Pea Gravel

PAR20 LED Flood Lamp Bulb Comparison

2011-08-06T21:43:00.004-05:00

GE LED7PAR20/NFL, Phillips NR63R4-7W-Q100, LED8PAR20/DIM/830/NFL25, Eco-Lite 9 watt.

All are NFL (narrow flood) lamps except possibly the Eco-Lite, for which the beam width is not given. All were purchased on Amazon.com. Most were $30, with the GE costing $38. All are made in china.

	GE	Phillips	Sylvania	Eco-Lite
Part Number on Bulb	LED7PAR20/NFL	NR63R4-7W-Q100	LED8PAR20/DIM/830/NFL25	None
Rated Power (W)	7	7	8	9
Rated Lumens	200	155	350
Observed Brightness	10	8	10	9
Observed Beam Width	Same	Same	Same	Wider
Rated Voltage (V)	110-127	120	120
Rated Current (mA)	100	95	75
Dimmable	No	No	Yes	Yes
Color Temp K	3000	3100	3000
Rated Hours	20,000	40,000	50,000
UL Listed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Measured Current (mA)	80	80	50	160
Measured Power (W)	5	5	5	8
Measured VA	9	9	6	18

Discussion:

The rated lumens are baloney. These bulbs compared reasonably well with a 50W Sylvania PAR20 Halogen NFL (narrow flood) lamp rated at 550 lumens. Further, there was no difference in power consumption or brightness between the GE and the Sylvania, even though there is a huge difference in rated lumens.

The rated life means the hours before the brightness drops below 70% of initial brightness. Lifetime numbers for light bulbs are notoriously optimistic - you may have noticed that with CFL’s. Lifetime will depend a lot on the bulb’s local environment - how much cool air can come in contact with the bulb.

"Observed brightness" is totally subjective, a 0-10 scale, where 0 is dark and 10 is the GE and the Sylvania. Comparisons were done in side-by-side tests, using two bulbs at a time, projecting on a white wall. To my eyes, the GE and Sylvania were equal in color, with the Phillips slightly yellower (warmer) (even though it is rated for a slightly bluer color temperature), and the Eco-Lite was actually bluer (cooler). Since the Eco-Lite has a somewhat wider beam than the others, it might actually be a little brighter than it seems, with the light dispersed more broadly. Similarly, the halogen bulb used for comparison also had a wider beam, and all of the LED bulbs appeared bright by comparison.

The dimmer used to test the Sylvania and Eco-Lite has a detent switch for "off," and moving the lever just above "off" produces a lowest setting which causes all lamps of all kinds to light, at least a little. The Sylvania was still rather bright at the lowest dimmer setting, whereas the Eco-Lite dimmed farther, though not as smoothly. The GE and Phillips are not rated for a dimmer and were not tested.

The tests were done on just one sample of each bulb. Tests on a larger number and from different manufacturing lots could give different results.

The Eco-Lite bulb came with no documentation, except for a sheet of cautions saying what NOT to do, e.g. do not eat the bulb while it is plugged in, etc. No product information. There is no product information at all printed on the bulb. Absence of a UL symbol means it is not UL Listed, thus not tested for possible shock or fire hazards. It’s about the same price as the others, so it would be my last choice among the bulbs.

The Sylvania and the Eco-Lite are maybe a half inch shorter than the other two.

I have used several of the GE bulbs for over a year now, and they have performed flawlessly. However, they are the most expensive. The Sylvania bulbs are lower in cost, dimmable, and smaller, so they are my choice now.

Engineer Stuff:

Actual current, power, and VA (volts * amps) were measured on a "Kill-A-Watt" brand in-line power meter, a handy device but not a precision instrument, though I believe it gives good enough numbers for this purpose. Further, the line voltage was 113V, not the rated 120V. However, the same instrument and voltage were used for all bulbs.

According to that meter, each of the lamps actually consumed about 5 watts except the Eco-Lite, which consumed 8 watts. Also, surprisingly, the current drawn by the Eco-Lite is at least twice that of any other bulb. That does not translate into consumed power, though, because of something called the "power factor.” You are billed for the watts, not the current or the volt-amps.

