Sony Dash: Full of FAIL

I was really excited to get my hands on a new Sony Dash for $70 from Walmart.com.  I knew that the Dash, based on the Chumby, was not a super-fast device, sporting a middling resolution screen, a resistivle touch panel, and a wimpy 800MHz Marvel processor.  My expectations were for a serviceable clock radio with the added bonus of Facebook and news updates.

But the Dash, well, dashed all hopes of even that.

The Dash, even after a firmware update, was unable to connect to Gmail using the Gmail checker app.  It was unable, despite numerous attempts at registration through the Facebook device screen, to connect to my Facebook account.

OK, I thought, so I can't have email or Facebook, at least I can have news and weather, and internet radio.

But there are many other annoyances.  Any interaction with the thing takes forever.  It doesn't have a light sensor, so to make it to go night mode you have to either program a timer action, or manually hit the night mode button.

Then the dealbreaker.  Sony didn't think to have the device save its settings in non-volatile memory.  As a result, if you have a power glitch or brownout, the Dash wakes up and then sits there stupidly asking you to choose your wireless network, rather than automatically reconnect.

Which means that on some days, you may wake up late in the morning, wondering why your alarm never went off, to find your high-tech clock radio sitting there with a boot screen.

So it isn't really useful as a social networking device, it isn't really reliable as a clock radio.

Back to Walmart it goes.

Now, the Archos 35 Home looks promising...

How To Reset Your Garmin

I needed to reset my Garmin 1390 GPS unit, before giving it to a friend, to erase all of my personal data.  I found out there is a nice factory reset function which will clear all user data.

To factory reset your Garmin:

• Power off the unit
• Press and hold the lower right corner of the screen
• Power on the unit.

I also found that if you do the same thing but press and hold the upper left of the touch screen, it will re-calibrate the touchscreen.

Review: Davis CarChip Pro

This is a review of the Davis Industires CarChip Pro . 

The CarChip is a small device which plugs into your vehicle's OBD-II port, and acts as a datalogger.  It can record vehicle speed every second, and up to 4 other items at a slower rate of one sample every 5 seconds. Retail prices are around $80.

The device is simple to configure.  Once you install the software (which worked fine on Windows 7), and plug the CarChip in with a mini-USB cable (included), a step-by-step configuration walks you through the initial setup.

For example, you can choose to record 4 parameters at every 5s, from a choice of several standard OBD-II parameters, including engine speed, throttle position, engine coolant temp, engine load, air flow rate, spark timing, air/fuel ratio, battery voltage, and oxygen sensor voltage.  You can also set audible alarms, to have the device beep at you if you exceed a top speed, or a max accel/decel rate.

For my testing, I plugged it into my 2007 (which would be using CAN OBD-II), and drove a few trips.  I also induced two powertrain diagnostic faults: I loosened my fuel cap, and for a short time, disconnected my intake air temp sensor (IAT).

After removing the device and downloading the data to my PC, I was able to use the software to plot the recorded channels, and the device properly logged two DTCs, one for evaporative emissions (P0456) and one for the IAT circuit test failure (P0113).  By clicking on a menu choice, you can tell the CarChip to clear the codes next time you plug it into your vehicle.

Overall, I liked the CarChip, and I would recommended for several use cases.  A hobbyist or fleet owner who wants a low-cost way to log mileage, driving style, fuel economy, etc. would do well with a CarChip if they don't mind plugging into it every so often to download the data.  It could also be useful to someone who wanted to program it as a "trainer", to teach themselves (or their kids) not to accelerate too hard or brake too abruptly, to teach a high fuel economy driving style.

However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as a primary diagnosis tool, for example to debug DTCs or do performance tuning, because of its offline nature.  Someone who wanted to quickly determine why they have a Check Engine lamp, and perhaps check some of their engine control sensor values as part of the debug would be better off with an interactive scan tool.  Also, the relatively slow 5s sampling rate may cause users to miss some aspects of the engine performance, such as sudden lean fuel excursions or speed fluctuations.

My advice to Davis, to improve this product, would be to add a "live mode" which pulls the OBD data in real-time via the USB, and to add some sort of wireless interface so that the data can be monitored and downloaded via bluetooth without having to plug into the unit directly.

Pros:

• Simple to use software, easy setup
• Ability to set speed/accel/decel alarms
• Fault code logging and clearing
• Small, unobtrusive
• Data can be easily exported

Cons:

• Slow sampling rate (5s) on user-configured data channels
• No apparent "live mode" to look at data interactively, while connected
• No wireless transfer mode (bluetooth or wifi).

* Davis provided me with a sample unit, however I recieved no compensation for this review.

Review: Drop Stop Car Wedge

Drop Stop Car Wedge is a simple product that does one thing very well. It blocks the gap between your car seat and the center console, so that you can't drop stuff down into that hard to reach spot. 

I have been using one, and It works great. I do notice that I can feel the right side of my seat is button cushion is a little bit firmer due to compression, but it doesn't bother me.

The wedge is a tube made of black neoprene, with a pass-through for the seatbelt latch.  It is stuffed with filler.  To install it, you slip it over your seatbelt latch and then stuff it down, working it forward and back smooth it out. 

At $20/pair plus shipping, it isn't cheap, but isn't outrageously expensive either.  It should outlast your vehicle.

Pros:

• Simple, effective
• Unobtrusive
• Seems durable

Cons:

• Unknown country of origin (not on packaging)
• $20+shipping is a little steep for what is basically a stuffed fabric tube
• Limited distribution (Can't buy it on Amazon, etc.)
• Adds firmness to right seat cushion side

*Note: DropStop did not provide any payment for this review, other than sending me a test unit.