Now Playing: September 2009

Running behind on this one, so let me get right down to bid-ness…

• MuteMath, “Armistice”
• Ever since discovering their very good self-titled album a few years back, I’ve been anxiously awaiting what a follow-up release from them would sound like – and now I know.  “Armistice” was described by the band as an album that would “embarrass the first record”.  A tall order, to be certain, and though a few songs are very good, the album is (as a whole) not particularly enticing to me.  I expected something a bit more “fresh”, or at least the last album amped up by a factor of "10”, but neither is true, in my opinion.
• Arctic Monkeys, “Humbug”
• I’ve not really been a big fan of the Arctic Monkeys, but when a friend of mine pointed me in the direction of The Last Shadow Puppets – a side project – I thought I’d give them more of a listen.  I’m glad I did.  “Humbug” is a very good album, and starts off particularly well.  Their sound rarely deviates from itself very much, which may (or may not) be your thing, but there’s a lot here to enjoy.
• Soulsavers, “Broken”
• I’m pretty much a sucker for anything Mark Lanegan related.  I like his solo stuff, Screaming Trees stuff (of course!), side projects, and whatever else.  A co-worker pointed out Soulsavers to me, which I was surprisingly unfamiliar with.  Very mellow stuff.  Dark, brooding, and so on.  To be honest, I’m not even through the entire album yet, but if “Bubblegum” or Lanegan’s solo stuff float your boat, you’ll probably enjoy Soulsavers too.
• Katie Todd, “Changing Faces”
• Via a “Neko Case” station on Pandora, I stumbled across Katie Todd (or Katie Todd Band) and liked what I heard.  With some jazzy overtones and pop sensibilities, I would liken Katie Todd to artists such as Feist or K T Tunstall, both of whom I like.  Katie has a slightly unusual voice, though, which will either endear you to her style, or turn you away.  I’m diggin’ it.
• Muse, “The Resistance”
• Another follow-up album that I was very much looking forward to.  Muse has an epic, “stadium rock” type sound that is somewhere between Radiohead and Queen.  To find out that this band is merely a trio almost boggles the mind – they are so incredibly talented.  All that said, “The Resistance” has failed to capture my attention.  It’s not bad, per se, but it doesn’t come across as anything new either.  More of the same, I suppose, which will be perfect for the hardcore Muse fans.
• Gin Blossoms, “New Miserable Experience”
• Talk about digging up a relic, this album was released the same year that I graduated high school – back in 1992.  I remember my buddy, Troy, spinning this disc quite a bit, but I never latched on to it myself.  You know what, though?  This is a very good album.  Incredibly catchy tunes, good song writing, and it has really stood the test of time after 17 years!  The singer was clearly genius and troubled.  His addiction comes through loud and clear over the course of this album, but if you don’t let that weigh you down, this is really worth a look (or re-look, for those old fans).
• Neko Case & Her Boyfriends, “Furnace Room Lullaby”
• I’ve been enjoying Neko Case’s music this year – especially her most recent release, “Middle Cyclone”.  “Furnace Room Lullaby” is an older album of hers, though – nearly a decade old now (2000).  While it is clearly Neko Case-styled music, it has more twang than her more recent stuff, so it took a bit longer to grow on me.  It’s a great album, though, with the title track being one of my favorites.
• The Devil Makes Three, “Longjohns, Boots, And A Belt”
• One of my co-workers flipped this album my way a few years back.  If a bluegrass/rockabilly vibe is your thing, then check out The Devil Makes Three.  Very good stuff.

DVD-to-Zune Ripper: WinX DVD Ripper (free)

(as originally posted at the ZuneScene forums)

Since getting my Zune HD (32) a week ago, I’ve been on the hunt to find a good DVD-to-Zune software package.  There are a lot of good articles on this site, but I’m (personally) more fond of the one-step applications: pop in a movie, choose some settings, and then "rip".  No hassle, ya know?

Anyhow… here are my criteria for a "reasonable" solution:

1. One-step rip.  DVD straight to a file that is ready to load onto my Zune.
2. Must not "convert" when syncing with my Zune.  Ugh!
3. Must have decent-to-nice image quality.
4. Keeps everything in-sync (audio with video)
5. Reasonable file sizes
6. Can’t take forever and a day to rip a movie!
7. Price.  Free is nice.

So, my searches led me to a lot of different solutions.  I’ve used Cucusoft’s offering for awhile now, but it’s a bit wacky… and I would get pauses from time to time.  No good.  Finally, I was browsing Dealnews and came across an offer for WinX DVD Ripper for "free".  They were actually referring to the Platinum version, which isn’t totally free when you get down to it.  Still, their real "free" version looked promising, so I downloaded it.

http://www.winxdvd.com/dvd-ripper/download.htm

At about a 6 meg download, the program is fairly lightweight and straightforward.  Nice!

Having successfully ripped several movies now with WinX DVD Ripper, I thought I’d share my steps (in case anyone cares)…

1) Download and install the WinX DVD Ripper.  Even works great on my Win7 64-bit box!

2) Launch the software

3) Click the DVD Disc icon to select your movie.

4) Select your options.  I choose MP4, "disable" Subtitle, Original Size and Keep Aspect Ratio, Video Quality "1100". 

Note: that a Subtitle is selected by default.

5) Click START to convert. Wait while the video is ripped and converted.  Your mileage will vary, but my quad-core AMD system ripped a 2:10hr movie in about an hour.  Not too bad.

6) When the process completes, you can copy the .mp4 file into a directory that your Zune software uses (if not already in there) and then Edit the file details with a better name, release year, etc.

This 2:10hr movie ended up at just over 1.1gigs in size.  You can bump the video size and/or video quality down a bit, if you’d like smaller file sizes.

7) Sync the movie to your Zune and enjoy!

Other notes:

The options selected should work fine for all 2nd generation Zunes and above.  The Zune 30 will likely require choosing the WMV tab and other options for quality.

Quick Review: Zune HD

Microsoft recently released their 3rd generation Zune media player – the Zune HD.  Whereas the previous Zune players relied upon d-pads and squircles to move around the user interface, the Zune HD is full multi-touch wonder, and it is very well done.  In fact, if it weren’t so pretty, you might almost say that it’s over done.  It’s almost embarrassingly schwanky and fun-to-use.

But let’s dig in to other items first.

PRICING

Current pricing for the Zune HD is $219 (US) for the 16GB version, and $289 (US) for the 32GB version.  While that pricing is competitive and slightly cheaper than the similarly equipped iPod Touch devices, it seems like a better choice would’ve been to totally undercut Apple on this point. 

Also, I know that memory is sold in particular quantities and sizes (8GB, 16GB, etc.), but why can’t they figure out how to release different memory sizes for these?  For instance, a 40GB Zune HD that is comparatively priced to a 32GB iPod Touch would seem like a better value (to me) than being $10 or $20 cheaper.  I should know if this is technically feasible or not, but I’m really not sure.  You would think it wouldn’t be too difficult.

PACKAGING

The Zune HD comes in a fairly small and sturdy box.  The top of the box slides upward to reveal the player, with manuals, earbuds, and USB cable packaged neatly behind it. 

If “unboxing” write-ups are your thing, then check out the Engadget article covering this.  Honestly, though… it’s just a box.

SPECS

The Zune HD is easily one of the most advanced media players you will find on the market today, featuring…

• 3.3” OLED capacitive touch display (480×272 resolution)
• Measures 2.07” x 4.08” x .35”
• Weighs a paltry 2.6 ounces (compared to the 4.1oz iPod Touch)
• Powered by the Nvidia Tegra processor
• Flash-based storage
• Multi-touch display
• HD radio on-board
• 802.11b/g wireless support
• Accelerometer
• MP3, WMA, AAC and MP4 audio support
• 720p HD video output (via optional dock)
• Equalizer
• 660 mAh Lithium-Ion battery
• Web browser, Apps and Games

HANDS-ON

Before you ever even turn the device on, you immediately notice how little it weighs.  Although 2.6oz doesn’t mean a whole lot to me on paper, it sure translates into a nice experience when you’re holding it.  My recently-acquired MyTouch 3G phone isn’t exactly heavy, but there’s no doubt that the Zune HD weighs less.  In fact, with the metal casing and glass screen, it just feels like a nicely designed & assembled piece of hardware.  At least two of my iPhone-toting friends remarked at how nice the form factor is.  It really makes the iPhone feel incredibly large.  Zune phone anyone?

Like most touch-enabled devices of today, the physical buttons are mostly absent.  The top of the device has a rectangular Power/Sleep button that is flush with the casing.  The left-hand side features a slightly bumped out Media Button that brings up the volume and track fwd/back controls, no matter where you are.  Finally, the Home Button is placed just below the Zune logo on the front of the player.  That’s it.  No other physical controls are present.

The bottom of the Zune HD is also where you’ll find the standard 3.5mm headphone jack and dock port.

The back of the casing features a nicely etched Zune logo, your serial number (toward the bottom) and the obligatory FCC information, though very faint.  The lower left-hand side has the words “hello from seattle” in very small text, something that every Zune has sported somewhere.

The Zune HD comes with very typical earbuds (+ colorful foam covers) that I would never, ever use.  They sound decent, or so I’m told, but that style of earbud absolutely kills my ears.  I am continuing to use the Zune Premium headphones that shipped with my Zune 80.  Otherwise, the only other hardware of note is the standard Zune port-to-USB cable.

USER INTERFACE

In my personal opinion, the “twist” interface on the Zune has been the best of any media player out there.  The ability to move horizontally and vertically among your collection is both fun and easy-to-use.  The Zune HD retains the “twist” tradition, while adding ‘touchability’ to the mix for additional control, shortcuts, and some pretty cool stuff.