Stacy Needs Your Stem Cells

2011-08-01T11:22:00.001-05:00

Stacy is a young Minnesota mother who needs an allogeneic transplant, and the doctors have not yet found a match for her.

For more information, please visit Minnesota Myeloma

Donald Trump Won't Run

2011-05-16T17:59:00.000-05:00

The doofus vote is up for grabs

The Donald as The Carnival Barker

2011-04-28T21:12:00.001-05:00

I had hoped that businessman Donald Trump might inject some fresh ideas into the presidential campaigns. Alas, he has let us down:

Fresh idea 1: President Obama's Birth Certificate does not exist. "Just wait," he promised, only to be embarrassed when the document was finally made public. Of course there was never any doubt where Barack Obama was born, with contemporaneus newspaper announcements, eyewitness accounts, and certification in accordance with the laws of the State of Hawaii, which together would satisfy any court in the nation. Trump knew that, but made so much self-promoting racket anyway, that the President asked the State of Hawaii to make an exception and provide certified copies of his original certificate of live birth. Big deal - those who don't WANT to believe it will still not believe it. Trump knew the facts and deliberately misled us all.
Fresh idea 2: Threaten to tax imports from China 25% if they continue to manipulate their currency. Oh, that sounds so fine! It will not happen, of course, because you do not want to pay 25% more for your next flat screen TV or HP laptop, and the US companies that make those products in China would never stand for it. Further, China would retaliate by imposing punitive tariffs on selected imports like machinery, generators, airplanes, medical equipment, and more, making equivalent products from other countries preferable in China. It's called a trade war. Those companies would squawk so loud that Congress would intervene. Trump knows this, so again he deliberately misleads us, promising what he couldn't possibly deliver.

Obviously, Donald Trump thinks we're stupid. Some people are, and they will be taken in, but I'm just disappointed.

I-Pass, I-Zoom, EZ-Pass Toll Transponders

2011-04-19T20:46:00.006-05:00

Toll roads arise from the failure of politicians to agree how to achieve free and open highway travel for all. They are one more way that the wealthy person assumes an advantage over a person with less means. They add further insult by requiring the motorist to perform a dangerous stop/start at frequent intervals to fork over small amounts of cash. I have actually been in a collision at a toll station. I despise toll roads.

That said, toll roads exist and are often the straightest line between hither and yon. On a recent trip from Minnesota to New Jersey we knew there were plenty of tollways on the way, starting in Illinois, so we stopped our rented car at the first toll plaza in Illinois to buy an I-Pass transponder, knowing that it would be compatible with all EZ-Pass tollways on our route. "Buy" is a misnomer - we paid $10 as a deposit on the little windshield-mounted box, and another $40 as initial funding for our tolls, plus a credit card number for funding refills.

First Day:

What a disaster! The lady who sold me the transponder said it wouldn't work for 24 hours. But I couldn't wait, and she was right! We got stopped by crossarm gates, accused by signs saying "I-Pass Invalid" or "EZ-Pass Number Unrecognized," and ended up yelling at a tinny box or using a credit card to get the gate open. It didn't work in Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio, where we stopped for the night. I don't recommend even trying it for the first day.

From Then On:

In the morning (less than 24 hours from purchase) we left our hotel in Ohio and drove through an I-80 toll station to see "EZ-Pass Accepted, Toll Paid." From that point on it worked perfectly everywhere, certainly improving the quality of our trip. On the way back we drove through some Illinois "Open Road Tolling" stations at full speed, no need to go through special lanes. In fact, a daydreaming driver might not know s/he paid a toll at all. And, according to the State of Illinois at least, it's cheaper than paying with cash or credit card.

We used it in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania (though I-80 is not toll in PA), and New Jersey. In addition it works in Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Do Not Download Adobe Reader X

2011-02-14T11:43:00.002-06:00

I have downloaded Adobe Reader X (version 10) on several PC's now, and the installer always installs McAfee Security Scan Plus with the reader. I've seen no way to opt out of the McAfee "trailer."

