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IN CLAYMAN'S TERMS

Ramblings of a Technology Geek

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Posted on August 30, 2020


REPLACING STEREO IN A 2012 PRIUS V

Replacing my car’s stereo

As I write this I feel I need to caveat with I have only owned 3 cars so far in
my life.  I tend to drive my cars for a while.  My first car was a leased Dodge
Neon which I only owned for 3 years.  I then moved to a Chrysler Sebring and
owned that car for 11 years or so.  And finally I moved to my current vehicle, a
Toyota Prius V from 2012.

I didn’t own the Neon long enough (well actually I owned it for the right amount
of time) to make any changes.  With the Chrysler Sebring I did replace the
stereo with a new head unit in order to get MP3 music and bluetooth music

I really do Love my Prius, it has fantastic cargo and people space and is really
comfortable to drive. Overall it’s a great car to own.

But I’ve had a real challenge when it comes to GPS/Phone integration.  Now I
have the base unit Prius. The best place to put a GPS is on the Pius Dash. 
While not my car the below image is a good representation of the model I do have

So because the entire instrument cluster is in the middle, the area in front of
the driver makes a lot of sense for a GPS unit.  And I had a Garmin for years
that worked well, but as cell phone GPS improved and other functionality started
to grow I moved to a cell phone on a mount.

The problem is, in the summer it gets really hot on the dash.  Even with the AC
on.  Unfortunately that means the phone will quote often overheat and stop
working.  Which is a lot less ideal when it comes to using it as a GPS in the
middle of the 401.

So with all the improvements in Apple Car play, and getting to play with Apple
Car play in a 2019 Cadillac, I made the decision to replace the stereo in my
car.  Really, given the age of the car and the features available it made a lot
of sense. Plus, again not my car, here’s a picture of what my stereo looks like

While it was a great improvement over the base unit in my Sebring, it certainly
hasn’t aged well.  It has a backup camera though (which is nice and I want to
retain) but otherwise this entire unit will end up being removed.  So the
question became, what do I replace it with.

The Options

So, from where I was ordering the stereo from, I came up with two options

The first was the Kenwood DMX706S

The other is the Alpine ILFX309

So let’s start with the Alpine ILFX309

This is absolutely the better of the two units in a lot of ways.  It’s a larger
screen (9” vs 7”).  It’s a floating screen which looks absolutely wonderful when
it’s installed well and it’s a capacitive screen (a touch screen similar to what
you would find on a cell phone or a tablet).  It really is a glorified tablet
for your car.  This is the unit that first jumped out at me, and before any
research was the unit I first thought I would go with.

Here’s the Kenwood DMX706S

This is certainly the more economical of the two options.  Being $700 cheaper
than the alpine.  It has a resistive touch screen (so requires pressure and not
nearly as responsive as the Alpine) but is well reviewed and has Apple Car play
as well as.  

So which one?

Both units are compatible with the the iDatalink Maestro RR programmable unit
which means I get to keep things like the backup camera, steering wheel controls
and custom car settings.  All of which were things I was worried I would lose
which is nice

I was so convinced I was going to go with the Alpine from day 1. From its
responsiveness to how tablet like it is was appealing.

But the size was the first issue, it might cover part of the vents.  While not a
deal breaker I was concerned that would be problematic

But as I started to do research one reoccurring theme came out with the alpine. 
Glare.  Direct sunlight had a habit of washing out the screen, especially for
Google and Apple maps.  While some found work around with screen protectors or
using Google maps on satellite view I knew with my car this would be an issue. 
Direct sun light is already an issue with he dash so going with something 

And the $700 price difference then came into play.  Given both would provide the
Apple Car Play that I was looking for, neither provided wireless CarPlay options
so they didn’t have that additional benefit, it was becoming harder and harder
to justify the price difference.

While ultimately I would have liked to go with the Alpine, the reviews and price
difference really pushed me towards the Kenwood.  I’ll be posting a before and
after video once I get the new stereo installed and will let you know how that
goes

Posted on June 21, 2020


WWDC 2020

What am I looking forward to from Apple’s WWDC announcement Monday?

iOS 14

Obviously I would like to see some improvements in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14.  The UI
hasn’t changed much and I feel there is a lot of potential here for
improvement.  There are a lot of things I love about iOS but not having some
kind of customizable home screen is one of the usability features I’ve always
thought was missing.  Having a mixture of applications/widgets that fit my needs
would be great.  I don’t know if we will see this as there have been very few
leaks that I’ve seen from an iOS perspective.

