Ahhh…. the ubiquitous iPhone! It is, indeed, everywhere nowadays.

No! This isn’t going to be yet another one of those …]]>

Ahhh…. the ubiquitous iPhone! It is, indeed, everywhere nowadays.

No! This isn’t going to be yet another one of those iPhone evaluations, urging to you to buy… buy… buy! But, consider this dear reader, the days of the computer, as we know it, has a limited lifespan. Technology marches onward with newer hardware, newer applications, newer form factors, and newer operating systems (we will one day be bidding even the mighty Microsoft a fond “buh-bye”). We are already seeing the Netbook oozing its way into the Laptop sales real estate. Laptops are certainly a move forward in portability, but they are just too big! And one day soon, we will be thinking that the Netbook is also (excepting for its screen size) “too big”.

Enter the Smart Phone! Slowly but surely it’s becoming more competent as a Computing Platform! A far cry from being only a phone with, say, an “extra” like a built in camera.

Smart Phones have some amazing capabilities now. You need to be thinking of them more as ultra-miniaturized computers. Capabilities now include Music, a fairly high resolution Camera/Video Camera, Voice Recorder, Videos, Movies, Photo Albums, Text Editor, Voice recognition, Things to Do Lists, Address Books, and Contact Lists. They also have built in connectivity options like WIFI and Bluetooth. With the current Data Plans you have capabilities of E-mail, “Tweeting”, Instant Messaging, Texting, and Internet Browsing. All of these capabilities used to be things that fell under the purview of COMPUTERS! Now you hold it in the palm of your hand! And your iPhone does even more when you add apps from the App Store.

Apple, via the iTunes Store, has provided yet one more feature to the mix. Application Software! Thousands and Thousands of Applications now exist that can be purchased (most of them for the meager price of $.99), from the iTunes Store. And access to the store is just a simple icon click away! This article, however, is an evaluation of only ONE of those thousands of available Apps for your iPhone. Specifically….  The Very First iPhone application for Truckers!

The First Trucker App on iTunes – The Premier iPhone Trucker App featuring a vast Drivers Resource Page area where you can find information on everything a truck driver might need for his/her job or life on the road.

The creators of the Trucker App are husband and wife team of  Aubery “Allen” and Donna Smith.  What better way to introduce you to the Trucker tool than Allen’s own words contained in the Application’s intro.

“Welcome to the official iPhone user site – Trucker.  As you know, Trucker is the first and premier trucking application for the iPhone. Packed with important features and links related to the trucking industry, Trucker truly is a revolutionary Apple iPhone Application!
Providing links to Government sites and vital trucking resources, Trucker also includes many features established to make the trucking life a little easier and a lot more fun! This first of its kind trucking app has the ability to have content added at any time. Literally, every time you open the Trucker App, there could be new and fresh content, unlike many standard applications which simply remain the same. This application is for you… all the drivers. We urge you to become an active part in the continual development of the Trucker Application.

For example: Have a cool photo that you would like to share? Then e-mail us your photo in .jpg format and we will share it with millions – right on the Trucker App! Have a favorite YouTube video? Send us the URL, and we will review it and post it to the application for everyone to see.

This truly is an interactive trucker application, and it’s just the beginning!”

After the Trucker App has been purchased from the iTunes App Store (again, this remarkable tool is only 99 cents!) and installed on your iPhone (or iPod Touch) your screen will look similar to the photo above. The Trucker App icon will appear, and it will also visually indicate the quantity of any “pending actions” that you might wish to invoke. This dynamic icon will allow you to see if there have been any “new items” posted (News stories, media clips, or Twitter items) without requiring you to even launch the app!

Once you launch the Trucker App you will be able to witness the very Dynamic nature of the application. The “out the windshield view” photograph will change often, as well as any applicable text messages. All areas of the application, invoked by the simple use icons at the bottom of the Home Screen, are equally Dynamic in their individual and ever changing content!

But before I described those areas, let’s look at what Allen calls the “Bloodline of the Trucker Application”, the User Site Resource Page. A simple “click”  and you are whisked away to the most useful areas of the application.

NOTE: The very first time that I used the Trucker App, I completely missed reading the Text, directly below the Home Screen Picture, telling me to “click” there. If you “miss” clicking there, then like myself, you will miss out on absolutely the most useful area of the application!

The new screen is presented to you with convenient links to take you to their individual resource sections, without requiring scrolling down to “find them”. Much of the application’s operations are very predictably “browser like” in their behaviors. It’s my feeling that some real attention was paid to the overall design of the application to keep it intuitive and easy to use.  Keep in mind that the entire application is Dynamic in nature and can be improved or expanded upon at any time. Also keep in mind that Allen and Donna are listening to Truckers inputs. They genuinely want this to be an application that addresses the needs of truckers.

