Older Garmin nuvi models worth getting

(Note: This was written in 2018, and an updated version is here.)

I'll be getting back to the guitar stuff soon, but just wanted to say a few things about older Garmin nuvi models. I know a bunch about them, and these are my picks for older models worth getting.

The Garmin nuvi model line of products had a 10-year run from 2005 to 2015; certain models are better than others.

These are the ones I consider okay to get:

4.3-inch

• 1300LM
• 2300LM
• 2455LM
• 40LM
• 42LM
• 44LM

5-inch

• 1450LM
• 2555LM
• 50LM
• 52LM
• 54LM

Why such a short list?

I have reasons which are as follows:

Traffic reporting is so-so at best

I don't list any models with LMT (meaning Lifetime Maps + Traffic) in the name for two reasons.

First, most older nuvi models with the traffic feature requires a special power cord that has a built-in traffic antenna, the GTM 25. That thing costs between $25 to $50 just for the cord depending on where you get it from.

Second, even if you have traffic reporting 100% working properly, the performance of it isn't that great, never has been and never will be.

The truth about traffic reporting is that whether you get it from a dedicated Garmin GPS or Google Maps on a smartphone, accuracy varies wildly. This means that the traffic reporting is, at best, only sometimes correct.

A matte screen with bright backlight is the best kind

No matter how fancy a GPS or smartphone is, if the screen can't be read in the daylight while driving, it's worthless as a navigation device.

The two types of screens available are matte and glass. Those who have used GPSes a while know that when you've got a good matte screen unit, that's a gem worth keeping.

Examples from the above list that are known to have really good screens are the 40LM, 1450LM and 50LM. No harsh reflections, bright backlight, sunglasses-friendly. They just work.

How to make an older nuvi last as long as possible

Three things break Garmin GPSes more than anything else. Getting cooked, fingernails and dash dive.

When leaving the car, place a hand towel over the GPS so the sun doesn't cook it or the power cord. Or just take the unit and put in the glove box until needed again.

Never use fingernails on the touchscreen because that can and will scratch it all up. Use your knuckle instead. If that doesn't work, buy a touchscreen stylus (the one with the soft tip) and use that instead.

When dash dive happens (and it will) because the suction mount keeps falling off the windshield, switch to a friction mount a.k.a. bean bag mount instead. No more dash dive.

What about repurposing an old smartphone instead of getting an older Garmin nuvi?

This is a bad idea.

Doing the old-phone-as-GPS thing is tedious to set up as it requires rooting and a lot of programming, performs terribly as the GPS antenna on phones is very weak compared to dedicated GPS, is unreliable, and the glare from the glass screen makes it useless for day driving.

An older Garmin nuvi model with matte screen can be bought in very good condition for under 50 bucks, such as the 42LM and 52LM models.

Worth it? Yes. Get one.

THX 1138 is actually pretty darned good

It's funny that it took so long for me to watch this movie...

...but I'm glad I watched it now, because I'm pretty sure my 20s self wouldn't have appreciated it.

THX 1138 is George Lucas's first big Hollywood production and comes in two flavors. The original release and the 2004 Director's Cut.

Yes, this is the same George Lucas that did Star Wars.

1971

The fact this was released in '71 is what impresses me more than anything else. THX happened before Logan's Run and A Clockwork Orange.

Just to put this in further perspective, some other films released in '71 were Dirty Harry, Diamonds Are Forever and Le Mans. When THX was released, the closest thing to it was 2001: A Space Odyssey that happened 3 years earlier in '68.

Original theatrical release vs. Director's Cut

I purposely watched the original theatrical version first before Director's Cut. The difference between the two is that the original is what was put in theaters in 1971, and DC was the "enhanced" version released in 2004 that has a bunch of CG in it.

The dumbest thing about DC is the car chase scene, no question about it. It comes out of nowhere, doesn't fit at all and took me right out of the movie experience. But aside from that, most of the other changed stuff isn't all that bad. The best part of DC is obviously the cleaned up film. You can see a lot more in DC that you can't in OT.

Another thing about DC is that I got a better idea of what the story was about compared to OT. Granted, THX is not good on story, but I understood better what was going on with the DC version.

Actors that keep routinely showing up in movies I like

In both the 1954 BBC version and the 1956 full motion picture version of Nineteen Eighty-Four, David Pleasance was in it. He's in THX 1138 and was amazing as usual.

Robert Duvall is also in the movie as the lead character THX 1138. He's also three other movies I like, Network, Apocalypse Now and Thank You For Smoking.

Nineteen Eighty-Four heavy influence

I got a strong 1984 vibe from THX. And that's not a bad thing. It's more or less the same dystopian style future where everyone and everything is controlled by the state, except with a lot more futuristic stuff.