As an interesting aside, a good friend of mine was taking a look at my Zune HD.  He noted that something (I don’t remember what) was not entirely intuitive on the Zune HD.  It got me thinking.  What is “intuitive”?  Should all functions be readily apparent without ever having read a manual or having used a similar product?  How low do you set the bar?   These are interesting questions.  Microsoft has historically been *very* conservative and overly explanative with their interfaces.  Windows NT 4.0 featured an arrow that flew across the taskbar, poked the Start button, and said “click here to Start”.  It was fine for Grandma who’d never used a PC, but it was pretty ridiculous for the rest of us.  These days, however, Microsoft seems to count on the fact that more and more people know how to use a computer, and thus can figure out most of the interface on their own.  “Intuitive” is almost better stated as “consistent” – both with their own product, as well as other products on the market.  I read the Zune HD manual after the fact, but otherwise figured out on my own how to play music, use the radio, add a favorite in the browser, and scroll through pictures.  To me, that means they’ve accomplished “intuitive”.

</soapbox>

The Zune HD now features a “wallpaper”, of sorts, which ends up acting more as a shade to what is going on behind the scenes.  When you turn the Zune HD on, you are greeted with the (customizable) shade, the time, notification icons, and an arrow pointing up – which is the direction that you flick the shade to get the homescreen.  As best I can figure, this shade helps protect the user from unnecessarily messing with the player while in a pocket or purse.  If you happened to hit a button accidently, you would still have to flip the shade to do much more.  A safety feature, I suppose, and a fun way to personalize your device, since the rest of the player only allows for the default black background. 

All that said, it seems like the swiping up motion to clear the shade is a bit problematic at times.  It requires a fairly intentional swiping motion, and it occasionally not ready to be swiped after first turning the screen on.  Here’s hoping these issues are remedied with a future firmware update.

The homescreen is really broken into two main parts: the category list and the quickplay.  When one part is made prominent, the other shrink down and off to its respective side.  It’s really an amazingly clever way to give access to more functionality, without having to mess with an interface that is already known.

homescreen: As you can see in my very awesome, custom graphic, the homescreen gives the ability to launch several things all from one place.  Get used to this, because the Zune HD is all about having a lot of choices from various views.  In this case, you can select any of the various ‘categories’ on the right-hand side, click on the ‘Play’ circle to begin playing all of your music, or you can click on the left-hand side ‘Quickplay’ area for access to a number of handy things.

quickplay:  The small quickplay area on the left becomes the prominent portion of the screen just by clicking on it.  Actually, you can switch between the two main screens by either swiping back and forth, clicking on the respective side, or simply hitting the home button.  They really want you to use the quickplay functionality, and you really ought to be.  It’s wonderful!

Back to the subject at hand, though, the quickplay area is broken into (at most) four sections: Now Playing, Pins, History, and New.  The ‘Now Playing’ portion only shows when you return to the homescreen while you’re playing music, radio, or a podcast.  It will show an album cover (or similar) of whatever you’re currently playing, along with ‘Playing’ or ‘Paused’ text above it.  ‘Pins’ are like favorites for the media you have on your Zune HD.  Like a particular album, artist, or genre?  Pin it to your quickplay area where you can quickly get at it.  You can also pin podcasts, pictures, radio stations, browser favorites, and apps.  Nice!  The ‘History’ area, as you might expect, shows media that you’ve accessed most recently.  Finally, the ‘New’ section shows media that you’ve most recently added, which is great when you’ve downloaded a few new albums that you want to remember to listen to.

music:  Hopefully, playing music is the primary job of your Zune HD.  After all, that’s where this device excels above all others in this category.  Clicking on ‘Music’ from the homescreen whisks the word “music” to the top of the screen and zooms in, revealing your Artists view.  From here you can scroll downward and roll through the artists, swipe side-to-side to get at playlists, genres, albums, etc., or hit a boxed [E] letter (see the photo) to bring up the full alphabet view where you can go straight to all artists beginning with that letter.  It’s really a fairly ingenious (and fast) way of moving around, and yet retains the “twist” interface that Zune has used for years.  It’s more of the same, but better.  Not only that, but other items are immediately clickable from this view.  Click the ‘Play’ circle next to an artist and begin playing all albums from that artist.  Rather dig in?  Click on the Artist name to get at their albums, pics, bio, and related.  Finally, click on the top of the screen where the cropped ‘Music’ text lives to go back to the previous screen.  This is a consistent feature when moving around the Zune HD interface.

While playing music, the ‘now playing’–type view has an astonishing amount of control.  As you can see in the picture above, you have access to no less than 7 distinct functions all from a single view.  What you actually see is certainly far less cluttered than my photoshopped screenshot, so you’ll need to imagine this without all of the red arrows and text.  The ‘now playing’ view let’s you easily see the artist (bold), the album (just below it), the album artwork, the current song (just below the artwork), and the next three tracks coming up.  You can also hit Back, toggle Shuffle and/or Repeat, and give the song a Rating, if you like.  There’s more here than meets the eye, however, because much of what you see is also clickable.  For instance, the Artist text will take you to the section for that artist.  The area that shows the current + upcoming tracks will give you the full track list for that album (or playlist).  Selecting the middle of the screen will bring up the Media Key functionality: adjusting the volume, or going FWD/BACK with your tracks. 

Wow!  That’s a lot of stuff, and as with most Microsoft products, really just a number of ways to accomplish the same task.

video:  Strangely enough, I don’t (personally) spend a lot of time watching video on my Zune.  Sure, I have the obligatory few DVDs I’ve ripped and some home movies, but nothing significant.  Quite honestly, I use my Zune mostly for music.

That said, there isn’t a lot that the Zune HD offers in video playback as compared with the previous Zune players – save for a beautiful, beautiful screen.  That’s really the story here.  Even with a smaller screen than the iPod Touch, I’m guessing that most folks would prefer watching the Zune HD and all its OLED goodness.  The colors are richer, the viewable angles are far better, and (on paper) the video-playback battery life is longer.

As you might expect, you can hit the Media Key to get on-screen playback controls during a video.  Drag to fwd/rew the video, turn the volume up/down, or pause.  Pretty basic stuff, and it works well.

pictures:  Again, the story here is really the beautiful screen.  You can browse your pictures via folder name or date, and then watch a slideshow or flip through them manually.  They look wonderful. 

Even more impressive, though, might be the speed at which you can flip through your pictures.  The Zune HD is quite simply the most responsive handheld device I’ve ever owned.  Thanks to the Nvidia Tegra processor, I imagine, and some very clever programming.  You can literally flip through them as fast as your fingers will move, and then pinch to zoom (etc) that folks have come to expect.

Lastly, you can long-press a picture (or folder) to delete it, “pin” it, or (in the case of a single photo) make it your slide background.

radio:  Like all previous Zunes, the Zune HD offers built-in FM radio, which only the most recent iPods have begun to offer.  One of the selling points of the new Zune “HD”, however, is the inclusion of HD radio, which advertises ‘CD quality’ radio reception.  Having listened to HD radio in my commuter car for the past year or so, I can honestly say that it does sound noticeably better than standard FM radio.  It also offers the (very handy) ability to include the artist/song/album name info in the audio stream, which is nice.

Like other views on the Zune HD, the ‘now playing’ page for radio gives access to a number of handy functions.  Notably, you can quickly add a radio preset, access your existing presets, and add the current ‘song’ or ‘show’ to your cart for later downloading on the Zune Marketplace.  With an HD-enabled station, you can also swipe left or right to change between their HD offerings.

All in all, if you don’t listen to much FM, the HD radio offering may not float your boat a whole lot.  It is a very nice feature, though, and well implemented.

marketplace: Building off of the 2nd generation Zune functionality, the Zune HD has full wireless access to the Zune Marketplace.  Launch the Marketplace and you are greeted with (4) basic options: Music, Apps, Search, and Cart. 

The ‘Music’ option takes you to a nice thumbnail view of the newest album releases, or you can swipe left/right for Top Songs or Top Albums.  ‘Apps’, as you might expect, let’s you view all of the Zune apps for immediate downloading.  There’s like 7 apps total right now, so it’s pretty silly.  ‘Search’ looks like a typical browser search area, and brings up the Zune HD virtual keyboard.  Type in your search terms, hit Done, and away you go!  Everything that the Marketplace has available is at your fingertips – for streaming (Zune Pass) or purchasing via the ‘Cart’.  I would imagine that you can purchase immediately if you have Microsoft Points in your account, but I have not tried that.

internet: It came as a bit of a surprise to many folks, but the Zune HD features a very capable browser.  Given what Windows Mobile has offered up in terms of browsing, not much was expected in the regard, but the results are quite welcome.  The IE6-based Zune HD browser is nice to look at, relatively fast, and features the typical mobile browser controls you’ve come to expect: pinch to zoom, move around with your fingers, and so forth.

The browser interface is, shall we say, very spartan.  There are about (4) controls to see, and much of that is tucked away at the bottom or transparent.  When push comes to shove, you realize that the “bare bones” interface is really all you need in a mobile browser: hitting Back, managing Favorites, Searching, and then interacting with your current URL.  It seems almost too simplistic, but what else do you need to do that cannot be handled with those basic controls + screen manipulation?  It’s very efficient, and the browser engine is surprisingly capable.