OFFICIAL LINKS -  for example: FMCSA Rules and Regs, Hours of Service Regs, OOIDA, ATA

DOT LISTING – DOT Listings for Each State

TRUCKER SERVICES – Links for finding things like: Lowest fuel prices, Driving Directions, Mileage, Truck Stops, Repair Facilities, Weather, Scales, Truck Washes, Clearances, Load Boards, Motels with Truck Parking, and one of my personal Favorites… A Walmart Locator, With Driving Directions! NOTE: The Walmart Locator, Donna tells me, was recently included after a trucker (Twitter name @markinark) submitted the idea to her.

SECURITY AND EMERGENCY – some examples: TSA, Homeland Security, FEMA, Red Cross

THE DAC REPORT – “Everything You Need to Know About The DAC REPORT – Including a handy link to take you to a location where you can sign the petition to “Stop False DAC Reporting”!

PDF INFORMATION – PDF documents on: HAZMAT Routing, Routes for RadioActive Materials, Driver Qualifications Guidelines, Truck Driving Schools, and info for the CDL Waiver

TRUCKERS HELPING TRUCKERS – Some useful links to other truckers with valued information they’re willing to share with their fellow truckers

U.S. TIME ZONES – ’nuff said?

Most other iPhone applications present a “Done” button selection that quits the app.  In the Trucker application, selecting “Done” takes you back to the last section that you accessed.

The ICONS at the bottom of the Home Screen include links to:

NEWS – News stories from various Internet sources

EVENTS – Coming Trucking Related Events

MEDIA – Some informative and even some entertaining Media Links: Music Videos, Video Clips, Pictures, etc.

TWITTER – This selection allows you to view the Latest Tweets from @Truckerapp. The Tweets include a link which can then direct you to the Headline, or optionally, to the full expanded story

Needless to say, as a trucker myself, I love this application. Virtually all of the information that the app provides is available on the Internet, but ONLY after very exhaustive Searches and/or bookmarking! For only $.99 I have purchased a tool that consolidates everything of interest to me (from a trucker perspective) in ONE remarkably easy to use tool, in only ONE location, on only ONE device! FIVE STARS! Allen and Donna – “mission accomplished”! Thank you both, for all that you do!

Allen Smith has been an advocate for bettering the success and careers of truck drivers and CDL students. He has exposed many trucking industry myths and scams within the industry and in doing so has coined the slogan, “Raising the Standards of the Trucking Industry”.

The iPhone Trucking Application “Trucker” was Allen’s vision to coordinate and organize the most important categories and features, all in one place, so that truck drivers can conveniently have all their needed information, links and vital resources available to them at the touch of a button….right on their phone.

ASKTHETRUCKER
Welcome to our interactive  AskTheTrucker Blog for Truckers and Students!  Here, you will be able to ask Allen questions and interact with one another concerning topics related to “Trucking.”   I will be offering articles here also, for your reading enjoyment and enrichment.   Post comments, ask questions…….interact!

Allen is a 30 year trucking veteran whose goal and passion is to aid those in the trucking industry, whether they be students or new truck drivers. Allen enjoys writing, flying, playing the guitar, and talking to those interested in raising the standards of the trucking industry.

Allen is the original author of “The Truth About Trucking” e-book and Audio CD’s, which have saved thousands from the scams within the trucking industry…truck driving schools and trucking companies.

Allen also hosts the website GuaranteeMove.com designed to eliminate the horrors within the Moving Industry. No stone is left unturned in his book, “How to Guarantee a Perfect Move” As far as we know, there is not another book like this available to the general public.

Finally, there is the website  AubreyAllenSmith.com which briefly describes Allen and who he is;  his goals, motivations, and his passions.

On this website are links to many of Allen’s newest websites which are the home of his latest books,

“So You’ve Got Your CDL…Now What?” and “The Best Truck Driving Jobs- A State by State Guide”

For those who would like a review of all 3 of Allen’s Books which have helped thousands succeed in trucking, please visit:

http://www.truthabouttrucking.com/3BookSpecial/index.html

Donna Smith, a medical lab researcher

http://bettertruckerhealth.blogspot.com

A Blog addressing health issues of the Average American, specifically targeting the Over The Road trucker.

About Me

Twitter: @max4health My husband Allen and I have been on a journey during the last 3 years to help truck drivers succeed in an industry filled with scams and deceit. Our 2 main websites: http://www.truthabouttrucking.com and www.AskTheTrucker.com has aided thousands of students and truck drivers become successful in an industry that has a very high turnover and even failure rate. During my time with Allen on this quest, I began my own research concerning the health of truck drivers. Being in the field of research, I wanted to help Allen and other truck drivers relieve and eliminate the many ailments that truck drivers face, including: joint pain, obesity, diabetes, and arthritis…among a few.

© 2009, Dennis Dearborne. All rights reserved.

I just completed an Online Seminar (the better part of 2 hours) viewing of the about to be released …]]>

I just completed an Online Seminar (the better part of 2 hours) viewing of the about to be released (sometime this Summer?) Google Wave Application. This seminar was geared towards API (Application Programming Interface) developers. Google’s Wave is “Open Sourced for developers”. Which, loosely defined, means… “Ya’ll Come and help us develop this puppy”.

