Jewelry is without doubt one of the ideal presents to offer to a person you care about. When buying jewelry for a present, you should think about the person's interests and lifestyle. One example is, whenever they take pleasure in sports as well as outdoors they may have a preference for more fundamental pieces. Consider what they Seiko chronograph 200m delight in performing, this should present a superb commencing position if you are ready to acquire the jewellery.
Maintain your fragile stone jewelry stored in separate bins, absent from your other items, to prolong the existence of those stones. You don't need them receiving scuffed or broken, by getting in immediate communicate with with more robust and tougher jewelry pieces. Try wrapping these fragile stones in velvet or silk, previous to placing them while in the boxes. It's most effective should you retain the containers that they formerly came in, for this objective.
Will not use any harsh solvents or chemicals to specifically clean your great jewellery pieces. Avoid applying things such as bleach, acetone, ammonia, turpentine, together with other linked chemical compounds to wash them with. This may trigger your stones to show and boring in shade together with eating away any enamel to the pieces.
Once you are going in which has a mindset to buy top quality jewellery it is of utmost value which you are likely to a respected vendor of jewelry. Otherwise, it's possible you'll actually be duped and pay out lots for something that is just not value a lot. Make certain the gross sales associates can exhibit they superior on the product.
Guys are very picky in regards to the jewellery they don, especially when they are really gifted some that could seem female. When selecting jewellery for your gentleman, make certain it something that goes along with the way they dress. Also, when picking that which you will get for him be sure that it's delicate instead of flashy.
Just before you head over to invest in jewelry, it can be critical to look at your options prior to you choose on exactly the fashion you need. If you come up with a rash determination, you might regret gaining that specific piece while in the long run. It is actually crucial to suit your needs to sense connected to the jewellery previous to you buy it, because it is really a reflection of you!
When getting jewelry on eBay, it will help to grasp exactly what you happen to be seeking. There can be countless listings to get a simple type of jewelry. Prevent aggravation by being aware of the style and color you would like ahead of you begin shopping. Contrary to a brick and mortar store, it could possibly just take hrs to search by way of almost everything on-line.
Special care is needed for costume jewelry. Many of your costume variety configurations are glued-in, relatively than set-in. In no way immerse your costume jewellery or use harsh chemical substances on it. The best care is to wipe which has a heat damp cloth and then dry with a further cloth. This will preserve any costume jewellery which you have, wanting excellent.
Merge your gold and silver jewelry. What accustomed to be "so not in fashion" has become regarded as modern and sleek. Gold earrings could be worn using a silver necklace, or else you can even pair gold and silver rings on 1 hand. The colour blend goes terrific with any outfit in addition.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
A Pheromone-Laced Scent for Social-Media Set Isn't Mad Science
Home-cryonics experiments. Psychic window-washers. Hotel-soap collections. Payphone condoms. Freeze-dried pets. Accidental anti-tank assaults on Virginia gas stations. Burglars caught sleeping within the property they may be burglarizing. Hunger strikes for venture capital. Worm ranchers.
Women and gentlemen, I've observed it all.
Women and gentlemen, I've observed it all.
HTC ThunderBolt Release date
The superior: The HTC ThunderBolt provides extremely quickly 4G information speeds. The Android 2.2 smartphone also supports simultaneous voice and information above 3G and boasts a big four.3-inch touch screen, ample storage, and a great camera.
The poor: Battery life requires a huge hit when employing 4G. There's no method to toggle in between 3G and 4G.
The bottom line: The HTC ThunderBolt lights up with blazingly rapid information speeds, but these who want 4G now must be conscious that it will take a large toll around the smartphone's battery life.
Introduced at CES 2011, the HTC ThunderBolt is Verizon's very first 4G LTE, and it really is ultimately offered for $249.99 using a two-year contract. The Android two.two smartphone may not offer you the most recent and greatest (e.g., dual-core processor), but with all the carrier promising regular download speeds of 5Mbps to 12Mbps and upload speeds of 2Mbps to 5Mbps, it really is no surprise why several are clamoring to obtain their hands on this gadget. This involves us, that is why we have been so excited to take the HTC ThunderBolt out to get a test-drive. The lightning-fast smartphone delivers on a lot of fronts, nevertheless it also comes at a expense for iPad 3 release date.
Style
The HTC ThunderBolt is cut from precisely the same cloth because the HTC Evo 4G and also the HTC Wish HD, so if you have ever handled these devices, you then possess a relatively excellent notion of what to anticipate from the ThunderBolt.
At four.75 inches tall by two.44 inches broad by 0.56 inch thick and six.23 ounces, the ThunderBolt is not for all those who choose dainty devices. The smartphone is significant and basically slightly thicker and heavier than the Evo, but it really is manageable plus the tapered back and soft-touch finish make it cozy to hold within the hand. As we've come to anticipate from HTC, the mobile phone is solidly constructed and includes a wonderful, premium really feel to it iPhone 5 release date.
The HTC ThunderBolt includes a equivalent design and style for the Evo 4G.
On front, you have got the identical four.3-inch WVGA (800x480 pixels) touch screen because the Evo. You will discover higher-resolution displays to choose from, like these around the Motorola Atrix 4G or iPhone four, however the ThunderBolt's screen nevertheless holds up, with clear and vibrant image excellent. Text was simple to study, and Net pages and video looked beautiful around the huge screen.
The touch screen can also be responsive. Apps launched as we tapped them, and we have been ready to smoothly navigate as a result of the house screens and menus. The show also attributes a proximity sensor and built-in accelerometer, which was swift to alter screen orientation when we rotated the cellphone.
The front-facing camera sits correct above the screen around the appropriate; beneath the show are the residence, menu, back, and search navigation buttons. Meanwhile, the 8-megapixel camera and flash are situated on back, but we truly want there was a committed camera button around the mobile phone. As a substitute, you are going to need to use the touch screen to snap images.
Around the brilliant side, the ThunderBolt includes a sturdy kickstand so you may prop the cellphone on a desk to view movies, conduct speakerphone calls, as well as the like. There is a Micro-USB port around the left side, along with a volume rocker occupies the proper side. Ultimately, on top rated of your gadget, you are going to come across a power/lock button and three.5mm headphone jack.
The ThunderBolt characteristics a built-in kickstand that permits you to location the mobile phone on a table and view movies, slideshows, and far more.
The HTC ThunderBolt comes packaged with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a preinstalled 32GB microSD card, and reference materials.
4G characteristics and overall performance
Prior to we get for the phone's more-basic capabilities, we believed we'd deal with the HTC ThunderBolt's entire raison d'etre, and that is 4G help. As talked about earlier, the ThunderBolt would be the very first smartphone to operate on Verizon's LTE 4G network, which guarantees common download speeds of 5Mbps to 12Mbps and upload speeds of 2Mbps to 5Mbps.
Offered the impressive final results we got making use of Verizon's LG VL600 LTE USB modem, you'd feel we'd be somewhat additional ready for what we skilled around the ThunderBolt, but we had been nevertheless blown away by what we saw. It is rapidly. Genuine rapidly HTC thunderbolt review.
Operating Ookla's Speedtest.net app around the handset yielded some erratic and suspicious final results (upload speeds had been registering as much as 39.79Mbps), so we also measured speeds making use of the mobile phone as a mobile hot spot and as a tethered modem. With all the ThunderBolt linked to our MacBook Pro as a mobile hot spot right here in New York, we have been in a position to obtain common download speeds of 7.41Mbps and upload speeds of six.56Mbps.
