The second best GPS Garmin ever made
While the nuvi 50LM is the best GPS Garmin ever made, the DriveSmart 50LMTHD comes in at a close second - if used in a very specific way.
If you've bought Garmin GPSes in the past, chances are pretty good you have never seen this model. There's a reason for that. The 50LMTHD model was a Costco exclusive. For those of you not familiar with Costco, that's a membership-only warehouse club similar to Sam's Club and based in the United States. The only other place the 50MLTHD was sold was to rental car companies...
...which leads me to how I acquired two of them. There was a seller on eBay that acquired a whole pile of these things from a rental car company. And the reason I know this is because in there are dedicated rental-specific menu options on the Where To? and Where am I? menus. Fortunately, these menu options can be easily hidden so it's not a big deal.
Why did I buy two? I bought one and it ended up working really nicely, so I bought a second as a backup. There eBay seller who was selling these things was getting rid of them for an insanely low price of $29.99 each. The seller sold these as unit-only with no mount or power cord, but that was fine because I got those things separately.
It does have a built-in traffic receiver that works with the TA20 power cord.
This is the older style traffic reporting that updates once every 15 minutes instead of once every minute, but still, it works and you do not need the stupidly expensive GTM60 cord, nor is any smartphone connectivity required for traffic reporting to work. All traffic data is received over good 'ol RDS (and weather, too!)
Garmin's web page for the 50MLTHD states you need the GTM60 for traffic reporting. It lies. The TA20 works. I know because I use it myself. The 50LMTHD absolutely does have a built-in traffic receiver and states so in the "About" page of the unit itself. GTM60 not required. TA20 is all you need.
Daylight readable and polarized sunglasses friendly - if used in portrait mode
This is the reason the photo above shows the Garmin being used vertically.
In landscape mode, the display washes right out if wearing sunglasses and trying to read this thing. But if switched over to portrait, ta-da, nice bright screen. And if in the future I get another set of polarized sunglasses where the direction of them cancels out the Garmin screen in portrait mode, no problem. Switch to landscape mode and off I go.
No wi-fi, no dashcam
The only wireless thing in the 50MLTHD is Bluetooth, which can be disabled easily. It has no Wi-Fi whatsoever. This means it has to be plugged into the computer for map updates, and I don't have a problem with that. The unit also has no dashcam either.
With less hardware on the inside, the advantages are that the speaker is larger and can be heard more easily, and the unit has less chance of overheating when blasted by sunlight.
It does have nanny nags
The nanny nags in the DriveSmart are those stupid animated orange banners that you can't turn off. This banner happens for what the unit thinks is a dangerous curve ahead, school zones, animal crossing areas and so on. The worst one is railroad crossings simply for the fact that it will give you this warning even for railroads that have been out-of-service for years.
If it were not for these nags, it would be my #1 recommended Garmin GPS. But it's #2 compared to the nuvi 50LM which has no such nags.
The most annoying thing about the nags is when you're trying to read directions at the top of the screen telling you of your next turn, and uh-oh HERE COMES THE BANNER and it completely blocks the turn information.
Fortunately, there is are two workarounds.
Workaround #1: "Turns"
When you start a route, you can enable the map tool "Turns", which will show the next 4 upcoming turns on a separate part of the screen where the animated orange banner crap does not show up. The map gets slightly smaller when you do this, but that's fine. What matters is the text telling you of the next turn without some ridiculous driver alert blocking it.
Having "Turns" enabled is best used in two specific driving situations. City driving and dense residential neighborhoods. As in places where the roads are small, there's a lot of them and you'll be taking many turns to get to the destination.
For larger roads like highways and interstates, "Turns" usually isn't needed. The nice part is that you can enable or disable it whenever you like.
Workaround #2: Use OpenStreetMap map data
While true OSM maps aren't as good as Garmin maps where points-of-interest and addresses are concerned, where it really shines is that it is the easiest way to defeat almost all (or in some instances all depending where you are in the world) the nags in the DriveSmart.
With OSM you lose the speed limit indicator. Sounds bad, but it isn't because the speed limit nag goes away completely. You also lose several (sometimes all) other dopey alerts - most of which you will not miss at all.
In the myMaps area of the Map & Vehicle menu in the DriveSmart, you can in fact have both Garmin and OSM maps loaded into the unit at the same time. The 50LMTHD has "LM" in it which does mean "Lifetime Maps", but if the nags from using the Garmin maps annoy you too much, no problem. You can load in the OSM maps to the memory card.
