Posted September 25, 2007 
Comments(1) I was informed that Proporta have got a 40% discount on all of the ‘old’ iPod stuff they do.
Pop along to the Proporta site for the skinny on the deal. Also if you have picked up one of the new iPod’s, then pop and have a look at the 3G nano Classic Case and the 3G nano Silicone Case, both look quite good.
I can vouch for Proporta stuff, It’s always good, and always looks after the item it’s holding.
Posted March 13, 2007 Comments(0) 
The A700 is by no means a new camera, having been launched in October 2006. It is currently available at a very good price point, however - around £80/119Eur/$157.
The A700 is aimed at the home/first time user, and for this user the camera is good. However if you are looking for a camera to compliment your DSLR then this is probably not the camera you are looking for. I’ll explain why, but first some specifications:
Specs
Sensor : 1/1.6-inch Super CCD HR at 7.3MP
Resolution Support : 3,072 x 2,304 (7.3M) /3,264 x 2,176 (3:2) / 2,304 x 1,728 (4M)/ 1,600 X 1,200 (2M)/ 640 X 480 (0.3)
Video Resolution : 320 x 240 pixels ( 10 frames/sec.), 160 x 120 pixels ( 10 frames/sec.)
Lens : Fujinon 3.0x Optical zoom lens, F2.8 – F5.2 – 8- 24mm (Equivalent to 36-108mm on a 35mm camera)
ISO Speeds : 100/200/400 via an Auto mode
Flash : Internal flash. Wide angle (Approx.1.6 -12.5ft.), Telephoto (Approx. 2.0-6.6ft), Macro (Approx.1.0 – 2.6ft).
Flash modes : 
Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro, Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro.
Display : 2.4" 112000 pixel Amorphous silicon TFT (around 91% scene coverage)
Storage : Internal 12Mb plus xD Card (16Mb one supplied)
Power : 2xAA
Usability
The reason I mentioned that this camera is more suited to the home or first time users, is that this camera takes the concept of KISS ("Keep It Simple, Stupid") to a whole new level.
The Camera has no ‘manual’ modes to speak of, and in its default power up state uses a quite competent auto mode. This can be overridden, however it looks like the Fuji engineers believed that end users wouldn’t be messing about in the menus, and as such have spent very little time on their design and layout.
The point and shoot concepts of the camera work well; the zoom is easy to use, as is the display on the rear.
The camera is a little large in comparison to some of the other devices on the market (for example the Optio A20 which I reviewed earlier in the year).
Photos
The pictures the camera produces are a little hit and miss. In good lighting, or under ideal conditions for the flash, the camera produces photos that are at least on a par with more expensive equipment. Its abilities under extreme lighting conditions are not so good.
As you can see from the two pictures here (the right being the cleaned version), the photos do show improvement with just a little touching up. This however does not help in dark conditions. The camera just does not seem to pick up enough information for you to touch things up later.
The camera ’s macro mode is also a little hit and miss. If you get the distance from the object just right, it produces some good quality shots (under good lighting). There is very little noise to be seen in the photos, even when zooming in on the image after it’s been taken. This shows that the CCD of the device is quite good. It seems that the downside to the device is probably due to the lens and software.
The lens issue also shows itself on shots where the lens is at its widest zoom, with a noticeable ‘fish eye’ effect seeming to happen, however the usual bugbear with cheap lenses is the corners, and this shows very little chromatic aberration.
Summary
The camera is certainly not the best of the current breed, but it’s not the worst either. It’s certainly very week on the features list, but some novice users will see this as a positive rather than a negative.
Framing of full frame shots could be an issue as the LCD display clips the edges, however this is not uncommon, and it seems to be the fashion to not put a proper view finder on compact cameras nowadays.
The flash is powerful enough for snap shot use, but can be a bit of a demon when it comes to red eye.
Photos, for the most part, are acceptable and after a little "photoshopping" look fine for most uses.
This camera would have been better if a little more thought was put into the design of its various sections. The case should be a little slimmer, the software a little more grown up, and the lens perhaps a little more in tune with the CCD.
That said, if these things were done I doubt the price would be as low as it is for this camera. Direct competitors are few and far between at this price point, the closest being the Pentax Optio E-20 or the Sony DSC-S600, however both of these are 6MP cameras and not 7MP, so not directly comparable.
Conclusion
If you are new to digital cameras, or need a compact and already own xD Cards then you could do worse than the Fuji A700.
