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1257 Miles in an Electric Car – Part 1 – A Plan is Hatched.

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Holzhausen’s drawings of the Model S
Holzhausen’s original drawings of the Model S

10th July 2017

I was sitting in my office in Martlesham on the 10th July 2017 chatting to a colleague about Tesla cars. The conversation had started after he noticed the framed artists sketch hanging on my wall.

I have driven a number of Tesla Model S cars in the past from the excitable P85+ to the ‘Insane’ P85D. They are very exciting cars to drive, not just because they are fully electric and pack extremely powerful single gear motors, but because you feel your are riding on the coattails of automotive history, participating in an irreversible shift change in motorvehicle technology. It’s very exciting!

The conversation moved on the the Model X and Model 3, Tesla’s entries in to the SUV and ‘affordable’ markets. The Model X has recently appeared in the UK, the Model 3 is two years away from being available. We continued to chat for the rest of lunch, but the seed was planted.

That evening I wrote an email to Tesla’s press office requesting the loan of a Model X for review. Nothing specific, simply available dates.

The next day I received a reply from Tesla, it’s explained that things were very busy with the Model X, but the 5th and 6th of October was available for a test drive, did that suit? I puzzled for a while, in the past I had been loaned vehicles for a little longer, to give me time to get to know the vehicle, two days seemed a bit short to get a proper review in place. So, I followed up with an email, requesting a little longer.

I quickly received a reply from Tesla asking what my plans were? OK, good question, time to put on my thinking cap.

15 July 2017

My initial idea was driving from Lands End to John O’Groats, but after a little bit of Googling, I discovered that this had already been done in a  Tesla and well documented on YouTube, there was nothing original to achieve in travelling down this this ‘road’.

But wait a minute! Was there? I live about 40 minutes from Ness Point, the most easterly point in the UK. Nestled in Lowestoft, Ness Point at first glance seemed a little unloved. Some thought and effort has been made to build a stone circle, with plaques showing distances to well known points in the UK. It’s quite nice, but the surroundings aren’t that impressive, but it seemed like the obvious starting point for a challenge and wasn’t too far from home.

Now to find the most westerly point of the UK.

Ardnamurchan Lighthouse sits on the most westerly mainland point of the UK accessible by a short ferry ride at Corran and a two hour drive along single track roads across an extinct volcano. There even appeared to be a ‘rapid’ charge point a few miles away at Kichoan Pier, which would set a challenge outside of Tesla’s ‘Supercharger’ network.

The plan was hatched, but it was just the beginning.

Matt Porter
The Gadget Man

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The Gadget Man – Episode 105 – On the Sofa with Sarah Lilley at BBC Radio Suffolk

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As I continue to ride the wave of euphoria of completing the 1200 mile east to west  Gadget Road Trip with my lifelong friend Andy. Today I joined BBC Radio Suffolk’s Sarah Lilley on the Sofa in Ipswich and explained how the challenge came about and how it felt to drive 1200 miles in an Electric Car and why I love Gadgets!

I also talked about how I met Vanessa, how I listen to music and an ill fated trip to Tunisia in 1996.

Listen in to the stream, bookmark the site, we have a LOAD of reviews coming up over the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

Road Trip, Tesla, The Gadget Man

Electric Car Road Trip – 1200 miles in a Tesla – What tech gear are we taking?

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A ‘Gadget Man’ Road Trip would be nothing with a car stacked full of technology, here’s a quick summary of the gear we are rocking for the trip.

The Car

This is of course an ‘Electric Challenge’, so we are driving a Tesla Model S 100D. A 4 wheel drive, twin motor electric car, packing a 100 kWh Lithium-ion battery with a projected range between charges of more that 300 miles. We can also take advantage of Tesla’s very own Supercharger network, meaning our charge times will hopefully be under 30 minutes. Enough time for a coffee and meal on our long journey. The car is packed with driver assistance technology and always on 4G connection for maps and music streaming.

The Drone

We will be taking along a DJI Mavic Pro for aerial shots. The Mavic is an outstanding, foldable 4K drone with a 25 minute flight time. It boasts the most advance stabilisation technology available today, combining GPS, Glonass and Optical stabilisation and obstacle avoidance.

As a backup, we will be taking along a DJI Phantom 3 Standard with 2 batteries.

Cameras

Our filming will be carried out on a DJI Osmo+ 3 axis stabilised camera with 3.5x optical zoom and 4K video recording. This will be backed up by a GoPro Hero camera, Panasonic Lumia G3 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smart phone.