However, I don't recommend using both maps at the same time from myMaps because that can result in routing weirdness. You can have them both loaded in, but I recommend only using one at a time just by checking off the one you want in myMaps.
My recommended settings for using a DriveSmart 50 (or DriveSmart 51)
- Settings > Display > Orientation - Test while wearing sunglasses on a bright sunny day. If the screen looks too dim in landscape mode, use portrait. If the opposite is true, use landscape.
- Settings > Map & Vehicle > Map Tools - Generally speaking, you want every option here checked except Up Ahead to decrease map clutter.
- Settings > Map & Vehicle > Map Layers - Uncheck everything except Traffic because that's probably the only one you care about. Again, this is done to decrease map clutter.
- Settings > Map & Vehicle > Audible Driver Alerts - Uncheck everything unless there's something here specifically you want to hear an audible warning for.
- Settings > Navigation > Fatigue Warning - Uncheck this.
- Settings > Navigation > Avoidances - At bare minimum, uncheck Unpaved Roads here.
- Settings > Navigation > Environmental Zones - Set to Allow.
- Settings > Navigation > Restricted Mode - Disable this.
- Settings > Navigation > Bluetooth - Disable this.
- Settings > Display > Display Timeout - Set to Never.
- Settings > Traffic > Traffic Alerts - Set to Most.
- Settings > Units & Time > Position Format > Coordinate Format - Set to h ddd.dddddd°. If you ever use GPS coordinates, this is the easiest one to get along with since Google Maps and Bing Maps uses this format primarily.
Important things to know
Pressing the power button doesn't turn it off
Press the power button and the screen blanks. It's not off. It's "sleeping." If you really want it truly off, press and hold the power button for 4 to 7 seconds while on, and a confirmation screen will appear asking if you really want to turn it off. Press the on-screen button to power off and then it will.
Resetting if it freezes
Unplug the DriveSmart, wait 10 seconds, plug it back in. If nothing happens on the screen, press and hold the power button. Eventually, the unit will reboot after you hold the power button long enough. It may take as long as 30 seconds for it to happen, but it will happen. As soon as you see the Garmin logo on screen, let go of the power button and let the unit continue to boot.
Resetting the software
This is a "delete everything and start over" thing where the unit is reset to factory standard settings.
Go to the main map, press the speedometer indicator, then press and hold the middle of the speedometer on the next screen. This brings up the Diagnostics Page. Choose the option to Clear all user data. The unit will reboot. Make sure it's plugged into a power source before you do this. Don't do it on battery power alone or you could brick the DriveSmart.
Remember...
...an older model like this needs a 32GB microSD memory card to fit the latest map data.
I bought another SX Furrian
It's Banana Part II!
I now own two SX Furrians. These are Telecaster copy guitars.
Why did I buy another? I had a few reasons.
The first Furrian is a "fat" model, which means single-coil at the bridge and humbucker at the neck. I had never owned a Tele with this specific pickup configuration before and wanted to check it out. SX Furrian Fat is far less expensive compared to the Squier equivalent. Squier does make one, it's called the Classic Vibe '70s Telecaster Custom, and it's not cheap. I saw no reason to get the Squier since the SX was so much less in price.
Given the good experience I had with the SX, I decided to get another, this time with the traditional single-single Telecaster pickup configuration. Those who have been following me over the years probably remember the 2010 Squier Bullet Strat I had in what I called "Banana" yellow that Squier called Arctic White. SX offers a Furrian in Vintage White, which is very close in color to what I had with the Squier, so that's what I went with. The color looks great and I have no regrets getting it whatsoever.
The second Furrian has three things that are notably different compared to the first Fat Furrian, other than color. The neck is several shades lighter, the body is lighter (around 1 to 1.5 pounds lighter), and the sound has much more treble response to it because of the single-single pickup configuration.
SX is good if you're willing to level frets
I'm not saying that SX guitars are delivered with uneven frets. I'm saying that almost all guitars are delivered like that in this day and age.
The lowest priced guitars I know of that are mostly guaranteed not to have uneven frets are by Schecter. I've said this before and will say it again because it's true. If for example you buy Schecter's version of a Telecaster, the PT, I can confidently say the necks on those will have proper even-leveled frets - but you'll pay for it. Not a ridiculous amount, but still, we're not talking bargain basement prices here. For anything else outside of Custom Shop territory, uneven frets will happen, even on American Fenders.
I did have to level the frets on my Furrian. And in fact I have to do some more leveling because I found out I missed one on the high end of the neck around the 18th or 19th fret.
Am I upset about this? No, because the guitar was bought for less than $150 new.
