Garmin DriveSmart 66, four months later
It was worth getting this.
In September '22 I bought a new Garmin DriveSmart 66. I liked this model enough to where I bought a second refurb model for backup for 44% less.
Do both work? Yes. Do they work well? Yes.
After four months of use, my DS66 still works fine, although I know enough about Garmin automotive navigators to where I know the unofficial rules of using one of these things.
Rule #1 is powering off the unit fully when done driving for the day. You turn the car off and the screen blanks out, giving the appearance it's turned off, but it's not. Over time, what this does is drain the battery completely. You start the car one day and the Garmin won't turn on, so you think it's broken. It's not. All you have to do is that while your car is on and power connected to the Garmin, press and hold the power button until the screen comes on again, problem solved... BUT... the proper the workaround is to fully power the Garmin off. Before you turn the car off, press and hold the power button on the Garmin until a message pop up on the screen asking if you want to power off the device, and power it off that way. Do you have to do this every time you leave the car? No. It's only necessary if it's going to be more than 3 hours before you start driving again.
Rule #2 is avoid overheating while off. This means keep it out of the sun when parked. Either cover the screen with a microfiber cloth so it absorbs the heat instead of the unit itself, or just taking the unit off its mount and putting it in the glove box or some other place where the sun isn't beating on it.
Rule #3 is avoiding overheating while on. I use this Arkon mount to place my DS66 over a vent. On hotter days I will run either just air or air conditioning to keep it cooled off.
Were I using a smartphone for navigation, I'd still have to follow rules 2 and 3 because there's just no way around that.
Is the DS66 navigation good?
Yes, but that brings up another rule for any navigation system, be it Garmin, phone or otherwise.
Rule #4 is to never trust a navigation system 100% of the time.
More often than not I can punch in or speak a destination to the DS66, and the route it gives me is usually best way to get there.
Sometimes the DS66 gives me oddball routes, although not that often. If I do notice something weird in the route it gives me, I use the detour function to get around a specific section, or, avoid the weird part of the route myself once I encounter it and let the DS66 auto-recalculate.
There is something I have learned the hard way. When the DS66 calculates a route to a place I've been to many times before using a totally different way than usual, there's a reason for that. It's avoiding traffic. I have had it happen where I ignored the DS66's suggested directions, went the way I thought was better and uh-oh, traffic. I'd come upon the traffic and then realize, "Oh. Now I know why it was telling me to go a different way. Oops."
This doesn't mean I always use the route the DS66 suggests. There are times when I know my way is better, and other times when the DS66 knows the better way.
I'll give an example of when I go my way. When the DS66 says to take a specific highway exit, and on approach of that exit I see the ramp all backed up with cars, I won't take it and just use the next one.
An example of when the DS66's instructions are better is for just about any traffic alert. For major traffic events, the DS66 auto-recalculates around it. Sometimes it's a long way around. I'm okay with that. Better to take the long way around and be moving instead of stuck in gridlock traffic and stopped.
Is the DS66 reliable?
Yes. My DS66 acquires a signal quickly, signal lock and location accuracy are excellent, speaker volume is good, voice recognition for "OK Garmin" works fine... no real problems to report.
The only complaints I have are two annoyances. The touchscreen is a little over-sensitive and there's some menu choppiness when entering locations. Maybe this will be fixed with a software update in the future.
Finding stuff
Something I've been doing ever since I started using Garmin nuvi models in the mid-2000s is using GPS coordinates whenever I need to get to a very specific place. What I'm about to describe is something I would do even if I were using phone navigation.
Addresses and POI (Point Of Interest) locations are usually correct. However, if the destination is a place where I need to be led to a very specific spot, that's when I use GPS coordinates instead.
An example of this would be a specific entrance at a large shopping mall because that spot does not have an address or even a name, so using coordinates is required.
To get that info, I will either a) go to Google Maps on my computer, enable satellite view and right-click the spot I want to go to and get the coordinates that way, or b) launch Google Maps browser version on my phone, enable satellite view and long press the spot to get the coordinates.
I take those coordinates, input that into the DS66 and I will be navigated exactly to that spot, which is exactly what I want. Also, if it's a place I intend on returning to later, saving that location is easy on the DS66 and I can name it whatever I want. Since the favorite is saved direct to the DS66 and not the phone, I don't have to do any of that login/authenticate/sync stuff. I just turn on the DS66, find the saved spot in Saved and go.
Would I be better off using Google Maps? No, because again, locations like the one above can't be found by name nor address. Regardless of map system used, navigating to a very specific spot requires direct GPS coordinates input.
Better than the older Garmin models?