On board the car, we have a Transcend DrivePro 230s dashcam and hopefully a Samsung Gear 360 (2017).

Editing and Blogging

Our editing will be carried out on a Dell Latitude Rugged with Core i7 and SSD drive, this will be complimented by a Transcend SSD drive and SPS Rugged USB3 1GB Hard drive.

Comms

We are looking forward to confirmation that EE will be providing us with 30gb of data and a in car wifi hotspot, to allow us to Live Stream, and Vlog during the journey.

Tracking

Our trip tracking is being provided by Coderus. Custom built apps on our mobiles will transmit our GPS coordinates to our server in London, this information will be pushed to www.eastwestroadtrip.co.uk and www.thegadgetman.org.uk to allow for our friends, families and supporters to view our progress in real time. This is looking to be a fabulous addition to the trip and will encourage interaction with Paul whilst I concentrate on driving.

BBC Radio Suffolk, Cars, Gadget Man, Internet Security, Mark Murphy, Matt Porter, Radio, Security, Social Engineering, Technology, The Gadget Man

The Gadget Man – Episode 104 – Defeating Vehicle Security

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Following a report by the RAC that vehicle thefts in the United Kingdom have risen by 30% in the last three years, I spoke to Mark Murphy on his BBC Radio Suffolk Breakfast show about how thieves are trying to defeat the security measures that car manufacturers are putting in place.

You can listen into the stream, but clicking the ‘play’ button above.

If you are interested in the technology that is regularly being used to defeat vehicle security, Andy Greenburg has written a very interesting article on Wired which can be found here.

Matt Porter
The Gadget Man

 

Electric Car Challenge

10 Days to Go!! Important Update! – Tesla Road Trip 2017

With 10 days to go, I was hoping it would be a matter of tying up some loose ends and some additional organisation in the lead up to the challenge…

Sadly at the end of last week, my very dear Uncle, John Porter passed away. Dad, his brother understandably wants to be at home with the family at this time, so he had to make the difficult decision to withdraw from our challenge. Due to the commitments I have already made with a whole host of people over the last couple of months, I will still be embarking on the 1200 miles electric journey.

I won’t be doing it alone though. My new co-driver will be announced this Friday, so stay tuned!!

Drones, Cameras and Dash Cams

DJI Mavic Pro
DJI Mavic Pro

Today was quite exciting with the arrival of a DJI Mavic Pro and DJI Osmo+. The Mavic is a 4K foldable drone and the Osmo is a stabilised 3.5x zoom camera. Transcend have also committed to sending a dash cam for the trip which should enable us to record both road and cockpit footage. We are also currently waiting for a Dell ‘ruggedised’ laptop which will be invaluable for the trip especially producing 4k footage from the camera and drones. This will hopefully give me sufficient time to familiarise myself with the equipment and weather permitting (22 mph wind and no rain) I should be able to obtain some stunning footage from Ullswater, Glencoe and Ardnamurchan. Fingers crossed (and crossed again). The DJI Osmo_ is a 3 axis stabilised camera when means I can stagger around uncontrollably and get some excellent footage without worrying about the wind.

The saga of the air beds.

We were unable to find a specific donor for the air beds that are needed for the Camping Pod in Ullswater on Friday and Sunday. This was after contacting practically every single large camping equipment supplier in the UK. Most didn’t reply and unfortunately those that did were unable to provide additional donations above their current budgets.

It was however ‘lucky’ or more likely a result of the multiple cookies on my computer set when I was searching for air beds, that a Groupon deal dropped into my Inbox on Wednesday.

DJI Osmo+
DJI Osmo+

Thus, I was able to purchase two double sized air beds ‘high raised’ with built in pumps for just under £80 meaning that both of us will sleep soundly. We will be taking along sheets, quilts and pillows, so we should feel right at home. I have already tested the inflation and deflation of one of the beds and was surprised at how quickly it inflated, but equally how quickly is deflated in ‘reverse’. It was easy to re-pack and fitted nicely into the included carry bag. Sorted.

Further Support and Sponsorship

I had a long conference call yesterday with a very large potential sponsor/partner. We discussed a whole host of possibilities that will help me and Dad on the trip (particularly on the comms front). Hopefully I will be able to announce something next week when I receive confirmation!

