The Sony came today. *Much* better, but the problem still exists somewhat. I think on-track it'll be fine, but anything less smooth and you get the rattling. Very frustrating. Jason, when you had that mount across the back, did you experience anything similar? Josh, looking at one of your autocross videos, I think I can hear that same bit of rattle, like at the end of the first run when you come to a stop.
Here's another clip from today, same place as the other one, similar driving profile. There are two rattles at about the 15 second mark, but it's nothing like it was before. But this is a smooth road; when the going gets rougher, the problem's still there.
Probably. But with the wind noise, engine noise, and various other noises you hardly notice it. A remote mic surely must be the way to go. My 8 year old(?) cheap-ass sony mini-dv cam has a mic in port. Are those gone from the modern cheap-ass camcorders?
Yes. The Sony I got has a proprietary hot-shoe for Sony-only accessories, including microphones, but they don't seem to offer any that aren't rigidly mounted to the camera (weird). For a very brief time, B&H was selling a Sony adapter that had a standard 1/8" input on it, but that's become discontinued and is unavailable. I missed the window on that by about a week, it seems.
Hey Brian,
Any user reviews of the nuvi, or are you so engrossed in camcorders at the moment that it's still in the box..?
Jason, a lot of the modern camcorders have dropped features like mic inputs and video inputs. I bought the DV Canon that I had before the HDV Sony I've got now just because it had the ability to record from AV inputs (this was before there was a TivoToGo solution for the Mac). The HDV Sony I have can't record from AV inputs (AFAIK) but it does have a mic input. It's the consumer level camera, so it's 1/8in plug, not XLR, but that's OK.
Religion is like a huge dog. If it's yours it's very friendly and comforting, but it scares the heck out of everyone else.
I like the nüvi very much. The screen's easy to read, it routes and re-routes quickly, and it's extremely easy to use. I spent quite a bit of time the other night playing around with the POI features. There's a set of tools for the Mac (non-Garmin, natch) that assembles GPX and CSV POI files into the Garmin-proprietary GPI format used by the receivers. I *really* like that feature and it works very well. For example, my primary bank is Arizona Federal Credit Union and, as the name implies, there aren't any local branches around here. However, there are "Credit Union Service Centers" that perform a shared-branching service that's pretty much like having a local branch. They're a little tricky to find without a website handy, so I whacked together a POI database of branches and can now deposit a check when I need to. I find that *very* handy. I've also got a file containing all NH, CT and MA lighthouses, and transmitter towers for NPR so that I can easily find a local station without having to scan the dial.
The other stuff (MP3 player, picture viewer, &c.) I find completely worthless, but, this being 2007 and all, it seems that, instead of every application feature-creeping its way to where it can read email, all hand-held devices must play MP3s. *shrug* There are a few things I don't like or consider to be bugs or usability issues. The traffic receiver requires external power. That in itself isn't a big deal, but there's no way to piggyback the power lead and the traffic receiver, so you've now got two cords hanging off this little device. Also, when running on switched external power, the nüvi will shut itself off after 30 seconds (which is nice) but it also warns me that the traffic receiver requires external power. Bootup time is pretty slow, on the order of 20-30 seconds, I'd say, but this is probably due to the large number of maps it needs to read in. Turning off the European maps seems to help a little, but I haven't done any actual tests there. I haven't played with the hands-free features much, other than to check my voicemail. It works pretty well for that, but today it failed to notice that I was placing a call from my phone, and the phone thought the nüvi was handling the audio, so I just thought the call was failing to go through; turns out it was ringing and I didn't know. When you put POI files on the SD card, the nüvi doesn't seem to notice until you power it up again, at which time it wants to copy them to the internal memory. No biggie, but just a little odd.
All in all, I like it, but there are no compelling features (for me) that would force me to upgrade if I didn't want the European maps (which would cost about $300 to buy to use with my old 2610). The traffic features are cool, and I'm sure I'll use them while the trial lasts (3 months?), but I don't have to contend with traffic much. The Bluetooth features are kind of gimmicky and not worth any money in their own right. Now, if it would use my phone's 'Net connection to pull down weather, traffic, POIs (a la the Dash) then that would be cool, but it doesn't. The nüvi 270 would have been a good choice for me.