If I found uneven frets even to the slightest degree on an American Fender (all of which are over $1,000), oh yeah, that would make me mad. But on a $150 guitar, there's no reason to get mad. You just get some tools, get some sandpaper and even out the frets yourself.
I don't claim for one second that either of my Furrians were perfect out of the box. In fact, the Fat did have better frets compared to the second one and required less work to get it right. However, getting a Furrian to being an excellent player takes very little work. Again, if you're willing to level frets, a Furrian is the best thing going for what it sells for.
From a short distance...
Strictly speaking of the headstock shape for a moment, something I've found quite interesting is while the shape isn't Fender-like, it is similar to other boutique guitar brands that sell for thousands of dollars.
What many boutique guitar brands do is take a classic body shape (because they can legally get away with that), and then "massage" the headstock to have a modernist style shape...
...and this happens to exactly be what the SX Furrian has, except SX isn't a boutique brand. From a short distance away, it is almost too easy to mistake the Furrian for one of those ultra-expensive boutique guitars.
What would it take to change the Furrian into a boutique guitar? Surprisingly, not much.
The body is already alder and the neck is maple. No need to change anything there.
If the Furrian had the nut switched out for a TUSQ, tuners switched out for Grovers, pickups switched out for a Tonerider set, electronics switched out for CTS, and saddles switched out for roller saddles, you're really, really close to a boutique instrument. Granted, all that stuff most certainly costs more than the guitar itself, but at the end of it all you've got a "boutique quality" modernist Telecaster at a fraction of the price.
And if you really wanted to go all-out boutique, you could sand down the body and refinish it with ColorTone nitro, and switch out the frets to stainless steel fret wire. And that's just about as boutique as it gets where a Telecaster type guitar is concerned.
The headstock shape of the SX dictates to do a modernist style Telecaster guitar, but that's not a bad thing. And to do everything I just mentioned can't exactly be done over a weekend. It would take time. However the point is that getting a Furrian to boutique level status is a totally possible thing.
Do I plan on doing all this stuff to my Furrians? No. I just play them. Maybe I'd entertain the idea of a nut swap and some electronics upgrades. I might even entertain the idea of sanding down the neck and refinishing with satin urethane just because I like the feel of it. But other than that, again, I just like guitars I can pick up and play. Furrians are great for that once the frets are leveled.
EMF radiation danger in quartz watches - time to switch to automatic?
Did you know that quartz battery powered wristwatches emit radiation?
Electromagnetic fields or EMF for short is something that some people are sensitive to. Usually when people talk about this, they're referring to wireless devices like wireless routers, cellphones or smartphones. Or they could be referring to wireless networks like 5G that started deployment in late 2019. What I'm talking about here is the battery powered quartz wristwatch that's been around since the late 1960s.
The problem
EMFs in most instances are harmless, but where they can cause a health hazard is when they're in close proximity to you.
A wristwatch is, obviously, directly touching you when wearing it. That's as close at it gets.
An EMF detector when its sensor is placed over a battery powered quartz wristwatch will register on the meter.
However, the type of quartz wristwatch matters because some have greater EMFs than others.
Does something physically happen?
Plain non-smartwatch quartz wristwatches that emit the most radiation are ones that physically move something to tell the time.
A quartz watch with a ticking seconds hand emits the most radiation because the movement is physically moving a hand once every second. On the EMF detector mentioned above, you will notice that the meter jumps once every second when the sensor is placed on the watch. This is directly because of the movement moving the seconds hand.
Quartz analog watches without a seconds hand still do register on the meter, but instead of once every second, you'll usually see the meter jump once every 20, 30 or 60 seconds. This is directly because of the movement moving the minute hand.
Digital quartz wristwatches emit low radiation, but may make the meter jump from the two physical things they can do. First is beeping when the watch electrically makes a sound. Second is illumination whenever the night light is used and the watch electrically produces light. On some watch night lights (particularly Indiglo from Timex or Electroluminescent from Casio), younger ears can even hear the high pitched whine that comes from the watch whenever the light is on.
Would an EMF sticker placed on the underside of the watch help?
You have most likely seen inexpensive EMF stickers. Would one of these stickers work on a quartz wristwatch to block radiation?
I seriously doubt it. Something that thin really doesn't offer that much protection. But then again, I have not tested an EMF sticker, so maybe one would work. But again, I doubt it.
The better option to avoid 100% of any radiation a quartz movement battery powered wristwatch would make is to use...
The solution
...a mechanical automatic movement watch instead, but only if it's the right kind (as in more than just men's size or women's size), which I'll describe more in detail in a moment.
What is an "automatic" watch?