Further, as far as I can tell, McAfee Security Scan Plus is "advertising" software. Run it and you will eventually be prompted to download a not-free version of McAfee. It may have other functions, but I doubt that it has any value in a computer already employing appropriate firewalls and other virus protection.

Suddenly I've lost confidence in both McAfee and Adobe, especially Adobe. Now I wonder what else Adobe put on my computer that they DIDN'T tell me about.

I've uninstalled McAfee Security Scan Plus, but I'm still a little concerned.

Bluetooth Hearing Aids Report

2011-02-12T21:08:00.010-06:00

In the recent two or three years, high-end hearing aids have been available with Bluetooth wireless technology, which means that they use radio waves to connect to a cell phone, wired phone, TV, stereo music player, or computer, providing high-quality audio in both ears.

I'm definitely a fan of Bluetooth in my hearing aids. I'm hooked. What's so good about it?:

The sound quality can be exceptionally high, much more crisp than sound coming through the air into the hearing aids' microphones;
The sound from a telephone comes into both ears, making callers easier to hear (some new aids do this without Bluetooth);
It's cordless. I can go get myself a sandwich in the kitchen, visit the bathroom, or start a load of laundry in the basement while still listening to TV or stereo music;
I can listen to the TV while the sound is muted for everyone else, or mute it while others in the room are listening, or change the volume to please myself; and
If it's cool to be on the phone with a Bluetooth gizmo sticking out of the ear (some people think it is), then it's really cool to do it with no visible gizmo.

What are the arguments against Bluetooth?:

It requires the use of a separate Bluetooth control unit, hung around the neck or clipped on clothing.
The control has to be shirt-pocket high or so, because it communicates wirelessly to the hearing aids and because it contains the microphone that picks up the wearer's voice during a phone call;
It adds cost to the hearing aids, typically $300 to $400 for the Bluetooth control unit and a TV/stereo adapter;
Some of the less-expensive but otherwise good aids, like those from Sam's Club, do not yet offer Bluetooth;
It's more complex, so some hearing instrument dispensers are not experienced in fitting these aids; and
The user will want to figure out how to connect the TV adapter to a TV or stereo, and to "pair" the Bluetooth control unit to a TV adapter, cell phone, music player, or other device.

Of course, a person can use the TV feature of Bluetooth but not the telephone feature, or vice versa. The Bluetooth control unit can be "paired" to multiple devices, although it is able to receive audio from only one of those paired devices at a time.

As far as I know, hearing aids with Bluetooth are the same physical size as those without - the difference is in the auxiliary Bluetooth control unit.

Music:

So far, we three have tested Bluetooth hearing aids from Bernafon, Phonak, and Unitron. In all cases, the aids switched automatically to special programs when Bluetooth was turned on to provide the sound source. The resulting frequency response was preset to provide good speech recognition, which did not necessarily yield the best music quality. However, in all of those aids, the preset frequency response can be changed by the hearing instrument dispenser to provide high-quality music. The newest aids have two different Bluetooth programs, one for one-way audio such as TV sound, and another for two-way telephone conversations.

Bluetooth Sound versus Conversation:

The hearing aids can still provide sound from people in the room through their normal microphones, even while actively connected by Bluetooth to a TV, telephone, or other device, so you hear both. The level of room sound can be adjusted by the technician, and I did have mine changed from the factory settings to provide more room sound in TV mode and less in telephone mode. In this way, we can listen to high-quality sound from the TV, each at our own chosen volume, and still have a conversation. This is an issue - we don't want to sit side-by-side, each inside our own sound bubble, unable to talk. With the hearing-aid microphones turned up just right, it seems to be working for us.

TV Setup and Use:

The TV adapter must be wired to the TV (there are jacks for this on most digital TV's) and "paired" to the Bluetooth control unit, but only once. From then on, a push button on the Bluetooth control unit will pipe in the TV sound, and the same button will turn it off. That's it. Volume is controlled the same way that microphone volume is controlled. All three of us can sit side-by-side-by-side watching TV with all three Blueteeth turned on, and with no interference between them. Except: When we walk around, to get a snack in the kitchen for example, the sound does go quiet if we get too close to each other. So far, this has not been a significant problem.

