GPS for cheap: the Garmin Nuvi 250

The Source, by Circuit City, is currently having a huge sale, and one of the clearance items is the Garmin Nuvi 250 GPS. Since I had been toying with the idea of a new GPS for a long time now, all that was needed was the impression that I wasn't getting ripped off. At the price it was going for (which was a little over 50% off the retail price), I couldn't miss the opportunity.

There are more sophisticated devices around, but I did not require many of the features supported by these more expensive models. What I was looking for was good GPS reception, ease of use and a decent base map. And that's what I got with the Nuvi and more.

The Nuvi 250 includes the following items in the box:

- Nuvi 250 unit
- Vehicle suction cup mount to mount the GPS to the windshield or other convenient spot
- 12v cigarette lighter power adapter for charging / powering the unit
- Dashboard disk for mounting the suction cup mount on your dashboard instead of the windshield (due to some legal prohibitions from mounting of anything in the windshield in some areas)
- Set up and go guide

Some of the more expensive Nuvi models also include a slipcase for the unit, but the 250 skips out on this useful accessory, in an effort to reduce costs as much as possible, I imagine.

I got the box opened, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the battery was indicating at least 75% charge, which does not seem to happen often with rechargeable devices. The initial setup and satellite acquisition took a little over 1 minute, and I was ready to navigate, which I did. I took a short drive through the many side streets of my neighbourhood and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Nuvi kept up admirably, and with great accuracy. I parked for a few moments and decided to enter my home address, which was made easier by the Garmin database automatically assuming that my search would be in the immediate area. Once entered, it was simple enough to follow the prompts as they were called out. Did I mention the level of acccuracy was many orders higher than my previous Garmin GPS unit, the discontinued E Trex Legend.

The unit provides numerous other functions that are useful in travel situations, such as a calculator, unit converter, picture viewer and more. It also provides numerous search functionalities that allow the user to search from a database of over 6 million points of interest (POI), including hospitals, fire stations, police, restaurants, stores and more. As well, the entire North American highway system is integrated into the device, providing all entry and exit points, junctions and more. The ability to enter new POIs as well as the possibility of entering navigational coordinates make this device useful for geocaching as well. This is reflected in a usage setting within the device that allows the user to set the device for automobile, bicycle or pedestrian use.

Garmin claims 5 hours from the rechargeable internal battery, and I have yet to test this claim. My only issue stems from the lack of an AC charging cable along with the kit. I understand that this device is meant to be used in a vehicle primarily, but would it have killed them to make a combination adapter for home and vehicle use? Happily, I noted that the unit charges from a USB connection to any computer, and now, with the addition of a Garmin browser plug-in, it is also possible to send addresses from Google Maps right to the device. Truly a fantastic and useful option for any user.

Addendum: Upon further testing, I discovered that the Garmin browser plug-in also allows users to download cache information from Geocaching.com, which is another added bonus. I also discovered what I believe is the reason for the low price on the device I purchased. Upon closer examination, what was intended to be an SD card slot turned out to be a MiniSD card slot. As it is stated in the included user guide, the slot may be one or the other! At least, Garmin makes maps available on MiniSD as well as SD cards!

A tale from Moleskine...

My wife and I are great fans of the Moleskine notebooks. And I know what you might be thinking. They are too expensive. The quality of construction has gone down somewhat. We are being manipulated by clever marketing. But we are fans nonetheless, as these notebooks seem to provide inspiration that few other paper products match. My personal belief is that this motivation is clearly based on the apparent sense of waste of not using such a luxury item, but I could be wrong.

One of the things that I had read online pertaining to Moleskine, was their policy regarding the replacement of any defective product. My wife unwrapped her new Moleskine watercolour sketchbook the other day, and lo and behold, a big air bubble on the cover, hidden by the label. It doesn't really change anything about the notebook itself, but we both believe that it is entirely normal to expect a manufacturer to have some pride in the quality of their product, and any apparent flaws don't really reflect that pride. And for the price, these books should be flawless!

You can imagine my wife's disappointment, especially considering the price of the notebook. At that point, I remembered the policy and suggested that she take some pictures of the damage and send them to Moleskine. And that is exactly what she did; two days later, she received a response from Moleskine, with apologies and possible explanations of the source of the problem, as well as a promise to send a new replacement a soon as possible.

Today, a parcel came in for my wife, mailed from Italy no less. And in it, a perfect, brand new watercolour sketchbook. So thank you Moleskine, for being true to your promise.

The pen is mightier than the sword...

Over the last several years, I have developed an interest in everything that has to do with writing, from pens and pencils to paper and notebooks. It is on the border of becoming an obsession, and when I was in the town the other day with my lovely wife and son, we stopped by a fantastic store in the Byward Market called The Papery. Since they are a pen and stationary store, I decided to treat both myself and my wife to a new pen.