For the benefit of those who have absolutely no idea what this is, here is a brief description:
An automatic wristwatch is typically defined as a watch with a mechanical movement that uses no battery whatsoever, and winds itself just by you wearing it and moving around normally. The fact it winds itself from you moving around is the "automatic" part, meaning "does not have to be wound manually".
If you take the watch off the wrist and let it just sit there, eventually it will stop ticking. To make it start ticking again, pick it up, gently shake it back and forth to get the movement moving, and ta-da, it starts ticking again. Set the time, put it back on your wrist and that's all there is to it.
It is usually true that most automatic wristwatches take 60 hours (2.5 days) before they stop ticking after having worn it all day, taken off and left to sit. This means that at the end of the day, if you take the watch off before going to bed, the next day it will still be ticking since not more than 7 to 9 hours will have passed over the course of the night.
Do automatic watches keep good time?
The best way I can answer this is with "good enough".
A battery powered quartz watch will ordinarily gain or lose 1 to 2 seconds per day.
An automatic mechanical watch will ordinarily gain or lose 15 to 30 seconds per day. This is normal.
If your automatic watch gains or loses more than 30 seconds a day, a watch service is needed. Bring the watch to your local jeweler and ask to have it regulated. The fee for this service on a non-luxury timepiece is around $30 to $60. If it's a luxury timepiece (like a Rolex), it will cost more.
How much do automatic watches cost, and which should you get?
If you're cheap, you can get an automatic watch new for as low as 20 bucks, but you probably won't like it. Still, at least it's nice that in this day and age you can get a really cheap automatic.
The watch I have is the Orient Tristar.
However, the go-to standard automatic that most people buy is a Seiko (also available in womens sizes). As of this writing, they start at around $80 and go up from there.
The reason so many people buy Seiko automatics is they're built for purpose. What I mean by that is that they're not built like typical fashion watches that die and stay dead in less than 2 years. A Seiko with automatic movement will typically last much longer than that.
I'll put it another way. Consider Seiko to be the Toyota Camry of wristwatches. This isn't to say that Seiko doesn't make upper end stuff (like Grand Seiko, Seiko Presage and so on), but for most models below that, you're getting a Camry. Solid and reliable.
If you have a super sensitive wrist...
With an automatic wristwatch you avoid all the EMF that the quartz watch otherwise would have made. But if you're the type with a very sensitive wrist, there are other things to take into consideration.
Case back
If you want a metal material that won't irritate your wrist, you use gold. As in a solid gold watch. But that is always very expensive, so what you end up with will be stainless steel. This steel contains nickel. Some people are sensitive to nickel.
There are three simple ways to prevent the case back from touching the wrist.
The first is to use a NATO watch strap. This strap type goes directly under the watch and effectively prevents the case from touching the wrist.
Second would be to use what's known as a bund strap. With this type, the entire watch sits on top of a leather pad. On either side of this pad, two pieces of strap (one for top, one for bottom) are placed through slits and then join the watch.
Third is to use masking tape. Take a few pieces of tape, size with an X-ACTO knife, stick to watch case back, done. Replace the tape once a month or whenever it looks bad.
Strap material
The choices most available for strap material are metal, fabric, resin or leather.
With metal you have stainless steel, gold, white gold, titanium and so on.
With fabric you have nylon. Whether it's a NATO, Zulu or perlon (a.k.a. Nylon 6), it's all nylon.
Resin is what most people call "rubber" straps when in fact it's PUR (PolyUrethane Resin).
Leather is the most interesting of the bunch because it comes in many different flavors. Thin leather, thick leather, leather with suede backing, fake leather, calf skin, lizard skin, and so on. Many choices.
Generally speaking, the most skin-friendly watch strap is leather. The go-to brand most people use is Hadley Roma. Widely available, made right, wears in quickly, comfortable. And they even make vegan friendly leather straps if that's what floats your boat.
For sports purposes, you have an alternative. Wear a wrist sweatband and strap the watch around the band. Wearing a watch this way is best for sport because you can then use a resin strap and not worry about skin irritation since the wrist sweatband is what's actually touching the wrist.
Why is EMF from a quartz wristwatch a concern now and not before?
Given the quartz wristwatch has been around for over 50 years, what happened between then and now? How come nobody said anything about quartz watch EMF years ago?
The answer is that the EMF we deal with today is far greater now compared to years ago, so much to the point where some have developed a sensitivity to it even at the smallest levels.
EMF was something you used to be able to get away from, but now you can't unless you live somewhere very remote or literally sleep in a 'prepped' basement.