There are rumours that Apple with allow other applications to replace their
applications as default apps.  This would be huge.  I actually don’t use a lot
of the Apple home grown apps, so being able to have mailto links open Spark mail
instead of Apple mail would be a huge usability improvement.

Here comes ARM

One of the biggest leaks, so far, is the move to ARM based CPU’s.  For those you
who have been following Apple for a while you know they have not always been an
Intel based CPU shop. Before they moved to Intel based CPU’s they actually were
a PowerPC CPU shop.

Here is the wikipedia link for some background

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerPC

Now, the challenge then, was attracting developers to write or compile code for
a different CPU architecture.  From a user perspective, it’s not evident what
CPU is in your computer as long as it works. From a developer perspective it’s a
complicating factor.  Especially back then, there wasn’t the tools developers
have today to migrate code from one platform to another.

Now the fact that Mac computers run a different OS (not windows based, macOS is
Unix based) does mean that developers had a lot of things they had to change
anyway.  But using a common CPU architecture did provide some benefit to the
developer community

So there is still risk with moving to a non-standard processor.  Moving between
Intel or AMD chips is one thing, but they are fundamentally the same
architecture (or the same base standard anyway).  That’s why you can buy Intel
or AMD and still run the same copy of Windows, or the same version of Microsoft
Office.

Apple has done a fantastic job building their own CPU and chips for their
iPhones/iPads/etc in recent years.  The CPUs have exceptional performance and
power management. All that could lend them well to laptops.  And, obviously, the
more Apple can do on their own in house the more the CPUs can be optimized for
their OS and their machines.  You can’t get that level of customization working
with an external vendor

The challenge with the CPUs Apple has developed to date is that they are not
meant for sustained performance.  Do they have great performance scores? 
Absolutely, but the question is can they sustain that performance in high
demanding applications?  

They are going to have to change their whole line, maintaining two versions of
their OS (an Intel compatible and an ARM compatible version) is not sustainable
long term.  That means you need a version of your CPU that can handle iMac Pro
or Mac Pro level performance requirements which is a tall order.

This is going to be the start of journey for Apple and their developer
community.  But, with the advantage of virtual machines (pseudo computers that
allow a program not designed for your machine to run on your current machine. 
It’s how 64-bit version of Windows can still run older 32-bit versions) I think
it will go smoother than in the past it might have before.  

New iMac Design

My favourite iPhone to date is still the iPhone 4.  I fell in the love with that
style and apple brought that style back with the iPad Pro (which I own) and I
just love it.

Rumour has it that the iPhone 12 will sport the same design in order to help
with the new 5G antenna required.

It also sounds like the design will be used in the upcoming redesigned iMac. 
Which I cannot wait to see.  The old design is 10 years now, and we’ve seen some
fantastic design choices in their new high end monitor.  Hopefully the iMac will
have some those same stylings.

We still have a Mac from 2007 and have been very tempted to replace the drive
with an SSD and add extra RAM to try to bring it back to life a bit.  The down
side though is it’s not supported for OS upgrades anymore.  Might put that money
aside towards a new iMac if the design is right.

Conclusion

So, chances are this will continue to be an evolution of the Apple ecosystem but
hopefully we’ll see some hints at further improvements and more customizations
and flexibility within the eco system

Posted on May 31, 2020


2020-05-31 WAVLINK USB-C DOCK

Overview

As mentioned in the video attached I recently found out I’ll be working from
home until at least September.  That lead me to want to find an alternative work
from home setup then what I had currently.  One that could work for both my work
laptop and my personal laptop.

I did some research into my work laptop and discovered that it did have a
Thunderbolt 3 compatible USB-C port.  Thunderbolt 3 is the connection standard
and USB-C is the style of port.

What does this give me?  It allows me to have a lot of information and power
flow over one cable.  That allows me to have two monitors, USB Connected devices
and power come from the dock and need only one cable to attach to either my work
laptop or my MacBook Pro.

That opened up the option for me to find a solution that works with both my work
laptop and my personal laptop with one cable connectivity.

The trick then was finding the right device, for the right price.  After looking
at some reviews, and what ports and options were supported, I settled on the
WavLink USB-C docking station.  

What really settled this for me was what was offered.  Two distinct HDMI or
Display port that each support up to 4K dual monitors or a single 5K monitor. 
Also power pass through, additional USB-C ports and USB-A ports as well.  All of
this at a price point I was happy 

Installation on PC

The one thing Microsoft has always done well is plug and play, and this was no
different.  Plugged it in and everything just worked.  System recognized the
power coming in just fine and immediately recognized both monitors.