Phonak Audeo S Smart IX Hearing Aid Review

2011-02-06T14:38:00.006-06:00

Please note: This is just one person's experience. It may not be typical.

They just didn't work. A pair of Phonak Audeo S Smart IX hearing aids costs over $6,000 with the remote control, Bluetooth control, and TV sound adapter. They were the most expensive of the four brands of hearing aids that Sunshine has tried, and it's safe to say that they worked the least well. A very experienced, highly competent, certified "hearing instrument dispenser" readjusted them several times in repeated visits over a period of six weeks, to no avail.

Speech recognition was the problem, not only in groups of people but in normal conversation with just one person. There was enough volume, but Sunshine couldn't distinguish the words, describing the sound as "both muffled and echoey." Interestingly, when those same aids were connected to the television through Bluetooth, the sound was crisp and clear, speech quite intelligible. It was only when acting as regular hearing aids, with sound coming into the microphones, that the words were indistinct.

Phonak has launched a new sound-processing technology which they call "sound recover," in which some of the high frequencies are actually shifted to a range that is within the hearing ability of the wearer. The technician tried turning that off, turning it up, changing the response curve, nothing seemed to help. I'm thinking that the "sound recover" technology may be a great idea, but we never found out because something else was wrong with the hearing aids, both of them.

We returned them and got the money back, less Phonak's $50 "shipping charges." Humpf - $50 to try aids that had no chance of working. One final insult from Phonak.

So far we have actually purchased four (4) pairs of aids, all using open-fit "receiver-in-the-ear" (RITE) technology, in our quest for better hearing for Sunshine, who has a straightforward, flat, 60 dB loss:

Bernafon Verite 9, from Costco: These work fine for Sweetpea and me (see Post1 and Post2) but alas, not for Sunshine. Returned;
Phonak Audeo S Smart IX: Returned;
America Hears Liberty SIE, from Sam's Club: Good speech recognition, still in contention, but no Bluetooth, and WE ALL LOVE Bluetooth. A blog post review is coming; and
Unitron Passport Moxi: Good speech recognition, still in contention, good Bluetooth but more than twice the price of the Sam's hearing aids. A blog post is coming.

Observe at least a dozen trips to hearing instrument dispensers so far. For a while, as we tried the Bernafon and Phonak instruments, we wondered if anything could ever match Sunshine's scruffy old aids, much less improve on them. Now, though, have two sets of aids with better speech recognition and the more comfortable open-fit RITE technology. One even has Bluetooth.

Bernafon Verite Review - Final Report

2011-02-05T21:56:00.001-06:00

In our little household, all three of us are hearing impaired. Flabbergasted by the price of top-notch aids, we went to Costco and bought Bernafon Verite 9 hearing aids, one pair at a time of course. Two pairs stuck - both Sweetpea and I are happy with ours. The sound is good, speech is recognizable, programs are logically distinct from one another, and Bluetooth streaming audio from the TV is clear as a bell. We ended up with excellent, high-tech aids at the relatively modest cost of about $3000 per pair.

No such luck for Sunshine - she returned hers. Even though the Bluetooth worked fine, with excellent speech recognition, the Verite aids did not provide good speech recognition when used as normal hearing aids. After at least a half dozen trips to Costco, she gave up. One other Costco person assured her that he could have made them work for her, but she was done with Costco and went to different hearing instrument dispensers:

Sam's Club, where she finally got hearing aids which DID provide decent speech recognition but which didn't have Bluetooth; and
Independent Dispenser, who fitted her with two additional brands, both having Bluetooth. New Phonak Audeo S aids didn't work after several readjustments. Finally, the dispensing person tried Unitron Passport Moxi aids, which do seem to work just as well as the Sam's aids, but with Bluetooth and a higher price.

There will be separate blog posts reviewing the America Hears Liberty SIE from Sam's, the Phonak Audeo S, and the Unitron Passport Moxi.

