The "New Toys" Thread

One hour before we left for vacation i bought a Tomtom rider.

TomTom-RIDER-5-Boxshot.png


Impulse purchases are the best.

Just out of curiosity, how much is one of those compared to a normal car nav?

Something tells me Tomtom sees the Rider lineup as an opportunity for markup.
 
Just out of curiosity, how much is one of those compared to a normal car nav?

Something tells me Tomtom sees the Rider lineup as an opportunity for markup.

It's a lot.

The TomTom Rider is $400 on amazon, the TomTom START 55M is $120.

Even their "Premium" one, the GO 600, is $280
 
Waze or Google Maps is free...
 
A smartphone with Google Maps is next to useless on a bike.

Motorcycle navigation has some more difficult requirements than your standard car navigation: For starters, it has to be rainproof, shouldn't shatter if it falls off the bike, and has to be operable with gloves. Better ones have more sophisticated routing for "nice routes".
But yeah, it's bloody expensive... :D
 
47 has a pocket on his gas tank that has a condutive plastic foil window, so he can operate it through that and it's nice and safe. It does lack nice big buttons for gloves, though.
 
A smartphone with Google Maps is next to useless on a bike.

Motorcycle navigation has some more difficult requirements than your standard car navigation: For starters, it has to be rainproof, shouldn't shatter if it falls off the bike, and has to be operable with gloves. Better ones have more sophisticated routing for "nice routes".
But yeah, it's bloody expensive... :D

I used to use this case and had a standard Garmin sat nav in it. The advantage was the sat nav would play mp3s so I could plug it into my helmet to listen to music on long motorway journeys.

Givi-S850-Sat-Nav-Holder-1.jpg
 
I also guess voice output has to be routed into the helmet somehow (some of those integrate speakers/headphones, don't they?), an integrated speaker like most of normal satnavs use will be pretty useless on a bike at speed.
 
Some gloves allow for smartphone (capacitive touch screens) usage.

Also, aren't most satnavs resistive touch screens rather than capacitive so that you can actually use them with gloves or when it's very cold?
 
Some gloves allow for smartphone (capacitive touch screens) usage.

Also, aren't most satnavs resistive touch screens rather than capacitive so that you can actually use them with gloves or when it's very cold?

Yeah, but the point was using a regular smartphone as GPS instead of a dedicated device, like the tomtom.

This one set me back ?399, but i had a ?100 voucher of the store, so do the math. :p

Best of all is that tomtom has an action till the end of the month that if you're not happy with the device you can return it (with a valid reason). And i'm on vacation till the first week of augustus. :(
 
Dell M3800
i7-4702HQ
256 GB SSD
Quadro K1100M
QHD+ 3200x1800 display

Dell_Precision_M3800.jpg


Should be able to tackle anything I throw at it on Solidworks, FEA, Matlab and all that good stuff for school.
 
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You don't really need significant hardware for MATLAB unless you're planning on running exhaustive scripts...
 
You don't really need significant hardware for MATLAB unless you're planning on running exhaustive scripts...

I know that, but for Solidworks it'll be a massive benefit especially with all the group based classes I'll be taking the last 2.5 semesters I have. I might add I purchased a refurbished unit at a much lower cost than a new unit with it's warranty still intact till next July.
 
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I know that, but for Solidworks it'll be a massive benefit especially with all the group based classes I'll be taking the last 2.5 semesters I have. I might add I purchased a refurbished unit at a much lower cost than a new unit with it's warranty still intact till next July.

It'll be nice for doing some stuff at home but I bet the workstations at your school will be faster and more conducive to getting your projects done faster. Having a nice big screen (or two) makes a world of difference IMO.
 
I also guess voice output has to be routed into the helmet somehow (some of those integrate speakers/headphones, don't they?), an integrated speaker like most of normal satnavs use will be pretty useless on a bike at speed.

A good option is a helmet Bluetooth headset like the one I have, a Sena SMH5:



I mainly use it to listen to the directions Google Maps gives me and sometimes music on longer rides. It also acts as a handsfree device for calls and an intercom with other headsets. The dial and buttons are big enough to use with gloves and the controls are pretty intuitive although sound quality isn't the best. I picked mine up for $95. I think a setup like this is better than a dedicated motorcycle GPS unit because it keeps your eyes on the road where they really need to be when riding. You can also buy helmets with a similar headset built in but then you're limited to having it on just that one helmet and can't transfer it to another helmet if it gets damaged or something. Plus I bought my helmet and this headset for about 2/3 the price of a purpose-built Bluetooth helmet.
 
It'll be nice for doing some stuff at home but I bet the workstations at your school will be faster and more conducive to getting your projects done faster. Having a nice big screen (or two) makes a world of difference IMO.

:lol: The workstations we have access to don't even have pro grade cards (Quadro/FirePro) just some old Radeon 5000/6000 gaming cards which I've had crash on me a few times before.
 
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:lol: The workstations we have access to don't even have pro grade cards (Quadro/FirePro) just some old Radeon 5000/6000 gaming cards which I've had crash on me a few times before.

lol oh geez, what school is this?
 
A good option is a helmet Bluetooth headset like the one I have, a Sena SMH5:



I mainly use it to listen to the directions Google Maps gives me and sometimes music on longer rides. It also acts as a handsfree device for calls and an intercom with other headsets. The dial and buttons are big enough to use with gloves and the controls are pretty intuitive although sound quality isn't the best. I picked mine up for $95. I think a setup like this is better than a dedicated motorcycle GPS unit because it keeps your eyes on the road where they really need to be when riding. You can also buy helmets with a similar headset built in but then you're limited to having it on just that one helmet and can't transfer it to another helmet if it gets damaged or something. Plus I bought my helmet and this headset for about 2/3 the price of a purpose-built Bluetooth helmet.

I've heard of riders using bone-induction headsets as they leave the ears completely free to hear around you... ever tried one of those?
 
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