Also the external keyboard I had plugged through the dock just worked right from
the beginning.  

Really this is one of those things that you buy and forget about unless it
doesn’t work.  It works smoothly, everything charges and I have 2 additional
monitors which is great.  The proof will be to see if there are any performance
impacts but I don’t see that being an issue at all.  

All in all a smooth install

Installation on MacOS

MacOS install was a lot smooth than I anticipated it would be.  I did need to
install the drivers though and, it seems, Apple has done some privacy lockdowns
so I was required to approve the Wavlink as a screen sharing device.  

Doesn’t entirely make sense, but at the same time I’m good with additional
privacy options as long as I can still make the required solution work for me

Overall though it was a fairly straight forward install

Conclusion

Obviously I haven’t had a lot of time to use the dock yet, but in the brief
amount of time it’s worked seamlessly which is really what you want from a
device like this.

You want it to just work and so far that’s exactly what it’s doing.  It’s just
working.  I’ll update this post with some thoughts if I run into any issues, but
so far it’s been well worth what I spent on it and has really cleaned up my home
office desktop.

Cleaned it up connection wise. at any rate.  The extra monitor certainly takes
up a bit of desk real estate but it’s well worth it

Here’s a the supplemental video







Posted on December 3, 2019


TO UPGRADE OR NOT TO UPGRADE… A QUESTION ANSWERED FOR ME

Like clockwork I’ve been upgrading my iPhone every 2 years.  Ever since my cell
phone provider moved from 3 year terms to 2.  There was always something that
pushed me to move to a newer version.  Better speed, new features, new
functionality.

This is the first time I’ve seriously contemplating not doing the upgrade.  

I’m currently using an iPhone X.  Apple’s first phone with an OLED screen. 
Absolutely beautiful and I’m not sure I would want to go back to their regular
LCD screens.  Yes they are great but there is something wonderful about what
OLED screens can provide.  So that would mean I would have to upgrade to the
iPhone 11 Pro line if I upgrade this year.

I’m not noticing any issues processor wise, Apple has been much better and
optimizing iOS for older phones.  So I’m not finding the OS a pain to run.  

Battery life is still decent on the phone and I’m hardly using the Smart Case I
recently purchased for it.  For me, that’s a great sign that the battery still
has some run way left.

So really, I’m looking at what features the iPhone 11 Pro has that I would
*NEED* right now.

Wide angle lens?  Nope

iPhone X has a telephoto lens so I’m covered there

Ummm…..

Yeah, so iPhone 11 Pro is an evolution and not a revolution.  And performance
gains year over year are fantastic but not always required for every user.

Plus there are some interesting rumours about the form factor for the iPhone 12
next year.  The iPad Pro (which I’m typing this on) has a form factor that is
very similar to the iPhone 4. Rumour has it the iPhone 12 will have a similar
form factor so it can properly house the 5G radio.  I don’t care as much about
5G but the form factor is one I’ve always appreciated.  

Is form factor a great reason to upgrade?  No, but it’s more of a reason to wait
to upgrade than I have right now to upgrade.

And again, I could upgrade 6 months from now if something changes.  But for now,
given the amount of money I would have to shell out for an upgrade (and since it
seems my corporate discounted plan isn’t including unlimited data as of yet) I
think I’m going to hold off for now.

My AppleCare+ will expire in January so the decision of upgrading to a new phone
might be taken out of my hands depending on any damage that might come to the
phone but for now, I’m going to hold off.


Posted on September 8, 2019


2019-09-08 : THOUGHTS ON GOOGLE STADIA

Google Stadia is a new service that could, in theory, completely revolutionize
the video gaming industry.  Or it could die in a fire of broken expectations and
potential.  But either way, it’s worth watching especially if it can break down
some of the financial barriers to playing video games

But let’s start with a look at PC gaming and console gaming.

Video games, to one degree or another, have always been on some kind of console
system and on some kind of PC.  PC’s have always had a fairly high cost of entry
from day one.  We are living in an age now where we have a lot of options that
we didn’t have in the past (Chromebooks is a great options) but from a gaming PC
perspective they have always been quite expensive.  They have always been top of
the line machines to play the latest game.  Developers have always been pushing
PC capabilities as much as they can.