Costco does have a problem, though. We had a lot of trouble finding a competent "hearing instrument dispenser" person at Costco in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Each store seems to have just one person. The person nearest us is totally incompetent, doesn't know it, refuses to learn, and doesn't much care. Another cares a lot, but doesn't have a handle on the technical details necessary to fit high-tech aids. A third may be competent, but we didn't really offer a chance to prove it. It's a very small sample, but the two Sam's Club people we've met were both more competent than two of the three Costco people. Sorry to say that, because I like Costco better on principle, but the Sam's guys knew what they were doing. Furthermore, Sam's Club had given them great tools with which to do it, better than the Costco people have available.

Recommendations:

If your Costco fitter hasn't done LOTS of Bernafon Verite aids, you should insist that the fitting be done by the Bernafon factory representative (you're paying, you can insist, though it may delay things); and
If you are ordering ANY brand of aids with an external control unit, especially the Bernafons, be SURE that the control unit is "paired" to the aids before you leave the dispenser's office. They forget to do that, which means that the control unit won't work and you have to drive all the way back there for nothing. That happened to us three times! We're slow learners.

See also our initial post titled Bernafon Verite Hearing Aid Review. Some of the comments may be informative.

Toshiba Warranty Is Crap

2010-10-06T20:46:00.006-05:00

Toshiba's extended warranty sucks. Almost four years ago we bought a Toshiba Satellite A105 laptop and paid an extra $195 for a four-year extended warranty. A week ago the hinge failed in the lid/display panel - a hard piece of steel broke right in two, probably from metal fatigue, and soon came poking out between the plastic halves of the lid. The plastic wasn't broken, just two parts separated by that steel hinge piece, so it was evident that the laptop had not been abused.

The PC was virtually useless at this point, because the display panel could not be lowered without pinching a fragile-looking cable that was also poking out where the plastic parts were separated.

Toshiba didn't give a damn. I spoke first to a technician in India, then a "supervisor" named Micah, and both told me that Toshiba just doesn't cover "physical" damage. Micah said I could send it in and they would make a judgment whether or not it was covered. If not, I would pay the cost, which could be as much as $400. I assume that I would also pay the shipping in either case. He offered VERY little hope that it might be covered.

But this is EXACTLY what a warranty is for - failures due to manufacturing defects which appear during normal use after the unit is purhased. That's exactly what happened. Their written warranty does NOT exclude "physical" damage, unless caused by negligence. I've been screwed by Toshiba. I've heard that Toshiba's reputation has failed in recent years, and now I believe it. I'll never buy another Toshiba, and I certainly wouldn't advise anyone to buy their useless extended warranty, because they won't honor it!

Don's Favorite Beer

2010-02-26T21:25:00.001-06:00

Beers change and my taste changes, but for the moment my favorite beer is Bison brand Chocolate Stout. I picked it up at a Whole Foods store in Fort Lauderdale, unaware of the price or even that it is USDA organic.

I am no expert on beer, but I'm partial to stout, porter, and similar heavier beers like this one. I won't buy Bison Chocolate Stout in Minnesota where I live, if it's even available, because it's pretty expensive and some other excellent beers cost much less. But it was a very tasty treat.

AirTran Airways Trip Review

2010-02-23T20:49:00.001-06:00

Three of us flew AirTran Airways from St Paul, MN to Fort Lauderdale, FL, to run the A1A Marathon on Sunday, February 21, 2010.

AirTran has an excellent web site - I had no problems with ticket purchase or check-in. After the purchase, I enrolled each of us in AirTran's A-Plus rewards program, then went back to add those perks numbers to the flight itineraries. No problem. On-line check-in went smoothly as well, with the computer seating the three of us together in one row. I could have changed those assignments, but had no need. Receipts and tickets were printed easily.

One disappointment: A few days after the purchase, AirTran changed the itinerary from a "direct" flight with one stop in Atlanta to a connection in Atlanta, thereby adding the possibility of a missed connection and doubling our risk of lost luggage. The new flight schedule actually got us into Fort Lauderdale at about the same time, but with only a 45-minute connection in Atlanta. That's good when the first flight is on time, but how often does that happen in winter/spring weather? Concerned about missing the connection, I phoned and asked for a later flight from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale (about an hour later) and was quickly and courteously accommodated. No problem. If we had known that the direct flight would become a connection, however, we might have bought non-stop tickets on Delta in the first place, even though that cost a bit more.