Aside from the Marketplace search, the browser is really one of the primary places in the Zune HD where you’ll use the virtual keyboard.  While I don’t have hours of typing under my belt on the Zune HD, my initial reaction is that the keyboard is quite capable, and in many ways better than what is on the MyTouch 3G.  It seems to be responsive and very accurate.  In fact, I did a test type between the two devices, typing “echo and the bunnymen”.  I had one mis-typed letter on the Zune, and I completely mangled “bunnymen” on the MyTouch 3G, which I have far more experience typing on.  Guess that says something.

apps: This is certainly a point of contention amongst many reviewers and interested buyers: What is the app support on the Zune HD?  To be perfectly honest, the current support is poor.  Microsoft has not announced a long-term plan for what type of app support the Zune HD will have, and so we’re left wondering… and tinkering with the handful of launch day apps. 

Let’s see, I have a calculator, a weather app, and some games.  While they all look very nice, they take a bit too long to load, in my opinion. 

What would be nice to find out are the long-term app plans for the Zune platform.  Will we get XBLA games ported to the Zune?  Will there be a full app marketplace with 3rd party support?  I would be very surprised if Microsoft left the apps as they are currently, but without any official word from them, I can only remark about the present state of things.  It’s pretty sad, but at least a small step forward from the previous iteration of Zune hardware.  A very small step.

settings:  I’m not going to spend too much time with this.  Need to adjust your wireless link?  Try out a different EQ setting?  How about set a lock screen PIN?  It’s all here.   Enjoy.

PERFORMANCE

A nice interface is nothing if the infrastructure doesn’t support it well.  The Zune HD could dance and twirl all it likes, but if it feels like the hardware is constantly chugging to keep up with you, well… the experience would be less than ideal.  Thankfully, the performance is top-notch.

I don’t know a whole lot about the Nvidia Tegra processor, but I get the feeling that this is a nice piece of hardware.  Either that, or the Zune team is a crack squad that can produce blood from turnips.  Whatever the case, the Zune HD moves along at a clip that is nothing short of wonderful.  Screens emerge quickly, transitions are smooth, and scrolling is seamless.  If anything, my experience with the Zune HD has been eye-opening.  This is how mobile devices are supposed to be:  fast and fluid.  HTC and the WinMo team need to get together and get this Tegra processor into all of their upcoming phones.  Seriously.  This is good stuff.

BATTERY LIFE

The Zune HD is rated at up to 33 hours for music and 8.5 hours for video.  These numbers are, of course, under the most ideal conditions – wireless off, screen off (music), and not fiddling with things.

Evidently, the Nvidia Tegra processor is known to be both powerful and power-sipping.  The verdict is still out on the battery life of the Zune HD, but I can’t say that I’m completely blown away just yet.  If I’m listening to music for 5 hours and barely see the battery meter change, then I’m impressed.  As it stands, the battery life seems to be decent, but not incredible.

WRAPPING UP

So, this “quick review” is not especially quick, but what can you do?  There is a lot to talk about with all that is wrapped up in this tiny package.

Is the Zune HD the best personal media player out there?  I say “yes”, with no hesitation whatsoever.  If your goal is a great music listening experience, then the Zune HD is the best of the best.  Hands down.  If you’re a Zune Pass subscriber, then the whole package just becomes that much better. 

What about video support?  Well, I still say that the Zune HD is wonderful for watching video, but at 32gigs max (currently) you’re only going to fit so much content on here.  What you have will look great, thanks to the beautiful OLED screen.  No doubt about that.

What about app support?  As it stands right now, the Zune HD is *not* your best choice for apps.  If you want a large selection of games, map finding apps, or something to produce bodily function sounds, then another device is a better bet for you.  That said, I’m hoping that Microsoft knocks our socks with some amazing Xbox/XBLA integration in the very near future.  C’mon, guys!

What else?  Quite simply, there is not a nicer looking media player on the market today.  The form-factor is great, the interface is amazing, and the whole package is extremely well thought out.  From the wonderful navigation to the beautiful screen, the Zune HD has many features that the competition need to be seriously considering. 

With exception of app support, the Zune HD has raised the bar.

Microsoft Security Essentials (Anti-virus)

I have never, ever been a fan of anti-virus applications.  Why?  Well, as a systems administrator, I’ve seen how more often than not they adversely affect the PC that they’re “protecting” – primarily in the area of system performance.  It drives me nuts.  In most cases, I think the protection they offer is admirable, but at the cost of performance?  No thank you.

When it was announced a year ago (or so) that Microsoft would be releasing their own anti-virus client, the jokes started almost immediately.  Windows has long been flogged as an “insecure” operating system, even though Windows XP’s service-pack 2 (released in August 2004) resolved most of these issues. 

It’s difficult to shake a bad reputation. 

What has been unknown for these many months is what Microsoft’s iteration of an anti-virus client would look like.  Will it be bloated?  Slow?  Will it even provide system protection?  How much will it cost?  Some of these questions were answered with the earlier release of Microsoft’s Live OneCare suite, which garnered very good reviews on all accounts.  Still, Microsoft would find some way to mess up a good thing, right?  Don’t they always??

Not necessarily.

Earlier this year, the beta of Microsoft Security Essentials was released and the results were quite surprising. 

• No Bloat: Less than a 5 meg download for the 64-bit version.  Seriously.
• Responsive: Your system feels nearly ‘no load’, even while a full system scan is taking place
• Cost?: Free

The one thing that I cannot comment on is the level of protection that this anti-virus suite provides, though I’m going to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt on this one.  Why?  Just because they’re Microsoft?  No, actually – more because their Live OneCare product (upon which this app is based) has already been given a thumbs-up in this regard.  I expect that tradition to continue.

So… note this date in history: I am for the very first time recommending an anti-virus product.  Check out Microsoft Security Essentials. 

Would like to read a more in-depth review?  Sure thing.  Head over to this site.

 

Ruh-roh! Burned by the Zune Marketplace :(

So, I’ve been getting my newly-acquired Zune HD hooked up and synced up.  We’ll discuss that at another time.  Meanwhile, I’m syncing my music — about 30% of which is Zune Pass (subscription) content — and it’s mostly going fine.

Yeah.  I said mostly.

For the first time, I’ve found an instance where an album I downloaded via my Zune Pass subscription is no longer available at the Zune Marketplace, and thus no longer playable in either the software or on the Zune player. 

It typically works like this: you have a subscription to the Zune Pass, you log in, find an album, download it, and you are granted about 30 days to listen to that album.  Subsequent launches (and logins) to the software will renew that license, such that you essentially never notice it.  It’s part of your library and that’s that – playable whenever you like.  If you sync it to your Zune player, which most folks will, the license is copied there as well.  If you don’t re-sync your player within 30 days, the music will actually expire and be unplayable.  This has happened with my wife, who uses her player regularly, but doesn’t sync very often.  Otherwise, if you sync your player at least every now and then, it will renew the license on your player as well, and then give you uninterrupted access to that music.

Such is the life of subscription-based music, I suppose.  Love it or not.

Anyhoo… I’m syncing my music library and am greeted with fourteen items that won’t sync properly.  What’s the deal?  The album ‘About Face’ from The Working Title appears to be in my collection with no issues, but it just doesn’t sync.   Hmmm.  Double-clicking on one of the tracks gives me this error message:

The message pretty much says it all: This item is no longer available at Zune Marketplace.  (Error Code: C00D27E1)  We don’t know why it’s not available, or who’s fault it is.  Presumably, some contractual agreement between Zune and the record label of this band has lapsed or changed in some way.  I really don’t know.  I *do know*, however, that I can’t get this album on the Zune Marketplace anymore, which is a real bummer.  Hopefully it’ll come back some day soon.

For those out there who are dead-set against subscription-based music, then this will no doubt serve as ammunition for their argument.  On the other hand, I’ve download some 1,200 tracks via my Zune Pass, and this is the first instance of this that I’ve come across.  The odds are definitely in your favor to not have this issue. 

Besides… you can always go grab the full album from Amazon MP3 for $6.99 like I did. 

Enjoy.

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UPDATE:  I thought it only fair that I report some other strangeness that I recently found on the Zune  Marketplace.  Specifically, a number of albums that are no longer available to me.  In my syncing of approximately 1,200 Zune Pass tracks, about 10 albums would no longer sync as they were not available to Zune Pass subscribers any longer.  I think perhaps two of these albums just no longer existed on the Zune Marketplace, whereas the other 8 albums (or so) had gone to a ‘purchase only’ mode.  In other words, those albums were still available on the Zune Marketplace, but not to subscribers.  A bummer, to be sure.

Just thought I’d get that out there.

Fixing the Xbox 360 (RRoD)

So, we’ve had our Xbox 360 for about two years now.  Something like that.  We inherited our Xbox from my brother who had purchased it at “launch” in late 2005.  When he upgraded to the “Elite” model two years later, we were more than happy to take his hand-me-down system.

Well… I was happy.  My wife was less enthused.  But that’s another story.

Anyhow, our hand-me-down Xbox 360 crapped about at around the 3-year mark from original purchase.  We had had it for a year or so.  Because it sounds like a small jet engine, we’ve always kept it in our TV cabinet with the doors mostly closed.  It was never really an issue until the infamous RRoD popped into our world one day.  We were heartbroken.  Thankfully, Microsoft saw fit to extend the warranty to (3) full years for this particular issue, and ours was sent off for repair with little fanfare.  What we received in return was a refurbished unit. 

Oh, well.  Beggars can’t be choosers.

