Kobo Libra H2O Review

I bought a Kobo Libra H2O e-reader last week. Here is a short review.

The good,

• The 7 inch 300 ppi screen is very sharp.
  
• It has front light with adjustable color temp. The illumination is even.
  
• It has physical page turn buttons.
  
• The system is hackable. I installed KOReader on it.
• It supports OverDrive, allowing me to borrow books from libraries.
• It supports Pocket. I can save web pages and read them on the e-reader.
  
• The US Kobo book store has many Chinese books.
  

The bad,

• Micro USB connector should be replaced with USB-C.
  
• No Chinese dictionary.
• It does not synchronize with DropBox like Kobo Forma. But there is a open source solution.
  
• No built-in Chinese fonts. I installed some myself.
  
• Sometimes I cannot highlight a sentence. The highlight always stops half way.
  
• It does not have an ambient light sensor. But I can adjust the brightness by swiping the left screen edge.
• It sends data to Google Analytics automatically. We can change the /etc/hosts file to block Google Analytics.
  

I think the Kobo Libra H2O beats the Kindle paperwhite. They are in the same 130 USD price range. But the Kobo has a larger screen, physical buttons, and much better front light.

Remarkable 2 Tablet Review

I acquired a Remarkable 2 tablet in Oct 2020. However I sold it last week. Here is my view on the tablet.

Things I like,

• It is sturdy while thin and light.
• It has a long battery life (> 1 week).
• It supports many wacom EMR pens.
• The note taker interface is intuitive and responsive.
• The stylus lag is minimal (~20 ms). 
• It is very hackable. SSH is on by default with a random strong password.

Things I do not like,

• It has no front light. So the screen contrast is low. This is my biggest complaint.
  
• It relies too much on the cloud. The USB web UI is almost useless.
• It does not have built-in CJK fonts. 
• While it supports PDF and ePub, the features are very limited. However, KOReader is available on it.
• I had the book folio. But the tablet won't sleep when I close the cover. 
• The marker's tip is a bit thick, which is okay for writing in English, but not in Chinese.
• It does not rotate the display automatically.
  

 

Using iPhone without iCloud

I found my iPhone has been more sluggish after upgrading to iOS 14. So I factory reset it last week. Here is my experience.

Firstly I had to sign in my Apple ID to use the phone. So Apple assumes all customers can access Internet and its servers are always up. Can I use my iPhone if Apple goes out of business like Nokia did? I can still use my Nokia X2-00 today.

iCloud was enabled in full by default. There was no option to disable iCloud during phone activation. Apple assumes all customers want to use iCloud. However, iCloud does not have E2E encryption for backups, photos, etc.

I turned off iCloud immediately after activation. Then I found I had to sign in separately for AppStore, iMessage, and Facetime. In addition, ApplePay (wallet) and Sign in with Apple, Find my phone, were no longer available. Airpods Pro won't switch sources automatically. My reasoning is that Apple does not care about users who do not use iCloud because they are the minority.

Since iOS 13 I notice a trend of declining software quality. iOS have gained more and more features. But so did the number of bugs. However, Android is still less polished. Maybe one day I will switch back to Android.

2020 Toyota Corolla SE 1-year review

I have been driving a 2020 Corolla SE with premium package for more than a year. Here are my thoughts on it.

Pros,

• The cloth seat materials are of good quality.
• The dashboard and doors have faux leather soft padding.
• The steering wheel is leather wrapped.
• The steering wheel controls are very easy to operate.
  
• The 2.0L NA engine provides enough horsepower for my everyday use.
• The AC controls are intuitive.
• It has a ton of features like blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, lane tracing, lane keep assist, forward collision warning, and crash imminent braking.
• Fuel economy is top of the line among non-hybrid sedans. I often get 30+ mpg.
• The electronic parking brake can engage/disengage when shifted to/from P.
• It has full LED headlights.
  
• There is a compact spare in the trunk.
  

Cons,

• My biggest complaint is the infotainment system.
• It does not support HD Radio, XM, or Android Auto.
  
• The display is sluggish and does not display Chinese characters.
• Rear cross traffic alert is not offered on 2020 models. It is available on 2021 models.
• The SE base model does not have blind spot monitoring, push button start, or keyless entry. You must purchase the premium package for them. But the premium package includes a mostly useless moonroof.
  
• No auto-dimming rear view mirror options. But I installed one myself. I had to tap into the fuse box to get power.
  
• The headlights did not get the best IIHS rating.
• Only the XLE and XSE trims have steering response headlights.
  
• The rear blinkers are incandescent.
  

Test Driving a 2021 Honda Insight EX

I test drove a 2021 Honda Insight EX hybrid sedan last week. Here is what I think of this car.

The good,

• The headlights are fantastic. They got a good rating in IIHS tests.
• Acceleration is smooth. It has 151 hp and 200 lb.ft torque. It can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in ~8 seconds, much faster than Corolla hybrid.
  
• The climate control has physical knobs and buttons for temperate, fan speed, circulation, and mode.
  
• The factory radio can display Chinese characters and receive HD radio/XM. Both are not available on 2020 Toyota corolla.
  
• The radio display is of high quality. The UI is very smooth and responsive.
• Audio quality is good.
  