 

Computers, Phones and Tablets

Dell Latitude 14 7404 Rugged
Dell Latitude 14 7404 Rugged

Having just had my trusty (and smashed) Samsung Galaxy 6 Edge replaced with a brand spanking model, I am now pretty confident I don’t need to be panicking about a super up to date phone for the trip. It has an excellent camera on board and stunning screen. Tablet wise, I have a nVidia Shield K1 for ‘droning’, this extremely fast processor on board and should do nicely for the trip.

I am really, REALLY hopeful that we will receive a 360 camera and a SIM card with a hefty amount of data onboard to enable us where possible to live stream the event as best we can.

Accommodation

We are staying at Hillcroft Park in Ullswater on Friday and Sunday, courtesy of the site owners, which is very generous of them. On Saturday we are staying at Far View in Kilchoan about 8 miles from Ardnamurchan Lighthouse.

That’s for this update, but stay tuned this Friday to find out who will be joining me on our ELECTRIC ADVENTURE!

Source: 10 Days to Go!! Important Update! – Tesla Road Trip 2017

Audio, Edifier, Gadget Man, Internet Radio, Music, Technology, The Gadget Man

Edifier M1380 2.1 Speakers, a compact alternative.

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Edifier M1380 2.1 Speakers are a smart choice for students

For the past few weeks I have been testing the Edifier M1380 2.1 Speakers with Subwoofer and Satellites.  As a music fan, I’ve always been a fan of external speakers both PC’s and MP3 players, so when a set of Edifier M1380 speakers arrived at my office, I was eager to give them a try.

The M1380 speakers come with a high quality 5 inch subwoofer bass unit, two satellite tweeters and a wired controller for both muting  and controlling the volume. Bass is adjusted by a control knob on the side of the subwoofer with a 3.5mm audio line-in cable and speaker out connectors for the tweeters.

The subwoofer feels weighty, which gives you confidence that the bass reproduction is going to be good in addition, the build materials feel sturdy. The subwoofer outputs 12W, it’s not up to ‘block party’ standards, but it’s perfectly loud enough to please someone as a second set and is complimented by the the tweeter speakers outputting at 8W each.

The satellite speakers are elevated to a height of 6 inches. This gives the sound the freedom to travel rather than be adsorbed by surrounding furniture and is crisp and pleasant to listen to.

The speakers have been balanced with each other, meaning they work together to produce a rich, pleasant sound and don’t interfere with each other by over-saturating different frequencies.

Edifier M1380 2.1 Speakers Controller
The speaker controlller and earphone socket is useful for computer users

The speaker volume is controlled via a small table mounted dial and mute switch. I like this kind of set up as it allows to to easily adjust the speaker volume by sitting the controller next to your keyboard if you are using them as PC speakers. It also offers a headphone socket, allowing you to plugin your favourite pair without having to reach around behind the speaks and fumble around.

Edifier are very good at producing attractive audio equipment and the M1380 continues this with a modern, matte black setup which would fit in most surroundings and not look out of place.

The price point for the speaker system is around the £49 mark, this feels like great value for such a quality product. If you are looking for a cost effective set of speakers which would suit students heading off for university, these are a great choice.

Matt Porter
The Gadget Man

Dell, Dell Latitude 7480, Uncategorized

Dell Latitude 7480 – A Smooth Portable Windows 10 Experience

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Dell Latitude 7480 – A Smooth Portable Windows Experience

As a ‘Mac’ user for the last few years, I was interested to see whether a Windows Laptop could come close to my experience using a Macbook Pro, so when I received the Dell Latitude 7480 for review, I was eager to see if it could meet my expectations.

At first glance the Dell looked and felt very high quality, the aluminium of my existing laptop was replaced by a soft touch matt black finish. with e matt screen. I was pleased to see the keyboard was back lit which makes operation in dark areas much easier and it seems crammed with every kind of pointing device option I have ever seen!

The Dell was installed with Windows 10 and this ran up very quickly, ably assisted  by a 256GB SSD Drive which practically removes loading times, 8gb of memory and an incredibly fast Intel i7 processor. The colour production of the 14 inch screen was extremely impressive and the 1920 x 1080 resolution seemed plenty for the screen area.

The setup process was really simple, something I assume most Windows 10 PC’s now benefit from. The super fast drive and processor obviously help with this and I was up and running in a couple of minutes.

The laptop was very happy running on battery alone for significant amounts of time and even with fairly heavy use, lasted well. The charging connector is also lit in blue to make finding it in the dark very easy.