But disappointment became appreciation when we discovered, at the gate for the first flight, that our seat assignments had been moved to the business-class section, which affords more space for long legs and laptops.

On board, while enjoying the hospitality of business class, I launched Internet Explorer 8 (x32) on a brand-new laptop running Windows 7 Professional x64, hoping to use AirTran's GoGo Inflight Internet service. No dice. I could connect to the GoGo web site at an incredibly slow pace, but nothing else at all, and could not figure out how to pay for a "flight pass." Then Google Chrome to the rescue! Upon launch it immediately redirected to the pay-here page, as IE should have done. I declined to pay $10 for the remainder of that flight, but now I thought I knew how to make it work. Just DON'T USE Internet Explorer.

I am constantly amazed by the shoddiness of the software that Microsoft considers fit for the market. They seem to think that they can get away with anything, and depend on their marketing clout to cover their technical sloth. We only have to buy it, not like it. But that's for another post on Peagravel.

The second AirTran flight, from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, was miserable. AirTran employees were courteous and helpful as before, but we three were together in the very last row of the Boeing 717 (upgraded DC9, MD80). Not only is there no window in that row, but the window of the next row forward is completely obscured by the huge jet engine just outside it. The seat backs are right up against the lavatories, so close in fact that the seats cannot be pushed back. This unpleasant two-hour ride was partly my fault too, of course, because I didn't know enough to change the seat selection when I checked in on line - I forgot how bad those seats are in a DC9. We were very happy to be off that flight.

When we arrived in Fort Lauderdale our bags had already arrived, apparently on the connection that we thought might be too close. I thought that air travel security required that bags fly with the passengers, but these definitely went ahead.

Checking in for the return flights, I was careful to get seating assignments well forward of the back row. The plane to Atlanta was full, and we were not offered a free upgrade to business class. The woman ahead of me put her seat back as soon as she was allowed, and kept it back throughout the flight. That left very little space for my large laptop, which would have been cramped even if the seat did not go back. I doubt that the seat-to-seat space is different from any other airline. Certainly it isn't better.

I think that people who want to push their seats back should pay a fee to the person behind them whose space they will use. Make it plenty high. It's rude. Maybe it should only be allowed between 10 pm and 6 am. Never would be fine too.

On this flight, neither browser would automatically redirect to the Wi-Fi login page. I did manage to get there eventually, by entering the URL directly into the Google Chrome address window. When I tried to play their stupid game to get a discount voucher, however, it complained that "Flash 10" was not installed on my computer. Then when I clicked the button labeled "Get Adobe Flash Player," I got an error message saying "this web page has a redirect loop." Bottom line, I couldn't play the stupid game without Flash 10, and I couldn't get Flash 10 without first buying air time. I do have Adobe Flash, by the way, and it does appear to be version 10.

The flight left Ft Lauderdale at least 20 minutes late, because the inbound aircraft had arrived late, but it landed in Atlanta only about five minutes late.

The next and last flight left the Atlanta gate five minutes early, but stood in line behind several other aircraft for some time before taking off. Atlanta is a very busy airport. We were in coach again - the plane was full and no upgrade was offered.

This time Chrome tripped on the Flash 10 error again, but Internet Explorer got access to the game if I keyed in the correct URL. It stopped briefly for the Flash 10 error, and then went ahead anyway. But after collecting the code generated by the game, I needed Chrome to get to the pay-here page that would actually connect me to the internet. Upon entering the code, I was offered free internet access, so I connected, and from then on both IE and Chrome worked properly, as did email. I do like having internet access aboard the aircraft, and there may be times that it will be worth the cost.

The final flight got us back to MSP about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. That was most welcome.

Overall impression of AirTran: They do seem to try harder than Delta, the other airline I've flown most recently. At bottom, though, they are in the business of making money by cramming as many passengers into their planes as possible, at the expense of comfort and enjoyment, just like the other airlines.

The in-flight internet service was very hard to access and rather expensive, but worked well once I got connected.

