I took a microSD full of DivX, FLAC, OGG, XviD, WMV, WMA, H.xxx, etc.,
media to the mall this morning where the new phones are being shown off.
Droid X is a beautiful phone, a MANLY phone, but it's TOO DAMNED HEAVY! If
you had it in your pocket banging against your leg all day, you'd have a
sore leg by nightfall. Great phone, TOO HEAVY....
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S played everything except OGG and Realmedia files.
The DivX movies on the 480x800 pixel AMOLED screen directly off
alt.binaries.movies.divx WITHOUT resizing the movie to fit the little
screen or squeezing it down IS SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL! Very bright and extremely
fine detailed picture....it's a real winner, EXCEPT for the damned MIRROR
you have to look through to see it, like all of them. No attempt was made
to make the screen non-reflective....nuts!
And, most of all, Samsung i9000 Galaxy S WEIGHS NOTHING! It feels like
you're holding one of those demo phones that have no guts in them! It's
THAT light!.....even with its FM radio playing....
Too bad it's on t-Mobile's tiny footprint....another thing that will DOOM
it.
--
iPhone 4 is to cellular technology what the Titanic is to cruise ships.
On Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:29:57 +0000, Larry wrote:
>
> And, most of all, Samsung i9000 Galaxy S WEIGHS NOTHING! It feels like
> you're holding one of those demo phones that have no guts in them!
> It's THAT light!.....even with its FM radio playing....
Operaing an FM radio increases the weigh of an apparatus? :-)
In article <Xns9DB6A79A07275noonehomecom@74.209.131.13>, noone@home.com
says...
> Too bad it's on t-Mobile's tiny footprint....another thing that will DOOM
> it.
In spite of the fact that T-Mo has a small footprint, I still want that
phone.
(T-Mo works where I want it to work, and I've been a customer since 2005
and have found their customer service to be consistently better than the
other carriers I've used, so I'm not switching.)
The only problem (for me) is that they will require a data plan to
activate the phone, which costs extra money that I don't have right now.
Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in news:MPG.26a92f4f374f73769899b1
@news.justthe.net:
> The only problem (for me) is that they will require a data plan to
> activate the phone, which costs extra money that I don't have right now.
>
>
>
>
Me, either. I just paid $10,000 for a Smart Car....(c;]
--
iPhone 4 is to cellular technology what the Titanic is to cruise ships.
In article <Xns9DB6DCC3953C4noonehomecom@74.209.131.13>, Larry
<noone@home.com> wrote:
> Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in news:MPG.26a92f4f374f73769899b1
> @news.justthe.net:
>
> > The only problem (for me) is that they will require a data plan to
> > activate the phone, which costs extra money that I don't have right now.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> Me, either. I just paid $10,000 for a Smart Car....(c;]
On 07-15-2010 18:45, Steve Sobol wrote:
> and have found their customer service to be consistently better than the
> other carriers I've used, so I'm not switching.)
YMMV. I found it abysmal. But then I only had Sprint to compare to,
and they also sucked.
In article <Xns9DB6DCC3953C4noonehomecom@74.209.131.13>, noone@home.com
says...
>
> Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in news:MPG.26a92f4f374f73769899b1
> @news.justthe.net:
>
> > The only problem (for me) is that they will require a data plan to
> > activate the phone, which costs extra money that I don't have right now.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> Me, either. I just paid $10,000 for a Smart Car....(c;]
Did you? How do you like it?
My '09 Kia Rio gets 37-38 highway mpg. That's not the EPA estimate; the
EPA estimate is only 35. That's what I actually get (when I'm careful
not to mash the gas pedal, and the AC is turned off).
I bet I could do better in a Smart fortwo, but I like that my car
actually has interior room, since I drive a lot.
(19,080 miles on the odometer, and the car is only 9 months old.)
In article <i1oh4s$uk$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
Groleau+news@FreeShell.org says...
>
> On 07-15-2010 18:45, Steve Sobol wrote:
> > and have found their customer service to be consistently better than the
> > other carriers I've used, so I'm not switching.)
>
> YMMV. I found it abysmal. But then I only had Sprint to compare to,
> and they also sucked.
Sprint was great, pre-merger. Post-merger, they sucked donkey nads,
although I understand they're making some improvements.
As for T-Mo, yes, my M definitely does V. But in general, they seem
to do well in customer service surveys.