The two stories aren't the same. THX wasn't trying to be a carbon copy of 1984. But I could definitely tell it was strongly influenced by it.

Cops are cool in THX

Chrome Robots are the cops in THX, but the interesting thing is that they're almost cute and lovable at times. They're somewhat dopey, and the children in the movie aren't even afraid of them. Some of the lines they say are just outright funny. An example is when THX 1138 purposely locks them out of a room, and one of the robots says, "The door seems to be jammed. Please check the lock on your side."

A good boring

What prompted me to finally watch this movie is that I was hearing someone talk about it on a live stream, and he described THX as "a good boring"; he meant this in a complimentary way. Some movies are boring and bad, but said this movie was boring and good. And he was right.

I consider this a better watch than 2001, because that movie is a genuine chore to get through. THX is a good movie to kick back and relax to. And with the OT version I did get immersed in the world the movie presented to me. With the DC version, it's broken with all that CG garbage. But with OT, it's a genuinely good sci-fi movie. Pacing is a bit weird, and it can get boring. But it's a good boring.

Using a Garmin Drive standalone GPS in 2018

It's been a while since I've said anything about GPS, so I figure it's time for an update.

The model of satnav I use these days is the Garmin Drive 50LM; a 5-inch model from 2016 that I bought originally as a refurb. The 50LM is not all that different from the Drive 51LM, with the only real difference being the 51 has more smartphone-specific features in it.

Both the 50 and 51 5-inch versions (along with 60 and 61 6-inch versions) use matte screens which can be read easily even when wearing polarized sunglasses. Both of them also can be used in either horizontal "wide" or vertical "tall" orientation, albeit that setting has to be adjusted manually.

For the fancy schmancy multi-touch glass screen, you get that on the DriveLuxe 51 5-inch and DriveSmart 61 LMT-S 6-inch.

5-inch vs. 6-inch

The model with the largest screen area using the least physical space is the DriveSmart 61 LMT-S model with its 6.95" edge-to-edge display.

Whether to get a 6 or a 5 depends how close the screen is to your face when driving.

In large vehicles like a big SUV or RV, yeah you need the 6. For passenger cars however, no you don't. Whether you mount the satnav on the windshield, to a vent via a vent clip or via adhesive disc to the dashboard, the 5-inch is the best for the passenger car.

Where screen legibility is concerned, all Garmin Drive, DriveAssist, DriveSmart and DriveLuxe models have "themes" that allow for different color schemes with better contrast. In older models, all you had before was "day" and "night" modes for color choices, but now you get a bunch more that makes for easier reading.

Overview and goodies

Touchscreen is responsive, backlight is bright, everything is legible and readable, route calculations and recalculations are very fast, TTS (text-to-speech) voice is incredibly good now (nothing like the computery TTS voices on the older models.)

Even on the most "basic" Drive model, which mine is, you now get a Trip Planner (multiple waypoints can be set for a single route,) custom avoidances (you can set roads and/or areas to avoid,) and route choice (for most destinations, you're given the choice of which route you want to take instead of just one, and you can customize the route.) All this stuff was previously only available on very high-end Garmin units.

Things that matter

Is the routing good? Yes. For most destinations, the first route choice Drive gives you is usually the best one.

Easy to figure out? Yes. If you've ever used a smartphone or tablet (who hasn't?), anyone can learn this thing. Manual not required.

Is it reliable? Yes, very reliable. But I still carry a backup GPS. More on that in a moment.

Is it sturdy? Yes.

Can you hear it? Yes. The little speaker does well for something housed in a case that's only 2cm thick.

How is the battery life? Terrible as usual at just 1 hour. However, this is normal for all satnavs these days regardless of who makes it. And since everyone uses a satnav plugged in anyway, battery life really doesn't matter.

I still carry a backup GPS in the car

In the car's glove box I have my nuvi 40LM that I bought new in 2012. Still works fine. When I was using the 40LM as my main unit, the nuvi 200 was my backup. When I got the 50LM, the nuvi 200 was retired and now the 40LM is the backup.

I always use GPS when I drive, enough to the point where driving without it just feels weird.

It's been 12+ years since I started using GPS. In that time, I've only had one Garmin satnav (StreetPilot i3 model) crash so hard that it locked up the unit for a few minutes. And that was back in 2005. Since then, I've never had a Garmin exhibit a hard crash like that. But even so, satnavs are tech. Tech sometimes breaks unexpectedly for the weirdest of reasons, and that's why I carry the backup.

I may never use my 40LM except for checking it once every few months to make sure it still works. But if it ever happens that my 50LM fails, I will be very happy to have that backup.