By comparison, the HTC Evo 4G from Sprint averaged three.42Mbps down and 0.93Mpbs up; the Samsung Galaxy S 4G on T-Mobile averaged four.17Mbps down and 1.68Mbps up; as well as the HTC Inspire 4G on AT&T averaged 1.75Mbps down and 0.31Mbps up.
We got even better benefits when we had the ThunderBolt tethered to our Lenovo T61 ThinkPad. We averaged download speeds of 15.58Mbps and upload speeds of three.44Mbps. (See example speed check beneath.)
The poor: Battery life requires a huge hit when employing 4G. There's no method to toggle in between 3G and 4G.
The bottom line: The HTC ThunderBolt lights up with blazingly rapid information speeds, but these who want 4G now must be conscious that it will take a large toll around the smartphone's battery life.
Introduced at CES 2011, the HTC ThunderBolt is Verizon's very first 4G LTE, and it really is ultimately offered for $249.99 using a two-year contract. The Android two.two smartphone may not offer you the most recent and greatest (e.g., dual-core processor), but with all the carrier promising regular download speeds of 5Mbps to 12Mbps and upload speeds of 2Mbps to 5Mbps, it really is no surprise why several are clamoring to obtain their hands on this gadget. This involves us, that is why we have been so excited to take the HTC ThunderBolt out to get a test-drive. The lightning-fast smartphone delivers on a lot of fronts, nevertheless it also comes at a expense for iPad 3 release date.
Style
The HTC ThunderBolt is cut from precisely the same cloth because the HTC Evo 4G and also the HTC Wish HD, so if you have ever handled these devices, you then possess a relatively excellent notion of what to anticipate from the ThunderBolt.
At four.75 inches tall by two.44 inches broad by 0.56 inch thick and six.23 ounces, the ThunderBolt is not for all those who choose dainty devices. The smartphone is significant and basically slightly thicker and heavier than the Evo, but it really is manageable plus the tapered back and soft-touch finish make it cozy to hold within the hand. As we've come to anticipate from HTC, the mobile phone is solidly constructed and includes a wonderful, premium really feel to it iPhone 5 release date.
The HTC ThunderBolt includes a equivalent design and style for the Evo 4G.
On front, you have got the identical four.3-inch WVGA (800x480 pixels) touch screen because the Evo. You will discover higher-resolution displays to choose from, like these around the Motorola Atrix 4G or iPhone four, however the ThunderBolt's screen nevertheless holds up, with clear and vibrant image excellent. Text was simple to study, and Net pages and video looked beautiful around the huge screen.
The touch screen can also be responsive. Apps launched as we tapped them, and we have been ready to smoothly navigate as a result of the house screens and menus. The show also attributes a proximity sensor and built-in accelerometer, which was swift to alter screen orientation when we rotated the cellphone.
The front-facing camera sits correct above the screen around the appropriate; beneath the show are the residence, menu, back, and search navigation buttons. Meanwhile, the 8-megapixel camera and flash are situated on back, but we truly want there was a committed camera button around the mobile phone. As a substitute, you are going to need to use the touch screen to snap images.
Around the brilliant side, the ThunderBolt includes a sturdy kickstand so you may prop the cellphone on a desk to view movies, conduct speakerphone calls, as well as the like. There is a Micro-USB port around the left side, along with a volume rocker occupies the proper side. Ultimately, on top rated of your gadget, you are going to come across a power/lock button and three.5mm headphone jack.
The ThunderBolt characteristics a built-in kickstand that permits you to location the mobile phone on a table and view movies, slideshows, and far more.
The HTC ThunderBolt comes packaged with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a preinstalled 32GB microSD card, and reference materials.
4G characteristics and overall performance
Prior to we get for the phone's more-basic capabilities, we believed we'd deal with the HTC ThunderBolt's entire raison d'etre, and that is 4G help. As talked about earlier, the ThunderBolt would be the very first smartphone to operate on Verizon's LTE 4G network, which guarantees common download speeds of 5Mbps to 12Mbps and upload speeds of 2Mbps to 5Mbps.
Offered the impressive final results we got making use of Verizon's LG VL600 LTE USB modem, you'd feel we'd be somewhat additional ready for what we skilled around the ThunderBolt, but we had been nevertheless blown away by what we saw. It is rapidly. Genuine rapidly HTC thunderbolt review.
Operating Ookla's Speedtest.net app around the handset yielded some erratic and suspicious final results (upload speeds had been registering as much as 39.79Mbps), so we also measured speeds making use of the mobile phone as a mobile hot spot and as a tethered modem. With all the ThunderBolt linked to our MacBook Pro as a mobile hot spot right here in New York, we have been in a position to obtain common download speeds of 7.41Mbps and upload speeds of six.56Mbps.
By comparison, the HTC Evo 4G from Sprint averaged three.42Mbps down and 0.93Mpbs up; the Samsung Galaxy S 4G on T-Mobile averaged four.17Mbps down and 1.68Mbps up; as well as the HTC Inspire 4G on AT&T averaged 1.75Mbps down and 0.31Mbps up.
We got even better benefits when we had the ThunderBolt tethered to our Lenovo T61 ThinkPad. We averaged download speeds of 15.58Mbps and upload speeds of three.44Mbps. (See example speed check beneath.)
Appeals court rejects well being law mandate
An Appeals Court panel yesterday struck down as unconstitutional the national wellbeing care law mandate that almost just about every American acquire insurance coverage, one of the most prominent rejection but from the important element of President Obama’s signature achievement.
A panel with the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, primarily based in Atlanta, ruled two to 1 that Congress doesn't have the authority to force individuals to get “an pricey item from the time they're born till the time they die.’’
The selection conflicts together with the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, which ruled in June that the requirement is constitutional simply because wellness care is an financial activity that Congress has the authority to regulate below the Constitution’s Commerce Clause.
The stark disagreement involving the two courts suggests the legality in the law’s centerpiece, the person mandate, will pretty much undoubtedly be determined by the US Supreme Court, scholars stated and gears of war 3 review.
“Especially now that you have got a split inside the circuits, the Supreme Court nearly has to take it,’’ mentioned Douglas Laycock, a law professor in the University of Virginia.
The Supreme Court could take up the concern as quickly as its up coming session, which starts inside the fall.
The 11th Circuit ruling has no instant bearing around the wellness care overhaul, which can be becoming implemented in stages. The insurance coverage mandate just isn't set to take impact until finally 2014. Also, government lawyers are expected to appeal the divided selection for the complete appeals court.
The selection was not a full loss for the Obama administration. It had appealed a district court determination in Florida, wherever Judge Roger Vinson ruled that the whole overhaul was unconstitutional, inside a suit brought by 26 states to avoid implementation from the law. However the appeals court panel stated the rest compression diabetic socks for womenof your law could be constitutional when the mandate was stricken.
The judges with omron bp785 review mentioned Vinson, who ruled that the mandate was inextricably tied towards the rest with the law, had overreached and that the “lion’s share with the act has absolutely nothing to accomplish with private insurance coverage, a lot much less the mandate that men and women obtain insurance coverage.’’