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
On 16/07/10 1:46 AM, Steve Sobol wrote:
<snip>
> I bet I could do better in a Smart fortwo, but I like that my car
> actually has interior room, since I drive a lot.
>
> (19,080 miles on the odometer, and the car is only 9 months old.)
>
>
The logic of the Smart Car, other than the low initial price, escapes
me. The Smart is rated 41 highway, 33 city, not nearly as good as the
Prius or Civic hybrid.
If you're going to be driving a gazillion miles then you'll save money
with the Prius over the Smart Car. If you're not going to be driving a
tremendous amount of miles then something like the Toyota Yaris (36/29),
Hyundai Accent (36/27), or Kia Forte (36/27) or Rio (36/27) is still
very inexpensive and offers much more room.
I assume that the actual mpg scales similarly for all the vehicles, and
is higher than the EPA rating. The new EPA rating system was intended to
be more realistic, but I find the estimates to be quite low. We average
42 MPG highway in a Camry hybrid which is rated at 34 highway, and
that's not driving at 55 MPH. The MPG graphs also really teach you to
drive more efficiently in city driving as the feedback is immediate.
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
In <4c405b14$0$22148$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> writes:
>The logic of the Smart Car, other than the low initial price, escapes
>me. The Smart is rated 41 highway, 33 city, not nearly as good as the
>Prius or Civic hybrid.
If you're in an area where parking is difficult, such as NYC,
el Schmarrrt lets you park in quite a few places that other
car drivers have to bypass...
--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
In article <4c405b14$0$22148$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
> On 16/07/10 1:46 AM, Steve Sobol wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> > I bet I could do better in a Smart fortwo, but I like that my car
> > actually has interior room, since I drive a lot.
> >
> > (19,080 miles on the odometer, and the car is only 9 months old.)
> >
> >
>
> The logic of the Smart Car, other than the low initial price, escapes
> me. The Smart is rated 41 highway, 33 city, not nearly as good as the
> Prius or Civic hybrid.
>
> If you're going to be driving a gazillion miles then you'll save money
> with the Prius over the Smart Car. If you're not going to be driving a
> tremendous amount of miles then something like the Toyota Yaris (36/29),
> Hyundai Accent (36/27), or Kia Forte (36/27) or Rio (36/27) is still
> very inexpensive and offers much more room.
>
> I assume that the actual mpg scales similarly for all the vehicles, and
> is higher than the EPA rating. The new EPA rating system was intended to
> be more realistic, but I find the estimates to be quite low. We average
> 42 MPG highway in a Camry hybrid which is rated at 34 highway, and
> that's not driving at 55 MPH. The MPG graphs also really teach you to
> drive more efficiently in city driving as the feedback is immediate.
I couldn't care less about initial cost and miles per ****ing gallon if
the piece of **** is a literal death trap.
The Stupid car has horrid safety issues. People obviously have their
priorities all messed up.
--
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than email to me.
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google
Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts.
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
In article <i1pmdk$8hs$1@reader1.panix.com>,
danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote:
> In <4c405b14$0$22148$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com>
> writes:
>
> >The logic of the Smart Car, other than the low initial price, escapes
> >me. The Smart is rated 41 highway, 33 city, not nearly as good as the
> >Prius or Civic hybrid.
>
> If you're in an area where parking is difficult, such as NYC,
> el Schmarrrt lets you park in quite a few places that other
> car drivers have to bypass...
I don't think that will matter very much if you're dead from a bad
collision.
--
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than email to me.
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google
Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts.
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
"danny burstein" <dannyb@panix.com> wrote in message
news:i1pmdk$8hs$1@reader1.panix.com...
> In <4c405b14$0$22148$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net> SMS
> <scharf.steven@geemail.com> writes:
>
>>The logic of the Smart Car, other than the low initial price, escapes
>>me. The Smart is rated 41 highway, 33 city, not nearly as good as the
>>Prius or Civic hybrid.
>
> If you're in an area where parking is difficult, such as NYC,
> el Schmarrrt lets you park in quite a few places that other
> car drivers have to bypass...
>
My Dad had an Itallian Isetta 50+ years ago. He got a special assigned
parking place at work, practically in front of the door! because of it -- he
could use that little triangle that's left at the end of angled parking. If
he took the other car he had to use his hunting-license-pass in the regular
(less convenient) general lot.