WHAT IS WAVE?

Google Wave is a new communication service previewed recently at an API Developer’s showing called “Google I/O”. “A wave is equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more”. The service seems to combine Gmail and Google Docs into an interesting free-form workspace that could be used to write documents collaboratively, plan events, play games, chat (Twitter for example), or discuss recent news.

FIRST THOUGH, A LITTLE BIT OF “WEB HISTORY”

Two of the most influential successes in digital communications, email and instant messaging, were originally designed in the ’60s to imitate some analog counterparts. Email mimicked “snail mail”, and IM (Instant Messaging) mimicked phone calls. Since then, so many different forms of communications have also been invented; Websites, Blogs, WIKIs, collaborative documents, etc. Computers and networks also dramatically improved along the way.

THEN ALONG COMES A NEW IDEA!

An idea which quite possibly may be the birth of something HUGE, taking us rapidly from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, and completely reshaping the way that we view computer interaction, both in Business and/or Social Networking. Email is now 40 years old, yet still remains the most popular method to communicate. Email came before the internet… before the web. What would email look like IF it were to be invented today?

Email becomes REAL TIME. Instead of simple static documents that need to be created, SENT, distributed, and then REPLIED to, with the same ponderous and static distribution back to the originator. Imagine this whole process occurring in REAL TIME, with all participants of the WAVE making their individual contributions TO that Wave!

Spell Checking also occurs in Real Time as you type your contribution to the Wave. But it’s also so much more than just a “spell checker”. It’s also a “context checker”. Here’s a real example used in the seminar. A demonstrator typed “icland is an icland”. The “spell/context checker” converted this (INSTANTLY) to “Iceland is an island”. Thunderous applause resulted from the programmers in attendance!

WHOSE IDEA IS THIS?

Two engineering brothers (Jens and Lars Rasmussen) created a well known (and well used) application by the name of Google Maps. This also morphed into Google Earth and Google Sky! They then conceived of a new idea/project, which they codenamed “Walkabout”. This idea has morphed into Google Wave!

They started with a set of tough questions:

* Why do we have to live with divides between different types of communication — email versus chat, or conversations versus documents?

* Could a single communications model span all or most of the systems in use on the web today, in one smooth continuum? How simple could we make it?

* What if we tried designing a communications system that took advantage of computers’ current abilities, rather than imitating non-electronic forms?

They then gave developers an early preview of “Google Wave”.

WHAT’S A WAVE COMPRISED OF ANYWAY?

A “wave” is equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Think of a “wave” as something akin to a “thread”. The WAVE starts out simply, gathers participants, and the WAVE builds. It can gather documents, text, graphics,photos, videos, IM’s, WIKI’s, etc as it “builds”.

Wave is an HTML5 App that uses your browser as it’s engine. It’s quite easy for me to imagine the platform being a simple NetBook (or Smart Phone), with it’s internet connectivity, using it’s browser as your “Window” to ALL of your communication needs!

HOW IT ALL WORKS:

Here’s how it works: In Google Wave you create a “wave” and add people to it. Everyone on your “wave” can use richly formatted text, photos, gadgets, and even feeds from other sources on the web. They can insert a reply or edit the wave directly (in REAL TIME I might add, NO waiting required!). It’s concurrent rich-text editing, where you see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing in your wave. That means Google Wave is just as well suited for quick messages (IM’s) as for persistent content — it allows for both collaboration and communication. You can also use “playback” to rewind the wave and see how it (the thread) evolved. This “Playback” capability allows for Newly added participants to “catch up” with conversations, and other added content that occurred before they were added to “the group”. One mouse click on a button… boom! instant “catch up”. Very, very nice capability indeed!

Google says, “As with Android, Google Chrome, and many other Google efforts, we plan to make the code open source as a way to encourage the developer community to get involved. Google Wave is very open and extensible, and we’re inviting developers to add all kinds of cool stuff before our public launch.” Google Wave has three layers: the product, the platform, and the protocol:

* The Google Wave product (available as a developer preview) is the web application people will use to access and edit waves. It’s an HTML 5 app, built on Google Web Toolkit. It includes a rich text editor and other functions like desktop drag-and-drop (which, for example, lets you drag a set of photos right into a wave). This feature ALONE is incredibly powerful. Have you ever tried to create a photo album that ALL members of a group can add to? And merely by performing a drag and drop operation? ALL members of the Wave are upgraded simultaneously AND instantly! And, again, any added Wave participants can “catch up” by merely clicking the “playback” button! WOW!

* Google Wave can also be considered a platform with a rich set of open APIs that allow developers to embed waves in other web services (Twitter for example), and to build new extensions that work inside waves.