The downside with this was that a lot of people just can’t afford that.  You
have to be in a reasonably privileged financial position to play the latest
video games on a PC

Console systems have always come in to try to make that more mainstream, they
don’t always have the best graphics, but unlike PC, any PS4 game released you
know will play on your PS4.  You don’t have to worry about having to the latest
and greatest PC or console.  In theory any Chrome browser on a Chromebook or
better can play Stadia.  Even some Pixel phones will be able to play these games

It’s not going to be cheap mind you.  It’ll probably be as expensive or more
than Netflix and even more if you want to play the latest great games.  But, not
having to pay the upfront cost of a PC or console will be a huge draw for a lot
of people.

Now connection speed is going to to be the new barrier to entry.  35Mb/s
(MegaBits per second) for the best resolution.  That’s not unachievable on a
50Mb connection but this might be a service that people’s home connections have
to catch up to.

Conceptually it’s technically fascinating, especially if they can pull this
off.  Like Amazon and Microsoft, Google provides cloud computing services for
many of the world’s largest companies.  They have massive data centres that
process a lot of what you see or use on the internet.  They also handle internal
computing requirements for large companies.

One of Google’s bread and butter products is pure computational power.  So the
idea is to offload all of the computing requirements for video games (including
the graphics and audio processing) to Google’s own servers.  All your machine
has to be able to do is stream content fast enough and upload your actions fast
enough that it feels like you are playing a console in your room.

This is where Google will succeed or fail

Succeed and Google will rewrite what gaming is from a cost of entry
perspective.  Expect Microsoft to follow quickly, leveraging it’s own formidable
cloud platform.

Sony may be left behind on this one.  Or you might seem them team up with Amazon
to use their cloud services platform.

It’s entirely possible the next generation of console systems will be the last
generation if this kind of gaming platform takes off.  Or, future generations of
consoles will be more dumb terminals then actual full fledge gaming platforms

Either way, it’s going to be interesting to see where things go





Posted on September 2, 2019


GAME BREAK : CONTROL

Control is a third person shooter game from developer Remedy entertainment.  You
might recognize the company as they brought us a great game a few years ago
called Quantum Break.  The story line there was deep and diverse, and this game
is shaping up to be the same.

I’m only a few hours in but right off the bat they are doing a lot of things
right.  The lead is a strong woman who, so far, isn’t falling into any of the
stereotypes that you get when men write female leads (and hopefully won’t go
down into any of those tropes)

The supporting characters, so far, are few but seem fairly well grounded.  What
really wins out here is the atmosphere and world they’ve built.  This is a
seriously disturbing game.  And I don’t mean disturbing in the “oh my goodness
is that another splash of gore?” But disturbing in the “ok, where did that noise
come from?  What’s around this corner?  WHAT THE HECK AM I LOOKING AT????” Kind
of disturbing

They have done such a great job with making the game feel like you are in a
world where things aren’t quite right (not really a spoiler).

Gameplay is decent but not a huge improvement over quantum break so far.  I
wasn’t a huge fan over the aiming mechanic and they’ve done a good job in fixing
some of that but it’s still very much in that vein.  Overall it’s not detracting
from the fantastic story which I think is critical for a game like this.

I’m playing Control on a PS4 attached to a 55” 1080p display.  I know the game
supports PS4 Pro and various other systems for better graphics than what I’m
playing it on now.  I can imagine it’s all the more gorgeous there.  But it’s
really the sound that adds to such an incredible immersive experience.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but there are seriously times when you want to
mute the darned thing.  Not because it’s annoying, but because it’s so
incredibly well done that you are absolutely feeling as creeped out as the main
character is.

I’m only a little bit into the game, and I’m not sure how far this crazy rabbit
hole is going to go but I am really glad I picked this game up. Remedy, keep
doing what you are doing.  Oh and the good news?  This game has a season pass
which I hope means additional content we never got for Quantum Break

Seriously, for the atmosphere alone pick up this game.  But also be warned your
dreams may be a bit messed up for the next little while





Posted on August 5, 2019


GOOGLE NEST HELLO


Posted on August 5, 2019


MY INTERNET OF THINGS

Over the past few years, either through opportunity or purposeful choice, I’ve
made a number of decisions that have increased my digital footprint and personal
use of cloud technologies.  Each choice has come with particular trade offs and,
with any of the Internet of things (IoT) technologies, certain choices.  So I’m
going to go through the technologies I’ve introduced here and how I’m actually
either adjusting or not to each one


CLOUD STORAGE – SYNC.COM, APPLE ICLOUD DRIVE

For the longest time I was primarily using home network storage as my backup
solution.  I wasn’t paying for any cloud solutions because they didn’t quite do
what I wanted them to, or there were the regular ongoing security concerns.  But
over the past few years I’ve started paying for two cloud based storage
solutions.  Both for very different purposes.