I have to get a physical size thing out of the way first before answering this.
The DS66 is bigger than the DriveSmart 55 but smaller than the DriveSmart 65. If you want a model the same size as the 65, you actually have to get the DriveSmart 76.
Does the 76 operate the same as the 66? Yes. Whatever I say about the 66 applies to the 76.
The single most annoying thing about the 55/65 are the always-there favorites icons on the map that cannot be hidden. Those infuriating ugly green heart icons are gone and off the map on the 66.
There are some things about the 66 that are annoying to some, but I personally don't consider them annoyances.
Here they are:
- No more "Shorter Distance" route calculation option. "Faster Time" and "Off Road" are all you get.
- Avoid tolls prompt removed. With tollways, you set to always take them or always avoid them.
- In the Route Planner, ability to sort points of a route based on distance to them was removed.
- You cannot request a detour using a voice command.
- Uses USB-C, meaning any older Garmin charge cord you have that's mini USB won't work with the 66.
Some of these choices I understand while others were bad decisions.
"Shorter Distance" more often than not really didn't work in your favor, especially when combined with other set avoidances that would result in route calculations taking a really long time. You can basically get the same type of route just by using "avoid highways" or by tapping the double-arrow icon for any destination to show an alternative route.
I definitely understand the reason why the tollway question was removed, because that reduces driver distraction, and I'll tell you exactly where - while driving. I turned off the tollway question on my older Garmin models because if I had to take a detour, I did not want the GPS asking me if I wanted to take toll roads or not on recalculation. All I wanted was to get back on track without any manual confirmation of the route. Having the tollway as always-on or always-off available from a submenu was the right thing to do.
The elimination of sorting points of a route based on distance didn't affect me, but really ticked off delivery drivers. That was a feature they really liked that they used often. The Drive 52 and DriveSmart 55/65 were the last to have it as far as I'm aware.
Removing the ability to request a detour by a voice command was dumb on Garmin's part and should be put back. Requesting a detour at bare minimum requires 4 taps (from map: Menu > Edit Route > Detour by Distance > Avoid Next X miles). If you have Trip Data fields or the Turns list enabled, then it's 5 taps because you have to close Trip Data or Turns first.
As for using USB-C now, my only complaint is that Garmin didn't do this sooner. This means that presently, replacement power blocks and Garmin-specific USB-C cables aren't exactly plentiful. Available, yes, but not plentiful. This isn't a problem for me personally since I have two DS66's, meaning I have a backup block and cord. For others that just get one, yes the block and cord provided are of good material and should last for years. I'm the crazy dude who just has to have backups just in case, even if I never use them.
The DS66 delivered what I wanted
What I needed and got with the DS66 is a rock solid navigator that does not drop signal and gets all its position and traffic info using no phone data connection whatsoever. Yes, I can connect my phone to it optionally to get additional goodies and info using the Garmin Drive app (including traffic cameras), but it's not required.
My DS66 is still working fine 4 months later. Is it perfect? No, but it works like it's supposed to, which is all I can ask of it.
I'm finally getting away from HDD for SSD
1TB is under 50 bucks now.
In late '19 I bought a Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SSD as my main drive. Works great, no problems. I did not commit to 1TB because it was too expensive.
Well, that's not the case anymore because a 1TB SSD is under 50 bucks. The Silicon Power a.k.a. SP brand offers 1TB for cheap. According to Amazon user reviews, it's a decent SSD so I went ahead and bought it.
My main computer is an old Dell Latitude laptop in a docking station. The computer is over 10 years old, but with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD, oh yeah, it's plenty fast enough. SSD speeds up any old laptop that can support one. Windows laptops or Macbooks, doesn't matter. If you have an older laptop that has HDD now, dump that and get SSD. A 256GB SSD is literally under 20 bucks new, so you have no excuse.
My main drive is SSD, but my backup drive is a 512GB HDD. I've been wanting to bump the backup storage up to 1TB for some time now. Sure, at any point I could have bought a 4TB HDD since those are cheap and plentiful, but... it's HDD, meaning slower and mechanical, meaning it will eventually start making whining noises as it gets older.
True, you can't beat the price of HDD. When you want the most media storage for the cheapest possible price, HDD is still top dog. In the world of HDD, 4TB is actually small potatoes. 8TB is cheap now, and so is 16TB. The price starts to get steep only when you bust into 18TB territory or greater.
Why spend more on SSD? Aside from the fact it's 100% silent, it runs cooler and can take a knock better. Moving around a hard drive is a bad idea, but moving around an SSD doesn't cause any problems at all. This means if the SSD is housed in an external enclosure, nothing bad will happen to it if you move it from one computer to another. Heck, you could even physically mail the thing and it would survive the rigors of going through the postal system with ease.