However, I suspect you’ll outgrow it quite quickly, so it may be worth saving up and getting one of the newer 9 or 10 Mega Pixel compacts that are now available.
It would be an ideal kids first camera as it is built well, relatively light and requires no setup whatsoever.
If you cannot stretch the extra 60 pounds or so for the next level up, then this is certainly better than the ‘no-name’ cameras out there; although the lens is not perfect, and the software and features lack, it is still a decent ‘bang for the buck’ camera from a reputable manufacturer.
Author’s note - The thumbnail images link to the bigger original which are around the 5mb mark. Some of the photos have been touched up in PhotoShop.
Posted January 21, 2007 Comments(2) It made me laugh, so I thought I would pop it up. Interestingly if you goto YouTubes site this has been taken down on request, hmmm….
Posted January 15, 2007 Comments(3) I noticed that Gary had given me a bit of a bash over my iPhone reaction.
I just wanted to make my impressions clear.
I've been an 'advanced phone' user for a good many years now, I have in the past used Nokia, Ericsson, Sony, and of late Microsoft (HTC) phones, and over the years seen them advance to the state of my current phone which my parents call my mini PC (HTC Universal).
The iPhone looks AMAZING! however it has some serious shortcomings, most of which should be expected, seeming this is Apple's first foray into the phone market (we will forget the RokR).
The iPhone falls short on some serious areas. What connected phone would be without 3G? I don't want to browse over GPRS, and it's damn sure that there will not be a WiFi zone like there is in San Francisco around where I live any time soon.
The lack of developer support is a joke, what's going on there? It runs OSX? yeah right just like my phone runs Windows Vista, the kernel may be loosely related but that's about it. All of the clever video voice-mail and the likes are network dependent, and not many of them will upgrade there infrastructure just for one phone. Do you think Nokia and SE have not looked at doing similar stuff for years?
There were also some strange decisions going on, first they say we are partnering with Google, then say that Yahoo! are going to be the iPhone mail partner. Who the the heck was smoking crack in the boardroom when that decision was made? Steve give up the hard drugs and go back to pot, cause that decision is just plain dumb! Google mail vs Yahoo! mail? I'd rather use Mutt or Pine than Yahoo! (in fact I would rather be sent to prision for a crime I did not commit, and accidentaly bend over to pick up the soap in an all black shower than use Yahoo!). However my dislike of Yahoo! asside, Gmail is possibly the best 'free' mail system out there at the moment, why use a decrepid aging pile of dog muck that get's blocked by almost every decent spam filter engine instead?
Like I said, I have nothing against Apple, I own my fair share of iPods and Macintosh's after all, and what I do confess is that Apple make very good designs.
I would like to see Apple do well with this device, but I'm afraid it's probably better off if they take the phone stuff out and put a hard disk in instead, that way we would get a decent Video iPod, and let's be fair that's what we all really wanted instead of the iPhone anyway.
p.s. While I'm bashing companies, Microsoft PLEASE call me back about my Xbox 360, I've had 3 now, none of them work and I want to play Rainbow Six : Vegas!
Posted January 7, 2007 Comments(1) 
The Terratec Cinergy DT USB XS Diversity is one of the first Diversity devices to reach the market.
Diversity allows you to take the best parts of the signal from two aerial sources and combine them to create the best signal possible.
The box includes everything you will need to use the Cinergy DT USB XS Diversity straight away.
There is the device itself, a USB extension cable, remote, remote sensor, two magnetic aerials, two suction bases, converters for the mini aerial sockets, and the software.
Installation is as simple as inserting the device into a USB 2 socket, popping the driver CD into the drive and installing the software. After plugging the aerials in and scanning for channels using the Terratec Home Cinema software you are free to watch.
The version of Terratec Home Cinema that comes with the Cinergy DT USB XS Diversity includes the Diversity mode.
To test the diversity mode I decided to see if the included aerials were capable of holding a BBC1 signal whilst on the move in a car. I stuck the aerials to the two separate side windows of the car, turned on the Diversity mode, and tuned into BBC1.
I was not expecting the channel to remain watchable, but to my surprise the channel was rock solid whilst I was driving at 40Mph. Even going around corners and driving into built up areas did not disrupt the signal! Quite impressive.
After testing using my laptop – as if I was a mobile user – I decided to see if the little USB device was good enough to use in another of its likely locations, in the home.