It can be unclear how the overhaul would fare with no mandate. With no a requirement that wholesome Americans acquire insurance coverage, the law’s supporters say, a vital funding mechanism is lost and individuals would game the program by waiting until finally they're sick to obtain insurance coverage. The law calls for insurers to accept them even with preexisting circumstances.
Greater than two dozen legal challenges have already been filed against the law considering that Obama signed the measure in March 2010. Quite a few have been dismissed depending on technical good reasons. 3 district court judges sided with all the Obama administration. Two other folks objected to at the very least the insurance coverage mandate
A panel with the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, primarily based in Atlanta, ruled two to 1 that Congress doesn't have the authority to force individuals to get “an pricey item from the time they're born till the time they die.’’
The selection conflicts together with the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, which ruled in June that the requirement is constitutional simply because wellness care is an financial activity that Congress has the authority to regulate below the Constitution’s Commerce Clause.
The stark disagreement involving the two courts suggests the legality in the law’s centerpiece, the person mandate, will pretty much undoubtedly be determined by the US Supreme Court, scholars stated and gears of war 3 review.
“Especially now that you have got a split inside the circuits, the Supreme Court nearly has to take it,’’ mentioned Douglas Laycock, a law professor in the University of Virginia.
The Supreme Court could take up the concern as quickly as its up coming session, which starts inside the fall.
The 11th Circuit ruling has no instant bearing around the wellness care overhaul, which can be becoming implemented in stages. The insurance coverage mandate just isn't set to take impact until finally 2014. Also, government lawyers are expected to appeal the divided selection for the complete appeals court.
The selection was not a full loss for the Obama administration. It had appealed a district court determination in Florida, wherever Judge Roger Vinson ruled that the whole overhaul was unconstitutional, inside a suit brought by 26 states to avoid implementation from the law. However the appeals court panel stated the rest compression diabetic socks for womenof your law could be constitutional when the mandate was stricken.
The judges with omron bp785 review mentioned Vinson, who ruled that the mandate was inextricably tied towards the rest with the law, had overreached and that the “lion’s share with the act has absolutely nothing to accomplish with private insurance coverage, a lot much less the mandate that men and women obtain insurance coverage.’’
It can be unclear how the overhaul would fare with no mandate. With no a requirement that wholesome Americans acquire insurance coverage, the law’s supporters say, a vital funding mechanism is lost and individuals would game the program by waiting until finally they're sick to obtain insurance coverage. The law calls for insurers to accept them even with preexisting circumstances.
Greater than two dozen legal challenges have already been filed against the law considering that Obama signed the measure in March 2010. Quite a few have been dismissed depending on technical good reasons. 3 district court judges sided with all the Obama administration. Two other folks objected to at the very least the insurance coverage mandate
Saturday, August 6, 2011
First Look: Spartacus: Vengeance
In 2012, two many years following the series initially debuted, the second season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand - entitled Spartacus: Vengeance will lastly see its strategy to tv screens all over the place. Although it's nonetheless various months away, fans can take a glimpse in the newly-cast Spartacus, Liam McIntyre, with these recently-released photographs and hear him inside the brief teaser.
Monday, July 4, 2011
5 Ideas for Creative Photography with Canon Wide Angle Lens
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Saturday, July 2, 2011
Watch SouthPark Online free
In contrast to most reveals about kids, the {1|one particular|asingle|a person} factor South Park not often addresses could be the 1 factor that childhood is all about: expanding up. It is been touched on in advance of (“4th Grade” arrives to thoughts), but typically South Park’s youngsters, such as the exhibit by itself, exist while in the kind of stasis essential of cartoons, ostensibly mastering but by no means definitely evolving. As Sharon states on the astonishingly poignant stop of tonight’s episode, every single full week we see some slight variation within the exact same kind of tale, and each full week it will get slightly a lot more ridiculous, only to get the entire point reset if the up coming full week rolls about. That is even truer of South Park than most other cartoons, thinking of it is the display that invested its early several years killing precisely the same character in each and every episode nevertheless constantly brought him back again, refreshing being a daisy, wanting to be slaughtered throughout yet again.
And since the revelations of previous season’s “Mysterion” trilogy showed us, it looks as if South Park is acquiring a tad reflective about that type of matter in its previous age, turning inward and examining its formulation inside a way that my colleague Todd VanDerWerff would most likely determine as “meta.” A lot as that explanation of Kenny’s numerous rebirths dissected among the list of show’s oldest conventions, tonight tackled a comparatively more recent, but no a lot less formulaic pattern, with Sharon ultimately calling out Randy on his insatiable should fill his lifestyle with short-lived fads that result in him producing precisely the same stupid errors over and over with only small versions. It is a criticism you can stage at a great deal of displays, of course-entire runs of sitcoms have already been constructed on that-but that dearth of new strategies to spin precisely the same older issue certainly hits very near to residence for Trey Parker and Matt Stone, granted they began off the period openly dreading acquiring to think of all-new stories to inform.
Even devoid of that context, however, there was a definite be aware of weariness and finality in “You’re Obtaining Older,” a lot to ensure that you will discover previously scores of individuals questioning on IMDB boards and Twitter regardless of whether it had been, actually, a shock sequence finale. (For what it is really worth, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are even now beneath contract as a result of 2013-so no, in all probability not.) But recognizing that Parker and Stone have already been encountering a little of an existential crisis or maybe just restlessness surely built tonight seem to be unusually thematically large. Depressing, also. I never assume I’ve ever before noticed an episode of South Park finish on this kind of a downbeat notice, with its montage set to Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” which was both equally a parody of the self-serious drama’s time finale and an real, self-serious, remarkable time finale. (Far more on that later on.)
Consistent with the episode's themes regarding the way acquiring older can make you regard the stuff you utilised to like having a much more vital eye, South Park is definitely the appropriate age to get a equivalent expansion spurt. As tonight’s britches-hoarding hillbillies pointed out, humanity is at this time within the midst from the ‘tween era of 2009 to 2012-and that goes for that display too, which appeared to hit a tough patch suitable all-around ’09. And by 2012, South Park may have attained the finish of its 15th year-not rather a gentleman, but surely not a child, and in that tough, bitchy teen era when all of a sudden every thing just appears type of pointless and shitty.
Stan only turns ten right here, but by now he finds himself not just hating each of the new music, films, as well as meals he utilized to enjoy, but hating totally every thing and absolutely everyone. As he quickly finds out from his medical professional, many people in no way definitely increase from that phase. They “get their wires crossed” and arrive down having a problem generally known as “cynicism” that leads to them to broadcast their distaste for every little thing from processed food items to stupid videos to rampant consumerism at each and every obtainable option. At times that cynicism gets long lasting, and calcifies until eventually they are providing knee-jerk thoughts to any individual inside earshot about, say, why L.A. Noire seems shitty, though they’ve by no means played it. And often, if they hone that cynicism right into a mode of resourceful expression, they will get employed by a pop tradition web page to channel people knee-jerk views into snarky website entries.