I use sync.com as primarily a copy of my network storage.  My laptop is set to
sync changes to this cloud storage.  What I like about sync.com is that it’s a
Canadian solution and it offers native encryption.  I don’t rely on *just* their
native encryption but that’s mainly because I prefer to have control over the
encryption locally as well.  

Now sync.com offers all the space I’ll need, but Apple iCloud Drive offers a
level of flexibility and convenience that it was worth having as an add on.  Not
only does the additional space allow me to keep a cloud backup of my iPhone and
iPad (as well as my partner’s iPhone) but it also automatically backs up all
documents and desktop from my MacBook Pro as well.  

This also allows me to take full advantage of the 2TB of space I have at
sync.com without having to have a large hard drive on my laptop.  Otherwise I
would have to use sync’s Cloud only storage option for more than I do today
(mainly for archival storage).

As an encryption backup option I use Boxcryptor.  It’s a very flexible
encryption solution that has a lot of online services built in.  While not
sync.com yet, it does allow you to encrypt local directories so it makes it easy
to encrypt a drive on the network drive and have that sync out to sync.com.  

I do have some space on Google Drive and the “free” tier at some of the other
major providers as well but those are my primary cloud storage options.  


GOOGLE NEST AND AUGUST

I’m including these two together not because they are made by the same
manufacturer, but because for me they are all part of the “Smart Home” trend
that I’ve dipped my feet into.

Now some readers will laugh at that given the amount of technology I’ll be
discussing here.  But the choices I’ve made have been particular technology from
particular companies.  The goal isn’t to get a smart everything, but to make the
choices that fit a particular need.  Although the Google Home Minis and Google
Nest Hub are perhaps a bit of a stretch there.

Technically the first that came in was the smart locks, with the most recent
being the August lock.  For me it was the peace of mind knowing I could check
the status of the front door lock (which I always seem to forget about) where
ever I am.  It saves me having to drive home from work to be sure the door is
locked.  This was more born of a need and a life improvement, but it really
didn’t kick of the IoT purchases.

The gateway to all of this was a Google NEST thermostat I received from a
provincial program.  I appreciated that I could move away from schedule based
heating and cooling and move to a “when people are home” program.  For heat,
overnight, I still use a schedule to turn down the heat but it does provide the
flexibility to have the heat on when people are home and in what NEST calls eco
mode otherwise.  Eco mode makes sure your house doesn’t get hotter or colder
then certain thresholds (in my case 26 Celsius at the high end and 15 Celsius at
the low end).

Once you have one of these products other products look quite appealing.  The
NEST protects were my next purchase and also provided some specific benefits.

My house had some wired smoke alarms but they were only smoke alarms.  Looking
at options to replace them with wired smoke and carbon monoxide alarms the NEST
protect offered a lot of benefits.  Automatic monthly testing, night lights,
remote alerts and voice directions in the case of an emergency.  A little pricy
but, again, once you are into an ecosystem it tends to encourage you to expand
into it even more.

The other Google NEST products were more convenience and tech purchases.

Look out for a formal review of the Google Nest Hello doorbell coming soon. 
There are definite convenience and security features here that are a plus.  It
would be a stretch to say they were critical but it is nice to be able to tell
delivery people to leave packages remotely or know when contractors are working
on the property

The other items are the Google Home Minis and Google Home Hub.  You can read
about my unboxing of the Google Home Hub in a previous post.  It’s nice to have
the ability to play music throughout the house and the Google Assistant can be
quite handy.  But again, these were definitely convenience purchases.  


APPLE TV

I don’t usually put a device like an Apple TV on this list, but it really is one
of the purchases that link a lot of services together.  Whether it’s Netlix,
Amazon Prime or even Bell TV it allows for choice, search ability and
applications that allow for a variety of content.  While it’s part of Apple’s
ecosystem it has a lot of benefits even if you aren’t invested elsewhere.


WRAP UP 

So that’s the IoT in my home.  I’m not including my Network attached storage
(see previous review) as I don’t actually have it’s Internet access turned on
for security reasons.  I’m also not including gaming systems as they service a
very different purpose.


Posted on June 2, 2019


GOOGLE HOME HUB REVIEW

When we put in a new TV in our living room, almost a decade ago now, one of the
things we were missing was a clock.  I’m not a fan of analogue clocks or
traditional “all I do is tell time” style clocks. So for a time we were trying
to find options.