HDD is the only storage thing I use on a computer these days that physically moves on the inside to operate, and I'll be happy to finally get away from it...
...although I'd be lying if I said an 8TB didn't look attractive. When those get down to $50, I wouldn't be opposed to buying a pair and using them RAID 1 style (one mirrors the other).
For now, a single 1TB SSD suits me just fine.
Things I eat now that I didn't 10 years ago
If I had a conversation with my 10-years-ago self, he'd give me weird looks if I told him what I eat now.
Tastes change as you get older. As my middle age continues, I now eat different foods because I genuinely prefer the taste of them over what I used to eat.
These are a few things I eat now that I didn't 10 years ago.
In the world of snack crackers and chips, you have the choices of potato, corn (ex: Fritos, Doritos, etc.), flour (as in saltines, ex: Zesta), rice and wheat.
Triscuits are made from wheat, and I prefer wheat crackers over all other base ingredients. I learned from eating Triscuits that I do not like potato chips. I used to eat potato chips somewhat frequently. Now I won't touch them. I'm a Triscuit guy now.
I have no childhood memory of eating rice. It's not that I'm repressing bad memories or anything like that. My parents simply did not buy rice for whatever reason. It wasn't until years later in my 30s that I discovered rice. However, it wasn't until middle age that I found out about jasmine rice.
Jasmine rice has a nice scent to it when cooking and is far better than white or brown for taste. The texture of it is also "just right". Take a 1/3 cup of dry jasmine rice, boil for 10 minutes, done. It's that easy.
White Onions
I've had onions ever since I was a kid, but actually buying, preparing and cooking them wasn't something that happened until I reached middle age. I prefer whites because they're the most versatile and easiest to see the color change when frying.
Black Beans
Although I also like light red kidney, dark red kidney, red, garbanzo and a few other bean varieties, black is my preferred bean. I originally started getting these because they're always available and typically have the lowest amount of calories per serving. After a while, they became my preference over other beans.
Sardines
The only reason I tried these originally is because all my life I heard sardines were gross. Then I thought, "How bad could they be?", so one day while at the market I bought a can of them. Back at home, I opened the can, grabbed a fork, had a taste, and thought, "Oh. This basically tastes almost like tuna." After that I just finished the can.
Every so often I'll buy 2 or 3 small cans of sardines. It's only about 100 Calories per can.
1993 vs. 2023 portable computer drive storage
What could you get 30 years ago compared to 2023?
In 1993, most new home PCs on the low end were outfitted with a 110MB to 130MB hard disk drive. There was absolutely nothing portable about that computer storage. If you wanted something portable and moreover affordable, the 3.5" floppy diskette was your only option.
And when I say the floppy was your only choice back then, I'm not kidding. The Iomega Zip Drive didn't exist until '94. In '93, it was floppy or nothing if you wanted a portable means of moving data.
Interestingly, older home computers of the '80s (like the Commodore 64) had the two affordable portable storage options of diskette and compact cassette. Windows PCs and Macs however didn't use tapes, so again, it was floppy or nothing if you wanted portable data storage.
2023 portable data storage options
I'll first say that my definition of portable data storage is physical storage media (meaning not a computer in itself) that fits in your pocket. I do not consider the internet itself to be portable data storage. Sure, you can store data to it, but to access the data you need to be connected to the network. If you don't have internet access for whatever reason, you don't have access to your files.
At the time I write this in January 2023, physical portable data storage options all operate the same way, spread across 3 dominant connection types. Flash memory is what is used, and the dominant connection types are USB A, USB C and SD (which includes microSD).
You basically have 3 shape types. Sticks, cards and slabs. Sticks are generally called flash drives, cards are generally called memory cards, and the slabs are generally called external SSD.
Has a portable 1TB finally become affordable in '23?
Almost.
Where sticks, cards and slabs are concerned, here's how things fare out for now:
Slabs have busted under $100 for 1TB where general availability is concerned.
The 1TB SD is available, but still not under $100. It's close, though. And by close I mean within $20 close.
Sticks have also busted under 1TB, but you have to be really careful about what you buy because there are a lot of not-so honest sellers selling a claimed 1TB that actually aren't. When you browse the listings for those, if it's a generic brand, don't buy it. You have to go by brand to actually get that 1TB. Look for SanDisk, Kingston and PNY and you'll get a true 1TB.
Should you get 1TB of portable storage?
For the home computer, yes. Having 1TB you can just chuck in a drawer and use at any time is darned convenient.