Connectivity wise, the Dell 7480 is packed with different sockets on each side of the device, with power socket, USB-C,  Thunderbolt 3, Full Sized HDMI, 3 x USB-3 , smart card reader, headphone jack, Simcard slot, Micro SD reader and Ethernet connector, plenty in fact to please any business person.

Along with the standard sized backlit keyboard, the laptop also had a mouse ‘stick’ in the centre of the keyboard, a touch pad and two sets of mouse buttons, 2 below the touch pad and 3 above just below the space bar. I found it quite surprising to find almost every iteration of navigation hardware on one laptop, but it was nice to have the options to choose from.

I spent quite a lot of time running fairly heavy duty software on the Dell Latitude 7480,  from Adobe Photoshop CC, Adobe After Effects CC to Adobe Premiere CC and a couple of other video editors. Video editing is really processor and memory intensive, it requires the ability to copy and edit very large files. The Dell seemed to handle this will ease, I was able to plug in an external monitor via the HDMI port and edit large 4K video files without any noticeable lag.

The Latitude 7480 is aimed squarely at the business market and appeared to cope amiably with pretty much any task I threw at it.

As with Dell products, you can customise your order when purchasing from them. Prices start at £999, the model I tested out was in the region of £1360.

If you are looking for a very high performance laptop with excellent battery life and screen, you shouldn’t go far wrong with the 7480.

Matt Porter, The Gadget Man

Coast to Coast Tesla Challenge, Electric Car, Electric Vehicles, Tesla, The Gadget Man

Driving a Tesla on a 1,200 mile round trip to prove electric car ‘cynics’ wrong

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Ness Point, Lowestoft. Suffolk
Ness Point, Lowestoft. Suffolk – Credit SKYNAMIX

Of the amazing electric and hybrid cars I have been fortunate to review, by far the coolest was the Tesla Model S. Driving the Tesla really feels like you are riding on the coat tails of automotive history and due to it’s active over the air updates, you actually seem it improving and developing before your eyes.

Pointing towards Ardnamurchan
Pointing towards Ardnamurchan and a 1200 mile round trip

Since testing the Model S P85D, the car has continued to evolve from ‘Insane Mode’ all the way to ‘Ludicrous’ and ‘Ludicrous Plus’. Tesla have also introduced the Model X and more recently the Model 3.

The most regularly asked question people ask me about electric cars is ‘What is it’s range?’. Tesla has always lead the pack with their excellent range along with their network of ‘Superchargers’ . Tesla owners can expect in excess of 300 miles per charge, refuelling with electricity in around 30 minutes.

All of this has led me to challenge the cynics when they say “Electric Cars don’t have the range of my petrol car”.

Ardnamurchan, Scotland
Ardnamurchan, Scotland

On October 6th 2017, I embark on my biggest challenge to date as The Gadget Man. So big in fact, that I will be taking my father along for the ride!

Together we will be driving from the most Ness Point in Lowestoft (the most easterly point of mainland UK) to Ardnamurchan Lighthouse in Scotland (the most westerly point of mainland UK) and back again, a total journey of around 1200 miles. All of this will take place over the weekend of the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th October 2017 and will be completed on electric only in a Tesla Model S 100D.

Staying in Ullswater overnight
Staying in Ullswater overnight

Aside from being able to complete the 1200 mile trip under electric power only, we will also being travelling through some of the most amazing scenery our nation has to offer us with overnight stays in ‘Camping Pods’ in the Lake District and Ardnamurchan during our journey and a short trip on the Corran Ferry! We will we ‘re-juicing’ the car using Tesla’s Superchargers and a couple of rapid chargers and DJI are loaning us photographic equipment to help us document the journey.

We also hope to ‘live stream’ the challenge as often as possible and hope to make lots of new friends on the way!

Ullswater in the Lake District
Ullswater in the Lake District

The Gadget Man has never been a ‘paid gig’, so we are hoping that our challenge can be supported by you in order for us to be able to pay for our modest accommodation and food during the 4 day trip, all the funds we raise will be put to good use during our trip.

At the end of the challenge we will donate any remaining funds to the Red Cross.

Tesla Model S 100D
Tesla Model S 100D

If you are a business and would like to sponsor us, we will be very happy to put a link to your business on our dedicated website that we have set up for the challenge. If you know of camping gear manufacturers who who like to donate a couple of sleeping bags and pillows that would be very helpful too.

Thanks for taking the time to read about our challenge and we look forward to keeping you up to date with our planning for our road trip.