OTOH occasionally he got seriously blocked in if parked on the street &
someone was parked too close to the front, since this car had the door in
the front. Often came back to the car to find a curious crowd around it.
bj
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
On 16/07/10 6:36 AM, Jolly Roger wrote:
> In article<4c405b14$0$22148$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
> SMS<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>> On 16/07/10 1:46 AM, Steve Sobol wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> I bet I could do better in a Smart fortwo, but I like that my car
>>> actually has interior room, since I drive a lot.
>>>
>>> (19,080 miles on the odometer, and the car is only 9 months old.)
>>>
>>>
>>
>> The logic of the Smart Car, other than the low initial price, escapes
>> me. The Smart is rated 41 highway, 33 city, not nearly as good as the
>> Prius or Civic hybrid.
>>
>> If you're going to be driving a gazillion miles then you'll save money
>> with the Prius over the Smart Car. If you're not going to be driving a
>> tremendous amount of miles then something like the Toyota Yaris (36/29),
>> Hyundai Accent (36/27), or Kia Forte (36/27) or Rio (36/27) is still
>> very inexpensive and offers much more room.
>>
>> I assume that the actual mpg scales similarly for all the vehicles, and
>> is higher than the EPA rating. The new EPA rating system was intended to
>> be more realistic, but I find the estimates to be quite low. We average
>> 42 MPG highway in a Camry hybrid which is rated at 34 highway, and
>> that's not driving at 55 MPH. The MPG graphs also really teach you to
>> drive more efficiently in city driving as the feedback is immediate.
>
> I couldn't care less about initial cost and miles per ****ing gallon if
> the piece of **** is a literal death trap.
Fortunately, the Smart Car has very good safety ratings.
"http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr051408.html"
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
In article <4c4064cd$0$22136$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
> On 16/07/10 6:36 AM, Jolly Roger wrote:
> > In article<4c405b14$0$22148$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
> > SMS<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> On 16/07/10 1:46 AM, Steve Sobol wrote:
> >>
> >> <snip>
> >>
> >>> I bet I could do better in a Smart fortwo, but I like that my car
> >>> actually has interior room, since I drive a lot.
> >>>
> >>> (19,080 miles on the odometer, and the car is only 9 months old.)
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> The logic of the Smart Car, other than the low initial price, escapes
> >> me. The Smart is rated 41 highway, 33 city, not nearly as good as the
> >> Prius or Civic hybrid.
> >>
> >> If you're going to be driving a gazillion miles then you'll save money
> >> with the Prius over the Smart Car. If you're not going to be driving a
> >> tremendous amount of miles then something like the Toyota Yaris (36/29),
> >> Hyundai Accent (36/27), or Kia Forte (36/27) or Rio (36/27) is still
> >> very inexpensive and offers much more room.
> >>
> >> I assume that the actual mpg scales similarly for all the vehicles, and
> >> is higher than the EPA rating. The new EPA rating system was intended to
> >> be more realistic, but I find the estimates to be quite low. We average
> >> 42 MPG highway in a Camry hybrid which is rated at 34 highway, and
> >> that's not driving at 55 MPH. The MPG graphs also really teach you to
> >> drive more efficiently in city driving as the feedback is immediate.
> >
> > I couldn't care less about initial cost and miles per ****ing gallon if
> > the piece of **** is a literal death trap.
>
> Fortunately, the Smart Car has very good safety ratings.
> "http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr051408.html"
********. It may have good safety ratings among cars that are _the same
size_, but it certainly isn't anywhere near as safe as my BMW 335i.
Pfft! Get real. The article you mentioned even says it outright:
"Frontal ratings can't be compared across weight classes, meaning a
small car that earns a good rating isn't safer than a large car that's
rated less than good."
Again, some people have their priorities wrong. Those cars are death
traps, plain and simple.
--
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than email to me.
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google
Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts.
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in
news:MPG.26a9bc45727191339899b3@news.justthe.net:
> Did you? How do you like it?
>
> My '09 Kia Rio gets 37-38 highway mpg. That's not the EPA estimate;
the
> EPA estimate is only 35. That's what I actually get (when I'm careful
> not to mash the gas pedal, and the AC is turned off).
>
> I bet I could do better in a Smart fortwo, but I like that my car
> actually has interior room, since I drive a lot.
