictures and every single file in my laptop to .cerber files. 

What do they want? Well, they wanted 1.2 bitcoins or $500 to decrypt my files, which amounts to Rs 33,000. Did I pay them? No! Why? 

a) The amount was exorbitant

b) There is no guarantee that they will return your files back.

Solution? Well, I googled and asked friends but unfortunately, there wasn't any solution that could work on my system. I went to a couple of IT experts but in vain. I bought the most popular antivirus- Kaspersky and scanned for almost 24 hours, combining Kasper with Trend without any success. 

Why I did not format my system, plug and play?

I could have simply got my system formatted but that would not have helped me in recovering my data. Alas! I had no backup either. 

I have been using laptop and computers from last 20 years but it was first of its kind experience. Ransomware is a malware, unlike other viruses that encrypt your files and hence it is imperative to have a data backup. Unfortunately, my lack of backup cost me dear and that is the reason I was missing from the blogging scene from quite some time.

After multiple attempts and efforts that went futile, I decided to get myself a new machine. My budget was a petty Rs 30,000, that busted before you could spell the dot-com bubble. It was strange to find the ugliest looking laptop selling at 30,000 +

I went to buy Dell or HP but seeing their prevailing configuration and markets prices [starting from 51k] I did not realise how many meters I rolled backward, in shock and exasperation. Man! I am not even earning. I threw a distant glance at Apple counter and sighed as deep I could. I have promised myself that if I get a job, I will fulfil my long pending desire of buying a MacBook Pro. It wasn't a wishful thinking, I gave two "shandaar" interviews wherein the HR and spokesperson were 200% positive with my candidature. At one presentation, I was told that I delivered more than what was expected, yet I did not get the job. Sigh! My 3 days of hardcore research and hard work trying to create a meaningful presentation went down the drain. I wondered was it the "fishes" that I did not "understand" or was it my obsolete looking temporary laptop that served me till that presentation did the spoil. Whatever it was, I couldn't stop admiring the temporary help that my temporary laptop provided me. It worked well till the presentation, only to go kaput next day. 

Job or no job, it was about time that I get myself a new machine and with a little research and nudge from friends and family, I found an excellent offer that helped me buying my new Macbook Air.

Best Offer via WishGini.com

When it comes to buying electronics, I seldom like shopping from online. However, it is a good idea to check prices online and do some ground research before you hit the retail expedition. I checked the prices on Amazon and Flipkart before moving to retail outlets. Apparently, some offers were doing rounds at Vijay sales [least lucrative], Chroma [good staff at Juhu including Mahendra Singh and Pratibha], Reliance and others. 

It was quite tedious to travel to different stores and check the price. Notwithstanding the traffic, travel and additional cost of traveling, I tried this consumer to business portal called- Wishgini.com

The portal has a unique mechanism wherein I can "make a wish" i.e. tell my requirement via a web form including the product type, specifications, and budget scope. The wish is then circulated to all the relevant vendors as registered on the portal on a discrete basis. The one with the best offer will connect with you via the portal, respond to your query and you can strike/seal a deal thereon. Off course, you need to be genuine with the "wish" you are making. It is not necessary that you may get the same price that you quoted but there might be a +/- the price, without any pressure on you to accept the offer. With a little negotiation, the two of you can strike deal online. I will tell you more about it in some other post.

The products are however genuine as they are retailed by authorized retailers only.

If you are in Mumbai, do check out this website www.wishgini.com

MacBook Air V/s Macbook Pro

My first stop was Vijay sales where I discovered an ongoing offer on Macbook. When compared, the price of MacBook was quite competitive to other available brands. Like the true Surf Ramaji, I felt- Jab itne mein MacBook mile toh koi aur kuch kyu le". [When you get MacBook at a price which is at par with other laptops than why not buy MacBook].

Next question was MacBook Pro or MacBook Air. Well, you will find the answer and more, in my video below.

So, do check out my "Unboxing" Video below, and do subscribe to my youtube Channel