I had my eye on a Lamy Safari fountain pen for a while now, but I just wasn't sure about the colour. Looking over the display in the store, I saw that there was a single, limited edition white Lamy Safari, and I decided right then and there.

The Safari comes with a piston adapter for those who prefer to use their own ink. It is also possible to use the Lamy refills, and although I find the ink quite nice, I still prefer to use a piston refill of my own ink.

I have had several fountain pens over the years, and even compared to some very expensive pens, the Safari is one of the smoothest writing instruments I have used in a long time. But as I mentioned, I couldn't leave the store without getting something for my wife, and she eventually settled on a fantastic Tombow rollerball.

Although I am not normally a fan of rollerballs, the Tombow refills offer some of the darkest black ink I've ever seen. Quite a nice pen.

With the ever increasing use of computers for correspondence, and their total lack of data integrity, I feel more and more compelled to put my thoughts down on paper rather than trust them to digital media. To each his own, I guess.

Pick of the week: oobject

Following up on the first instalment of Pick of the week, here is this week's pick. Those who know me also know that I am an somewhat obsessive person. In itself, that's not such a bad thing, but a side effect of this is my love of lists. In my search for various types of lists online, I came upon a list-lover's dream, Oobject. Calling itself a Daily User Ranked Gadget Lists website, the site provides lists of items and concepts for your enjoyment. I took great pleasure in such inane lists as 12 tiny Indian school buses, 12 inhabited bridges or 16 genuine cyborg technologies. There are hundreds of such lists, with fantastic images and links when possible. From the common to the extravagant, you are sure to find it here.

A great site, and highly recommended. Enjoy!

Something new from Lego: Architecture Series

The LEGO Group and Brickstructures Inc. have unveiled a great product labelled LEGO Architecture. The LEGO Group and Adam Reed Tucker of Brickstructures officially introduced the LEGO Architecture line in 2008, which now contains six different models and from the images I've seen so far, I am quite impressed. It is difficult to determine the exact scale of the models from the boxes, but most of them look simple enough that I imagine the scale to approach 1/500 to 1/700. It is also possible by comparing the different models to note that Lego has not selected a specific scale for the line, but rather has let the model itself decide the scale. It really is whatever looks good, and I think they look very good. Here is the image that can be found on the Lego website, in the Architecture Series section:









I look forward to getting my hands on one or more of these kits (specifically the Frank Lloyd Wright models). If you haven't played with Lego in a while, give it a try. It is a fantastic way to develop and improve your imagination!

Office in a box

During a browsing session the other day, I came across a concept that really inspired me: the office in a box. Essentially, a modernized version of what was previously known as the campaign desk, there are no hard and fast rules about the design of such an item. Some of the ideas I discovered once I began researching the topic ran the gamut from fantastic to downright bizarre.

Here is the image that started it all:

The design is fairly simple, and provides all the amenities required for an office, but in a storable and portable unit. Further research turned up this:

as well as this:

But then I ran into a most luxurious entry, that goes to show that I was not the only one who thought that this concept might be interesting:

Just looking at some of these examples and browsing through numerous other ideas gets the creative juices flowing. The last entry in particular, is especially nice considering the incorporation of solar panel technology, high quality materials and even an integrated coffee maker! One can't help but be somewhat impressed by Louis Vuitton's extravagance!

Interestingly enough, some of the older, original campaign desks were absolute masterpieces of wood craft and would still be very useful today. I plan to continue my research in the hope to be inspired to create my very own office in a box.

I love Lego!

Many of us are familiar with the Lego construction blocks and I have yet to meet a person in North America that has not played at least once with these fantastic bricks. And although I am 36 years old, married and father to a wonderful little boy, I have yet to stop playing with Lego. And apparently, I'm not alone. In my quest for things Lego on the Web, I've discovered that I am not the only adult that enjoys building things with Lego.

Perhaps one of the most interesting sites I've found to date on the topic, MOC Pages is dedicated to showcasing Lego constructs of all types. As I browsed through the gallery of user uploads, I was absolutely astounded at some of the talented entries I found.

But I found other, equally interesting sites, albeit different, such as The Brick Testament, a fairly humorous view of the Old Testament, in Lego bricks!

Other more specialized sites, such as BrickArms, allow the creation of custom armies made up of Lego figurines! Go figure.

And finally, a useful database of all that is Lego, the Lugnet Guide is a user-created repository of over 4000 Lego products.

I am glad to see that Lego seems here to stay and that I will be able to introduce such a great toy to my son when he is finally old enough. For now, I'll just keep those bricks warm for him!