>
> (19,080 miles on the odometer, and the car is only 9 months old.)
>
>
>
Actually this is only my first week. I've waited 2.5 years for just the
right combo of features and price in a perfect used one. Paying $18KUS
isn't an option.
On my first tank around suburbia, driving it pretty hard because it's
just so much fun, I only got 41mpg. I'm sure I could do better if I
wasn't running the AC wide open trying to keep from roasting in the 95F
summer heat. Shutting down AC is NOT an option in this little
greenhouse. The windows are huge. The lexan moonroof has a window
shade on the inside and that's, of course, a bit of a heat source, too.
The moonroof doesn't open or lift off, unfortunately. Too bad the panel
doesn't lift out.
EPA says this is 32 city 41 hwy and I'm getting 41 in the sprawling
suburbia that's not in dense streets. Very nice, but that's not why I
bought it. I have no fuel expense on either of my diesel vehicles, a
Mercedes 300TD wagon or my big Union City Body stepvan with its diesel
V-8 6.2L monster. They run on veggie oil from 3 Chinese restaurants I
get free.
The Rio is a really nice car but has LESS room than the Smart, which is
VERY deceiving! The difference is I only have two seats and a small
hatchback rear with liftgate and tailgate. The right front seat does
fold flat to become a long storage area from the rear gate to the dash.
The other difference to the Rio is I have NO ENGINE COMPARTMENT sucking
up the linear length! The "cabin" of a Smart car starts about 12"
behind the front bumper where there is a little compartment that houses
all your fluids except engine/transaxle oils, the electric fan forced
radiator and AC condensor and some ancillary equipment you might want to
get to. even under that stuff is the forward end of the footwell! A
6' 6" fat man fits very easily into either front seat in a Smart
because, like a minivan, your cabin starts right behind the bumper. The
engine/transmission and all that is UNDER the flat floor of the station
wagon rear in the back behind the seats, hidden out of the way and
occupying no linear space between bumpers intruding into the cabin
space. It's all cabin from bumper to bumper. Look close at the
windscreen that's almost over the bumper. That plastic panel comes off
with two levers to access the fluids. The dash in this thing is HUGE!
There's also many cubbyholes to put your stuff that has fiddles to keep
it there underway. Sideways, the bucket seats are only about 4" apart
because the car is narrower than yours. No 3-abreast seating. Parked
in a parking space in any mall, the car is narrow enough noone should
ever bang it with their doors, even a 2-door coupe monster with wide
doors because the line is so far from the dent-proof, replaceable
plastic panels. Bored with its color? There's a forum of Smart owners
who will swap panel sets with you of different colors. Cost is only
shipping, much to the dealers' dismay I'm sure. I've already gotten
offers from Red and Yellow owners for the silver panels of mine. This
is soft plastic. The steel girders of the Trition safety cage are
inside the doors. The panels are just for looks and very pliable....
I'll have to try to find a Rio and compare interior room in the front
seat. I bet you'll find the Smart has more room in the front seat
because it's only a 2-seater. Storage is 12 cu ft to the roof. Smart
is also very TALL compared to say a Mini. A Mini's roof line isn't
halfway up the driver's window of the Smart. Sitting/exit/enter a Smart
is like a small minivan, not a sports car or tiny sedan crawling down
into it. There's lots of headroom for your top hat....(c;]
Smart's shifting takes some getting used to. It's a STANDARD
transmission, a 5-speed gearbox with electric clutch. This means it
feels like someone shifting a STANDARD transmission, even though you're
not involved. The throttle tells the computer how fast you want to go
and how hard you want to accellerate. The computer actually drives the
throttle and shifting for you. You don't need to move your foot, like
an automatic, but, UNLIKE an automatic, the shift sequence is like a
STANDARD shift car...downthrottle, declutch, shift, clutch, upthrottle.