* The Google Wave protocol is the underlying format for storing and the means of sharing waves, and includes the “live” concurrency control, which allows edits to be reflected instantly across users and services. The protocol is designed for open federation, such that anyone’s Wave services can inter-operate with each other and with the Google Wave service. To encourage adoption of the protocol, they intend to open source the code behind Google Wave.

In Wave,   what you would think of as an email “REPLY” can be inserted into this “next generation email” scenario as an IM exchange. All of which occurs in REAL TIME. Current IM exchanges (let’s use Skype texting as an example) you spend most of your time watching a “pen scrawl”.. indicating that the other party is typing… typing…. typing…. when, in WAVE, you watch character by character as they are actually being typed. Imagine how much quicker IM’s transpire if you can be reading while they are typing…. and vice versa. This allows you to “formulate” YOUR OWN reply as you read. This can DRAMATICALLY speed up the conversation. BTW, there IS a check box that you can invoke so that others CANNOT see your typing (mistakes and all) until you hit “return”. Have it YOUR way!

This will allow email “type” communications to be combined with IM type communications, all to be combined into ONE TOOL! Once again, new participants can be added to the Wave with a simple mouse click, and a simple function called “playback” allows the new Wave participant to “catch up” to the Wave by adding in prior subject threads, that they, otherwise, would not be privy to.

Private replies (akin to DM’s) can be injected into the threads, and they remain PRIVATE. Pictures can be dragged (from a desktop looking Wave panel,) right into the content of the Wave. Thumbnails appear immediately (as the file transfers of the photos takes place behind the scenes). HTML5 can not support this drag and drop from the desktop quite yet. However it’s, as we speak, being implemented into the new spec. It’s the ONLY part of Wave that isn’t accommodated as yet! Group photo albums can be created quite simply with WAVE, something that remains complex to do with today’s current tools.

This technology is incredibly exciting. I can’t wait for the developers to get busy with API’s and turn Google Wave’s infrastructure into something incredibly flexible and useful. I believe WAVE will SURELY transform the way that we all interact on both Business AND/OR social levels.

Comment I found on the Google Wave forum, to me, pretty much encapsulates my feelings about where the development of this product is headed. I would give David’s full name (for credit to him) but it was not included in his post.

” David said:

I just finished watching the video, and I was blown away. I was amazed at how content-centric this is. Any type of content can theoretically be added to a wave: chats, e-mail, documents, images, spreadsheets, code, video, twits, etc.–anything you wish. Even extensions are exposed as content within waves. This completely breaks down the barrier between different forms of content (and applications) and unifies it all as waves. This means that, theoretically, all of Google’s services can be unified within Google Wave. They wouldn’t necessary have to go away, but their interfaces would be used less, as all their content would be exposed through Google Wave’s interface. Not just that, but any service could be added and exposed as waves, from Google Reader and Gmail to competing services like Flickr and Facebook. Just like RSS feeds pull in the web to us, Wave could eventually pull in all our online activity into one organized place. And we’d rarely need to leave it!

The best part of all this is how open this is. Anyone can offer a competing services, and anyone can theoretically take all his waves with him to a competing service. One could even run a Wave server at home, solving the privacy issues of using a third-party service.

In short, this has the potential to change not just the web, but how we compute in general. I can’t wait to see where this goes.”

Many kudos to all at Google…… Dennis Dearborne The HiTech Trucker

© 2009, Dennis Dearborne. All rights reserved.

Users Reporting Problems With iPhone 3GS, and iPod Touch,  since upgrading software to OS 3.0

Apple sold over one million …]]>

Users Reporting Problems With iPhone 3GS, and iPod Touch,  since upgrading software to OS 3.0

Apple sold over one million iPhone 3GS units in three days. Of course there are bound to be some problems.

Recently, a discolored overheated iPhone 3GS was discovered and blogged about on blogs like Gizmodo, Engadget, and PCWorld. I’m not 100% sure, but I think that the overheating problem might be being caused by the iPhone OS 3.0 software update and it isn’t affecting the iPhone 3GS only, it’s affecting other iPhone and iPod Touch devices as well. After updating my iPod Touch to 3.0 I did notice that it got warmer whenever I plugged it in to charge it or when playing a game. I just did a quick Google search, and it looks like I’m not the only one who has experienced this. I expect Apple to fix this in their next iPhone update (which will I hope will be coming soon!).

A White iPhone 3GS that has overheated, will discolor the plastic on the back to either pink or brown, due to the device running very hot.

There is an error message that can appear onscreen when the operating temperature has become too hot. This is a result of a built in safety mechanism that protects the components of the device. If this message appears, you should turn the device off, move it to a cooler environment, and allow it to cool before resuming use.

Note: When this message appears, the iPhone may still be able to make emergency calls.