The reason I class this as a likely location for use is because media center PCs are getting slimmer and slimmer, and most PCI/PCI-E dual DVB-T tuners are full height cards and won't fit in some of the smaller cases. This means that if you want a dual DVB-T tuner, the easiest way is to use an external one like the Cinergy DT USB XS Diversity.
To test the device in these conditions, I connected it to the Vista Media Center PC that I have been building to replace my Sky+ installation.
I was looking for a USB or half height dual DVB-T tuner, and when I had the chance to test the Cinergy device I jumped on it. The device fills all my needs: it should be reliable and well performing based on my previous tests of the XS's big brother the Cinergy 2400i DT, it is also well built and includes all the necessary drivers for Vista Media Center.
After plugging the device into my digital aerial and scanning for channels in Media Center I had a full channel lineup, a good sign as Media Center can be picky with channel reception.
I scheduled some recordings, making sure that some of them overlapped so I could test the Cinergy DT USB XS Diversity's abilities when recording two channels at once, as this usually shows up any issues that may exist with bandwidth on the device and between the device and the PC.
No issues located however; the Cinergy DT USB XS Diversity records two channels without any issues, and there is no sign of skipping and stuttering in the recordings, even on the channels that are difficult for some tuners to receive (Sky3/UKTV History).
Conclusion
The Cinergy DT USB XS Diversity is a great USB receiver. It is well built with a nice design, it has some really good features with the dual aerial inputs and the Diversity functionality. The only issue that I can see is that at the moment the Diversity functionality is only available when using the Terratec software, however some third party applications will enable its use shortly.
I can recommend this card to any laptop user that travels and would like to take a TV with them. I will also heartily recommend the device to anyone who does not have space in their Media Center PC for a full height card. The USB device could also be used to add two more tuners to an existing dual tuner Media Center setup, therefore allowing you to record three channels whilst watching a fourth (registry hacking is required to enable this).
The device retails for around 75GBP (111Euro/144USD) and for that price it is more expensive than some of its competition, but the build quality and Diversity functionality more than make up for the small price difference. Support seems to be as good with this device as with the Cinergy 2400i DT in that there is already 32 and 64bit BDA drivers for Vista available.
It is also worth noting that Terratec also sell an Apple version of the device, so even OSX users need not feel left out.
Posted January 4, 2007 Comments(0) 
The Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT is the first PCI-Express dual digital tuner TV card on the market.
Let's have a look at the card, for my test's I will be using Windows Vista Ultimate as my bench operating system. This is great for two reasons, Windows Vista will have a much larger Media Center exposure than XP MCE 2005 (as it's shipped as standard) and most importantly has native 64bit support in Media Center, this means that for the first time we will need 64bit drivers for Media Center.
The great news is, that even though Vista is not officially released yet Terratec have already got drivers available for the card, and even more importantly they have both 32 and 64 bit versions of them available.
Unboxing the card showed that Terratec have put some thought into the card, the box includes everything you may need, the card obviously, but there is also a USB infrared receiver and controller that will allow you to control Media Center as well as the included software.
Talking of which as well as the Windows XP drivers, there is also the Terratec Home Cinema software that has all the usual DVB-T features. There is however another great addition is the inclusion of Cyberlink's Power Cinema software, so even those that don't have XP Media Center or Vista can get the nice Media Center style 10 foot interface.
The card itself is a really nicely put together piece of equipment with it's white PCB.
Both of the Micronas tuners are well shielded and the card only requires one antenna connection.
Installation into a spare PCI-Express slot was a brieze, and after downloading the latest drivers for vista installation went straight in.
To make sure all was working well I popped on the Terratec Home Cinema software and kicked off a scan for channels.
I was not expecting too much in the way of reception, as the antenna that the card was connected to was a standard analogue one, and I live in a class 2 antenna area. To my surprise the software brought back all of the major channels, and only a few of them had some partial stuttering. The Terratec software also had another bonus hidden, it includes a subscription to the TVTV program data service.
After all went so well with the Terratec software I decided to fire up the Vista Media Center interface.
On first coming up, and going into the TV settings Vista Media Center said that a new tuner had been found, so I clicked through the screens to set the card up. After the setup all the channels found with the Terratec software where available to me in Vista Media Center. Why was this so surprising? The card that I was previously using (a Hauppauge Nova T) struggled to get some of the channels, and just did not find some of the fringe channels using this antenna.