But a lot of people (even individuals pop tradition writers) steer clear of finding absolutely misplaced inside the valley in the shadow of shitty by attaining a sensation of balance-accepting that there is a lot of crap on the market but obtaining other points to delight in, and most significantly, not letting the proliferation of shit persuade them the planet by itself has inherently adjusted for your even worse, as Stan does right here. In any case, as he shortly finds out, it is a lonely and tedious existence to stay in continuous disappointment and anger. And even though that is a universal concept, it can be also an exceptionally timely one particular: The reality is always that the online world has turned almost everybody right into a cynic, along with the blank canvases of every single blog site, Facebook and Twitter standing update, and comment board begging on your belief, and “this seems to be shitty” staying each the simplest and minimum debatable view to convey. (It is a modern day human issue my other colleague Nathan Rabin addressed fairly astutely in his opening “My Yr Of Flops” entry as “Everything Sucksism.”) If South Park is actually taking a challenging take a look at by itself right here, it is also providing a critique in the “fan” whose reaction to just about every new episode is unfailingly which the display absolutely sucks now, and that it need to hurry up and finish so that they can halt observing it each full week.
As for Randy, he has an equally unbalanced reaction towards not taking pleasure in points the best way he applied to: He rebels which has a contrarian stance, convincing himself that he essentially enjoys something which other folks hate-namely “Tween Wave,” the latest meaningless subgenre of songs that all those damn young children are constantly listening to, but which to older ears seems like pure shit. Like real shit, that is-in Stan’s phrases, “It seems like someone is shitting in my ears”-albeit shit layered above some generic dubstep beats. Refusing to confess that he just does not “get it,” Randy goes up to now as to sort his individual Tween Wave act, Steamy Ray Vaughan, and sooner or later duet together with the equally defiant Steamy Nicks on the sequence of britches-shitting ballads.
Just from your quick sneak preview which was introduced just before the episode aired, some have been presently drawing parallels in between the circumstance of Randy forcing himself to like new music seemingly according to inexpensive shock worth along with the critics who may have fallen throughout by themselves to praise a group like Odd Long run, simply to demonstrate they also “get it.” And even though I’ll confess which the swipe about Randy’s failed rock-star desires certainly appeared like an overt nod to audio journalists (to not point out, it hit fairly near to household), I’m also not so vain that I believe this was all with regards to the likes of us. Since as I mentioned, this episode was functioning with some relatively universal themes: As substantially as all individuals are presented to almost everything sucksism, they are also vulnerable to bandwagoneering from a worry of getting left powering.
And as summarized in Sharon and Randy’s episode-ending argument, blindly subsequent or blindly refusing, it is all stagnation: The next we halt expanding we turn into unsatisfied, and that is after we cease residing truthfully and begin desperately chasing new identities like Randy, or like Stan, we fully shut down and choose that every little thing is shitty. It is that realization that they’ve stopped increasing as people who brings about Sharon and Randy to split up (for any 2nd time) and brings "You're Obtaining Old" to its unexpectedly emotional finish, together with the Marshes marketing their residence and leaving their aged lives powering. And even though I’m not absolutely convinced the fall year premiere will not the moment yet again hit the reset button on all this, Sharon and Randy's confrontation and final hard conclusion posed some somewhat pointed issues concerning the show’s private advancing age, specifically: Can SouthPark Online by itself break its personal designs? Can it turn into a present in which the Marshes genuinely are divorced, Stan is ostracized, and-as their fleetingly exchanged glances suggest-Kyle and Cartman turn into real close friends? Can it be the sort of demonstrate in which truly significant moments coexist with individuals practically spewing diarrhea from their mouths? Can it be authorized to increase?
As substantially as I cherished this episode for every one of the strategies it toyed with these larger queries whilst even now splattering poop in all places, and showed that these kinds of an evolution is attainable, I am leaning towards the solution becoming no, if only since it could be a relatively abrupt shift to generate in its waning several hours. And when it cannot grow-if it is pressured to stay from the stasis that we’ve arrive to count on-well, perhaps we can easily forgive Parker and Stone for also seeking to stroll away just before every little thing begins to appear shitty to them.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Garmin nьvi 260 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Garmin nьvi 260 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I can't make any comparisons, since this is my first GPS. I purchased it from Amazon, which was a good experience. I ordered it on Sat and received it yesterday (Tues) I've probably read about 1,000 GPS reviews in the past 6 months, and I picked this model because of its price and TTS feature. I almost purchased the C550, because some comments said the Streetpilot is sturdier, but the Nuvi 260 isn't flimsy at all, and I don't need the Bluetooth or MP3 features. Actually, many of the reviews frightened me, but this is so easy to use, I can't imagine being able to operate a vehicle legally and needing instructions. Seriously, I am mechanically and technically challenged, but this is a touch & go product. For example, one review mentioned the lack of an external volume control and another said the voice was too soft or too loud. Changing the volume takes 2 seconds by tapping on the speaker icon. Another said there were no custom POIs and the first day I entered my home address, the supermarket, my bank, and more. One person wrote that it doesn't announce street names, but you just need to select a language/voice that indicates TTS next to it for that feature. None of this requires a manual, just common sense and a little patience. I'm sure there are many features I haven't yet discovered but will in time.
The signal - as soon as I plugged in the power it received a signal within a few seconds, not minutes. The TTS voice (English Jill) pronounces the street names clearly. Keep in mind this is not a human, so every pronunciation isn't perfect and neither are the directions, but they're close enough. For example, I asked how to get to Publix from my house. Although the directions were correct, I would have driven a little out of my way in the wrong direction and made a U-turn had I not known where to turn. So it apparently doesn't recognize traffic light turns into a mall or shopping center, maybe because there's no street name. (just guessing) Still, it's much better than using a paper map if you are in an unfamiliar area, and it will automatically recalculate the directions if you make a wrong turn. Sometimes that feature takes a few seconds. I tried to fool it by taking a back road, but it quickly found my location and recalculated the route. She even sounded annoyed at me!
This is my one BIG complaint. Maybe it's my ignorance, but the power cord is in such an awkward place that it's nearly impossible to place the unit in a good position without using a mount. Otherwise it would be very simple to put it in my cupholder or even sit it in the little change tray. For some reason, I thought a GPS needed to be facing the sky, but I can get a good signal when it's on the passenger seat or sitting in my center console. Last night I even had a signal inside my concrete block house! If the power cord was a little higher, it wouldn't bend so much and I'd be able to use it without a mount. Even with the included cradle & mount, it still bends and is always in the way!
Another minor complaint is that, although it seems inexpensive at $242 plus shipping, it doesn't even come with a cheap case - nothing! It also doesn't include an A/C cord or a decent instruction manual. I knew all of this before I bought it, but accessories add up quickly. So before you run out and spend more money, look around your house. I found at least 2 zippered cases in which the 260 fits comfortably. One held my mini binoculars which I haven't used in years and another is a small, zippered cosmetic case. Just make sure there are no rough edges that might scratch the touch screen. I lined the case with a microfiber cloth and it's perfect to stick in my pocketbook when I leave the car. I was going to spend another $30 on a bean bag mount, but last night I stuck the dashboard adhesive disk to the plastic cover that flips over the cup holder in my Camry. It's very secure and the suction cup sticks to it so tightly I have to pry it off. Since it's plastic, I "assume" any residue will come off with goo-gone.
I know this is already a long review, but I hope it will help by adding that I went a little crazy trying to get the plastic ball into the cradle. Just press firmly and don't worry about breaking it. I'm not strong and I was ready to give up. Now I can attach and remove it easily. I think it was just my fear of breaking it at first. Also, it's a lot easier to simply remove the cradle from the GPS when you take it with you than to take the mount apart.