The honeymoon quickly faded within the first week.  Back in the old TV cabinet again, this Xbox 360 soon exhibited the ‘2 Rings of Death’ behavior which tells you that the unit has overheated somewhat.  The story appears to be something like this: the original (and somewhat poorly designed) internals of the X360 ran at much higher temperatures, but would eventually succumb to internal damage that would result in broken solder joints, separated heatsinks, or what have you.  The newer units have lower tolerances for heat, and thus display the ‘2 Rings of Death’ when the unit would get too hot.  Less damage to the system is a good thing, but having to shut the unit off after an hour can be aggravating.  Worse yet, we realized that we really needed to open our TV cabinet when the Xbox was on, which only made the entire room obnoxiously loud.  We also experimented with better airflow around the unit, standing it up vertically, and moving the power supply further away.  All helpful, but (evidently) not enough.

THE NEW VICTIM

About a month ago, our year-old “refurb” X360 began to exhibit ‘video artifacting’ and freezing.  After some time in the penalty box, we could turn it back on and resume our entertainment.  Still, it was unnerving and it seemed to only be getting worse.  Finally, it gave way to a full-blown RRoD. 

Clearly something had to be done, so I weighed our options. 

• For $99, we could ship the unit off to Microsoft for repair.
• PROS: quick and easy, not too expensive
• CONS: likely to have the same issue in a year, still going to be loud
• For $199, we could buy an Arcade unit and re-use our current harddrive.
• PROS: brand new box, potentially new/better design
• CONS: more than we really want to pay, still going to be loud
• For $35, we could “fix” the most likely x-clamp issue.
• PROS: cheap
• CONS: still loud, possible to have similar issues down the road
• For $60, we could “fix” the x-clamp and upgrade the heatsink or fan
• PROS: still pretty cheap, potential for a “quieter” Xbox
• CONS: difficult to decide between heatsink or fan upgrade
• For $90, we could “fix” the x-clamp and upgrade both heatsink and fan
• PROS: potential for a “quieter” Xbox, more hopeful long-term fix
• CONS: price getting up there, no guarantees

I also considered sending my Xbox 360 off to one of many vendors who will repair the unit for you.  It does cost more, but they typically offer a short warranty on their work.  Ultimately, I was less enthused about the added cost.

As you can see from the options I’ve listed, my primary concerns were: price, reliability (over time), and noise.  Pretty much in that order.  Eventually, I decided that $90 wasn’t too much to spend, and I liked the potential for long term reliability and reduced noise.  I jumped on that option.

ORDERING THE PARTS

My vendor of choice was Llamma’s.  They not only had decent prices on the parts I needed, but also had some great repair write-ups for me to follow. 

I ordered up the following items…

• All-in-one Xbox RRoD Repair Kit, cost $29.99
• Talismoon Whisper Max fan, cost $24.99
• Elite-type GPU Heatsink w/ heatpipe, cost $24.95
• TOTAL COST = $80 + shipping

The parts arrived a few days early, which was nice, so my son and I dug right in.  The Llamma’s RRoD Fix-It Tutorial gives a nice step-by-step write-up, complete with pictures.  While this “fix” isn’t difficult, per se, it does require some bravery on your part. 

First of all, this will void your warranty, if you still have one.  If your Xbox 360 is still under warranty, then by all means have Microsoft repair it for you.  Might as well.  Otherwise, a RRoD Xbox 360 isn’t going to get a whole lot worse by you cracking it open and attempting a repair – assuming that you’re mindful of the task at hand.  Having built and re-built hundreds of PCs over the years, I was fairly comfortable with the task.  Fairly comfortable.

Secondly, there is some “modding” required for the x-clamp fix.  The deal is this: Microsoft uses tension-based x-clamps to keep the heatsinks pressed tightly against the CPU and GPU, respectively.  Those clamps can loosen over time, thus the cooling degrades.  The x-clamp fix involves removing the x-clamps themselves, boring out (8) holes, a using a series of screws and washers to reattach the heatsinks.  Still feeling brave?  Then continue on.

Lastly, you’re probably best off having someone help you with this process – if only for the second pair of eyes.  Some steps are slightly tricky, especially the first time through.  Having someone help you is a good safe-guard against doing stupid things.

PERFORMING THE “FIX”

So, I was somewhat surprised to find that opening the Xbox 360 is actually one of the more complicated portions of this process.  Thankfully, Llamma’s provided both a very handy tool for the job (included with the All-in-One Kit) *and* a good write-up to help me along.

Once the case is off, you wind up with a metal plate that the motherboard is attached to.  You carefully pry off the x-clamps, remove the heatsinks, and prepare for the “fixing” process.

Much to my surprise, I found that I already had the Elite-type GPU heatsink w/ heatpipe in our refurb unit.  As it turns out, Microsoft began adding the heatpipe upgrade to their systems in mid-2007.  If I’d known that, I could’ve saved myself some money + shipping costs.  Oh, well.  Llamma’s was kind enough to take it back and credit me.

Perhaps the most unnerving part of the process is “boring” out the holes where the heatsink attaches to the metal chassis.  There are (8) holes total – (4) per heatsink – and the x-clamp fix requires making those holes slightly larger.  It sounds quite daunting, but is really fairly easy.  Grab a 13/64” drill bit and “bore” the holes out to be slightly larger.  It takes about 15 seconds per hole.  Then, sand the holes down so that there are no rough edges.  Easy.

With the provided cleaning solutions, remove all of the thermal compound from the CPU, GPU, and corresponding heatsinks.  It’s not difficult, but requires some persistence and patience.  Once those are clean, prepare to reassemble your Xbox 360.

REASSEMBLY AND “REFLOW”

As they say, “putting it back together is a reverse of the removal”.  In this case, though, you are first spreading a very thin layer of thermal grease, and then attaching the heatsinks to the CPU and GPU with the All-in-One Kit-provided screws and washers.  Assuming that you tighten the screws down evenly, you can really torque them down as tight as you’re able.  It will get very, very snug – and that’s a good thing.

With that done, you begin to carefully reassemble your Xbox 360.  Pay attention to where things go, and be sure not to jab anything with a screwdriver.  Before putting the box fully together again, however, you perform what they call a “reflow”.  Without re-writing the directions entirely, you will plug the fan back in and place it directly on top of the CPU heatsink – cool air blowing downward toward the CPU.  Turn the box back on and allow it to run for 30 or 40 minutes.  With the fan placed like that, you are cooling the CPU but not the GPU.  This is the aforementioned “reflow”, which is very important.  If you get a RRoD right away, don’t panic.  Simply torque the heatsink screws down a bit more and try again.  In our case, the X360 came right up first shot and was working fine.  Still, we let it “reflow” for about 45 minutes before putting it all back together.

With that completed, you’re ready to truly reassemble your Xbox 360 and put it back to work.  The last “fix”, if you will, is to swap the stock fan for the Whisper Max unit.  In our case, I opted to remove all of the silly LEDs that come with the replacement fan.  Your choice. 

The Whisper Max directions are really pretty poor, but it helps if you have the “general idea” figured out beforehand.  Since this fan features both “power” and “quiet” fan modes, it requires two power sources and a switch to toggle between them.  This means daisy-chaining the DVD power source (for 12v) and going direct to the motherboard (for 5v).  The switch is sandwiched between the case housing and the center of one of the fans.  It can be a bit tricky, so just pay attention.  I removed the cap off of the switch, and glued it on after the entire box was reassembled.  Also, be mindful of where your fan wires are routed.  Keep them out of the way of the fan, and off to the side.

With all of that completed, finished reassembling your Xbox 360 – being careful to put everything back where it goes.  Reattach the faceplate, harddrive, and any other external peripherals you have.  Glue the switch cap on with a very small dot of super glue, being careful not to glue the switch into place.

So, the actual total cost came to $55 + shipping.  Nice.

THE VERDICT?

We’ve been very happy with our RRoD fix so far.  Not only is our Xbox 360 up and running once again, we’ve only seen one “freeze” over the past couple of weeks – even after assaulting it with hours of online Halo 3 multi-player action!  Even better, the “quiet” mode of the Whisper Max fan is extremely useable.  I’ve since moved our X360 out of the TV cabinet for better airflow, but using the “quiet” fan mode, we’re totally able to stream Netflix without the typical ‘noise annoyance’ that we used to face.  In the “loud” fan mode, I would venture a guess that the Whisper Max is slightly louder than the stock fan, but is clearly pushing more air.  We use that mode for gaming, where the volume is already pretty cranked.

All in all, our Xbox 360 has a new lease on life, and I couldn’t be happier.  Well… I guess I could.  It would’ve been nice if the Xbox 360 never had the RRoD issue and didn’t sound like a jetliner, but such is life.  I actually find the Xbox platform to be extraordinarily robust and easy-to-use, save for the overheating issues.   There’s a reason why so many people return to the Xbox 360 even after a unit failure.  It’s a pretty wonderful platform, all things considered.

So, if you find yourself in the same predicament, I would highly recommend the All-in-one RRoD Fix kit from Llamma’s, as well as the heatpipe (if needed) and Whisper Max fan upgrades.  Good stuff, and our box is humming along quite nicely

Quick Look: T-Mobile MyTouch 3G

Last December, I purchased the T-Mobile G1 – the very first Google Android-based handset to market.  Although it seemed like a good idea at the time, we just weren’t ready for each other.  The OS was in its early stages of development, and I wasn’t ready for a “learning experience”.  A few months later, I sold my G1 off to some unsuspecting 20-year-old and ran back to my T-Mobile Dash.

So what’s the deal now?  Why am I talking about the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G?  It’s pretty simple: it was time (again) for a new phone.  The Dash was going on 3.5 years old, and simply didn’t offer what I needed – better speed, a touchscreen, and a “fresh face”.  I kicked around the notion of getting another WinMo device, but the phones that I really wanted were pretty darned expensive – even purchasing them “used”, which would’ve left me without a warranty.  The MyTouch 3G (MT3G) release date was just around the corner and it piqued my interest.  A slightly larger ROM size (vs. the G1), smaller form-factor, bigger battery, and – most importantly – an OS that has matured since the G1 launch.  After checking out the early reviews, I decided to place a pre-order and renew my contract for another 2 years.