Thanks for the info on the mics, Gav; I found those same links moments before you posted them! I'll probably order that $60 part and wire my own adapter, but it's a little sickening that I missed out on buying the adapter from B&H (or anywhere else) because it was a third of that cost! I might look at hacking one of the add-on microphones if I can find one cheap enough to make it worthwhile. I hadn't thought the lack of a mic input would be a big deal, but I guess I was wrong.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the camera I got from Amazon had been returned! I did *not* know this when I bought it; the seal on the box was open, there's a *ton* of writing and highlighting in the manual (it would appear that some people do, in fact, read those!), the remote had some gouges on the back from the dope who couldn't find the battery cover release, and it was poorly packed. I sent an email to Amazon this morning (via their contact form) and asked for an outright 20% refund, which they granted me about an hour ago! That's the third time I've contacted them this week and been very impressed each time.
Thanks for the review Brian. Sounds like a nice GPS.
I was surprised and disappointed in my Dell / NavTeq GPS in that it doesn't have Post Offices as part of it's POI database. It's got loads of other things, including restaurants that I wouldn't expect. Is there some crazy Govt rule that says the location of a Post Office is federal information or something like that..??
NPR station frequencies is a great idea BTW.
Religion is like a huge dog. If it's yours it's very friendly and comforting, but it scares the heck out of everyone else.
I have NavTeq maps on my Garmin 2610 and when looking at them on the computer (one of the nice things about the 2610 is that you can plan routes on an external computer and then upload it to the device) the local post office is on the maps as a POI, and is listed as the "Main Office" with a little letter icon next to it. These may a different set of maps (Garmin City Navigator) than on your Dell though. However, searching for the closest P.O. is frustrating. It's not found unless doing a search for "Nearest Places" to whatever waypoint is currently selected.
When searching on the GPS itself it's another exercise in figuring out exactly what search routine to use. Once that's accomplished, this thing doesn't mention the PO located 2 miles away, but does show the ones in the local towns.
When routing, the 2610 is a great tool. My experience in searching for POIs on it has always been hit or miss. Our daughter has a Nuvi 350 and that seems to do a better job in handling POI searches.
One of the things that bugs me about the nüvi is that it's kind of "dumbed down" from the 2610 and its ilk; I wish they didn't think the track log and multiple-point routing wouldn't be missed. I'd gladly give that up the MP3 player and Audible book reader to have those. Ok, honestly, I hardly ever use either of those features on the 2610, but it seems silly to remove them! But I also wish the 2610 had the ability to load POIs, and that is *definitely* something I will use on the nüvi! If they want to make it easy to use, that's great, but give us power users our tools, too!
I'm waiting (hoping for, actually) for a Nuvi-like / sized device that has 2610-like features such as those you mentioned as well as multiple POIs along a route, the ability to plan and customize a route on an external computer and then upload to the device, etc. Seems that would be a very desirable GPS, but it seems that Garmin as well as the rest of the manufacturers are responding more to the gadget crowd.
I think you're right about the target demographic with the nüvi form-factor, but the 2700 series seems to have very similar features to the nüvi (3D map view, POIs, traffic, etc.), but with the 2610's brick-like physique.
Garmin began the simplification on that series (I think) as in reading about them it seems the front buttons are only single function (e.g. no simple press to mark a location as a POI, etc.) . Also some comments on how the software seemed to be simplified. I think the 2700 series may be in the process of being discontinued - the 2730 is listed on the Garmin 'Discontinued Products' page.
So the nuvi can't add a "via" point in the middle of a route..? I've used that feature a few times on my Dell, often in conjunction with the POI search, e.g. I'm hungry, let's go via the nearest <food style> restaurant. The Dell (well, NavTeq software) does a great job of asking whether you want to make this the new desitination or simply add it into the existing route. That would be a strike against the nuvi if it can't do that...
Religion is like a huge dog. If it's yours it's very friendly and comforting, but it scares the heck out of everyone else.
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The Sony I got has a proprietary hot-shoe for Sony-only accessories, including microphones, but they don't seem to offer any that aren't rigidly mounted to the camera (weird). For a very brief time, B&H was selling a Sony adapter that had a standard 1/8" input on it, but that's become discontinued and is unavailable. I missed the window on that by about a week, it seems. 