After setting a few recordings up in Vista Media Center so that the card would have to use both tuners at the same time, and inspecting the output video it seems that both tuners on the Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT perform just as well as each other.
I have been using the card in this PC for a month now with no issues raising there head.
To benchmark the Terratec I popped the Hauppauge back into the box and disabled on of the Terratec tuners, this forced Vista Media Center to use the two different manufacturers of card to record dual channel recordings. Both cards were plugged into the same booster/splitter box and the Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT clearly out performed the Hauppauge on every test, I even swapped the aerial cables round to make sure it was not a badly screened RF cable. This showed that the tuners on the Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT are certainly more sensitive, and as such are more capable of holding a weak signal.
That said after plugging both cards into my DVB-T antenna they both received and recorded all channels available in my area, however even then the Hauppauge showed more dropout and stutter issues.
Conclusion
I would rate this card very highly indeed, everything that I have seen so far is good news. The card is relatively cheap (around 70GBP / 130USD / 100Euro), performs exceptionally well, and has great support (Hauppauge, who after all are the market leaders have very few 32Bit let alone 64Bit drivers at the moment).
I would highly recommend one of these cards for your Vista Media Center project at a drop of a hat. I'm very happy with the one I have, so much so that it has replaced my trusted Hauppauge card.
Posted December 19, 2006 Comments(0) It's just this simple, I want some Lego NXT….. Think the Toyota/Lexus self parking is cool? well watch this!
Posted November 23, 2006 Comments(3) Sandisk is a well-known and respected name in the solid state storage market. Up until recently, it was not really known at all in the media player market. They are, however, obviously a quick learner: recently they became the number two seller in the market, behind Apple, with the SanDisk Sansa 6GB.
The design of the Sansa will be nothing new to anyone who has used an MP3 player in the past. There is certainly a homage to the iPod in this device with the rotating wheel.
The Sansa is thicker than Apple's Nano, but this is no bad thing, as what it lacks in miniaturisation, it makes up for in its screen and abilities.
The Sansa has the ability to play video, as well as display picture slideshows. This is great for watching music videos and the like; however, I would not like to watch a movie on it as the screen is just not large enough. That said, the screen is a good one; it shows a good level of clarity on the device's menus. There's also the ability to record audio using either the supplied microphone, or the device's built in microphone.
The player is well bolted together as well. The back of the device is metal, and the front seems to be fairly resistant to scratches and scuffs. The left hand side of the device has the slot for a MicroSD expansion card, a great idea if you need a bit more space.
The interface itself is quite intuitive and easy to navigate, but it is not without its issues. For one thing, it would be nice to be able to tell the device to play an album, rather than having to select first the album, then the first track. The playlist functionality could also do with a tweak or two.
There are a couple of little niggles in the hardware as well: the record button – used to activate the microphone – is unfortunately set on the left top of the device; if you use it with your right hand, it is very easy to press by accident. You do get used to it, though. There is one other technical issue that is not so easy to solve – there are four buttons around the scroll wheel, and because of the height of the scroll wheel it is sometimes difficult to easily press them when needed.
The USB connector is a proprietary interface, forcing you to carry a cable for the device around with you. "Why?" you may ask! You do not get an AC charger in the box, so the only way to recharge the Sansa is via an active USB port. This would not be a real issue if you could use a standard USB cable, as almost everyone has one hanging around. There is also the potential problem of being more likely to lose the cable if you're carrying it around all the time.
While I am talking of issues and USB cables, it is worth mentioning that you cannot use the device while it is being charged. As soon as you plug it into the PC the device goes into its sync mode and stops playing. The difficulty this causes is not necessarily in the playback, but rather the problem of when and how do you charge the device? You cannot use it while it is charging, and if you have no AC charger you'll have to leave a PC on overnight to charge it.
The Sansa is a PlaysForSure device, and as such the synchronisation software — for music at least — is Windows Media Player. I know this may sound controversial, but I welcome this feature in a device! iTunes is one of my personal pet hates; I just cannot understand why Apple insist on forcing it upon people (I personally use AnaPod Explorer instead).
Connecting the device to your PC is simplicity itself. If you have Media Player 9 or later, it is just a matter of plugging the device in, selecting which music to sync, and click the sync button. If you don't use Media Player, you can just drag MP3 or WMA files onto the device straight from explorer, as the Sansa shows up as a drive under "My Computer". It's also worth noting that the device uses the USB Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) interface by default, and as such any media software that supports MTP will be able to synchronise with the device. It can be switched back to the older USB Media Storage Class (MSC) format for greater compatibility.