<gulp>

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
T-Mobile really upped the ante in the production and marketing of this phone.  The packaging is impressive, and comes with a nice zipper case, adapters, chargers, and most everything you need – including a screen protector, if that’s how you roll.  It feels like T-Mo put some real thought and effort into making the MyTouch a successful product – beginning with the launch, and  (hopefully) followed-up with good, long-term support.  We’ll see.

The MT3G is a very nice looking phone.  It looks decent enough in online reviews, but much better in person.  I have the “black” variety, but (evidently) the “white” and “merlot” look very nice as well.  Your choice.  This is also a very sturdy handset that feels good in the hand.  While it’s smaller than the G1 – mainly due to losing the physical keyboard – it still feels very well-built without feeling heavy.  In fact, it’s roughly 25% lighter than the G1, which is nice. 

The back of the casing is smooth without feeling dangerously slippery.  The buttons are of good quality, save for the trackball which always feels cheap to me – whether on the G1, MyTouch, Blackberry, or whatever.  Personal preference, I guess, because a lot of people seem to love them.

All in all, the MT3G gives a good first impression.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
I just gotta say this: “MyTouch 3G” is a truly horrible name.  I feel silly typing it, and I’m embarrassed to say it out loud.  They’re really pushing this “my” thing – make it your own, each is unique, etc. — and I understand that completely, but “myTouch”? 

Ewww.  Icky.  Lame.

Moving along now…

ANDROID… ALL GROWN UP
Aside from the hardware changes (as compared to the G1), the MT3G is sporting the newest revision of the Android OS — version 1.5, dubbed “cupcake” – which is also what G1 owners have automatically upgraded to.  This is certainly more of an evolutionary upgrade to the Android operating system, but they’ve made some very good changes.  The “onscreen keyboard” was a must and really works very well,  voice recognition is in there, an updated browser, video recorder, stereo bluetooth support, and a lotta bug fixes.  Essentially, it’s keeping pace with the likes of the iPhone, which isn’t an easy task.  That said, considering that this OS is less than 1-year old, Android is a pretty impressive feat – with more features coming this year!  I’m not a huge fan of Google, to be honest, but for the anti-iPhone person out there (like me!), Android is one of the best options out there.

Perhaps equally as important to the long-term viability of the Android OS is the 3rd party support.  What the OS lacks in features/usability is often compensated for with downloadable apps, utilities, and other such “niceties” that make Android just that much better.  Case in point: I initially begrudged Android for how many clicks were required to simply call the ten people I spoke to most often.  With a free application like ‘Any Cut’, however, I can easily make shortcuts on my home screen to those contacts/numbers.  In other words, what used to take 9 clicks on the phone, now takes only 4 – which is much more inline with what I’ve been accustomed to on my T-Mobile Dash.  Quite simply, the app support for Android is growing – and continues to grow on a daily basis.  While most of the stuff is useless, there are many handy utilities that I really rely upon now.

Here are some favs…

• Locale – great for setting phone conditions based upon certain criteria.  For instance, when the GPS detects that I’m “at work”, then set the phone volume to 50%.  How cool is that?
• HTC Keyboard – although the standard Android virtual keyboard is good, the HTC variant is even better.
• Any Cut – put handy shortcuts to most anything… right on your desktop!
• VirtueBible FE – this free Bible reader is really well made, which markers and memorization support.
• SMS Popup – I really like the way this no-frills, free app handles incoming SMS/text messages.  Should be built into Android!
• Robo Defense (Free) – a super-fun tower defense style game.

Android has more work to do to be the “de-facto mobile OS”, but they’re making great strides with very good community support.

POINT BY POINT
It seems only fair that I look at my previous review and hit on the negative points I made.  Have they resolved these issues?  Let’s find out…

• Consistency: I had made some initial dings against Android in the area of “consistency”, and sadly I think that this (for the most part) still holds true.  There are still those occasions when the trackball is necessary, when a long-press doesn’t exist, and when hitting the MENU button does nothing.  More than anything, I guess, you get used to these things.  Every operating system has its “quirks”, and Android is no different.
• Home Screen Area(s): I had also complained that the Android home screen – which is broken into a “virtual desktop” type arrangement – would typically be unknown to the casual user.  This is still the case, of course, and many updated ROMs are taking this even further – with 5 or 7 virtual desktops!  Chock this up to a “feature”, I suppose, as it’s just how Android functions.
• Notification Bar: The top portion of the home screen houses the “notification bar”, where items like missed calls, voicemail notices, and text messages go.  In the early build of Android, it seemed like ‘swiping’ this area down to view it was somewhat iffy.  Be it a software or hardware change, this really appears to be much more responsive on the MT3G.
• Menu: Bringing up the menu to get to your applications is something a lot of folks will do quite frequently.  If you have tons of shortcuts on your desktop, then I suppose you may see the menu less than most, but I’m guessing that 90% of installed apps are still launched by opening the menu, scrolling, finding the icon, and tapping it.  Sadly, the performance of the menu is still pretty pitiful – and I’m not sure why.  Whereas the notification bar is very smooth, the revealing of the menu is choppy and distracting.  Hopefully the next version of Android will resolve this, as it’s a fairly noticeable portion of the OS.
• Performance: I know that the Android team has gone to great lengths to improve the all-around performance of this OS, and it’s really paid off.  The basic functions: phone calls, messaging, email, etc., are quite snappy.  The occasional app can still bog the phone slightly – certainly noticeable when downloading/installing a new app – but for the most part it all moves and responds well.  I rarely feel a need to restart my phone, as it almost seems to move better over time.  Nice!
• 3G Speed: Whether it be a phone issue, OS issue, or phone network problem, the 3G speeds were nothing to write home about on my G1.  I’m happy to say that the 3G speeds are now quite snappy, especially compared to the old Edge network.  As a comparison, the 1MB Simple Mobile Speed Test from DSL Reports showed a 1,538 kbit/sec download speed on the 3G network (full bars).  Impressive!  That same test using the Edge network came back with a measley 125 kbit/sec.  Ouch  
• Dropped Calls: During my brief (few month) stint with the G1, I had an noticeable increase in dropped calls.  Hardware issue?  OS?  3G network?  I’m really not sure, to be honest, but the MT3G has performed very well in this area.  Maybe 1 dropped call in the past few weeks?  Whatever the number, it’s very low.
• Stability: The Android OS – as well as this phone – continues to be very stable, with very few applications “hanging” or requiring a force close.  This was mostly a non-issue before, and it continues to be so.
• Quick Dialing: As I noted previously, the default dialing experience with Android (and other “full-featured” phones, to be honest) leaves a bit to be desired.  Unlocking the phone, finding a person, clicking on their name, and selecting/dialing their number seems to take way longer than necessary.  This is my opinion, of course, but such a basic function should be much easier.  Thankfully, apps like Any Cut allow you to make shortcuts to particular numbers for particular contacts right on your desktop.  In my case, my left-hand virtual desktop is dedicated to my “speed dial” and “speed message” favorites.  Unlock the phone, swipe to the left, and click the icon.  Done!
• Voicemail: With my G1 phone, I had noted that something seemed to receive a “voice command” while I would be checking my voicemail.  I don’t know what the deal was there, but it happened fairly frequently.  With the introduction of the MT3G, T-Mobile has also introduced a long-needed functionality: visual voicemail.  As a downloadable app (free), I can simply launch Visual Voicemail, look at the list of voice messages, and play whichever one I like.  I can rewind, fast-forward, or delete them as I please.  The biggest gripe I have right now is that the Visual Voicemail app doesn’t pipe audio out to my bluetooth headset, when connected.  Strange, but not the end of the world.  I also assume that they’ll fix this is a coming release.

3RD PARTY ROM SUPPORT
One of the most exciting things about Android + HTC devices is the ability to “root” and install 3rd party ROMs.  In fact, this really contributed to my leaning toward another HTC phone.  Although my Dash was initially easier to load up with a 3rd party ROM, the MT3G is probably even easier with the 1-Click Root method, which I’ve taken full advantage of.  At this point, I can download any 32B-compatible ROM from the XDA Developers site, copy the .zip file to the SD card on my phone, reboot, and install a new ROM. 

Those are slightly oversimplified steps, but not by much.  Seriously. 

The most impressive ROM I’ve used so far is the eViL HeRo v1.6xb ROM, which is really fun to look at, but has some performance issues on this hardware.  Thankfully, HTC has revealed a *very promising” Hero update that oughta resolve many of the performance updates with this version of the Android OS.  I’m really looking forward to that, and will dedicate a separate write-up to that experience.

MAKE IT YOURS
In addition to the 3rd party ROM support, one of the most impressive features of the Android OS is the ability to really customize and make it yours.  Not to rip into the iPhone too heavily (you already know that I’m no fan), but every single iPhone I’ve seen looks the same – save for the wallpaper.  It’s a screen  with 16 icons or so, flipping to the right for more icons, and on and on.  Very boring, if you ask me, but that’s the Apple world – absolute control over the user experience, which (in all honestly) has served them well.  It’s not what I want, though.  I want my own world where I can tinker, fiddle, customize, and make it unique.  I do this on my computer desktop, and I want the same with my phone.  The WinMo world offered this, and (even more so) the Android OS does as well.

SUMMARY
Call me crazy, but I’m quite happy with the MyTouch 3G phone – name aside.  This is an attractive, fun-to-use, well-built phone that really competes well with the likes of the Palm Pre and iPhone.  I mean that very seriously.