The little guy in the trunk does this shifting and throttling.....Or, if
you like, you can take some control away from him by moving the shifter
from D to +/- and use the slapstick to shift it yourself. Bored with
that, it has paddle shifters on the steering wheel like a Formula 1
racer. When you click the paddle or slapstick, Werner throttles down,
declutches, shifts, reclutches, throttle ups for you. He's just
following your instructions UNLESS YOU DO SOMETHING STUPID, like put it
in 1st gear at 55 mph, when he simply beeps at you and ignores
you....saving the drive train from your stupidity...(c;]
Drift driving is out of the question. Werner, the little shift guy,
also has his OWN brake pedals....one on each wheel! My Smart has
Electronic Stability Control and ABS brakes exactly the same technology
as the Mercedes Benz S-class luxury sedan. It was raining fairly well
when I was at my friend's pizza shop that has parking lot all the way
around the building with lots of water on it for good skidding. We were
turning around the building at 45-50 mph TRYING to make it skid, but
Werner kept beeping at me every time it started, applied the appropriate
brake to prevent it and we went zooming around the hard corner, anyways!
You'd have to be completely out of control before Werner would lose
control, too. Drift driving it like this isn't gonna happen. We also
were thrown against the seat belts in a wet-pavement panic stop by the
excellent Mercedes-designed ABS system. I couldn't slide the 15"
diameter 60 series radials at all! Werner's pedals override my pedal...
NOT a good idea to panic stop a Smart in front of some big SUV or
American sedan. He'll never get stopped in time to NOT rearend you.
This one is also loaded. The wipers front and rear are automatic, as
are the projector plus high beam quartz headlights. It starts to get
dark then you notice Werner has already detected this and the headlights
are already on.....instead of leaving them on all day, which it doesn't
do. There's a round bauble behind the rear view center mirror. That
scans the windscreen for water and keeps an eye on oncoming traffic to
dim the headlights and move the projector, somehow, out of his eyes.
Stereo is the biggie. 6 CDs fully capable of playing self-burned MP3
CDRs with no RIAA permission nonsense. All my MP3 CDs play great in it.
There's hundreds of songs on each home made CD....days of music! AM/FM
radio has a REAL outside antenna by the driver's doorpost. Savannah's
AM station is over 100 miles away and I can hear him clearly at NOON!
FM reception is superb. Not sure who makes the digital radio beast. It
just says SMART when you click it on. AC is full climate control. Set
temp, set 5-speed fan, all automatic. Heated Leather seats and outside
mirrors that are also powered by the driver's controls in the driver's
door. Electric windows with one click opening, too.
Take a Smart for a test drive. You're in for a shock. EVERYONE wants
to see it....especially the girls....(c;]
--
iPhone 4 is to cellular technology what the Titanic is to cruise ships.
On Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:45:07 -0700, in
<MPG.26a92f4f374f73769899b1@news.justthe.net>, Steve Sobol
<sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:
>In article <Xns9DB6A79A07275noonehomecom@74.209.131.13>, noone@home.com
>says...
>
>> Too bad it's on t-Mobile's tiny footprint....another thing that will DOOM
>> it.
>
>In spite of the fact that T-Mo has a small footprint, I still want that
>phone.
No problemo -- it will be available on all four major carriers.
--
John
"Assumption is the mother of all screw ups."
[Wethern’s Law of Suspended Judgement]
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
On Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:41:01 -0500, in
<jollyroger-615FF8.08410116072010@news.individual.net>, Jolly Roger
<jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>In article <i1pmdk$8hs$1@reader1.panix.com>,
> danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote:
>
>> In <4c405b14$0$22148$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com>
>> writes:
>>
>> >The logic of the Smart Car, other than the low initial price, escapes
>> >me. The Smart is rated 41 highway, 33 city, not nearly as good as the
>> >Prius or Civic hybrid.
Because, as in so many other things, you have zero experience with one.
>> If you're in an area where parking is difficult, such as NYC,
>> el Schmarrrt lets you park in quite a few places that other
>> car drivers have to bypass...
Yep.
>I don't think that will matter very much if you're dead from a bad
>collision.
It does well in crash testing.
--
John
"Assumption is the mother of all screw ups."
[Wethern’s Law of Suspended Judgement]
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
On Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:55:49 -0500, in
<jollyroger-6FF578.10554916072010@news.individual.net>, Jolly Roger
<jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>In article <4c4064cd$0$22136$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>> On 16/07/10 6:36 AM, Jolly Roger wrote:
>> > In article<4c405b14$0$22148$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
>> > SMS<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> On 16/07/10 1:46 AM, Steve Sobol wrote:
>> >>
>> >> <snip>
>> >>
>> >>> I bet I could do better in a Smart fortwo, but I like that my car
>> >>> actually has interior room, since I drive a lot.