I tested the device in MSC mode to check the performance, which, for the curious, isn't fast enough to use it as a ReadyBoost device in Windows Vista. As you can see to the left, the actual performance of the device as a flash disk is not that great, but it does outperform the Nano ever so slightly.
This makes synchronisation over USB 2 quick and painless. The same can be said about copying movies to the player, but although this is easy, it is a little disappointing that it cannot be managed from inside Media Player.
Sandisk ship a cut-down version of ArcSoft media converter to do the video encoding. The device supports MJPEG video at 15fps, and the Sansa Media Converter software does a quick and decent job of converting and copying the video to the device. It is a bit of a pity that the player does not use WMV and the Media Player synchronisation. This will probably not be an issue; as I mentioned the device's screen is really not large enough to use as a video player in any real sense, but you could get away with a cartoon or two. The same software allows you to convert photos for use on the device, and is just as simple to use.
One part of the device we could not review here is the FM receiver. This is because, in the EU, the radio is — bizarrely — disabled due to tax laws. If you purchase an E series device outside of the EU, then you get a radio as well.
Sound
The most important part of an MP3 player is the sound quality, and here it is just fine. Testing the device side by side with a 4GB iPod Nano showed no definitive quality issues, and one surprise was that the headphones bundled are not useless! They're no Sennheisers, but they're not bad at all for freebies.
Speaking of Sennheisers, I tested a set of MX550s on both the Sansa and the iPod Nano, and playing the same tracks on each player showed that the iPod Nano edges out the Sansa in the upper range. That said, the Sansa definitely has the edge in the low range. Because of this, choosing purely on sound, it comes down to the sort of music you listen to. If you are a fan of bassier music, the Sansa will most likely sound better.
Worth noting here is that when a low bitrate MP3 was played, and the music was complex, the iPod Nano was certainly the better sounding device. If a 128k MP3 was used on the iPod Nano and a 128k WMA on the Sansa, then the Sansa edged the Nano out.
The difference was not noticeable with files at 256k and above, but it's worth noting that the WMA files where smaller than the equivalent MP3s.
The one thing that the iPod Nano can do musically that the Sansa cannot is gapless playback. Now, it's new to the iPod range as well, but at the moment the Sansa has a slight pause between tracks. This may be resolved in a future firmware release.
Conclusion
So then, should you buy one? There are certainly some issues, but none of them are great enough to put you off. Depending on the way you use the device, the charging issue could be a stumbling block. The device is far cheaper than the equivalent iPod, and not needing to use iTunes is always a bonus.
The Sansa also has more features than the Nano, and as such is better value, and probably the better choice.
That said, the iPod has a style that has captured the public's affections. As such, that's the device that is more likely to be bought this Christmas, even if, in reality, the Sansa is the one Santa should be supplying.
Posted November 21, 2006 Comments(0) USB memory sticks are a dime a dozen at the moment; they are cheap, and easily available. So, why then would you pay $99 for a 256Mb device like the Kanguru Biometric USB drive?
The selling point of the drive is that it will keep your data secure by using a built in fingerprint reader, and uses the fingerprint to encrypt the data stored on the flash disk.
First up let's look at the specs for the device:
But enough of the techie stuff, the question is "does it work"? To be honest, I was expecting the device to not work; I use Vista as my day-to-day OS. The good news is that Vista has the drivers included, so I shouldn't have worried.
Once the device is installed in Windows, two new drives present themselves to the operating system. One of these is, by default, inaccessible. The other contains the software that allows access, via your fingerprint, to the contents of the device.
On the first run of the software you're asked to go through the setup routine for the device. This is simple in itself. You are first asked for the device serial number, this is in the box for the device.
After you put the serial number in, the system will ask you to "Enroll". This is the process by which the device learns your fingerprints.
Simply select a finger to scan, then run your finger over the sensor a few times and the device will tell you that it has learned that print.
The device is capable of learning five different prints, and you can type in a recovery password, just in case. The only thing I should mention, as it's not obvious, is as soon as you have finished learning prints you can simply click the X; there is no continue or complete button, which is slightly odd, but not really a problem.
After that, instead of the configuration application launching when you insert the device, you get the device access menu.