The reason I was able to finally decide on spending the extra money for the 260 over the 200 or 250 model was by listening to a couple of demos on YouTube. People actually were nutty enough to drive around filming their GPS experiences, and I'm grateful to them! You can hear how much easier it is to follow instructions when street names are announced. Still, if you are on a tight budget, the GPS always shows the street name in large print at the top of the map, so it's easy to glance at it quickly. I feel the TTS is not only convenient, but adds a safety feature, since you're less likely to take your eyes off the road. Even if it's mounted in front of you on the dash or windshield, you still aren't concentrating on the road if you're reading a map.
In short, this seems to be a great little unit that's user friendly. So far it hasn't disappointed me, although it's only my 2nd day. I posted quickly so newbies like me would know that you don't have to be an expert or a gadget geek to use a GPS.
Garmin nьvi 260 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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Garmin nьvi 255 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Garmin nьvi 255 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I literally hooked this product up in my car right as I got in for a 6 day trip visiting new and old accounts in Salt Lake City/Ogden/Provo/Logan (I live in the Denver area). I had NEVER used a GPS before. Once I got used to how I needed to input adresses (took about 2 minutes with the funky grid system SLC uses inputting E/W/N/S for streets)I was guided to all the new accoutns by voice/map without a problem.....I will never travel to new places without one of these again. This was way easy to use, just glanced at the quick start and was on my way.
Garmin nьvi 255 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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Garmin Portable Friction Mount (Electronics)
Garmin Portable Friction Mount (Electronics)
I found this bean bag type mount very useful and igenious, though it does kind of remind you of War of the World (the non-Tom Cruise movie version) of the alien spaceship doesn't it? But seriously, it works great with the 4 bean bag ends that helps weight it down, plus the base material bottom is tacky as well so that helps to keep it from sliding off. I use it to hold my Nuvi 650 quite nicely. It looks somewhat big when you hold it in your hand out of the packaging/card it comes on, but once you place it on your dashboard, you hardly think anymore that its big. Realize it only comes with that ball joint end, you still have to pop easily on, the other part that comes with your Garmin windshield mount to it. When you leave your car, just put it on the passenger floor board out of sight to keep folks from breaking into your car to take your GPS as the windshield mount is a dead giveaway that the car has one. The only other concern you might have is, you probably need a bigger carrier to hold it if you are the type that takes it with you when you lock your car. I use those insulated plastic lunch bags with a carry strap, you know the type you see in the office break room refrigerator, for it with my garmin gps unit to carry it around as well at times. It fits quite nicely in that size carrier.
Garmin Portable Friction Mount (Electronics)
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Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
This is my first GPS system so I did a lot of research online before I went ahead purchase it in March 2007. I wanted a large screen one and traffic system. 4500 seems to be the perfect match.
Pro: large screen, real-time traffic system saved me many times, and reasonable routing suggestions. I don't have the rerouting adaptation problem as the other reviewers and if I get into a side road, it'll recalculate immediately. Maybe they fixed it in the most current software batch. Their customer service is superb.
Cons: I had this unit for 5 months and have to return it now. As many reviewers said, this unit has slower routing calculation and I didn't realize it would be a problem until I was driving on a highway waiting for the exit.
Even though I have the most current database batch, I would see some not-so-new highways disappeared suddenly during the drive. It would come back eventually but it doesn't feel good to see yourself driving on a blank space for several miles, especially if you travel to a unknown place at night.
Road side of a destination seems to be wrong 80% of the time. We all know after 1 month of usage to ignore the final destination instruction.
After 2 months, the address book, all travel location information, and user settings were wiped out automatically and I have to reset everything. After it happened so many times, I called Cobra and they gave me another software patch. It seemed to fix the problem.
When used in big cities with a lot of traffics, its routing instruction can be so wrong. It usually gives me the worst routing suggestion, i.e. chose the busiest road, or a longer route, or use local highways with a lot of construction going on instead of an interstate highways that are much less congested, etc. This unit's routing logic seems to work better with mid-size to small-size towns.
The mounting is cumbersome. After taking it off and putting it back on whenever I have to park somewhere, the V12 cord connected to the car broke. I had to call the customer service and they sent me another cord immediately. Did I mention that their customer service is very good?
The final flaw which makes me wanted to return it is, one day the beautiful female voice was gone. Never come back again.
I feel sorry to have to put a bad review on a product. I hope it would help others to avoid the frustrations I have gone through.
Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx Handheld GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx Handheld GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I cut my GPS teeth on an eTrex Vista (a great little handheld in its own right) for a couple of years before stepping up to the 60CSx. After five months of use, I have only positive things to say about my latest purchase. I was aware of some owners' early concerns about "wandering" and the seeming inability to enable WAAS, but figured Garmin would eventually address such firmware issues, and so decided to take the plunge. The first thing I did (the first thing any purchaser should do) was to download all of the available updates from Garmin's website, and my 60CSx performed flawlessly from the get-go. So yes, I can enable WAAS, but I don't bother to use it because for me the slight increase in accuracy isn't enough to justify the additional battery drain. Consistently getting within ten feet or less of a waypoint is good enough for me. I'm not doing cadastral surveys, after all.
I replaced the supplied 64mb micro SD with a 1 gb card and have installed selected maps from both City Navigator and US Topo 24K Western National Parks (both relatively pricey extras). I recently used the former to navigate a familiar route all the way from western Colorado to Cincinnati and back, and the directions it generated differed from the route I've long been accustomed to in only one minor way: it chose a different bridge (the MLK) across the Mississippi River at St. Louis than I usually use. That switch obliged me to exit the interstate and wait at one traffic light for a minute or so, but also saved me a couple of miles, so I guess the net effect was zero. On the return trip, I was unable to make a necessary lane change due to heavy rush hour traffic and was forced onto an exit from the Interstate at Louisville. The 60CSx and City Navigator automatically recalculated and got me back on course in a jiffy via a route through the downtown area that would otherwise have been anything but intuitive. The I-70 route through the Colorado Rockies features numerous tunnels, and only in the longest of them did I lose my satellite signal. In those few instances, the unit promptly reacquired the signal upon exiting the tunnels.
I am a retired National Park Service ranger and now volunteer at Colorado National Monument, where I spend a lot of time in the backcountry identifying and plotting the location of cultural sites. The 60CSx and US Topo 24K are incredibly useful for that. I particularly like the unit's ability to average satellite fixes for increased accuracy over whatever interval I choose. I'm regularly able to mark waypoints to within 3 meters, even in forested areas and in the depths of the area's many canyons. The MapSource software that came with the 60CSx lets me print topo maps of the Monument with those waypoints clearly delineated and labeled.
In the early fall, I carried my 60CSx on a recreational climb to the summit of 14,048-foot Handies Peak in Colorado's San Juan Range. Once on top, I photographed the display to document the precise location and elevation of the summit for my records. Since then, I've learned that it's also possible to transfer a bitmap image of any 60CSx display screen directly to my computer using the xImage application available as a free download on Garmin's website. That's a neat way to build a file of memorable waypoints and to share them graphically with others.