>> >>>
>> >>> (19,080 miles on the odometer, and the car is only 9 months old.)
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >> The logic of the Smart Car, other than the low initial price, escapes
>> >> me. The Smart is rated 41 highway, 33 city, not nearly as good as the
>> >> Prius or Civic hybrid.
>> >>
>> >> If you're going to be driving a gazillion miles then you'll save money
>> >> with the Prius over the Smart Car. If you're not going to be driving a
>> >> tremendous amount of miles then something like the Toyota Yaris (36/29),
>> >> Hyundai Accent (36/27), or Kia Forte (36/27) or Rio (36/27) is still
>> >> very inexpensive and offers much more room.
>> >>
>> >> I assume that the actual mpg scales similarly for all the vehicles, and
>> >> is higher than the EPA rating. The new EPA rating system was intended to
>> >> be more realistic, but I find the estimates to be quite low. We average
>> >> 42 MPG highway in a Camry hybrid which is rated at 34 highway, and
>> >> that's not driving at 55 MPH. The MPG graphs also really teach you to
>> >> drive more efficiently in city driving as the feedback is immediate.
>> >
>> > I couldn't care less about initial cost and miles per ****ing gallon if
>> > the piece of **** is a literal death trap.
>>
>> Fortunately, the Smart Car has very good safety ratings.
>> "http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr051408.html"
>
>********. It may have good safety ratings among cars that are _the same
>size_, but it certainly isn't anywhere near as safe as my BMW 335i.
>Pfft! Get real. The article you mentioned even says it outright:
>
>"Frontal ratings can't be compared across weight classes, meaning a
>small car that earns a good rating isn't safer than a large car that's
>rated less than good."
>
>Again, some people have their priorities wrong. Those cars are death
>traps, plain and simple.
Feel free to prove that, if you can, with actual safety data.
You'll not that easy, because it's actually good in terms of safety.
--
John
"Assumption is the mother of all screw ups."
[Wethern’s Law of Suspended Judgement]
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
>My Dad had an Itallian Isetta 50+ years ago. He got a special assigned
>parking place at work, practically in front of the door! because of it -- he
>could use that little triangle that's left at the end of angled parking. If
>he took the other car he had to use his hunting-license-pass in the regular
>(less convenient) general lot.
My father had one (1957 model year, I think) he used for commuting.
It got very good gas mileage for the time. We actually managed
once to put the whole family of 5 in it (father driving, mother in
passenger seat, me (age 10?) between them where there really wasn't
supposed to be a third person, and 2 younger children (6 & 8) on
the back windshield shelf.
Once he stopped at a stop sign at a college town. The car has
bumpers that look a bit like 2-inch chrome pipes. Four college
kids stopped at the corners of his car, picked it up by the bumpers,
and started walking off with it (him still in it, engine still
running).
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:4c405b14$0$22148
$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net:
> If you're going to be driving a gazillion miles then you'll save money
> with the Prius over the Smart Car.
NO hybrid car is cheaper to drive than ANY of the tiny cars you list.
The BATTERY PACK in a Prius is over $9000! That MUST be factored into
the "saving money" equation because it's REQUIRED to be replaced when
its capacity drops or the car is going to be DOA. That's a LOT of
money, $9000! That's also a factor in buying a USED hybrid vehicle.
One can only ASSUME the amazingly expensive, high tech battery pack
needs replacement. Walmart's auto department doesn't stock them. You
KNOW what's going to happen at your Toyota or Honda dealer....at
superretail.
Walk up to your local Prius dealer's parts counter and tell him you need
a new battery pack for your 200x Prius that's out of warranty. Watch
his face pale before he gives you the really bad news......he doesn't
have one.
I'd never buy an off-the-shelf-where-it's-been-since-this-car-was-new
battery pack from the dealer's warehouse in the heat, anyways. I want a
FRESH $9000 battery pack made 3 weeks ago for that much money!
No hybrids....no thanks. Great idea, but not with current battery
technology. Maybe some day. EEstor has never delivered the massive
capacitor that will "revolutionize" ecar storage. That might make me
change my mind because the massive nanotube capacitor will NOT need
$9000 replacements at regular intervals.
EPA ratings sure have gotten more conservative than they used to be.
Remember when the huge V-8 supervans were rated for 29 hwy and 24 city
not long ago?