Apple has replied, “Conditions and activities that may activate the Temperature warning message: leaving the phone in direct sunlight for extended amounts of time or using certain applications in hot conditions or direct sunlight for a long time”. An Apple proposed overheating scenario is; using GPS tracking in a car on a sunny day or listening to music while in direct sunlight.
Apple recommends Keeping your iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS within acceptable operating temperatures

“Operate iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in a place where the temperature is between 0º and 35º C (32º to 95º F)”. 95º F! Has anyone from Apple been in Dallas in the Summer? “Low- or high-temperature conditions might temporarily shorten battery life or cause the device to temporarily stop working properly”.

Store your iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS (or iPod Touch) in a place where the temperature is between -20º and 45º C (-4º to 113º F). Don’t leave the device in your car, because temperatures in parked cars can exceed this range.

If the interior temperature of the device exceeds normal operating temperatures, you may experience the following as it attempts to regulate its temperature:

* The device stops charging
* Display dims
* Weak cellular signal
“Apple Admits iPhone Overheating Issues — Sort of”

The fact that none of these alleged overheating iPhone users have posted a picture of the warning screen tells me there’s not really an overheating issue. It’s just people feeling the phone get mildly warm, overreacting, or intentionally trying to cause a scandal. Leaving your phone (no matter the brand) in a 113º car is obviously a bad idea, and is no indication of a failure on the part of the hardware.

It’s been noticed one big difference between the 3GS and the original iPhone. The new one is A LOT lighter and seems thinner. To me this means a couple things that might be happening: 1) the faster processor obviously can generate more heat and, 2) The new case is noticeably thinner so more heat is felt by touching it.

It’s been noticed that using the GPS and some other higher intensity apps that the phone gets warm. But so does the original iPhone. It gets very warm! But then the original wasn’t used in a car on the dash with the GPS on. It doesn’t have a GPS

I think, basically, the phones reach the same operating temperatures but the thinner case, and a higher speed processor, is the main reason it feels hotter to the touch.

These reported overheating scenarios are “all over the map”. IMHO I just can’t draw any firm conclussions from all the reported “problems”. Are YOU experiencing any problems with overheating since the software upgrade to Version 3.0? I’m not! How has your iPhone OS 3.0 upgrade experience been so far? Do you have overheating problems because of iPhone OS 3.0?

© 2009, Dennis Dearborne. All rights reserved.

*Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 (6MB cache/2.8GHz/1066Mhz FSB) *4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067Mhz (2 …]]>

*Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 (6MB cache/2.8GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
*4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067Mhz (2 Dimms)
*Edge-to-Edge FullHD Widescreen 16.0 inch RBG LED LCD (1920×1080)
*2.0 MP Built in WebCam with internal microphone
*ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3670 – 512MB Dedicated Video RAM
*500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

*BluRay Disc Combo (DVD/CD read/write + BD read) Slot Load Drive

*Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11AGN Half Mini Card

*ports: 2 USB 2.0, 1 eSATA, 1 HDMI, 1 Firewire (1394), 2 headphone jacks, 1 microphone jack, LAN, external Video

*Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal (2.0+Enhanced Data Rate)

*Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0

Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1 Home Premium Edition 64-bit Edition English (which is required for Windows to recognize 4GB+ RAM)

$2148.00 (plus shipping and taxes) and this could be YOURS too! Unfortunately, you can’t just “ditty-bop” into your local Walmart, or even your local Best Buy and pick one of these sublime “puppies” up, it has to be ordered directly from DELL. You CAN, however, configure this computer online and pick and choose the items of your choice. In practice though, it only takes Dell 3-4 days to build, and then can be received overnight, if you want to get it right away.

The DELL XPS-Studio-1640 is my most recent “Desktop Replacement” category Laptop. I NEED/WANT/COVET the latest and greatest “HiTech Toys” available dear readers! And this Laptop fills the bill perfectly! It plays BluRay movies flawlessly, and the LED back-lit LCD screen is just GORGEOUS!

I’ve recently upgraded my Windows Vista (Dell factory installed) o.s. with the RC1 version of Windows 7. See more POSTs on Windows 7 coming to this very site!

While the screen is “only!” 16 inches it’s in the “widescreen” format and is only slightly smaller (only in height!) than my prior favorite Laptop, the 17″ TOSHIBA QOSMIO. While the screen is only a “titch” smaller than the Toshiba’s, the outside dimensions are MARKEDLY slimmer all the way around. It amazes me how much “stuff” they can cram into such a diminutive package (15.0″x10.0″x1.25″). There is still enough room for 2 Altec Lansing speakers and a subwoofer! Very capable sound system indeed!

The Samsung NC20 (see Netbook eval on this site) measures in at 11.5″x8.5″x1.2″. It’s sound is “thin and puny” in comparison though.

The QOSMIO is a veritable “tank” in comparison at 16.5″x12.0″x2.5″! It takes two hands to pick up the QOSMIO, yet the Dell Studio XPS-1640 can (quite literally) be picked up by pinching it between thumb and forefinger! To be fair to the QOSMIO, it has excellent sound. It SHOULD with 4 Harmon Kardon speakers AND a subwoofer! The QOSMIO has only a 2Ghz processor, Florescent back-lit display, no Hi-Def DVD, and a smaller Hard Drive! Other than the dimensional differences, and the MUCH greater weight, this is still a pretty nice laptop itself, or I wouldn’t have purchased it.