I've found the Garmin 60CSx to be a most capable unit. Teamed with an accesssory 12V cable and City Navigator software, it works well as a vehicle navigator at relatively low cost. Used by itself, with or without US Topo 24K, it's a great hiking companion. It has a great color display, commendable acquisition and refresh speeds, myriad useful functions, a long battery life (months, if you don't leave it on continuously to mark tracks), decent ergonomics and superb accuracy. Finally, the additional storage afforded by removable memory cards is a definite plus with this sophisticated unit. The only change I'd urge Garmin to consider would be to add a temperature sensor.
If you can afford it, and even if you can't, get a Garmin 60CSx.
Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx Handheld GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I bought this but I have found several flaws. First let me mention that the unit that made me decide I needed GPS was an option in the 2006 Honda Odyssey that happens to be made by alpine.
My first problem with it was the altimeter; although most won't use it, it was a feature that I liked. Unfortunately it was completely worthless, my parking space in front of my house ranged from 120Ft one day to 0 feet 2 days later. I know my house or parking space did not move so that fault is on the unit. Also when driving the unit would claim you climbed 200 feet when you drove less than 50 feet forward sometimes.
My next problem was direction; it would take me on back roads rather than highways even though I said I prefer highways. And as you drove the screen did not flow, instead it would reload taking a second or two to reload the map and the icons. Both the Honda and my friends G35 flowed without this, and the graphics between the 3 the cobra clearly loses out. The graphics are substandard. Also the unit only calls out numbers for roads, if the road is not a road with numbers (IE a highway) it just says turn left or right, which when driving in the city can be frustrating as you cannot be looking at it constantly. Finally the house number portion was off quite a bit (1/10 of a mile or so).
Next was traffic, this was rarely right, not sure if any other GPS units are right, but this would say there was an accident at one place and it would end up being off 1 or 2 miles (This was in the Baltimore/Washington area), I ended up using the radio traffic people more times than not.
Next was the Points of interest function. On the Honda it showed signs for an Exxon, or BP. The Cobra does not, it shows an icon for Gas or Food, and while trying to drive you have to touch the area on the screen you are looking at, than press the screen at the top to get a listing of what was there. While driving in the city, and looking for a McDonalds this is not an option.
Last was the suction cup mounting bracket, for a unit of this weight it is under engineered to hold it. The first 5 minutes I drove with it, it fell. Agreeable it was right after I cleaned the windshield so it was not completely dry. The next time was the last time I did not take it off before leaving my vehicle. It was after a snow storm came through and the condensation that occurred between the windshield and the suction cup was enough to make it lose contact and fall again. For a unit that costs 800+ bucks this is unacceptable, if it were to break it would be on me due to a poor design. And I am not the only one who had problems like this, I have read of others with the same issue.
Needless to say I took it back, it's not a horrible unit but for the price there are better answers.
Cobra Nav One 4500 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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Mio C230 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Mio C230 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Great price. Easy to use. Very accurate directions. Can't find anything in this price range that speaks the street names. Have used it in CA and TX and works fine. The only reason this gets a 4star is because the user manual sucks. There are bunch of icons that could be explained upfront rather than finding out by trial and error. Overall a great value for money.
Mio C230 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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JL AUDIO 12W6v2 - Car subwoofer driver - 12" (Electronics)
JL AUDIO 12W6v2 - Car subwoofer driver - 12" (Electronics)
have a couple sealed in my '07 mazda 6 getting only 325w a piece. absolutely the most accurate bass i've ever had and this is my 6 or 7th set up. Also, if need be they get incredibly loud while sounding amazing. Highly recommend!!
JL AUDIO 12W6v2 - Car subwoofer driver - 12" (Electronics)
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Garmin Forerunner 405CX GPS Sport Watch with Heart Rate Monitor (Blue) (Electronics)
Garmin Forerunner 405CX GPS Sport Watch with Heart Rate Monitor (Blue) (Electronics)
Buy this monitor now. Easy to use and small enough so you dont feel like you have a laptop on your wrist. The bezel touch menu navigation can be sensitive to bumps but the lock feature solves most of your problems. Great product.
Garmin Forerunner 405CX GPS Sport Watch with Heart Rate Monitor (Blue) (Electronics)
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DeLorme Earthmate PN-40 Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)
DeLorme Earthmate PN-40 Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)
I wrote a review on Amazon about the Oregon 400t. In short I really liked the feature set but found fault with the compass, issues with the battery, and the screen was HORRBLE in direct/indirect sunlight. I returned it because at the price I paid it was not worth it.
So I bought the Delorme PN-40 because the screen was said to be better and it also had a 3-axis compass (the 400t doesn't but the 450t and 550t do but are much higher priced than the PN-40).
Though the screen is somewhat smaller it looks so MUCH better in direct/indirect sunlight. I can turn the backlight completely off and it looks great. The backlight is also much brighter when you need to turn it up. No problems there.
The compass works better than the Oregon 400t being that it is a 3 axis compass. I've been out with the PN-40 four times now and one time the compass got a little 'nutty'. I did a quick calibration and it worked fine after that. The Oregon 400t went nutty on me multiple times and I simply could not trust it. Bottom line though is if you need a compass... take a real compass and only trust these things if necessary.
It comes with some coppertop batteries but I put in energizer lithium 8x batteries. The documentation says that the GPS can determine between alkaline and lithium but when I went to the battery page it said the were alkaline so I manually changed that. They worked great and I highly recommend them. I hiked 8 miles with them and it is still reporting they are full. I had issues with batteries with the Oregon 400t though most people say they work fine. I had problems within 40 minutes with coppertops and the batteries were FINE (multimeter doesn't lie).
Both GPS's have great features and this is where Garmin has something very unique. I raved in my other review over being able to put your own trail maps onto the garmin and use it for hiking. It is a cool feature and if you make it correctly can be a real benefit. You 'can' do the same thing with the PN-40 but you need to purchase their GIS software XMAP. It isn't cheap and isn't worth it just to put trail maps in.
While that is a downer, you can download a large number of map layers from Delorme such as USGS Topo, Aerial and Sat photos. I've done this and while it is probbly very useful I haven't had to resort to using it yet. I think I need to take it somewhere I am not familiar with yet to gauge its usefulness.
Geocaching: Both support geocaching and downloading GPX's from Geocaching.com out of the box. The download of individual GPX files using the Send To GPS function worked faster (or so it seemed) with the PN-40 than the Oregon. And... IF you are a paid member of Geocaching.com you can buy ($9.99) Delorme's Cache Register software. Basically this app manages your Pocket Queries (query search that contains large number of geocaches). You can download from Geocaching.com HUNDREDS of Caches into the GPS at once. It took about 2 minutes to download 500 caches from the website and put them into the PN-40. Quite nice and might be worth the $9.99 if you are a hard core into geocaching. The Cache Register software also will sync up all caches you marked as 'found' to your Geocaching.com account. The PN-40 allows you to mark a Geocache found and also allows field notes. Those too get uploaded to your account and it seems to work as advertised so far.
The user interface for the GPS isn't hard to use. Matter of fact it works like some of my older Garmins (Page goes forward, quit goes backwards). If you read the manual (and who does that?) you can find useful button/keyboard shortcuts when entering in text for Geocaching.
One neat feature the Garmin 400t had was it could show you a graph in how your hike changed in elevation on the GPS itself. The PN-40 cannot do this but you can get the exact same thing if you import your track into the included Topo software (now comes with version 8).