With several more Android-based phones due out this year, prepare yourself for the onslaught.  You’re going to be seeing a lot more “Google phones” from different carriers.  That is ultimately a good thing, as the OS and app support will continue to thrive, but also means a certain “loss of exclusivity”, which has thus far really belonged to T-Mobile.  Still, I’m quite happy with this phone right now, and it will certainly keep me happy until I find out what Microsoft has in store with the upcoming WinMo 7.

Thanks for reading.

Now Playing: August 2009

Been a bit light on my “listening” lately, but here are some current standouts…

• The Hourly Radio, “History Will Never Hold Me”
• Found this band via a rabbit trail on the Zune Marketplace.  Perhaps via another recent fav, The Working Title?  Anyhow, I’m really enjoying this album so far.  It starts off well enough, but seems to pick up steam by the 3rd and 4th tracks.  Highly recommended for any ‘Jimmy Eat World’ or ‘The Working Title’ fans.
• Jeremy Enigk, “OK Bear”
• As an old friend (and fan) of Jeremy Enigk, I was definitely looking forward to his next solo album.  While “OK Bear” didn’t grab my attention right away, it has since grown on me.  I like it quite a bit.  I prefer his last release, World Waits, but this is a strong release, and very much ‘Jeremy Enigk’ all the way.
• Edie Brickell, “Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars”
• Sometimes albums don’t really “hit” you for, oh… 20 years or so, as is the case with this release.  I heard their big hit “What I Am” on the radio recently, was blown away by the guitar solo, and decided the album was worth checking out again.  You know what?  It’s really good.  The musicianship is amazing, the vocals are great (if a bit lacking in variation), and the whole package has held up quite well since its release in 1989.  Give it a spin and see what’cha think!
• Neko Case, NPR “Live Concerts From All Songs Considered”
• Very fun, live Neko Case concert from NPR.  I know she’s a talented vocalist, but she’s also really, really funny!  Check it out… it’s free!  (Note: the humor really takes off about 45 minutes in.)

Hey! This is serious. (1st-Person Shooter Disease)

I feel for these guys.  I really do

My Vehicle History… a visual walkthrough

For whatever reason, I began thinking about all the vehicles I’ve owned since learning to drive almost 20 years ago… and there have been plenty!  Two wheelers, four wheelers, awesome ones, lame ones, and most everything in-between. 

Wanna see the progression?  Feel free to scroll down and follow along…

HONDA ELITE 150 DELUXE (Nickname: The Village Cruiser)

My very first ride was a hand-me down Honda scooter.  It wasn’t just any scooter, mind you, it was the ‘Honda Elite 150 Deluxe’!  This sucker was so futuristic looking in its day, and really still does.  “Spacey” – like something out of a bad sci-fi film.  The “150”, of course, denoted the displacement of the sweet, 1-cylinder engine.  What a powerhouse!  The “deluxe” was in reference to the awesome pop-up headlight (where have all those gone?!), the digital speedometer, and, uhhh… that’s about it. 

Sporting a top speed of just about 63mph (tail wind, downhill), it wasn’t really enough to get me into trouble – especially since I was a brand-new, 16-year-old driver.  I did take it on the freeway a few times, which proved to be both dumb and extremely frightening.  I could take a passenger with me, but at the expense of about 10mph top speed.  It was pretty hilarious to honk at ‘the ladies’ when I would have a passenger with me.  How enticing is it to see two big guys crammed onto a tiny scooter?

Notable Memory: While giving the ol’ ride a good scrub down, I decided to Armor All the seat and make it look supremely-awesome.  Guess how the first corner felt when I took it for a spin?  Wheeee!  Sliding around on the seat of a two-wheeled vehicle isn’t nearly as much fun as it sounds.  It also dawned on me that I had Armor All’ed the tires.  So dumb…

The name?  Well… my buddies and I used to frequent the Value Village quite often, so the scooter was dubbed “The Village Cruiser”.  Eventually, I got into a small fender-bender, broke the grill, and sold it off to a friend of a friend for a few hundred bucks.

YAMAHA MAXIM 550

My second vehicle was a Yamaha Maxim 550.  A sleek, black machine that was miles ahead of the Honda scooter I’d been used to.  My brother was driving a Yamaha 650 Special at the time, so I wanted a black Yamaha motorcycle as well – and I got one.  In fact, a lot of my vehicle purchases over the years really paralleled what my brother was driving.  I guess it’s the “look up to your brother” syndrome that so many kids face.  It’s funny, actually, because the Maxim didn’t really look a whole lot like my brother’s bike, but “close enough for government work”, as they say!  (I love that phrase.)  It needed a little bit of love and elbow grease to begin with, but otherwise shined up well and impressed my friends.  I had a real-deal motorcycle!  Man… I was cool.

Side note… I come from a motorcycling family.  My great-grandfather rode, my grandpa rode, and my dad handed down the “disease” as well.  I remember him having a Suzuki GS750 for years!  Nasty lookin’ bike, but whatever it takes to get out on the road, ya know?  Both my brothers had motorcycles as their “first vehicle”, so it wasn’t strange for me to follow suit.  The scooter hardly counted, so the Yamaha Maxim finally brought me ‘into the club’.

I’m guessing that I didn’t have this bike for that long, because my memories of it are fairly limited.  We had a nickname, I’m sure, but I can’t remember it.  What I do remember is that this baby could haul butt, if you wanted it too, and passengers were no longer a problem.  The rear seat was stepped up a tad, which can be unnerving for inexperienced passengers, but otherwise pretty comfy.

Notable Memory:  Since I passed my first motorcycle test on a Honda 150, I was only endorsed to ride bikes with smaller engines.  That’s how it works.  When I got the Yamaha 550, then, I had to retake the driving test to get my endorsement for higher displacement engines.  Truth be told, I failed my first attempt (downed it!), but vowed to take it again a week later!  I drove myself (on my motorcycle… I know, I know) to the testing place every day and practiced with pop cans as cones.  Needless to say, I passed that sucker with flying colors the following Saturday!  Awesome.

If my memory serves, I ended up selling that bike to my friend, Jon.  It was a good machine and served me well.

YAMAHA 750 SPECIAL

So… my third vehicle came onto the scene as I entered my college years.  After selling the Yamaha 550, I was on the hunt for an even more awesome riding machine.  An ad in the local paper brought my friend and me down to a public storage facility where some guy had been housing his red Yamaha 750 Special.  Remember how my brother was driving a Yamaha 650 Special?  Well, I wanted something similar… and here it was.  In retrospect, I never should have purchased this bike.  It had a hole in the left-hand exhaust pipe, the electric starter didn’t work, and it was generally a basket case.  Still, I tossed my inhibitions aside and purchased it.

The initial impressions weren’t very positive.  It stalled several times on the return trip, and I was fuming with anger by the time I arrived home.  I wanted to sue that guy for everything!  (Ahh, youth.)  After calming down, the guy gave me some pointers and I resigned myself to “just deal with it”.  Eventually I had a shop weld a metal patch over the tail pipe hole, I slapped some ‘non-ape hanger’ handle bars on there, and lived life.  In the back of my mind, though, was an insatiable desire to be rid of this motorcycle.  I loved the look of it, but not the “issues”.  I sold if off after a few months.

Notable Memory: One guy (with his brother in tow) came to look the bike over while I was trying to sell it.  I thought for sure that the “knowledgeable brother” would dismiss this lemon outright, but instead he gave it a thumbs up.  After a quick cash payment, the new owner (who didn’t ride, by the way) was ready to leave for home on his new, two-wheeled monster.  As he was heading from the curb, he dumped the bike on it’s side.  Gas began pouring from the air box, which was an issue I had failed to mention.  I made up some excuse and sent him on his way… just happy to be rid of the thing. 

Not one of my shining moments.

DODGE DART SWINGER (Nickname: The Gobstopper)

After the debacle with the Yamaha 750 Special, I decided to head toward the 4-wheeled vehicle route.  You know… doors, steering wheel, etc..  Once again, the local paper led me to a seller promising fame and fortune with my new dream ride.  This time, I was sitting in the seat of a bright blue ‘73 Dodge Dart Swinger.  The test drive went well, and my brother and mother (who tagged along) both gave me a thumbs up, so I went for it.  Thankfully, I jammed the key in the ignition before heading off to grab the cash.  My brother had to fix that while I was gone (thanks, bro!).

The Swinger received the name “The Gobstopper” pretty early on.  As you can see in the picture (not actually mine, but just like it), the color was a bright blue – very much like the blue Gobstopper candies.  The name was good, and it stuck.  It wasn’t just the color, though – everything about this car screamed for your attention:  white wall tires, idiot lights, bright white top vinyl, 30’ long hood, and a weight that was just shy of 18 tons.  Not quite, but it seemed that way.

Notable Memory: My friend and I were out cruising with my brother and his roommate.  Sunny day, nothing much to worry about, and it was time to get some chow.  We pull into the local drive-in burger joint and prepare to feast.  Upon backing into the parking spot (evidently that was really important to me), I heard a loud scrape that was obviously me hitting the curb.  Oops!  I pulled forward slightly and turned the car off.  As our lunch winded down, I started the Gob up once again. But what’s that LOUD noise?  Who is that?  Oh, dang… it’s me… with a newly formed hole in the muffler.  Dang.  It wasn’t a “cool, gruff, manly sound” like you might hope.  It sounded broken, which it was.  Getting home was a bit embarrassing.

