Amazfit Bip - Not Just Another Smartwatch - A-GPS makes all the difference

Last summer I was convinced that a smartwatch is a waste of time. I wanted something to replace my phone while running so I could get an audio coach with GPS tracking. Unfortunately, the MTK6580 smartwatch was not suitable for anything more than 2 hours and the Bluetooth connection wasn't reliable as my bicycle handlebars were causing too much obstruction causing the audio to drop out.

Taking up running again, I looked at my options in 2018. The Amazfit and TomTom line has quite a bit to offer, I was also considering the Jelly 2.45" screen phone. However, not needing to drag a phone around would best, so I opted for a watch.  When it comes to electronics, I usually reach for the bottom. If it's affordable, it's obsolete. If I am only buying it for image, I certainly don't need it.
I wavered between the Amazfit Pace and the TomTom with a built in Bluetooth audio players, reaching over 200$, but just couldn't justify it when I learnt about the Amazfit Bip : ~$75CAD which has the longest battery life.

With just over a month of using the Bip, I like it. Love it? No. I want to be able to modify it to make it my own - from interface, to applications to menu settings. For the time being, all development is closed, but I think Huami will get with the times and open it to community of consumers. It's expected that the latter will be many: affordable, normal size body and reliable. The Bip boasts a 190mAh battery - I can get at least 2 weeks between charges when running over 50km a week - the discharge rate is about 5% per hour using GPS ( and heart rate - which I don't care about ). Apparently it will last about 45 days, in standard monitoring mode - no GPS, just pedometer and sleepometer!

How I use it
If I am running that evening, I wear the watch. Otherwise, it stays on my night table. Now that I'll be cycling in to work ( about 38km ) I may wear or just rely on my bicycle computer. No matter where you are, an analog watch is much more elegant than digital one. Furthermore, clock hands are easier to read than a boxy font.

Summary

GOOD

• Long battery life
• Lightweight (31g)
• Easy to design and change - customization of the watch face
• Colour screen (reflective)

Disco dancing watch face

BAD

• Plastic isn't fantastic
• Slow GPS fix - about 20 seconds
• A single button / Touch screen - tactile controls still reign supreme
• Simple, too simple stopwatch, chronometer - no logging, naming of timing sessions.
• GPS navigation - it only give you your current location LAT LONG and compass is in degrees not MILS - I would like it to be suitable for hiking, not getting lost etc... If using MAPS, it should be in MGRS
• A-GPS requires a frequent connection to the phone ( once a week ) 
  

The watch needs a mile/km/repeat program for running.
If you pause the run, it just shows the screen above, with no idea
how many seconds you've paused, last km pace or what's next.

Useless features

• Notifications - just take your phone out of your pocket if you need to
• Sleep monitoring - really?! does anybody wear their watch to sleep?
• Weather  - sort of neat, but not really that useful, just look at the sky
• Pedometer - the gyro, as well as CPU cycles wastes power. GPS is enough for sports
• Treadmill tracking - I'm surprised to find out that treadmills are still being manufactured
• Heart rate monitor - for someone who's healthy, you know when to stop

Improvements - possible with existing hardware
Running programs - speed, 400m repeats, 5k 10k, hills etc. - better pause, distance restart system
Stopwatch to operate in the background
Ability to disable features like gyro/accelerometers/pedometer, sleep monitoring / heart rate
Compass with navigation path return to tools - storage is required for converting LAT LONG to a MGRS grid region

Android Smartwatch - MTK6580 - LEMFO, ZGPAX, S99, KW88 - experience/opinion

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.

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

Android file management - as easy to manage since, forever.

Drag and drop is all you need to know - music, video, or any other file. Just copy and paste or drag and drop from a computer to your phone. I love simplicity.

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.

Updating Windows 10 Insider Preview - At least keep the dowloaded segments!

Are you even trying Microsoft?

I don't know how many times I have tried to update my insider preview, but I keep returning to my computer to find it back at the login screen.

Worse than that, the downloading starts back at zero. Will it ever download?

Do you want anybody to take part in the Windows Insider Program?

Limp mode, normal speed/rpm then no fuel when pressing on the accelerator? Change the Thermostat (Ford Focus and others)

Ugh! I couldn't wrap my head around this one. I would have an occasional stumble, then the car would suddenly be in idle mode - it wouldn't matter how hard I would press on the accelerator.
I would get no codes. If I floored it repeatedly, it would stumble somewhat and the fuel mixture would be rich (as per the OBDII readout).


This is what I tried :

• Fuel Pump : I got access by cutting the sheet metal under the back seat. Took out the pump with the sending unit, tested the pump, cleaned the contacts, and put it back in. It seemed fine, for a bit - but the stumble continued.
• DPFE : I tried cleaning it, then replacing it with another one. No change. My EGR is so rusted that I should have tried replacing that too, but time was short. 
• Oxygen sensors  : They measure the oxygen content before (upstream) and after (downstream) the catalytic converter. Running rich is not a good thing for neither the O2 sensor nor the catalytic converter. Again, time to get a replacement was an issue. I cleaned the upstream one with MAF cleaner and put it back in. The downstream sensor was so stuck in place, I couldn't get it out.

When the vehicle became so unreliable that I felt is was unsafe to turn with the fear of the engine no longer providing fuel to accelerate, I noticed that the temperature reading on my cluster was just left of centre. Connecting my ELM327 to my Android phone and using Torque, I saw the the coolant temperature of the vehicle never stayed above 80C! When the car somehow started operating normally, it was above 83C. Should I turn heat into the cab, by allowing coolant to go through the heat exchanger, the engine would suddenly stumble again as its temperature would drop below 80C. Thermostat maintenance was required. I should have changed it when I changed my water pump last year. The thermostat is designed to open at 88C or 192F. It appears that the thermostat was getting stuck open! Three bolts, well one was so rusted I had to break the thermostat housing, three hoses and and an electrical connection to the temperature sensor, and I got this mysterious automobile problem solved.

Since I've replaced the thermostat, the coolant temperature is between 90C to 93C and my fuel economy is back up to 6.1-7l/100km or 38 to 33 MPG.