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- 11-27-2003, 12:44 PM #1LennyGuest
Ok, I did the silliest thing of my life today, I went ahead and bought the
Sony-Ericsson bluetooth remote-controlled car today!
Ever since I saw news about it on the web, I wanted one. Also, since it
works with the T610 cellphone, which I bought earlier this year, I thought
they'd be a perfect match, IF ever I could get my hands on one!
Well, today I did.
It cost a REDICULOUS amount of money for such a small gadget, but then again
so does a Sony-Ericsson bluetooth headset, with the difference the headset
can actually be USED for something. The car just moves around (in a not very
precise manner, might be added).
Ok, so on with the show. What's it like then?
Well, for a geekazoid such as myself, it is a marvel of engineering and
worksmanship! Well, um, maybe not quite, but it IS quite spiffy. First
thing that strikes you is how small it is. Length is about 7cm, width 3cm
and height maybe a smidgen below 3cm too. Weight... Well, not much, but it's
not empty either. There's a nice, solid sense to it I have to say.
The body of the car's metallic white (hood, front fenders and doors),
metallic silver (around the windows and the rear of the roof), black (the
roof itself) and metallic green (rear fenders, spoiler). The wheels are
chromed and comes equipped with low-profile rubber tires. When looking
through the windows you can see the electronics inside. There's a small
rectangular circuit board with an IC on it covered by a metal cover, a dual
LED - red and green LEDs in the same package - a sheet metal antenna and not
much else really. A small electric motor drives the rear wheels, and there's
a tiny actuator that steers left and right.
Preparing the car for use is simple. Snap it onto the phone's power socket
to charge it. Yes, the PHONE's, not the charger. This is so you can have a
blast anywhere I guess, not just where there's a wall socket nearby for the
charger unit. The manual says the car should be charged for "up to an hour",
so I figured I'd better time it and remove it in time so it won't overcharge
or drain my phone's battery. Well, no need. After 55 mins of flashing the
red LED, the car shut itself off automatically. After that I popped it off,
held down the button on top for like 10-15 secs, and the LED started
flashing red/green, meaning it was ready for pairing.
All bluetooth devices need to be paired with one another so they know who to
talk to, and also to avoid unauthorized use. This is easily done using the
cellphone's menus, scan for devices, select the car, enter the passcode
listed in the manual, done. After that, the device can be re-named from the
rather dull-sounded CAR-100 to something more suitable. I named mine "The
Batmobile". Wrong colors perhaps, but cool-sounding at least!
After the thing is paired, the LED will blink green every second or so to
show it is on. Pressing it again will activate the "driving mode". This must
be done from the car side; there's no way to initiate driving from the
phone. When the button's pressed, it will synch with the phone and a window
will appear with "instructions", showing which keys do what.
As for performance, this thing moves at an OK clip I have to say, dunno what
it is to scale, but for my kitchen table I have to use it on its lowest
speed setting (it's got three), or else I risk going off the sides. The
controls are very simple.* 0 and # selects speed. 1 and 4 is forward and
reverse, 2 and 3 is left and right. The joystick and volume buttons can also
be used, but that doesn't work as well, since the car won't stop if the
joystick is released after pushing forwards or back. Maybe if I had a larger
surface to drive on, but my floor is kinda dusty so I don't want to drive it
there. (Could do some cleaning I guess, but I wanted to drive it as quickly
as possible, heh heh!)
Turning radius is maybe 20 cm or so, you need some room to manouever this
thing. It doesn't exactly turn on a dime I'm afraid. Still, I could easily
go round and round my fairly big table. The wheels are on the small side
though so rough tablecloths, thick carpets and such are more difficult to
navigate.
As it's not a real radio-controlled car, steering it is somewhat of a
challenge. There's a slight delay which varies between the time one
presses/releases a button and the car actually responds. Usually it is
rather short, but if the car is heading for the edge of the table and it
doesn't stop immediately when I tell it to I tend to get a wee bit worried!
Also, the steering, and indeed forwards/backwards motion is "digital" in
nature, meaning either it does it or it doesn't. Well, what can you expect?
After all, it's just a toy, though an expensive one.
I drove it around for a lil bit, not sure how long the battery lasts but
should be a while anyway. Just charging the thing takes about 50-60% of the
phone's capacity, so it's definitely best to do it if your phone is FULLY
charged... Also, I didn't test the range. Bluetooth devices are usually
specced for 10 meters unobstructed range, but my apartement isn't that
large. Anyway, my headset only has a few meters range before sound starts to
break up, and I guess the same would be true here too. Manufacturers always
overstate the specs... Not that you'd want to stand too far away, the car's
so tiny it would be hard to see it from ten meters away.
So to sum things up, this thing is:
* Hugely expensive,
* A TOTAL waste of money,
* COMPLETELY useless,
* Lacking in precision control,
* Stupid,
* Beneath the dignity of a man my age,
* Utterly cool.
Final Geekscore: NINE out of TEN points.
› See More: I am SUCH a geek! CAR-100 Bluetooth Car Review
- 11-27-2003, 02:36 PM #2MexxGuest
Re: I am SUCH a geek! CAR-100 Bluetooth Car Review
"Lenny" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Preparing the car for use is simple. Snap it onto the phone's power socket
> to charge it. Yes, the PHONE's, not the charger.
So, when the phone rings, and you have to take it......you are talking with
a car in your mouth :-)
> I drove it around for a lil bit, not sure how long the battery lasts but
> should be a while anyway. Just charging the thing takes about 50-60% of
the
> phone's capacity, so it's definitely best to do it if your phone is FULLY
> charged
Dude, that's a horrible amount of power for your little batmobile. Hope they
put a converter on the market with which you can charge the car using your
phone charger.