Anyhow, this car had it all — including a now new muffler.  Power steering that was like UberEasy(TM) and could be driven with your pinky, if you wanted.  The stereo was sweet, mono AM-radio goodness.  The vinyl bench seats – front and back – let you cozy up right nice like.  The slant 6 engine had a good amount of power, and didn’t gulp gas like similar cars of that era.  It was the Swinger, man, and it was good.

Until the wife-to-be came in to the picture.

My wife and I still go ‘round about this conversation, but here’s how I remember it.  We’re talking about our future life together, where we’ll live, working conditions, etc., and I make some comment about the Gobstopper.  “I’m not driving that thing”, she says.  My heart drops.  Whatever the rest of the conversation was, one thing was clear: the Gob was gonna have to go.  A sad day indeed.  I sold it off to a pimply-faced teen co-worker who couldn’t have appreciated the real gem he was getting.

Oh, well.  I *did* get the girl

YAMAHA 750 STANDARD (Nickname: Reggie)

If anything good came from selling off the Gobstopper (ok… aside from the “wife” thing), it was that I found and purchased what would long be my favorite motorcycle. 

After the Gobstopper found a new home, I was on the hunt for a new two-wheeled machine.  My wife-to-be already had a car, so a motorcycle was a welcome fit once again.  I found another Yamaha (see a trend?) east of the Seattle area, and it had a lot of what I was looking for: decent engine displacement, a rare “3 cylinder layout”,  low miles, good condition, and best of all… it was available!  I drove it home that afternoon.  In fact, I ended up taking that sucker to 105mph on the way home, which wasn’t in any way, shape or form very smart.

“Reggie” (based upon the Archie comic book series), as it would later be named, cleaned up well.  Once again, the ape-hanger handlebars had to go.  The new, straighter bars worked great with bar-end mirrors – a very Brit look, which I loved.  It came with a nasty touring seat, which I promptly replaced.  Most notably, the stock 3-into-2 exhaust had been replaced with a (more sensible) 3-into-1 pipe that had been custom modded with a glass pack.  I kid you not.  The weld job was good enough that I really didn’t even notice it for quite some time, but it gave the bike a gutteral sound that most Japanese street bikes didn’t have at the time.  The pipes had a bit of surface rust, so I removed them and brought them to a local shop to be “aluminized”.  Essentially, the pipes were power-coated with aluminum, which, of course, doesn’t rust.  The downside?  Those suckers ended up a bright white color, which I didn’t expect.  I eventually used flat-black, high-temp barbecue paint to make them less noticeable, and it (mostly) did the trick.  It sounds ghetto, but looked pretty good, if you ask me.

Notable Memory: Shortly after getting the pipes back to a normal color, two of my good friends and I decided to take a road trip down the Washington coast.  I was riding the Yamaha 750, of course, and my buddies were riding a BMW 650 and Honda 400, respectively.  Somewhere along the way, we pulled off the road to get a bite to eat.  Whatever small town we were in had something going on, so we cut across a parking lot to beat the traffic.  As we pulled back out into the street, we noticed that everyone is driving pretty slowly – including the ice cream truck, fire engine, etc..  Not only that, but a bunch of people were waving from the curb!  Oh, man… we had popped ourselves smack dab into the middle of a parade!!  Rather than panic, we just played it up.  We stood on our foot pegs, waved to the crowd, and tried to act innocent.  We only stayed in the parade for a few blocks, but the memory lives on.  Classic stuff!

“Reggie” continued on as part of the family for nearly 11 years.  During that time, I put less than 10k on the odometer, and rarely had to do anything to keep it running – save for an occasional new battery, oil change, and tires.  It was a good machine.  When it came down to it, though, I was riding less and less.  My wife wasn’t very comfortable with the thought of me on a motorcycle any longer, and I had become the quintessential “fair-weather rider”.  I put him up for sale, and he sold very quickly.  Sadly, just a couple of months later, I noticed a very similar bike on Craigslist that “wasn’t running and needed major valve work”.  Could this be Reggie?  Indeed it was.  Made me kinda angry, to be honest – like I let a good friend down.

HONDA ACCORD

Also shortly before getting married, my wife-to-be got into a little “fender bender” and we had to purchase her a new car.  Honda Accords were known to be reliable, so we purchased one.

Uhh.  Wow?

First of all, never shop for cars at night.  We went to check this car out one evening, and thoroughly missed a lot of the “finer” points of the vehicle – like the faded paint on the top, general lackluster exterior, and really how boring this vehicle was.  We more or less agreed to purchase the vehicle that evening (secured by a small down deposit), with a strong case of buyer’s remorse when we came to pick it up the next day.  Oh, well.  Live and learn.

Secondly, there really wasn’t anything wrong with the car, but there wasn’t anything to write home about either.  Burgundy, 4-doors, very little power, and nothing to distinguish it from a million other Accords on the road.

Notable Memory: Nothing.  Na-da.  Zip.

We sold that sucker.

DATSUN B210 WAGON

My brother and I have worked together at four different jobs thus far.  Seriously.  We’re 4 1/2 years apart in age, but we’ve always gotten along very well.  So far, that is

In one particular instance, I helped him get a job at the place where I was working.  Since we lived not too far from one another and were going to the same destination, it made sense to commute together.  Enter the faded-yellow Datsun B210 wagon, that I (somehow) procured for a paltry $50.  Oh, yeah.  Fifty.

While my wife was driving the (aforementioned) Honda Accord, my brother and I would cruise with real style in the B210 Wagon.  The picture I have here makes it look pretty sweet, in a retro sort of way, but that’s not an actual photo of the vehicle I owned.  Ours was a $50 piece of junk that was worth every penny.  Getting the vehicle started was a crap shoot, and keeping it running was even more so.

Notable Memory: We paid about $350 for a carb-rebuild service on that sucker.  Not only did the service not help whatsoever, it actually made the vehicle worse.  I protested, contested the charge (via our credit card company), and eventually they “fixed” their repair job.  Still, you can at best shine a pile of crap to a dull luster.

I think we sold it back to the original owner after a few months.  Pretty sad saga.

TOYOTA CAMRY

There’s nothing quite so classic as the hand-me down family car.  In this case, we ditched the Honda Accord and landed the light blue, 1985 Toyota Camry that my wife’s grandparents had just upgraded from. 

That’s right, we got their hand-me-down car.

What can be said about the ‘85 Camry that isn’t readily apparent by looking at the photo?  It was squarish, fairly small, ugly, and generally did what it was supposed to do.  It had some very strange things, too.  The gas gauge was… wacky.  It worked fine, mind you, but looked odd.  The ‘85 Camry also featured the straight-cut rear wheel wells, which are so popular with, err… ugly cars.

Notable Memory:  More of a quirk with this car, to be honest, but the Camry had a nasty habit of stalling on steep hills.  It stalled often, but not always.  We would get going on a hill and begin moving our heads back and forth (like a pigeon) as if we could give it the momentum it needed to keep going and get us up the hill.  Ahh, the memories.

To be fair, I can’t ding the Camry for too much.  It helped us bring home our first born child, and served us well during it’s tour of duty.  Eventually, though, we found something newer and better to take its place…

DODGE NEON

For some reason, we got a wild hare one Saturday and decided to go “car shopping”.  It was ‘used car shopping’, to be perfectly honest, and we weren’t even looking for something bigger, faster, or (particularly) more reliable.  The Toyota Camry did have the “stall” issue, so maybe we were making that into our “molehill” that needed to be conquered.  I don’t know.

So we end up at this Enterprise used car sale.  That’s right, not just a “used car”, but a “used rental car”.  In our minds, that meant ‘probably mostly freeway miles’ and, thus, a better vehicle.  Folks can reason away any decision they want to make.

One of the cars that hit our fancy (my fancy, actually… I don’t know why) was a 1998 Dodge Neon – in white.  They were relatively new at the time, and I liked the “cute” look of them.  Now that I type this out, it’s really a bit embarrassing.  What’s done is done, though.  We bought the car for too much money and drove it home.

In all fairness, I’m not sure that the Neon ever really had any issues that we had to repair.  Sure it was gutless, but it got us from A to B with relative ease.  It was the newest vehicle we had ever owned, so it felt pretty fancy to us.

That said, I doubt I’ll ever want to own a “white” car again.  It gets dirty and stays dirty.  Also, I’ve come to find out after the fact that the early Dodge Neons faired very poorly in crash tests.  That’s not cool.

No notable memories to speak of.  It served us well for a few years, and eventually made room for our first mini van.

CHEVY CITATION

Another family hand-me-down vehicle?  You betcha.  Coming from my wife’s other grandparents this time, the ‘82 Chevy Citation came into our family to be my day-to-day vehicle, and the story is pretty awesome. 

You see, my wife’s grandmother had purchased this car brand-new in 1982.  When we bought it from her 19 years later, it had only 24,000 miles on the odometer.  I kid you not.  Just over 1,000 miles each year for its 19 year lifespan, thus far.  Although I was not too enthused with the “ghetto” factor of this car, I couldn’t deny the charm of such a low-mileage, unique, and well taken care of vehicle.  Plus, it was helping her grandmother out, since she needed the money.

Driving the Citation had a certain allure to it.  I both loved and loathed that car.  I always wanted to get it painted, add some fancy wheels, or do ANYTHING to make me not quite so embarrassed to be seen in it.  On the other hand, many of my friends thought it was awesome, and in those (rare) occasions, I felt pretty good.

The car itself held up quite well.  Based upon the “X-body platform” from GM, it actually had a number of siblings that looked/performed similarly, for whatever that’s worth.  Its “Iron Duke” 4 cylinder engine got pretty good gas mileage and was rock solid.  The car featured a state-of-the-art, 1982, vertically-mounted AM/FM radio, and could hold quite a bit of luggage, if you needed.  It was also quite unique, if that’s worth anything.