One more Yaris comment. I was seriously considering this car until I
saw this:
Notice noone's legs got crushed in the Smart, unlike Yaris where the
cabin failed, miserably, crushing the passengers. Notice the Smart used
the Mercedes' crush zones to protect ITSELF! Notice the windshield
didn't shatter or come out. Notice the DOORS were still SHUT, intact!
That's the Trition Cell protecting the passengers. Smart is MUCH safer
then the other little cars. Of course, someone is going to show the
Smart crushed between two 18-wheelers in a road crash. I don't give a
**** what you're driving, you'll be crushed to death between two semis.
The two bumpers on a full size Ford Expedition are about a foot apart in
such a crash.
Crash into a brick wall at 70, you'll die from G-forces in any vehicle.
The Smart protected the body parts that are left....doors opened, both
of them!
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
"bj" <bjones44@bellatlantic.net> wrote in
news:V6mdnTLzlqfy_93RnZ2dnUVZ_vmdnZ2d@giganews.com :
> My Dad had an Itallian Isetta 50+ years ago. He got a special assigned
> parking place at work, practically in front of the door! because of it
> -- he could use that little triangle that's left at the end of angled
> parking. If he took the other car he had to use his
> hunting-license-pass in the regular (less convenient) general lot.
>
One of my high school teachers has an Isetta with the front door. She was
the ONLY car that could make it up the very steep hill by the Elementary
School in winter. That little two stroker had some serious traction!
The boys in the football team, however, were constantly stealing her car
from the parking lot and putting it other places....Boys gym shower, the
principal's office (a great hack before computers), the front porch of the
school up 14 steps, the teacher's lounge, the end of the cafeteria line
with a window tray from the local drive-in burger joint hanging on the
window, complete with the post speaker sitting next to it.....
All great fun. She never expected the Isetta to be in her parking space at
4PM.....(c;]
"Boys, can I have my car back, now? I have to go get my kids!", she'd
beg....
The car was the defacto Bluedevils' sports mascot at every game. It would
come driving into the gym during halftime at basketball games to the
delight of everyone except the referees....(c;]
--
iPhone 4 is to cellular technology what the Titanic is to cruise ships.
> I couldn't care less about initial cost and miles per ****ing gallon if
> the piece of **** is a literal death trap.
>
> <http://www.moral-flexibility.net/images/smartcar_accident_01.jpg>
>
> The Stupid car has horrid safety issues. People obviously have their
> priorities all messed up.
>
>
I'm 64. My life is pretty much "over". I've been riding various 2-wheeled
vehicles since I was 15 and currently own a plastic Honda Reflex scooter I
also love to drive around the city.
Compared to any motorcycle made, Smart is like riding in an army tank for
safety.
If I cared about "being safe", I'd probably never leave the house......
--
iPhone 4 is to cellular technology what the Titanic is to cruise ships.
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
On 16.07.2010 17:55, Jolly Roger wrote:
> [...]
> ********. It may have good safety ratings among cars that are _the same
> size_, but it certainly isn't anywhere near as safe as my BMW 335i.
> Pfft! Get real. The article you mentioned even says it outright:
>
> "Frontal ratings can't be compared across weight classes, meaning a
> small car that earns a good rating isn't safer than a large car that's
> rated less than good."
And you're still driving that dangerously lightweight BMW instead of a
Hummer? Or, better yet, a tank?
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
Michelle Steiner wrote:
> In article <Xns9DB7882FE2388noonehomecom@74.209.131.13>,
> Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
>
>> NO hybrid car is cheaper to drive than ANY of the tiny cars you list.
>>
>> The BATTERY PACK in a Prius is over $9000! That MUST be factored into
>> the "saving money" equation because it's REQUIRED to be replaced when
>> its capacity drops or the car is going to be DOA.
>
> It's warranted for 150,000 or 100,000 miles, depending on the state. and
> it doesn't cost anywhere near nine grand; $2,500 is closer. And used ones
> sell for about a grand on eBay.
>
> So Larry, as usual, you're full of ****.
Oh, be kind. Larry is maybe research-impaired and hyperbole-enhanced.....
How's dat for PC today!??!