Speaking of the included Topo program, it actually IS a very good program but its user interface isn't the most intuitive thing to learn. If you ever used Delorme's Street Atlas it basically works the same way. I 'think' it is because Delorme makes a lot of GIS apps (like XMAP) and the interface comes from that software. GIS people think 'differently' about geospatial data and so the interface is tailored more to their liking.
DeLorme Earthmate PN-40 Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)
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Navigon 2100 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Navigon 2100 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I bought this GPS on the blackfriday sale and have used for couple of vacations. This is my first own GPS and I have used couple of GPS's earlier(Tom Tom,Garmin etc). The reality view is very helpful in complicated intersections and I was surprised when it started showing in Turnpike and Highways intersections of Florida during one of my trip. The accuracy is very great, as most of the times it gives directions starting from a mile, .5 mile and .1 mile and some times just before the exit and turn.
The re-calculation is pretty fast(compared to the similar lower priced GPS's). It is little difficult to punch in the address, but if you use a stylus or the tip of a pencil, it will do the job.
Regarding the POI's as some of the reviewers said it will not list out the retailers. But again on vacations how much you will use it compared to restuarants, hotels, tourist attractions etc.
Overall I am very much satisfied with the price I paid my ROI is made. I am enjoying the bonus on the equipment now. I would recommend buying these product under $150( above that it may not be worth).
Part-II
This is in continuation with my earlier review. I have used navigon for couple more trips and it never let me down in any time. With the latest updates, I think it is in par with any high cost GPS's(except bluetooth, photo view and MP3). Real traffic show the "REAL" re-routing when ever required and had experienced in one of my recent trips where there was alternative routes taken.This is highly recommended for people who are looking for a GPS just for navigation and under $150. I cannot comment on the customer service as till now, I don't have an opportunity to call them(it is a compliment to the product). When I bought this price was the factor, but now i am really satisfied with the features also.It captures the satellite signals less than a minute and the hibernate mode does not loose any power even if it is left for weeks together.
Part-III
The product died after 2 years successfully serving for more than 50+ trips. Worth the money paid and will buy these type of products again.
Navigon 2100 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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Navigon 7100 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Navigon 7100 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I've been using the 7100 for 3 weeks and have been very pleased with the functionality to date. Mine is version 6.5, build 77.
My main complaint HAD been short battery life, similar to many comments I had seen here. Upon calling Tech Support , I found out that I'd been unknowingly putting the the unit in standby mode rather than shutting it off. Turns out that one must press the power button for 10-15 seconds to shut off. Anything short of that blacks the screen but you are only in standby. When powering back on, the power button must be held for six seconds. Quirky, but at least now I understand it. I was needlessly charging the unit every day or two because in the first 10 days I had never completely shut it off!
Now, with THAT out the way here are my pros & cons. I have been using this so far on routine driving on the Seattle Eastside, so performance may vary elsewhere.
PRO:
Elegant appearance, nicely designed case. Similar in size/style to Magellan 4250.
Beautiful screen, clear images, nice interface, intuitive to use. Option for day or night view, and 2D or 3D.
Clear, pleasant voice quality.
Charger indicator light changes from orange to green when fully charged.
Ability to key in zip code rather than city name. Possible matches appear as you type, so 5 digit often not required.
When searching for nearby POIs, starts inside one mile, and allows to you manually expand radius - great when searching for restaurants.
Free traffic reporting for life! (text; must hit icon to display). Extensive detail on nature of incident--accident vs. construction--along with length (miles) of slowdown. Thus far, I've not used the supplied antenna, but it does take several minutes for the icon to appear when starting up. Perhaps the antenna would speed it up, but want to avoid the clutter.
Extensive settings menu re: visual options, type of detail on screen, choice of route profile (I find "fast" works better than "optimal" or "short". There's even an option for "scenic".
Can choose to be warned when exceeding speed limits, 5, 10, or 15 mph over.
Very fast reaction/recalc time when choosing different route.
Seems to have some level of intuition based on travel signals: it selects a commute route for me that is 1 mile longer (on a 9-mile commute) than google maps, but due to fewer signals, this route is faster most of the time.
Ability to factor in current traffic when plotting route. (applies to major highways)
Good POI detail - includes many "mom & pop" restaurants & small retail that I hadn't expected.
Easy handling of interim stops or itinerary changes (**need to select this option in settings menu)
Three modes - car, bicycle, pedestrian.
Canada and Alaska included. Canada is part of US map, no need to switch when crossing border.
CON:
Comes with only a soft felt pouch as protection. I ordered the "hard case" for $20 which really isn't that "hard", but is adequate.
No printed user guide.
Lengthy shut down. Standby is nice option for brief stops, but a separate standby button would have made more sense.
When unit hits low battery warning, map freezes behind warning icon. Verbal routing continues. Only way to restore live map is to completely power down & reboot after connecting charger. Tech support says this is due to deliberate trickle charge requiring time to build power back.
I'd like to note that I was VERY impressed with Navigon's Tech support. Short prompt menu, no nagging troubleshooting suggestions, live person right away. Rep was very articulate, conversational, and professional; really interested in being helpful. Felt like I was talking to Management rather than some bored low-level "tech". Tech support located in Indiana.
This is my first GPS, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I'm very pleased thus far and cannot think of anything lacking in the 7100. The routing is occasionally a little off what I might choose, but not unreasonable. Did a wonderful job on a recent trip to Alaska, even in remote Kenai peninsula.
Update 3/29/08: Having used the 1.1 software update for about a month, it seems response times are a little faster.