For more information, visit us at https://www.eastwestroadtrip.co.uk

 

Bluetooth, Gadget Man, The Gadget Man, Three Useful Apps

Trackr launches the Pixel, a smaller, lighter and louder solution for lost items

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Trackr has released a brand new personal tracking device to compliment the existing Bravo and Cross Peerless Trackr Pen (reviewed here).

Trackr launches the Pixel, a smaller, lighter and louder solution for lost items
The TrackR Pixel

The Trackr Pixel is smaller than a 10 pence piec, making it the smallest Bluetooth tracking devices available. Building on the functionality of the Cross Pen, the Trackr Pixel has longer range, louder speaker and LED light which makes locating it much easier find under car seats and at the bottom of bags.

The Pixel is available in nine bright colours, with a lower price point that the Bravo. It also comes with free keyring and adhesive. This means you can attach it to your keys, wallet, bags, laptop, remote control or even pet collar!

CEO and Co-Founder of TrackR, Chris Herbert said “Our goal is for people to no longer need to remember where all their items are located. Instead, technology should keep track of where our things are for us and our families, TrackR pixel is a step towards that future with its small and light design, built-in LED light, over one year battery life, and expansive Bluetooth range, making it one of the most versatile and easy-to-use tracking devices out there. Plus, it’s backed by the TrackR Crowd Locate network, which helps our customers find more than two million items worldwide each day.”

Once the device is paired with the free TrackR app, you can make your lost item light up and ring by selected in within the app.

 

As before with TrackR Crowd Locate Network, should you lose an item out of range of your smartphone, the network is activated and enables you to receive anonymous updates of the last-known location of your missing items whenever another TrackR user passes within range of it.

If you own an Amazon Alexa-enabled devices like the Echo, you can also use this to help you find your missing keys or phone. Pressing a button on the TrackR pixel device can also ring a misplaced phone – even if it’s on silent.

TrackR pixel can be bought online for $24.99 at www.thetrackr.com today and is available online now with eight-packs available for $99.99.

Cameras, Gadget Man, Matt Porter, Review, Technology, The Gadget Man, Video Review

GoPro Hero5 Session – The Compact 4k Camera with Voice Control

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GoPro have been at the top end of the action camera market for a long time and have consistently produced really high quality products, the Hero 5 range brings a whole range of functionality not seen before in a GoPro, so I was eager to find out more.

There are two camera’s in the Hero 5 range, the Hero 5 Black and Hero 5 Session, I have been reviewing the Session.

Hero 5 Session Whats in the Box
Hero 5 Session Whats in the Box

The Session is a small camera! Measuring 38 x 38 x 36 mm (1.5 x 1.5 x 1.4 inch). On the front is the camera lens and the back is a small button, on the side is a covered MicroSD and USB-C port and finally on top is the shutter button which is also used for controlling the camera. There is also a very small mono led screen which lets you know the status and mode of the camera.

The camera comes equipped with on-board wifi and it is using this and a free app that you can control and preview the camera.

Hero5 Session Switched on

There is also a brand new ‘Voice Control’ mode too, which allows you to command the camera. There are 12 commands it understands ranging from ‘GoPro Start Recording’, ‘GoPro Take a Photo’ to ‘GoPro Switch Off’. It actually works really well, however I only tried it in a room environment, so I’m not sure how it works out in the field, waves or ski slope though.

There are a heap of video modes you can shoot including 720p,960p,1080p,1440p,2,7k and up to 4k, these also offer up a variety of frame rates from 30fps at 4k to 120fps at 720p, there is the ability to remove the dreaded fish eye effect with ‘Linear’ in some modes and there is image stabilisation available up to 1080p, so those bumpy rides of ski videos will have less judder for viewers.

The image quality is simply amazing! I have always doubted the quality of the videos provided by manufacturers, but the Hero 5 Session really does delivery with zero post processing. I was honestly astounded by the 4k footage and I’m looking forward to getting out on my bike to get some off road footage over the next few days.

The camera can also take 10mp photos either in standard, timelapse or burst mode with the ability to take 30 10mp photos in 1 second! All of these settings are changeable with dozens of options available.

For people looking to use the GoPro as a dash cam, there is also ‘Loop’ mode on the video, although you might be better off looking for a dedicated device for this.

The Hero 5 range are also compatible with the GoPro Karma drone for those looking to take their footage high into the air.

All in all, I’m impressed with the GoPro Hero 5 Session, at £299 it’s by no means the cheapest camera around and you might be looking at the Hero 4 Session for half the price. However, with the drop if price you lose all of the killer features of the Hero 5 including 4K.