For the phone, that all depends on your phone and if you're willing to spend slightly over $100 to get it.
Take for example the Samsung Galaxy A23, which was released March '22 and still current now in early '23. That phone supports up to 512GB, so you can't even use a 1TB memory card even if you wanted to.
Other Samsung phones do support up to a 1TB memory card (such as the Galaxy S20). But even so, some models newer than that don't.
My opinion when it comes to phone storage: Unless you take a ridiculous amount of photos and record a ton of videos, 128GB is fine for most people, 256GB is great and 512GB is awesome. Also remember that you don't necessarily have to have a ridiculous amount of storage in the phone itself. As long as you can connect a USB stick to it, there's always that option too for added storage (and it's easier to back up with since you can plug/unplug a USB stick whenever you want with no special tools).
Driving a car that nobody wants
There are advantages to this.
Next week I'm buying new tires for my car. I did the penny test on my tread and yeah, I need new rubber. I could probably get away with driving on the tires I have for another 6 months or even a year, but better safe than sorry.
The total cost to replace all 4 tires will be about $400, and that's for everything. Tire cost, balancing, mounting, TPMS kits, the works.
In 2022 dollars, $400 for new tires with full installation is cheap. The entire reason I can get a price that low is because I drive a car nobody wants - a subcompact sedan that's over 10 years old.
If I were driving a recent SUV, such as a 2018 Ford Explorer with 18" wheels, the cheapest price I could get for tires + installation would be $800. Yes, double. Why? Because SUVs are hot-hot-hot, that's why. If you price out tires + install for an '18 Mustang with 18" wheels, guess what? Price drops to $650. Why? Because Mustangs are not hot-hot-hot.
Yes, this literally means your maintenance cost would be less driving a Mustang when compared to an Explorer. Also, the Mustang has 4 MPG better fuel economy than the Explorer does when both cars are equipped with the 2.3L 4-cylinder turbo engine, so you save cash there too. The Mustang is absolutely the cheaper car to own long term. Crazy, isn't it?
However, nothing is as cheap to own as a subcompact.
To give you an idea of how unwanted the car I drive is, here's a quick description: It's over 10 years old as I said above, a sedan (the hatchbacks are more desirable), no infotainment screen, and... it's a manual.
People hear "manual" and think "sports car". Not my car. It's just a little sedan with a manual gearbox. Yes, it has A/C, cruise control, power windows, power locks and keyless entry. But it's still a manual, and there's not many people that know how to drive one of those anymore.
Everything really is cheaper with a subcompact
Tires, filters, brakes, bulb replacement and just about anything else you can think of is significantly lower in price when compared to an SUV or a pickup.
Heck, the cost is even less when compared to a compact crossover. The cheapest tire+install for one of those, such as a Chevrolet Trax, is $620.
I seriously don't understand why more people don't drive subcompacts because they're not just for commuting. Most subcompacts today can easily fit 4 adults while still having decent storage in the rear. All of the newer ones can achieve 40 MPG highway easily on regular gas with no hybrid system. These cars are fast enough, are decent peoplemovers and are easier to drive compared to an SUV or truck.
When you know, you know
People who drive small cars can actually maintain them because the cost to do so is less. As such, the probability of getting a decent used car increases if it's small. This doesn't mean you can just buy a small car blind (some are lemons just like with any car), but generally speaking, yeah, single-owner used small cars are usually decent buys.
Some people think others give a crap about the car you drive. They don't. Other drivers don't care. And for any passengers you carry around, all they care about is a comfortable safe journey in a clean car that doesn't stink.
My small car is invisible to others because it just blends in. I never get challenged to a race, nor do I want to be. I can park anywhere. Thieves never give my car a second look or even a first one.
I'll end this with a mildly funny story.
The only other drivers I've ever seen who care about my car are others who drive the same model.
One day I was driving on the highway, driving a speed I shouldn't have been. I see this guy in a car just like mine up ahead, except his was a different color. He's in the far left lane waiting for this slower idiot that's hogging the left to get the hell out of the way. I see an opening on the far right lane (this was a 5-lane part of the highway). I check my mirrors, no cars there, quick look over the shoulder, no cars, safe to go. I change over to the far right lane and blaze by everybody on the left.
That guy saw what I did, then did the "Well, if he can do it, I can do it, I got the same car!" thing as soon as that lane hog got out of his way, stomped the gas and blazed past me at 90 miles per hour or more.
Stupid? Yes. But funny. My stupid increased his stupid, and the result of that was two little subcompact commuter cars dusting everybody else on the highway for a short spell. That's not hilariously funny, but hey, I'll take what I can get.