Automated Spam Blog Comments, Spambots

2010-02-14T19:32:00.000-06:00

Overnight, a blog that I manage got an automated "spam comment" from an organization purporting to raise money for children in Haiti.

The people who did this use "spambot" software which leaves comments on thousands or millions of blogs in one operation. Sunshine got one on a blog as well. I deleted the comment, of course. No legitimate organization would try to raise money by spamming other people's blogs.

Please don't get sucked in. Most of this spam is just self-promoting, but increasingly they want your credit card numbers, or worse.

If you visit a blog, ANY blog, and see a comment that has little or nothing to do with the blog content, please DO NOT CLICK a link in that comment, no matter how legitimate the link or the cause may seem. Just clicking the link might make you the victim of a drive-by virus infection with, potentially, the ability to quietly deliver all of the private information on your computer to people who would love to have it.

Be safe, Don

OnStar Failed Us

2009-12-11T17:46:00.000-06:00

Last spring we acquired a Saturn Aura with OnStar, a satellite radio control system. It requires a monthly subscription, but theoretically it offers some nice benefits, such as:

Monthly diagnostics, which come in the form of an email,
Automatic 911 calls if the air bags deploy, and
Remote door-unlock, in case we should inadvertently lock the keys in the car.

We haven't locked the keys in the car in years. It's hard to do, actually, because these days we don't lock with the buttons on the doors - we use the remote, which is attached to the keys. Today, though, Sunshine unknowingly dropped the keys into the trunk of the car, with the other doors locked, and when she closed the trunk the keys were inside. You get that sinking feeling ...

She had never called OnStar, so she called me. I called OnStar. They agreed to unlock it, saying that it might take as much as ten minutes.

Well, ten minutes is a very long time when the temperature is zero (actual air temp) outside. She was in Sam's Club parking lot, so she could go inside, but if she was concerned that OnStar would unlock the car and then the contents would be vulnerable, so she couldn't really stay inside. She stayed close to the building where she could watch the car.

Meanwhile, not entirely trusting the system, I got in my car and started the 15-minute drive to her location, expecting to get a call at any moment saying that I could turn around. The call never came. When I got there the car was still locked, so I unlocked it with my remote. Sunshine found the keys immediately.

When she got into the car she heard the end of a conversation on the car's speakers, and heard the caller hang up. She didn't hear the beginning of that conversation, because she was LOCKED OUT! OnStar did us no good whatsoever, and in fact my call to them only slowed me down when Sunshine was actually at risk.

I'm a little upset about that, and try not to make decisions when upset, but I wonder how long we'll continue to pay $17.45 per month, over $200 per year, for a system that let us down when we needed it the most.

Bernafon Verite Hearing Aid Review

2009-11-25T20:08:00.002-06:00

I've had my Bernafon Verite (Vérité) hearing aids for almost two months now. My first hearing aids. I was reluctant, but it was time. I bought two aids, even though one ear has only a slight loss.

Bottom line: I'm very glad I bought hearing aids, and I'm glad I bought two. I got them at Costco. It feels as if I have bionic hearing, able to hear things that I couldn't before, and maybe even things that others can't hear. Don't turn the TV up for ME any more! Speech recognition is much better, the most important benefit, and these aids have still more to offer.

Configuration:

Two identical behind-the-ear high-tech Berafon Verite aids using "receiver in the ear" (RITE) technology. In the hearing industry, the "receiver" is actually the loudspeaker that makes the sound for the ear. The connection from the aid to the ear is a wire, not a plastic tube.
There are lots of colors. I got blue ones. What the heck.
Open-fit, which means that a disposable soft-plastic dome holds the speaker in the ear rather than a conventional ear mold. The dome has holes which allow some sound to bypass the aids. If I had a more-severe loss, the open fit would not work because of feedback, but the Verite and its RITE work with ear molds too, of course.
Power speakers, rather than normal ones, for reasons known only to the guy who ordered the aids for me. I suppose he assumed that my hearing would eventually get worse and I would need the extra power.
Bluetooth: To borrow from an old commercial, "This is not your father/mother's hearing aid!" More about Bluetooth later.
The SoundGate is an extra device which hangs around the neck (with a breakaway safety cord) and can control channel, volume, and connections to any of several Bluetooth devices.
This configuration cost about $3000 in Minnesota, about half the price of high-quality aids from the conventional hearing-aid providers that we checked. That's a $3000 savings, the best reason to shop Costco for hearing aids.