Notable Memory: Shortly after moving into our first house, I drove to downtown Seattle to retrieve my car.  On the way home, it stalled and began to run strangely for the remainder of the trip.  I took it to a repair shop which quoted my $700 for a carb rebuild.  Funny thing is… the Citation had a throttle-body setup, not a carb.  That’s one reason I hate most repair shops.  Anyhow, I struggled with that silly car for over a year in that condition – using two feet to drive at slow speeds, adding octane boosters (I thought it would help), and other voodoo-like rituals that ultimately did nothing.  When I finally wised-up and brought it to my mechanic friend, he replaced a $75 part that fixed it for good.  Geez…

At around the 40,000 mile mark, we finally sold the car off to my co-worker’s son-in-law.  He also took my awesome sound system upgrade which featured a cigarette lighter power inverter, computer speakers (sub-woofer included), and a mini-jack plug for your favorite MP3 player.  It was totally ghetto, but actually sounded pretty good.  I think I won him over when I played Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” on the hi-fi system.  Who could resist that?

FORD AEROSTAR

Yet another hand-me-down car, but this time from my parents.  We scored the sweet-as-nectar ‘97 Ford Aerostar shortly after we moved into our first house.  They no longer needed the van, and we were quickly approaching the time for our third child to be born.  You can hate mini-vans all you like, but there just aren’t that many options for a family of five – especially if kid’s car seats are involved.

For those of you who aren’t “in the know”, the Aerostar van is based upon the Ford F-series truck chassis.  What does that mean?  It means that this van drives more like a truck than it does a car – complete with rear-wheel drive and spartan interiors.  Ugly as it was, the Aerostar was a welcome addition to our driveway – primarily because you could get kids (and groceries!) in and out without breaking your back.  It had truck-like gas mileage, which wasn’t great, and wasn’t nearly as schwanky as the competition.  Bucket seats?  Nah.  Fancy stereo?  Hardly.  Tinted windows?  Not on this baby.  It got us where we needed to go, though, and for that we’re thankful.  Besides, the price was right: free.

Notable Memory: On the way home from the hospital – shortly after our third child was born — our daughter decided to throw up.  Not “spit up”, mind you, but the real deal spew.  It went everywhere, and it was nasty.  It took months to get that smell out of the car.

So… we finally sold the Aerostar off to our friends.  They needed a car, and we were moving on to better pastures.

JEEP CHEROKEE CHIEF

Hold the phone!  After we sold the Citation, but before we sold the Aerostar, the Cherokee Chief did reigneth in our driveway.  It was a very sweet ride, and one of the few vehicles I truly miss.

Let’s back up, though.

I used to take morning walks around my neighborhood.  Fresh air, prayer time, exercise, and so on.  For months I passed this awesome Jeep Cherokee that was a lot like the one my folks had growing up – but more awesome.  Strangely, I never saw that thing move.  One day I mustered up the courage to leave a note on their door.  “Wanna sell you Jeep?  Call me.”  You get the picture.  A week later or so, the owner contacted me and we had a chit-chat.  As it turns out, this 1978 Jeep Cherokee Chief was all that and more.  Just shy of 80k on the odometer, two owners, burly tires, awesome grill, and about as manly of a car I could ever dream of owning.  I had to drive it.

The test drive itself didn’t go very well, but despite that we agreed upon a price and it was mine.  I guess I felt like I could handle whatever issue(s) it had, and there were several.  First of all, not all of the spark plug wires were connected, which (after reconnecting) helped it run considerably better, and it needed some basic maintenance.  Also, I was under the impression that the engine was significantly smaller than what it was.  I ended up with a (much sought after) 401-CID V8 engine that used about a gallon of gas just to roll the windows down!  I don’t think that Jeep ever got more than 12mpg, and that was freeway miles.  Yeah.  Seriously.

I have a lot to be thankful for with the ol’ Jeep, though.  Not only did it look really awesome, but I learned a whole lot about cars with this sucker.  You could park a VW Bug in the engine bay, which meant there was plenty of room to work and get your hands dirty.  I (helped) install a 4-barrel carb on there, dropped the transmission pan, upgraded the ignition setup, installed an entirely new audio system, fixed the cruise control, and a whole lot more.  I took pride in that vehicle, and I loved working on it.

Notable Memory: I was driving home one day and noticed that the Jeep wasn’t slowing quite as abruptly as I would’ve liked.  In fact, it wasn’t slowing much at all.  I jammed the car into neutral and the engine screamed like a banshee!  I limped home, and discovered that the throttle cable would get stuck “on”.  How NOT awesome is that?  It had an involuntary cruise control where you could move along at about 20mph without having your foot on the gas.  Pretty scary stuff, actually, and was the driving force behind sourcing a new-to-me carburetor.  It didn’t happen again after that, but the memory (read: fear) lingers on.

When it all comes down to it, the Jeep would still be in my driveway if it hadn’t been for the extremely poor gas mileage.  Toward the end of our ownership, gas prices were creeping toward $4/gallon.  A commute to work and back cost me nearly $12 in that car.  I kid you not.  It was a bit much to stomach, so the car had to go, but not before breaking my heart.  My whole family has fond memories of that baby, but eventually the budget (and common sense) win out.  Thankfully, I sold it off to a fellow Jeep enthusiast who I knew would treat ‘er well.

TOYOTA SIENNA

During the Jeep-era, we came into some inheritance money that enabled us to buy a better mini-van.  Less “trucky” and more “nice” was the goal, I believe.  We kicked around what model to purchase, but eventually settled upon a very decisive bit of criteria: could the van hold our youngest son’s wheelchair?  Surprisingly, several mini-vans could not, thus whittling down the ‘possibles’ to just a few.  Among them, of course, the Toyota Sienna.

Never one of our favorite looking mini-vans, we eventually settled on a used 2002 model in “silver” that seemed to look less bad than the rest.  Over time the styling has grown on us.  In most other ways, though, the Sienna has been a welcome upgrade from the Aerostar days.  Tinted windows, decent stereo, plush seating, and a nice ride.  True to the Toyota nameplate, we haven’t had to do anything with this van – save for new tires, oil changes, and the like.  It starts, it goes, it turns off – and usually does all of those things when you expect it to.  It also rattles a bit – especially in the dash – and the front doors make a horrific squeak when you open and close them.  WD40 didn’t fix it, so we just deal with it.  Although I’m willing to dig in and fix my own car, I’m less willing to do so with my wife’s vehicles.  Just the way it is.

Notable Memory: Oh, man.  So we somehow managed to spill an entire half-gallon of milk just behind the front passenger seat.  You can only move so fast, so a bunch of it soaked into the carpet and padding.  Rotten milk smell, anyone?  We had it professionally cleaned a couple of times, but we still smell it when the weather is “just right”.  Usually on colder days, strangely enough.

So… the Sienna is still in our driveway.  It’s certainly a bit more worn, but has a lot of life still left in ‘er.  We’ll certainly have to look for a better solution if/when our son’s wheelchair gets any bigger, but until then it’s quite sufficient to cart us, our kids, one wheelchair, and the (occasional) golden retriever around.

SAAB 900 TURBO

Finally we arrive at my “current ride” – the 1992 Saab 900 Turbo.  After selling the Jeep (sniff!), I really flip-flopped and purchased a vehicle that was about as different as you could get.  14 years newer, ABS, airbag, fast, sporty, good gas mileage, and somewhat unmanly, if you will.

I found the Saab on Craigslist, and really didn’t know much about these cars before going to take a look at it.  I consider myself to be very fortunate, since I found a late-model (classic) Saab with low miles, few issues, and got it at a good price.  It had some issues that needed dealing with, but the previous owner had also paid for over $6k in repairs on this baby – in just under 3 years!  He was a single guy with a good job, what did he care?  I liked the fully-upgraded stereo system, new headliner (a common issue on these), newer tires + shocks, and the fact that he wouldn’t even change a wiper blade without taking it to a local Saab shop.  His expense, my gain!

Notable Memory: The previous owner, albeit a bit “naive”, was really a nice guy.  My wife and I dropped by to take it for a test drive, and he suggested that we just take it overnight.  “You can’t really get to know a car in 10 minutes.  Why don’t you just keep it overnight and bring it back tomorrow?”, he said.  In retrospect, it was pretty dumb of us to do that.  Did he have drugs in the car?  Was it stolen?  Was it safe?  Caution to the wind, we took the bait and drove it home.  It was fun, quirky, fast, and I liked it.  I bought it a day or two later.

I don’t see myself getting rid of the Saab anytime soon.  It runs very well (just over 130k on the odo), gets good gas mileage, and is relatively light on repairs.  I’ve really enjoyed working on it (plugs, wires, oil changes, and so on), and parts are still quite readily available for it.  It’s also built like a friggin’ tank, which is nice for the “safety factor”.  Lastly, the ‘turbo’ is nothing short of amazing – especially when it spools up and lets loose.  This 17-year-old car can really scoot, when it comes down to it.

Best of all, I suppose, is the Saab community that I’ve found.  Friendly guys that are willing to help you diagnose, install, soup-up, or whatever else you need.  Saab owners have a camaraderie that I’ve not seen since my motorcycle days, and that’s pretty cool.  I dig it.

Long live the Saab!

IN CLOSING

There you have it, folks – my “vehicles over the years” tour. 

What really stuck out to me while writing this is how very fortunate we’ve been to have our family bless us with cars.  They’ve rarely been “incredible”, but always timely and a huge help to us – both physically and financially.  Perhaps my brother-in-law would like to “gift” us their Mini Cooper?

Hope you enjoyed it.