I had been looking at smartwatches for quite some time. The Youtube reviews were barely tell you the day to day use. There are a number of them available on Aliexpress, Amazon and others listed through Panda Check.
This was my experience:
You can install apps from the Google Play store, however the display is too small for most. My favourite, Endomondo was useless as the the screen was just a banner with the app title.
Bluetooth audio and GPS - 2 hours battery life
Tether to phone via Bluetooth, no GPS or pedometer - 8 hours
The heart rate monitor was unpredictable - I couldn't trust it. I am a darker skinned, but it shouldn't be that off when taking measurements. Besides, a regular watch and taking my pulse is straightforward.
The antenna for GSM/WCDMA/3G, Bluetooth and WI-FI were in the bracelet making it difficult to change the bracelet. I could not imagine making a phone call with the watch even though it was possible.
When listening to audio, the Bluetooth would cut out all the time. Listening to a lecture of 30 minutes would be very frustrating.
The watch, which is to be used as a standalone phone, did not sync my SMS, e-mail or other notifications with my smartphone.
Changing faces, was an elaborate process, that I couldn't care about given that the battery life was so short.
Aside from an alternative to a smartphone when tracking running or other sportive activities(of short duration), I do not recommend getting an MTK6580 smartwatch.
ps. I sent it back to the seller. Apparently it never made it, or the seller tells me that's the case. I lost about $100 in the process.
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Windows 10 - Display driver failed to start - crash - XBOX 360 Wireless Controller - Exit to sign in screen - DRIVER ROLLBACK FIX!!
I just couldn't figure out what it was.
I tried loading a game that played perfectly fine for the longest time. Then suddenly, it all seemed broken. It loaded seemingly fine, started with the video adapter display assembly clip, development software splash screen, etc. then the screen blinked black and the video driver crashed. Most of the time, Windows would exit me to the sign in (login) screen.
I looked at the report from Windows in the lower right corner of the screen
I tried uninstalling then reinstalling the video drivers with DDU to no avail.
I tried DirectX 11 Heaven and DirectX12 Benchmarks Infiltrator, and no issues came about. The video driver played find.
I was contemplating a fresh install of Windows. Then suddenly, after enough time on the confuser, going through the endless pages of troubleshooting, it made sense. The problem was with the software related to the Xbox controller. What was it? Video recording? No, no difference.
Then from the sign in screen, I would move the thumb stick or press the buttons on the controller. The screen would go black, the circle next to the mouse cursor would stop turning, the screen would flash. I tried it again in Windows with no game playing, just on the desktop. Same crash to sign in screen again.
So where was the problem? The insider preview build?
I eventually narrowed the problem to the Xbox 360 Wireless controller driver. In fact there was an update to that driver that made my system unusable. For gaming with the controller that is.
Below are screenshots I used to address the problem:
Go to the device manager
You can roll back the drivers if available. But get rid of the driver 2017-01-15
This is the driver you want!
All should be good from here.
You can download the 1.2 Drivers from the Microsoft website
I tried loading a game that played perfectly fine for the longest time. Then suddenly, it all seemed broken. It loaded seemingly fine, started with the video adapter display assembly clip, development software splash screen, etc. then the screen blinked black and the video driver crashed. Most of the time, Windows would exit me to the sign in (login) screen.
I looked at the report from Windows in the lower right corner of the screen
I tried uninstalling then reinstalling the video drivers with DDU to no avail.
I tried DirectX 11 Heaven and DirectX12 Benchmarks Infiltrator, and no issues came about. The video driver played find.
I was contemplating a fresh install of Windows. Then suddenly, after enough time on the confuser, going through the endless pages of troubleshooting, it made sense. The problem was with the software related to the Xbox controller. What was it? Video recording? No, no difference.
Then from the sign in screen, I would move the thumb stick or press the buttons on the controller. The screen would go black, the circle next to the mouse cursor would stop turning, the screen would flash. I tried it again in Windows with no game playing, just on the desktop. Same crash to sign in screen again.
So where was the problem? The insider preview build?
I eventually narrowed the problem to the Xbox 360 Wireless controller driver. In fact there was an update to that driver that made my system unusable. For gaming with the controller that is.
Below are screenshots I used to address the problem:
Go to the device manager
You can roll back the drivers if available. But get rid of the driver 2017-01-15
You can download the 1.2 Drivers from the Microsoft website
Monday, January 9, 2017
Android file management - as easy to manage since, forever.
Monday, January 2, 2017
Never use DHL as a shipping option when shopping online
I've been caught once, by receiving a package that was shipped from overseas, where the delivery worker arrived with a package and an acquisition fee for more than what the item was worth.
I looked into fighting it, but found out that the fee was not customs at the border, but the processing and transaction fee charged by DHL. Their FAQ is of no help.
Above shown is an invoice that was presented to me with the delivery of the package. The item is worth $27. I paid the shipper $17 for shipping which I thought was reasonable. However when DHL delivered the item, they were collecting $3.48 for import tax, which I found fair, but collecting a processing and transaction fee of more than $14.
End of story. Never use DHL.
I looked into fighting it, but found out that the fee was not customs at the border, but the processing and transaction fee charged by DHL. Their FAQ is of no help.
Above shown is an invoice that was presented to me with the delivery of the package. The item is worth $27. I paid the shipper $17 for shipping which I thought was reasonable. However when DHL delivered the item, they were collecting $3.48 for import tax, which I found fair, but collecting a processing and transaction fee of more than $14.
End of story. Never use DHL.
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