Yamaha FD01S is boring but good

This guitar isn't flashy, but it's not supposed to be.

The Yamaha FD01S is a cheap-but-good acoustic guitar. And the only thing bad about it is that it has a very boring look. Standard dreadnought shape, plain dot inlays, plain pick guard, plain bridge, plain headstock with Yamaha logo, plain everything...

...but one heck of a solid build.

Yamaha has been building acoustic guitars for a long time. They have a very specific formula to their builds that hasn't changed much in 25 years (if not longer). And the reason a Yamaha acoustic is still the same build today as it was years ago is that it just works.

The only time I've ever seen a cheap Yamaha acoustic fall into disrepair is from user error. A lot of these get into the hands of beginner guitar players who don't maintain the guitar properly, and it's only that which can break one of these things.

Even if you only put a half-assed effort into maintaining one of these, it can easily last 5 to 10 years. All you basically need to do is keep the truss rod adjusted properly, keep the fretboard and frets clean, use a dirt cheap guitar humidifier to keep the body from warping unnecessarily, and that's basically it. The only thing that needs replacing over time are the bridge pins (also dirt cheap).

One thing Yamaha acoustics do very nicely, even on cheap models, is that they project well. Why? Easy answer. Solid spruce top with mahogany back and sides. The top resonates very well and the back and sides "rounds out" the sound for a very proper sounding acoustic guitar.

Also, this is one of the very few low-priced acoustics that does not need a tuner upgrade. The tuners Yamaha uses are actually better than they need to be, as they're a heavier metal that hold the guitar in tune very well.

Yes, this guitar is boring, but I wouldn't want Yamaha to change how they make these things. Great guitar for what it is that performs reliably for very little money. You really can't ask for any more than that.

Cheap one-pickup electric guitar options

There's a funny thing about one-pickup electric guitars...

...and that funny thing is that for the most part, it's seen as a "custom shop only" thing. But you absolutely shouldn't have to pay several thousands of dollars just to have a one-pickup guitar.

The cheapest one-pickup electric I'm aware of is the Epiphone Les Paul Junior. This is a guitar priced at well under $200 at the time I write this.

The only other cheap one-pickup electric I knew of was the Kramer Baretta Special. The Kramer Baretta is still made, but it's not as cheap as the Special was.

Is there anything besides the Epi LP Junior for a cheap one-pickup electric? There may not be. Sure, you can find one-pickup guitars made for kids, but the Junior may stand alone as the only cheap adult size one-pickup electric.

Why would anyone want a one-pickup electric guitar?

There are some guitar players who only use the bridge pickup. That rear pickup is where they live. The front neck pickup isn't used. Ever.

People who only use the bridge pickup on an electric will sometimes physically cut the wires and take out the front pickup to allow for easier play. When no neck pickup is present, a player who plays in that area won't constantly be hitting the pickup with a pick.

What is the easiest way to get a one-pickup guitar for cheap?

Take a guitar with 2 or 3 pickups and convert it to just one.

Get a guitar where most or all of the electronics are mounted in a pick guard, then just swap out the pick guard for one where the other pickup locations aren't present.

The easiest guitars to convert over to one-pickup are Stratocasters and Telecasters (even if not made by Fender or Squier) because a) there are so many of them out there, and b) because the pick guard conversions are available inexpensively right now.

Telecaster-to-Esquire conversion

Esquire pick guards are dirt cheap and is arguably the easiest one-pickup conversion to do. The Telecaster and Esquire look identical to each other, save for the fact the Esquire does not have a neck pickup.

And yes, technically the Esquire has different pickup wiring compared to a Telecaster, but if you don't bother with the Esquire wiring, nobody is going to notice.

Stratocaster single-humbucker conversion

While there are tons of Strat pick guards out there, when going with just one pickup, one of the more popular conversions is a single-humbucker guard.

This conversion requires slightly more work, because if converting from 3 singles to 1 humbucker, the volume pot needs to be changed from 250k to 500K (otherwise there won't be enough treble response out of the humbucker and it will sound "muddy"). Fortunately, one 500K volume pot is cheap to buy.

Other guitars without pick guards?

The Ibanez GRX70 does not have a pick guard.

If you convert over one of these to a single pickup and take out the other 2, what you're left with are ugly holes.

How can you make those empty holes look better? Fill the holes with black foam. Get yourself a pack of black foam sheets, cut the foam to the size of the pickup cavity and use as many layers as needed until the hole is filled.

Yes, there is white foam available, but I don't recommend using it. In a very short period of time, that foam will start discoloring and turn brown just from regular play and there's really no way around that. Black foam is a much better choice, even if the guitar you convert over to a single pickup is a lighter color.