Navigon 7100 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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TomTom One 130S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished) (Electronics)
TomTom One 130S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished) (Electronics)
Dear READER--- At first, I purchased the TOMTOM ONE 130 for [...]Tried it out JUST ONCE, but returned it... It did NOT have the text-to-speech function... It would say, for example, "turn right in 300 yards", but then I would have to actually take my eye off of my driving and look at the GPS unit, itself, to see the name of the street it was telling me to turn on to... Then, I ordered the TOM TOM ONE 130 "S" model (for ONLY $17 more), WITH text-to-speech, and came to realize that, not only is this model way more convenient to use, but it is also way more SAFE to use... If you are planning on buying a GPS, G E T T E X T - T O - S P E E C H ! ! !... I can't say it enough... If you order one of the plain models, and then have the opportunity to use TTS, you will regret NOT having spent the extra few dollars to get TTS... Anyway, my GPS is a refurbished unit (can't tell at all--it looks perfectly brand new to me). Saved a bit by buying it that way. It seems to be well made and very sturdy... The first thing I did, though, was to cover the screen with cling film (available from any art supply store) to protect it from scratches. Then, I went on-line to find a "silicone skin" (it's like a rubberized, form fitting case) for the unit. Now, it is protected... The mounting system gets 5 stars... You simply hold the round knob against the windshield and rotate it 1/4 turn... DONE!... The on-button has to be held down for 2 seconds before the unit powers up. Another reviewer said that their on-button was not working properly, but maybe they did not know about this 2 second thing... Anyway, I think they made it this way so that the unit would not accidently turn on if it was, say, in you pocket and the on-button was briefly pressed... The on-screen icons and menus are SUPER EASY to follow. In fact, this unit is so easy to use, that it only comes with a bare-bones owners manual... If you want to go deeper into the intricacies of the unit, you have to go on-line... I (having an art and architecture background) LOVE the colorful and simple maps. Nice, bright primary colors, with bold graphics, and not a lot of map clutter... It is just the perfect GPS for me... And, if this unit is not big enough for you, may I suggest getting a new pair of glasses?... This is small enough to fit in the pocket of your jeans, yet is plenty big enough to read easily. Some people disliked the fact that there is only one voice (Samantha's) that can be used for the TTS mode... Well, I LIKE Samantha's voice, thankyou, very much... Some of her pronunciations can be off, at times ("ta-hundred", for one hundred), and she likes to say "semi-colon" a lot ("highway 32--semi-colon, Maple avenue"), but, I think it just adds to the charm of this unit... This was probably one of the least inexpensive GPS units that I have seen that gets good ratings. It pulls in the satellite signals strongly and quickly, and has all of the most used/needed functions covered successfully... If you need to impress yourself with how many functions your GPS unit has, then spend more... If you want to impress yourself with how wisely you spent your money, then buy this TOMTOM ONE 130 "S"... I, for one am VERY SATISFIED with my purchase... Thank you for your time... Don
TomTom One 130S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished) (Electronics)
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Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx Handheld GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx Handheld GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I am commenting again after a few months of use.This is a great device if you want to use it to replace an Etrex. It is costly because you have to buy the maps and they are used on a single garmin-software-computer tuple. You apparently need another if you want to use another computer. The computer is required to replace the touch screen on a nuvi. (BTW the nuvi is great except the annoying "recalculating" the voice repeats each time you deviate from their path." Thus this is quite expensive. However the maps are great and the device allows you to load up and down and set marks. I have used this for laying out fiber routes and it is much better than the old Etrex, yet still quite costly. I have not tried the topo maps. Reception is fantastic as well.
Now for the old bad news. I first gave this one star but returning to it have given it 3. Garmin seems to be a bit too greedy and the software you need for a great device really is horrible. Here is what I said after my first few times and it still holds. The problem is that to really get the most out of this you need the software and thus they should be considered as one which is what is reflected below.
I purchased this for two purposes. First it replaced an old Garmin ETREX which I used for plotting out telecom systems in NH, VT, and MA. The old system allowed recording way points and then loading them into the old TOPO maps. It then allowed easy printing of maps and way points. This unit does that function well.
I also thought that having a GPS for travel was useful. That meant buying the $100+ Garmin software package. That package is clearly, in my personal opinion, the worst software I have ever seen in my life.
1. To enter an address you must enter the number of the location, then when you try to enter the street you must choose from a list of predetermined streets and half the time the street you want is NOT on their list! What moron did this interface.
3. Then you enter the town. You must use caps and spell it just the way they have entered it. I have not seen this trick in decades!
4. The state then must be entered from a pull down menu and you cannot abbreviate it in any way. So just do what they tell you to do they way they tell you!
You then do this several times until you have your route. It then selects the worst possible route possible. For example from New Jersey to New Hampshire it sends you across the Cross Bronx Expressway. For any New Yorker no one in their right mind ever goes near that road! You cannot alter your route as you can in Google.
Then you must upload to your unit. Hopefully it eventually works. Each route takes 30 minutes to do!
Now the worst part is security. It demands the key from the SW and the number from the Garmin unit. That number is inside the unit which you were told to connect to the PC. You must open it, remove the batteries, find the small letter number write it down replace the batteries, reboot the unit, enter the data and at no point are you ever told your activation was completed.
They try to move the software to another PC. Your Garmin unit is now wed to this PC and no other! Microsoft in its worst days could never have imagined such a cumbersome security system. It is as if they never heard of the Internet.
Finally, when you buy the unit they apparently ship from Taiwan via DHL first then a hand off to the Postal Service. I think in my personal opinion that it comes by boat, it takes weeks.
My suggestion if you have the same difficulties as I have had, than just use Google maps, it does everything you need and prints pretty pictures with great directions. And it is free. Frankly, again in my personal opinion based upon my experience, this is truly the worst product I have ever seen, for traveling.
Since I have used this a bit, I have found that it works well for understanding where you are, for establishing and recording specific points on the maps, and for uploading and downloading data. I have tried to use this in my car but it is awkward. The reception is superb but the integration with the Garmin purchased software is the problem, especially if you are trying to do maps.
Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx Handheld GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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Garmin nьvi 260 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Garmin nьvi 260 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
The Garmin 260 is a useful feature-rich GPS device without all those marginally useful features that do little more than jack-up the price.
I have a friend who has a more expensive Garmin and I was impressed with what I saw while riding around with him in his vehicles. GPS technology has really come of age over the last decade since I last owned a GPS device.
This unit locks on to the the requisite number of satellites in short order and the maps are quite accurate. One drawback is that sometimes the unit will direct you in some weird routes, but on the whole it will get you where you need to go when you don't have a clue yourself. The main thing to remember is that you can't disconnect your brain when using it.
Even when I'm just driving around town going places I'm familiar with, I like to have the unit on, because it tells me exactly where I am and lists the cross streets as I approach them. Sometimes when I'm lost in my own thoughts, it's nice to just look at the device to determine exactly where I am on my route.
The unit provides a wealth of information at a glance, including direction, speed, maximum speed, elapsed time (moving and not moving), estimated time of arrival, miles traveled, miles to go, coordinates, and elevation. Of course, the turn-by-turn directions and the text-to-speech features are what this device and others like it are really known for.
The points of interest feature is very useful I have found, not only while I'm driving, but for planning my errands. It's like having a compact yellow pages. Of course, it's not comprehensive, but it is a good, quick resource.
I bought this unit after spending hours on Amazon researching the various models. I bought my unit at WalMart just as I was leaving for a long trip during which I was going to traverse Dallas/Fort Worth, which is one of the most challenging drives I've ever experienced. Even though I was skeptical of the route offered by the device, it got me through the Dallas/Fort Worth maze of freeways better than I have ever done it before. That alone made the unit worth the price.
The Garmin 260 wasn't the exact unit I wanted, but it was the closest that WalMart had, so I went with it. I could have saved a significant amount if I had planned my trip a little better and purchased my unit from Amazon in advance, but as I said, I feel I got my money's worth.
I had wanted to get one of the wide units, but now that I have this one and realize that it is plenty legible and easily fits into the front pocket of my jeans, I'm more than pleased with it.
I felt that the unit should have come with a USB connector, since in order to upgrade the unit and even to register the device, it must be connected to a computer.
The instruction manual is the very model of minimalism, but being a gadget freak, I enjoyed teaching myself how to navigate the software. Regardless, it is true that you can get this thing mounted and plugged in in short order and be on your way, even if you are only marginally competent in its use.
I don't think that an AC adapter is necessary, although I might buy one later. It runs fine plugged into one of the DC outlets in the car and it seems to me that it charged even while I was using it. During my trip, power was never an issue. I have a battery jumper that I plug the unit into at home, so I don't have to plug in while driving around town.
I think that the Garmin 260 is a fine instrument for use while traveling or just puttering around town. It has some quirks, but a sentient driver should have no problem dealing with them. The 260 has just the features I like, without a bunch that I'd never use.
The 2009 map upgrade was free of charge, by the way.
It's a keeper, for sure.
Garmin nьvi 260 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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