> * Utterly cool.
True, but not for me I guess, considering the other points.
Mexx
Btw, nice review!
- 11-28-2003, 01:02 PM #3OverallGuest
Re: I am SUCH a geek! CAR-100 Bluetooth Car Review
Do you consider selling ?
"Lenny" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
>
> Ok, I did the silliest thing of my life today, I went ahead and bought the
> Sony-Ericsson bluetooth remote-controlled car today!
>
> Ever since I saw news about it on the web, I wanted one. Also, since it
> works with the T610 cellphone, which I bought earlier this year, I thought
> they'd be a perfect match, IF ever I could get my hands on one!
>
> Well, today I did.
>
> It cost a REDICULOUS amount of money for such a small gadget, but then
again
> so does a Sony-Ericsson bluetooth headset, with the difference the headset
> can actually be USED for something. The car just moves around (in a not
very
> precise manner, might be added).
>
> Ok, so on with the show. What's it like then?
>
> Well, for a geekazoid such as myself, it is a marvel of engineering and
> worksmanship! Well, um, maybe not quite, but it IS quite spiffy. First
> thing that strikes you is how small it is. Length is about 7cm, width 3cm
> and height maybe a smidgen below 3cm too. Weight... Well, not much, but
it's
> not empty either. There's a nice, solid sense to it I have to say.
>
> The body of the car's metallic white (hood, front fenders and doors),
> metallic silver (around the windows and the rear of the roof), black (the
> roof itself) and metallic green (rear fenders, spoiler). The wheels are
> chromed and comes equipped with low-profile rubber tires. When looking
> through the windows you can see the electronics inside. There's a small
> rectangular circuit board with an IC on it covered by a metal cover, a
dual
> LED - red and green LEDs in the same package - a sheet metal antenna and
not
> much else really. A small electric motor drives the rear wheels, and
there's
> a tiny actuator that steers left and right.
>
> Preparing the car for use is simple. Snap it onto the phone's power socket
> to charge it. Yes, the PHONE's, not the charger. This is so you can have a
> blast anywhere I guess, not just where there's a wall socket nearby for
the
> charger unit. The manual says the car should be charged for "up to an
hour",
> so I figured I'd better time it and remove it in time so it won't
overcharge
> or drain my phone's battery. Well, no need. After 55 mins of flashing the
> red LED, the car shut itself off automatically. After that I popped it
off,
> held down the button on top for like 10-15 secs, and the LED started
> flashing red/green, meaning it was ready for pairing.
>
> All bluetooth devices need to be paired with one another so they know who
to
> talk to, and also to avoid unauthorized use. This is easily done using the
> cellphone's menus, scan for devices, select the car, enter the passcode
> listed in the manual, done. After that, the device can be re-named from
the
> rather dull-sounded CAR-100 to something more suitable. I named mine "The
> Batmobile". Wrong colors perhaps, but cool-sounding at least!
>
> After the thing is paired, the LED will blink green every second or so to
> show it is on. Pressing it again will activate the "driving mode". This
must
> be done from the car side; there's no way to initiate driving from the
> phone. When the button's pressed, it will synch with the phone and a
window
> will appear with "instructions", showing which keys do what.
>
> As for performance, this thing moves at an OK clip I have to say, dunno
what
> it is to scale, but for my kitchen table I have to use it on its lowest
> speed setting (it's got three), or else I risk going off the sides. The
> controls are very simple.* 0 and # selects speed. 1 and 4 is forward and
> reverse, 2 and 3 is left and right. The joystick and volume buttons can
also
> be used, but that doesn't work as well, since the car won't stop if the
> joystick is released after pushing forwards or back. Maybe if I had a
larger
> surface to drive on, but my floor is kinda dusty so I don't want to drive
it
> there. (Could do some cleaning I guess, but I wanted to drive it as
quickly
> as possible, heh heh!)
>
> Turning radius is maybe 20 cm or so, you need some room to manouever this
> thing. It doesn't exactly turn on a dime I'm afraid. Still, I could easily
> go round and round my fairly big table. The wheels are on the small side
> though so rough tablecloths, thick carpets and such are more difficult to
> navigate.
>
> As it's not a real radio-controlled car, steering it is somewhat of a
> challenge. There's a slight delay which varies between the time one
> presses/releases a button and the car actually responds. Usually it is
> rather short, but if the car is heading for the edge of the table and it
> doesn't stop immediately when I tell it to I tend to get a wee bit
worried!
> Also, the steering, and indeed forwards/backwards motion is "digital" in
> nature, meaning either it does it or it doesn't. Well, what can you
expect?
> After all, it's just a toy, though an expensive one.
>
> I drove it around for a lil bit, not sure how long the battery lasts but
> should be a while anyway. Just charging the thing takes about 50-60% of
the
> phone's capacity, so it's definitely best to do it if your phone is FULLY
> charged... Also, I didn't test the range. Bluetooth devices are usually
> specced for 10 meters unobstructed range, but my apartement isn't that
> large. Anyway, my headset only has a few meters range before sound starts
to
> break up, and I guess the same would be true here too. Manufacturers
always
> overstate the specs... Not that you'd want to stand too far away, the
car's
> so tiny it would be hard to see it from ten meters away.
>
> So to sum things up, this thing is:
>
> * Hugely expensive,
> * A TOTAL waste of money,
> * COMPLETELY useless,
> * Lacking in precision control,
> * Stupid,
> * Beneath the dignity of a man my age,
> * Utterly cool.
>
>
> Final Geekscore: NINE out of TEN points.
>
>
- 11-28-2003, 01:09 PM #4LennyGuest
Re: I am SUCH a geek! CAR-100 Bluetooth Car Review
> Do you consider selling ?
Hahaa! Nope, NEVER.
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