While I had had the QOSMIO for only a couple of months (it’s my backup computer on the truck now) the DELL is a very welcome replacement. The DELL is quite refined and polished in its engineering and finish. Fine touches abound! The screen has to be seen to be believed, and the back-lit keyboard is a very welcome touch while typing in the darkness of the back of my truck.

And, for you gamers, this is close to being the most capable gaming laptop available. It’s, of course, nothing like a full-blown desktop gaming machine! However, I’ve not found a game yet that doesn’t play well on this mighty Laptop! Crysis (and other quite hardware demanding games of similar ilk) play smoothly, even at higher resolution settings and graphics modes.

I’ve, literally, owned a half dozen Toshiba Satellites (one HP Pavilion, and the one QOSMIO) and this DELL just “shines” in comparison. For those of you though that have only the requirement to get your e-mail, and surf the web, BOTH of these machines are radical overkill. I would suggest getting one of the far more cost effective “new breed” NETBooks. They are not only much cheaper, but they are a much more practical size. And we all know that our real estate in a truck can be very precious indeed!

Customer “Ratings” of this computer at : http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-studio-xps-16?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=corp&~lt=popup#reviews

© 2009, Dennis Dearborne. All rights reserved.

$299.99-$349.99  (Low price was at a Pilot, High price was at a T/A. I Originally obtained …]]> PC*MILER Navigator 430

$299.99-$349.99  (Low price was at a Pilot, High price was at a T/A. I Originally obtained my unit at a Loves for $349.99)

FEATURES
4.3 inch screen (Diagonally). Actual screen size is 2.25″ high x 3.75″ wide

Routing: Practical, Shortest, 53′/102” Trailer, HazMat, National Network and Toll Avoidance
13′ 6” height, 48′ length, 80,000 pound weight and 96” width restrictions

Truck-specific, loud spoken Dock-to-Dock directions throughout the U.S. and Canada

Easily detour around unexpected congestion and avoid specific roads

Miss a turn? Fast automatic route recalculation.

Truck stops, rest areas, weigh stations plus 6 Million additional Points of Interest

Easy-to-see Driver Safety Screen; flexible and clear 2D and 3D map views

Pre-installed software and map data, works out of the box

PRACTICAL USE

This is the highly anticipated GPS model that is designed to be used by Truckers (it took me about 4 months to find a Truck Stop that actually had one in stock!). It allows you to create “user profiles” that can contain such things as; Vehicle Length, Vehicle Height, Vehicle Width, and Maximum Gross Weight. Profiles can also include such things as; Preferred routing settings, such as your individual preferences to types of roadways. For example, do you prefer Interstates to Highways, care a little, care a lot? Or, do you need routing that is legal for Hazmat Loads? Or allow/disallow Toll roads?

These preferences, contained within your profile settings (switching profiles is very easily performed, if you have more than one) are then utilized to properly calculate your routing directions. Viewing your routing (which I will also refer to as a “Turns List”) can be easily performed by touching your finger to a “button” on the main screen.

On this same main screen you may also select whether you wish to use a 3-D or 2-D map presentation. There is also a VERY handy presentation called “Safety Mode”, where all you see is a very uncluttered blue screen with a large yellow directional arrow, Turning Instructions ["Stay on I-75 (Larry McDonald Highway) as GA-5 Splits off"], Miles remaining until that turn, and smaller info presented for ETA to destination and MILES to destination. A very useful screen indeed! I like this screen very much and, since I have TWO GPS units in front of me at all times (specific reasons for this will be found in the SUMMARY at the bottom of this GPS evaluation), this is my DEFAULT Screen on this unit.

This unit is quite fast with its route calculations (and re-calculations). Its computed total trip miles and ETA to destination figures are very accurate.

I find its smaller screen, however, to be hard to see, And the tiny “buttons”, used to control operation, “hard to hit” with my fingers.

Its visual “turn information” is quite easy to see and easy to interpret. However, its audible instructions are very difficult for me to hear clearly and to understand.

Once I’ve compared its “Turns List” to my other GPS, and to my Atlas, I write out a backup routing list (old fashioned pen and ink!) with the resulting routing and the mileage to the individual turns. Once I’ve done that, other than to monitor my UPCOMING NEXT TURN (using the Safety Mode screen) and to verify what the CURRENT road is (the Cobra will NOT do this), I find I have no use for it. It DOES make itself quite useful though if I need a very quick re-route (for road closures, wrecks, high water, circumventing stray dingos or sheep, whatever) OR if the Cobra should “White Screen” on me! See info on “White Screen” below in the COBRA “Practical Use” section.

I can NOT trust the routing that it gives me to be TRUCK SPECIFIC!! Once my given routing directions took me onto a street that briefly became a Bank ATM lane!! Hmmmmmmmmm! Think I could have made a very quick and easy “withdrawal” had I taken that route!