During that time I upgraded my iPad, which gave us the opportunity to use the
old iPad as both a clock (using one of the clock apps) and a guest tablet.  That
was handy because it allowed people visiting access to a quick internet device
but also allowed us to have something that was functional and would tell the
time.

Over time though, Apple dropped support for that iPad and it became less and
less useful as a guest internet device.  And while it was a great concept, most
guests came with their own smartphone or tablet and all they really wanted was
the wifi password.

Also recently, as you’ve seen from previous posts, we’ve been incorporating some
smart home devices into the house.  We already have an August lock, a number of
Google Nest products (home mini, home, Nest Protect, Nest Thermostat and a “I
need to post my review of it” Nest Hello) so when Google announced that the
Google Nest Hub was coming to Canada it appeared to be a really good fit into
our space.

And a deal involving a reasonable amount of money off and a free Google Home
Mini, yeah it was just the right time.

My first impression when it came out of the box is that the screen is small. 
But it is a fantastic resolution.  When used as a clock it’s crips and clean
from across the room.  If I’m using it to actually watch content though you have
to be standing close to it.

It is a touch screen with a light sensor.  This model does not have a camera and
I’m perfectly ok with that.  The newest model has that but I really don’t see a
reason for that myself and, while there are privacy concerns with the microphone
the camera is an addition that I have to figure out if I’m comfortable with in
side the house.  Outside the house (Google Hello) I’m perfectly comfortable
with.  

A lot fo the same commands that work with Google Home and Google Home Mini work
with the Google Hub with the advantage of seeing results on the screen.  Want to
know the weather for next week?  You still get the voice feedback but you get
additional details on screen that you can physically scroll through.  

Combined with the Nest Hello doorbell, the outside image will automatically be
displayed when the doorbell rings.  Which, depending on time of day, can mean
you can ignore the door or move to just tell them you are not available.

Overall the screen is a nice addition, it’s designed to enhance what was already
there.  And it’s nice to have a clock that has more functionality.

If it’s up close, You Tube videos are not awful and the sound is great.  But
that’s not really the point of it.  

If you are looking for the functionality of the Google Assistant with some
visual feedback I recommend it.  It’s not cheap though, so I would suggest
seeing how much use you get out of a Google home mini (on sale, you can find
them around $40 CDN) before jumping into this more pricy option

Posted on March 30, 2019


A MODEL X EXPERIENCE

 * 

So let’s be honest, I was trying to write this from a purely unbiased position.

And I failed miserably.

Ever since the car was announced I have been obsessed with the Tesla Model X. 
The technology, the style, the cargo room and the fact it was the most, to me,
the most appealing SUV released.  And, to be honest, having had a chance to test
drive a Jaguar iPace earlier I really wanted this opportunity.

And I was given that opportunity on a trip into Toronto. With the Model Y coming
out, which I’ll talk about in a second, I really wanted to give the Model X a
drive.  So I called up and scheduled a test drive.

And boy I’m glad I did.  I absolutely Loved driving the Jaguar.  But I can also
say I really Loved driving the Tesla Model X.

The Tesla Model X does not look like a huge vehicle from the outside.  It’s
sleek and aerodynamic. But as a driver on the inside it feels absolutely huge. 
A big part of that is the incredibly large windshield that feels more like a
cockpit then it does a driver seat.  

It does not drive like a big vehicle though.  While wider then the car I own
now, it still handled really well and was incredibly responsive.  

It was also one of the most powerful cars I’ve ever been able to drive.  While
going onto a highway I was told to give it a little love and I went from 60km/h
to over 130km/h before I really noticed what was happening.  While it’s true my
Prius V is not a power house this was a huge change and would certainly take
some getting used to

The screen is beautiful and I appreciate the fact there is an instrument panel
behind the steering wheel. There are things I appreciate about the Tesla Model 3
but I feel it’s a bit too minimalist

Which brings me to the Tesla Model Y

I don’t Love the Model 3, and from the little I’ve seen of the Model Y it
improves on a lot of that.  Ride is higher, it’s more of a hatchback and it has
cargo room (with seats folded) that rivals my Prius V.

And it’s actually affordable.  As much as I Love the idea of a Model X it is
significantly outside of my price range.  And let’s be honest, it’s probably
about twice the cost of a Model Y.

For now though, I’ll wait until the Model Y’s come out and we’ll see what the
early reviews are like and make my decision then.  My current vehicle is in
excellent shape and that gives me the time to avoid being an early adopter.

But as far as experiences go this was a good one, and one I would actually
happily do again


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