• The instrument cluster is half LCD and half analog. The LCD part can be configured to display various info including a compass.
• It is equipped with blind spot monitor and rear cross traffic alert at no additional cost.
• The telescopic steering wheel has quite a bit range of motion.
• The gear selector is intuitive and easy to operate.
• Backup camera has dynamic guidelines and multiple views.
• In addition to keyless entry, the car can lock automatically when you walk away with the key.
• Fuel economy is good. I got 40+ mpg.
  

The bad,

• The small gas engine can get a bit noisy if you keep the car at full throttle for a while.
• The seats are a bit low even at the highest position.
• The seat fabric does not feel as good as Toyota Corolla's.
• The headliner is always beige regardless of the seat color.
  
• Rain sensing wiper is only available in the touring trim.
• The factory radio does not support wireless Carplay/Android Auto. But 2021 Accord EX-L supports.
• MSRP is a bit high. And currently Honda does not have big incentives.
• The rear blinkers are incandescent, not LED.
• It will release the parking brake automatically. But it would not engage the break when shifted to P. Toyota Corolla can do both.
• The speakers generate fake engine noise in sport mode.
• I could not pause audio with steering wheel controls. The salesman said it is not possible.
• The trunk release button is on the driver side door. I think it should be placed beside the gas door release button.
• No spares tier in the trunk. I would like at lease a donut.
• No dedicated buttons for Carplay/Android Auto/Map on the infotainment screen.
• The center console storage bin is small. And the arm rest is too low.
  

Reduce the audio volume on Tecsun PL-330

I found a method that does not require soldering at Baidu tieba. In FM mode, long press the number 7 key, then the display will show a blinking two digit number. Turning the volume knob will change the number and also the speaker loudness. Short press the 7 key to save the value.

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I have been using my new PL-330 radio everyday. I got annoyed by two things related to its digital volume control,

• It sets the volume to at least 10/30 for alarms, which is too loud for me.
  
• The lowest volume, 1/30, is too loud when I use earphones of low impedance.
  

So I opened the case to see if I can fix it. Immediately I saw a 16 pin chip. It is a CD1622CB, a clone of SONY's CXA1622 power amplifier.

According to CXA1622 datasheet (shown below), pin 14 controls the gain, i.e. the volume. The gain is greatest if pin 14 is connect to GND, and 0 if pin 14 is connected to pin 15.

On the PCB, a capacitor (labeled 1C25) sits between pin 14 and GND. I measured the voltage on pin 14 while I rotated the volume knob. The results matched the datasheet. I also shorted pin 14 and pin 15, the speaker got muted.

So to reduce the speaker volume, I need to raise the voltage on pin 14. This can be achieved by adding a suitable resistor between pin 14 and pin 15. I experimented with 4.7k, 10k, and 22k. I found 10k most suitable. So I soldered it on.

And now I can use a volume of 6/30 with earphones. And alarms are no longer annoying.

UPDATE

I found the volume levels were not granular enough after the resistor mod. So I removed the resistor and soldered an 1 Watt 20 Ohm resistor in series with the speaker.

Tecsun PL-330 Portable Radio Review

Tecsun released their latest PL-330 portable DSP receiver this summer. I acquired a Chinese version last week for $73.

The good,

• It is compact (139 x 85 x 26 mm) and lightweight (~220g).
• The build quality is good.
• I like the completely flat front surface.
  
• It supports AM synchronous detection and single side band demodulation.
• The easy tuning mode (ETM) has been improved to store shortwave results by clock time.
• You can sort the memory by frequency by long pressing the 0 button when powered off.
• It supports direct frequency entry.
• FM reception is very good.
• The power button is at the correct place and large enough.
• Tecsun finally introduced a tuning step button instead of relying on the user to rotation the tuning knob slowly for fine tuning.
• AM band has three bandwidths, 2.5, 3.5, and 9 kHz.
• AM SSB mode has 0.5, 1.2, 2.2, 3.0, 4.0 kHz bandwidths.
• The digital volume control allows different volume for alarms.
• It supports both 70 us and 50 us FM de-emphasis time constants.
  

The not so good,

• No air band support.
  
• I am not a fan of the tuning and volume knobs. I prefer the style on PL-380.
• MW and SW reception is average.
  
• No FM RDS although its DSP chip supports RDS decoding.
• Synchronous detection does not work well.
• The USB port is micro USB, not type C.
• No 6 kHz bandwidth for AM. 9kHz is too wide to be useful.
• Supports only one alarm clock.
• The snooze button is too small to be useful.
• LCD vertical view angle is small (less than ~90 degrees).
  

The bad,

• It uses the BL-5C lithium battery instead of two/three AA batteries. BL-5C holds less charge than two AA batteries. And it is hard to find good quality BL-5C batteries.
  
• An SSB reverse fine tuning bug was reported by Pawel Kita. (I did not verify.)
  
• It is difficult to operate in darkness. The buttons have a very short travel. The nine buttons on the right are too small. And the "5" button does not have a bump.
• It mutes very briefly while tuning like other DSP radios.
  

I also took it apart for some pictures. There is a connector hidden under the LCD. I guess it is for firmware update.

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In conclusion, PL-330 is worth the ~$70 price. I hope Tecsun fix the small bug in the next firmware release. If you want air and NOAA weather bands, I would recommend CC Skywave SSB.