The unit will also, frequently, emit a very loud (and quite annoying) “eeeeeeh eeeeeeh eeeeeeh” warning alarm. This will be accompanied by a pop-up screen stating that, “CO-PILOT has identified this road as truck restricted. Always obey locally posted regulations”. This alarm will often occur when I am following the very (truck specific) routing that the GPS has calculated for me to travel! Also, these routes (when the alarm occurs) can be MAJOR INTERSTATES! I can also get the warning sound (jolts me right up into the air) when on roads to shippers, consignees, or even access roads into, or out of, Truck Stops!! I get these warning so often that I just ignore them altogether now! I call this ignoring phenomenon “User Fatigue”!

PRO’s

The processor chip in this unit is very fast. It can calculate your entire trip routing in 3-5 seconds! This fast CPU (Central Processing Unit) is particularly useful when you deviate from the unit’s proposed routing and it needs to re-calculate your route.

Safety Mode Presentation Screen, see description above.

Rock Solid hardware and programming. I have never experienced ANY error messages nor erratic hardware behavior from this unit.

CON’s

Do NOT trust this unit to give you routing intended for TRUCKS!! See Evaluation above for details.

Clumsy and unintuitive user interface. I find myself “lost” in the menus when trying to invoke a feature, or find trip info.

Small screen size also equals very small “buttons” and keyboard “keys”. I very frequently “miss” hitting a button at all, or worse yet, hit a “button” that was not intended.

Squawky and, at times, unintelligible sound quality. There are multiple “voices”, that you can select from, but only a couple of those are intelligible enough to suit me. Unfortunately, those clearer “voices” do NOT include Street Names when they tell you to make turns. Seems that speaking clearly takes so much effort so as to not being able to afford specificity. “Take next Right Turn” and not “Turn Right at Main Street in 1/4 mile”. Or, specific turn instructions like “Take Exit 45 ahead for I-75 South”. For the more detailed turn instructions you must select (to me anyway) one of the less intelligible “voices”.

COBRA GPSM5000

$349.99 or less (List price is $499.99)

FEATURES

5 inch screen (Diagonally). Actual screen measures 3.0″ high x 4.0″ wide.

The 5” OptiView Ultra-Bright Touchscreen provides the best view of your map screen under extreme lighting conditions, and the widescreen display lets you see more of it

The larger size allows for a much larger speaker for best clarity.

Over 7.6 million points of interest

The Cobra GPSM 5000 provides easy hands-free communication for Bluetooth enabled cell phones.

Speed and red light camera alerts.

Adjustable speed warning, magnified turn details, route comparison, SmartPower, customizable menus, automatic re-routing and more.

Pre-installed software and map data, works out of the box.

PRACTICAL USE

Comparatively speaking, this unit is a dream to operate. ALL GPS manufacturers could take a lesson from Cobra’s user interface. Most of the features and capabilities can be utilized right out of the box and without any reading of the User Manual. There is even a video (with sound) tutorial that plays automatically the first time that you turn the unit on. As part of the unit’s setup, you can specify (or remove) additional Help prompts.

The user interface is very well thought out and very easy to use. Just about any feature, or trip info that you desire, is just a few “finger clicks” away. This includes getting into the “guts” of the operating system to control setup, optimization, customization, and nice features like the Address Book. Don’t look for any Address book capabilities on the PC*Miler, much less a way to Save/Restore your addresses. Another very nice feature is a driver info screen (programmable) with Six Selections. Things like; Sunrise/Sunset times, Altimeter, Average MPH, Drive Time, Stopped Time, Current Date/time, and more! Another feature that I just haven’t found on ANY other GPS manufacturer, without regard to price.

Another capability that I just love (and use several times daily) is a “Favorite Brands” list. You can add to this list things like; specific Truck Stops, Restaurants, Retail Stores, and Institutions. My Favorites list contains; Flying J, T/A, Walmart, Best Buy, and Olive Garden. You can add many more brands (and categories) than I just listed, but those suit me fine. You can, for example, select the category of Restaurants. It is then broken down into things like; Fast food, Italian, Mexican, American, Seafood, etc. Once you select a category, it then presents you with a list of specific Brand Names. This feature is very easy to configure, and once setup, it takes just two “finger clicks” to get all of your favorites. Once you click on a specific favorite, this unit “finds” all locations within a radius of wherever you are at the moment. If any of the resulting locations are on your current route you will see a special icon next to that result. All of the “results” (whether on your current routing or not) are presented in another list which contains an “arrow”, indicating the direct of travel, and the mileage to the location. Once you specify a particular location, the unit will give you the address and phone number and allow you to either start navigating to that location, or merely place the brands logo on a flag marking its location on your current trip’s map. You can also select to CHANGE your current location to any other City or State, and THEN invoke your Favorites List. This is very handy if you are making a delivery in noname city and you want to find out if you should wait until you deliver, or if you should find a Walmart (etc) before you arrive there. The Cobra models are the ONLY manufacturer of a GPS that has this particular feature! This SINGLE feature, to me, is worth the price of the unit alone!