Hearing:

Sounds are crystal clear, especially voices. This is what a hearing aid is about, and it works! When I take the aids out at night, sounds seem soft and dull by comparison.
There is no perceptible delay between sound from the aids and sound coming into the ear directly through the open-fit domes.
Feedback is minimal. When it starts, as it might if I hold something (like my sweetie) next to my ear, the feedback is quickly detected and controlled by the computer in the Verite.
Noise management: As a hearing-aid newbie I'm not sure what to look for. I do notice that the Verite suppresses white noise in a quiet setting. It doesn't seem to do much to quiet the loud roar in the passenger cabin of an airplane, but maybe it works too fast for me to detect the suppression.
The two aids communicate with each other, so that if, for example, the channel is changed on one it will also change on the other. It works.
No telephone switch. The Verite automatically detects the presence of a phone receiver held against the ear, and switches that aid to a special telephone channel until the phone is removed from the ear.

Bluetooth, hearing aids that do MORE:

Basically, the hearing aids with the SoundGate control unit can act as a Bluetooth headset for listening to TV or music, or for talking on the telephone:

You've seen people walking about with a gizmo sticking forward from their ear, obviously talking to someone. Perhaps you've done that too. Well, now you can do that without the ostentatious ear ornament. Your cell phone rings, you push a little button on the SoundGate hanging around your neck, and you are in conversation. You listen with both ears, and speak forward, which reaches the SoundGate. I love this feature, and it works well, though the Bluetooth sometimes takes too long to connect. I have a new Motorola W766 phone from Verizon, and the combination produces the clearest voices I have ever heard on any phone.
Bernafon includes a Bluetooth adapter for use with a TV or music device. Mine is plugged into the TV set's audio output, so I can run to the kitchen and still hear the TV, even with other noises in the house. The audio is adjusted for voice, however, which is fine for listening to the news and most shows, but someone looking for high-quality music would be disappointed.

Room for improvement:

There is no OFF switch on the aids or at the SoundGate, for those times that ambient sounds are just too loud: Washing/drying dishes (clank-clank), amplified music, train going by, announcements in the airport, whatever. Noise management does not seem to help those situations. You can turn the aids off by opening the battery compartment part way, but you risk dropping the battery. Better to take the aids out of the ears. I did anticipate this problem and asked the fitter to program channel 4 (the last channel) for very low gain, so I can just switch to channel 4 when the ambient noise is too loud. That works.
The Verite responds to single-tone noise (whistles, beeps, squeaks, some alarms) by reducing its gain at that tone, I think. But when the noise is gone, the Verite becomes VERY responsive to exactly that tone, resonant, sounding hollow at that tone, as if sounds were traveling through a steel tube. It usually doesn't quite whistle, but comes very close. It can be restored to normal function by changing the channel and changing it back. It happens in either ear, maybe both. It's a bug in the software that should be fixed. I wonder if they can fix it and download new software to my aids.
According to the Bernafon literature supplied by Costco, the Verite also comes with a Bluetooth telephone adapter for use with a standard wired telephone. But it doesn't. A bit of false advertising by Costco. I expected the adapter, and would have used it in my office. I'm asking Costco to make good on their advertising.
It comes with a cute little box to contain the aids at night, but I can't figure out how to fit them into the box without bending the RITE wires. I think the box is made for conventional aids with plastic tubes instead of wires. Hard to believe that they would send a box that doesn't work.
The Costco guy from whom I bought these aids was unable to fit them properly, and I ended up going to a different Costco store to get them working as they should. This is only partly a Bernafon problem - mostly a Costco problem.
My biggest beef: These aids are not at all tolerant to moisture. I'm a runner, but I can't wear them when I run because running equals sweating. I knew that when I bought them, but I sure miss them when I run.