Side note on the basement thing: Not that I'd recommend this, but it's easy to shield a basement (or at least a corner of it) 100% from outside EMF. You already have solid concrete sides and floor in your house's basement, so the only thing to shield is the ceiling. Easily done with plywood and YShield paint. It's definitely the easiest and cheapest way to have an "EMF free" sleeping experience. Why do I not recommend it? No windows. Kinda creepy.
Location aside, most people would agree that the most dangerous EMF comes from electronic things that touch you physically. An example of this is of course the smartphone. Many recommend to use the speaker for voice conversations instead of holding the handset to your head, and for good reason because that plastic electronic brick is constantly blasting out transmissions.
You can't switch out an electronic smartphone for a mechanical one because that doesn't exist. But you can switch out a quartz wristwatch for an automatic mechanical.
Using an automatic wristwatch is something you can wear on your wrist that tells you convenient information (time and sometimes the date depending on model), and most importantly not radiate anything that could potentially harm you.
You never have to remember to put an automatic watch in "airplane mode" because it neither transmits nor receives anything. You never have to remember to charge it because it doesn't use a battery. All you have to do is wear it, and whenever you need to know what time it is, look at it.
Things don't get much easier than that. And remember, an automatic watch is one of the increasingly few pieces of tech you can use these days that's truly EMF-free.
Fender FMT HH Custom Telecaster and its greatest strength
The best part about this guitar is one thing that makes the rest of it even better.
So you want a Fender Telecaster, but want something different. Something with no pick guard, a flamed top and a really nice set of Seymour Duncan humbuckers that sound great. That's what you get with the Fender FMT HH Custom Telecaster, and the best part is...
...the price. It's literally just $25 more than the Fender Player Telecaster at the time I write this. That's a steal.
Think of it this way: You're getting the flame top, color matched headstock, pick guard delete, control plate delete, dual humbuckers, abalone dot inlays (might be plastic, but even so, who cares?) AND A CONTOUR CUT IN THE REAR like a Stratocaster for just $25 over the Player model.
The extra 25 bucks you spend for this Tele goes a very, very long way and doesn't get any better. This is a no-brainer buy, especially for a Fender brand guitar. Bear in mind this comes in 3 colors. Amber (seen above), Black Cherry and Crimson Red. All awesome, all the same price.
State of the watch collection 2020
Still riding the Casio train.
I said to myself that I wasn't going to buy any watches this year. Well, that didn't work out and I bought two of them, and went back to wearing one that was sitting in a box for many months before that.
Casio A178I bought this in 2017 and then returned it, then bought it again and kept it. The A178 is what you get when you take an A158, add the ability to see the full date (weekday + month/day) on the home screen and a night light that actually works right.
A178 is thicker than the A158, but having the full date with the better night light is really nice to have. It also looks better than the A158 does too.
Casio F200WThis is a simple sports watch which, like the A178, shows a full weekday + month/day on the face in additional to the time. Functionally it's almost identical to the A178 as well with a similar feature set and proper green night light.
I like the buttons on this watch. A lot. Bigger, longer, easier to press and very responsive. It's also very lightweight as well. My only complaint is that the strap is a little too long for my small wrist, which I'll have to attend to in the future, and this leads me to...
Casio W213I've had this watch literally for years, and I love it - but the strap on this one is so bad. Or rather, bad for me. Way too long. It's for that reason alone I just chucked it in a box and kept it there for years.
I then finally decided to say screw it, I'll try to customize a cheap leather strap I have to see if I can make it fit the W213. The way this watch works (as is the case on many Casio digital watches) is that while the strap is a normal width, it turns into a "short U" at the lugs. This means no standard replacement strap will fit it unless you cut out small corners right where the strap meets the lugs.
Being I had nothing to lose, I grabbed a utility knife and did the cuts on the strap. It worked.
I was able to fit the strap to the watch. Finally. And now I'm wearing the W213 again.
The reason I love the W213 is because like the other two watches I mentioned above, it has full time + weekday + month/day on the face. But in addition to that, the digits are thicker and easier to read, it has 5 alarms, and it has countdown timer with auto-repeat. On top of that, the side buttons are all textured. The F200W has really easy-press buttons and the W213 is even easier.
I'll totally admit that a black leather strap doesn't exactly suit the W213, but the fact I'm actually able to wear this thing now is great.
Had I known all I had to do was cut a leather strap where it meets the lugs at the watch just to make it fit, I would have done this much sooner.
I'll be looking into other leather straps to see if I can find one that better suits the watch, but for now, again I'm just happy I can wear the thing.