This is, by a very wide margin, the best GPS unit I have ever owned (or tested)! There are some behavioral issues that I have with this unit that make it frustrating at times, one of the MAIN reasons that I have TWO GPS units operating at all times.

The larger screen size (looks much larger than it actually is) is very well laid out and the “buttons” are quite large in comparison to just about any manufacturer of GPS units I’ve seen.

PRO’s

Large Screen Size
Large Buttons
Customizable strip at top of screen that displays YOUR choices
Intuitive Programming
Easy access to many types of information and program features
Very Clear Audio and “voices”
Save able Address Book
Favorites List

CON’s

I’m not sure if it’s just my particular unit or a characteristic of the Brand. I get occasional Hardware and software errors, sorta like any version of MicroSoft Windows I’ve ever owned! The PC*MILER seems to be immune from such things, rock solid in its operation. Several times a week I will get what I will call “White Screens”. All visual information is GONE. The unit, however, continues to function and give its audible commands. To recover from this, I just power it down and back up again. I get a screen asking me if I want to continue with my previous route or select a new one. One “finger click” and the unit recalculates the trip and you’re right back where you were. The PC*MILER is much quicker at recalculation because of a faster processor. Just so that you know what “quick” means, we’re talking about a few seconds vs 15-20 seconds!

The Cobra is not “truck aware” and CAN route you on an illegal route. It gives the same routing for cars, trucks, planes, boats, camel back, and even if you are on foot!

SUMMARY

Both units can generate a “Turns List”. However, the PC*MILER tells you only what road you will take, and for how many miles. That’s IT! If you want a quantity of total miles (say you’re using your speedometer’s “trip odometer”) before the next turn, then you’d better break out a calculator!!

The Cobra model presents the same information but adds to that the capability to “finger click” each individual turn on the Turns List. Once you click on an item it will then take you to a separate screen that will show you the TOTAL miles you will have to travel to get to that location, but will also allow you to “show on map” and get a small map (or large – you can also zoom in or out) showing you the roads leading into (or out of) that particular turn. Again, ANOTHER feature that is almost worth the price of the unit in, and of itself!

The Cobra’s bigger screen is definitely better for my tired old eyes. Everything is so much more legible. The Cobra can easily zoom in/out and a scale of miles can be configured to display on each map screen. While the PC*MILER can also zoom in/out it does so with tiny little buttons that are very hard to “hit” with your finger. There also is no scale of miles capability, so one has no concept as to how much distance you are looking at when zoomed.

Both units allow you to select different types of map displays. The PC*MILER has more selections to choose from than the Cobra, but I find ANY of the Cobra selections to be better than ANY of the PC*MILER’s. This, of course, is a matter of personal preferences and tastes.

Both units can do either a 2-D or a 3-D map presentation. Although the PC*MILER has the additional “Safety Mode” presentation, of which I run it in almost exclusively. This display is very nice if you just want a quick (and SAFE) glimpse of what to do next, and when. I like this PC*MILER feature a lot.

Both units allow you to select routing that is based on your preference of “Quickest Time” or “Shortest Route”.

Both units contain a rechargeable battery and can be used on foot if you like.

Both units can be configured to present separate map styles dependent on Night or Day operation.

Both units can display ETA and Mileage to Destination.

Both units feature “type ahead” often saving you entry keystrokes.

Again though, if you are purchasing the PC*MILER because it is “Truck Aware” DON’T! Do NOT trust it for “Low Clearances”, Bridge Weight Restrictions, etc. In most cases, I find that both units will frequently recommend virtually identical routes anyway. AND… don’t EVER RELY on ANY GPS for your routing anyway. ALWAYS plot your routing manually as a primary “tool”. A GPS should only be used as “backup” for a sanely planned (by a real human) route. ALL electronic devices can either FAIL unexpectedly OR make choices for you that border on the insane!! I always check my GPS routing against a map AND write my routing down on a piece of paper!

My “truck aware” PC*MILER has attempted, many times, to take me onto roads/streets with weight restrictions of “less than 10 tons”. Or instructions to make right angle turns that a 10 Wheeler would have trouble with. So exactly WHY did I take the time to input my truck length, max weight, height, and width for anyway? Expecially if the unit is just going to ignore them! That was my SOLE reason for buying the PC*MILER in the first place. And I will submit to you, is the main reason why ANY of you will be attracted to it!

In the end analysis, these units are more alike than they are different. But each unit has its own particular strengths and weaknesses. THAT is why I have TWO GPS units hanging in front of me my dear reader! Combine the two units and what you have is, in this writers opinion, the perfect GPS unit! If I had to select only ONE, it would, without hesitation, be the COBRA 5000.

© 2009, Dennis Dearborne. All rights reserved.