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
Michelle Steiner <michelle@michelle.org> wrote in
news:michelle-E2E91F.10395616072010@62-183-169-81.bb.dnainternet.fi:
> In article <Xns9DB7882FE2388noonehomecom@74.209.131.13>,
> Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
>
>> NO hybrid car is cheaper to drive than ANY of the tiny cars you list.
>>
>> The BATTERY PACK in a Prius is over $9000! That MUST be factored
>> into the "saving money" equation because it's REQUIRED to be replaced
>> when its capacity drops or the car is going to be DOA.
>
> It's warranted for 150,000 or 100,000 miles, depending on the state.
> and it doesn't cost anywhere near nine grand; $2,500 is closer. And
> used ones sell for about a grand on eBay.
>
> So Larry, as usual, you're full of ****.
>
"My employer has a fleet of twenty 2003's. They are now buying more
05's. In the first year, the maintenance dept had to replace two Prius
batteries at $5000 each. We were informed that the Prius battery is NOT
intended for use to "limp home", but merely move your car safely off the
road. Now when someone runs out of gas, a call is made. I bought an 04
Prius in December, 2003. The manual gives the same information."
Yes, Michelle, I'm always full of **** because I'm an old man whos dealt
with many car companies over the years and years of ****** service and
warranty problems........
Getting Toyota to fix a very expensive dead Prius battery is something
like getting your ****** iPhone 4 antenna replace by the wonderful
service department of Apple, Inc.
"You abused this battery and we can prove it so we're not going to
replace the battery. YOU pay for it."
********. I'd rather have a more conventional drive train it doesn't
take a $5000 or 8000 or even $1000 battery to make it go.
--
iPhone 4 is to cellular technology what the Titanic is to cruise ships.
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
On 16/07/10 10:39 AM, Michelle Steiner wrote:
> In article<Xns9DB7882FE2388noonehomecom@74.209.131.13 >,
> Larry<noone@home.com> wrote:
>
>> NO hybrid car is cheaper to drive than ANY of the tiny cars you list.
>>
>> The BATTERY PACK in a Prius is over $9000! That MUST be factored into
>> the "saving money" equation because it's REQUIRED to be replaced when
>> its capacity drops or the car is going to be DOA.
>
> It's warranted for 150,000 or 100,000 miles, depending on the state. and
> it doesn't cost anywhere near nine grand; $2,500 is closer. And used ones
> sell for about a grand on eBay.
Actually the Prius hybrid will function just fine with a battery with
reduced capacity, with very slightly reduced MPG. But the way Toyota
does the battery management means that the battery will last a very very
long time. They never charge it to 100% nor discharge it very far down.
They're using NiMH batteries which, when not stressed by complete
discharging or complete charging, will easily last 150K miles. The range
of a Prius on battery power is very very short, just a few miles.
Something like the Chevy Volt, which is not use a hybrid drive system
(the gasoline engine simply charges the battery) will not work with a
bad battery.
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
In article <jollyroger-6FF578.10554916072010@news.individual.net>,
Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
> ********. It may have good safety ratings among cars that are _the same
> size_,
exactly.
> but it certainly isn't anywhere near as safe as my BMW 335i.
> Pfft! Get real. The article you mentioned even says it outright:
and your bmw isn't as safe as an suv or a mack truck.
> "Frontal ratings can't be compared across weight classes, meaning a
> small car that earns a good rating isn't safer than a large car that's
> rated less than good."
>
> Again, some people have their priorities wrong. Those cars are death
> traps, plain and simple.
Re: OT Smart cars, was Re: A new winner!...amazing.
SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:4c40afeb$0$22142
$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net:
> But the way Toyota
> does the battery management means that the battery will last a very very
> long time. They never charge it to 100% nor discharge it very far down.
> They're using NiMH batteries which, when not stressed by complete
> discharging or complete charging, will easily last 150K miles. The range
> of a Prius on battery power is very very short, just a few miles.
>
Obviously, from what the posters whos Prius ran out of gasoline that tried
to limp the Prius home on its battery pack have posted....If you drive the
Prius on its battery when the engine won't start....any further than the
edge of the road where it stalled.....it will FRY THE BATTERY PACK AND
TOYOTA WILL NOT REPLACE IT!
The Prius battery ISN'T MADE TO DRIVE THE CAR....it will FRY IT!
Amazing.....What's the point?
--
iPhone 4 is to cellular technology what the Titanic is to cruise ships.
A new winner!...amazing. 
But in general, they seem
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