From this you can click the "FD-Pass" option and scan your print, this will allow access to the encrypted drive area.
There are other options as well, "Setup" restarts the learning application, and "Practice" does just that. However there is one more application, "Screen Lock".
The "Screen Lock" application starts a screen-saver, and only allows you to unlock the PC if you use your fingerprint.
Even though it's a great idea, it perhaps does not go far enough. Restarting the PC will work around that lock.
Ideally, the drive needs a GINA (Windows login security screen) replacement that will allow you to use your fingerprint to login to Windows. Then, the normal screen lock (part of the Windows screen-saver menu) will also require the fingerprint unlock.
There are companies that already do this – IBM recently integrated it into some of their T series laptops. The T series also had another feature that I would like to see on this device: a password saver. If all your passwords could be safely encrypted to the device, using your fingerprint to unlock them, life would be so much easier!
That said, it could only be a software release away, and perhaps Kanguru will look into some of these features at a later date.
On to the performance of the device. After all, that's its prime use.
The picture to the right will show you the benchmark figures I obtained from the device in the real world, and though Kanguru claim 8MB/s it's actually a little below that on my device.
This is not actually very quick. Yes, it's probably quick enough to use for small everyday documents etc, but not for large file transfers.
I could not test to see if the 4kb block performance is good enough to run the drive with Vista's ReadyBoost, as that requires more than 256MB on the external storage, and the Kanguru device has 230MB free (it seems 26MB of the device is used for the fingerprint software).
For comparison reasons, I have overlaid the benchmark from a SanDisk Cruzer 2GB. This shows that USB 2 devices can perform better than the Kanguru device does.
You will notice from this chart that the Kanguru does have one performance trick up it's sleeve, the random access time one the Kanguru is good, as is its CPU utilisation.
The CPU will probably be because the device is not taxing the USB Bus in any real way, however the quick random access times show that the device has used decent internal components, and may well be usable as a Vista ReadyBoost drive. However, there are complications here as well, as you will have to swipe for access every time you want to use it for the ReadyBoost function.
So in conclusion, the idea behind the device is a good one. Secure data has its place – especialy inside big business – and using a Biometric form of protection is certainly one of the better solutions, as the device will proably be used by management and HR. These people are usually not classed as technical, and this device has a nice, simple, intuitive interface for access.
The device is let down slightly by it's lack of throughput performance, and it could have added value if Kanguru invest a little time in the software integration with Windows, and possibly OSX/Unix support. It is also odd that they have not shipped any U3 style software with the device (U3 and the other software allows you to take your documents, applications and settings with you).
If you need a flash drive for general use there are certainly better and cheaper alternatives on the market. However, if you need to secure the data that you store on the flash drive, then the Kanguru Biometric is certainly the one to go for.
Links
Posted November 8, 2006 Comments(1) The VAG Direct Shift Gearbox - sometimes called the S-Tronic in the Audi range – is the world's first production dual clutch semi automatic gearbox. The system was developed for Audi by BorgWarner for use in the companies Audi TT 3.2V6, and was so well received it is now used in much of the Volkswagen Audi Group range.
The DSG is often compared to F1 style automated or robotic manual gearboxes, but differs in some very important ways.
The DSG gearbox is, however, not a new invention. The system was first designed by Andolphe Kégresse just before the second world war but because of the lack of technology, not to mention the war, he never produced a working version of the Dual Clutch Gearbox (DCG). The system was used by another German car company in the 80's though: Porsche used the PDK (Porsche Doppelkupplungs) system in their 956 and 962 Le Mans race cars, and Audi used the same system in the Sport Quatro S1. Porsche and Audi have a long history of technology sharing.
Both of these uses eventually faded, primarily because the computing technology that allows the system to work so effectively did not prove to be reliable enough in the tough and demanding world of the race car.
To understand how revolutionary the DSG gearbox is, first I will explain the F1 style systems. These differ in name depending on the manufacturer; Ferrari call theirs the F1 system, and BMW call theirs the SMG system.
These gearboxes all have one thing in common: they are just manual gearboxes, with a manual clutch that is operated by pneumatics. This method has many of the benefits the DSG box does. The gearbox itself weighs less: as the gear change is accurate, and no human mistakes can be made, the materials can be less hardy. They are also far more performant than the manual equivalent, both the BMW SMG II and the Ferrari F1 systems change cogs in around 80 milliseconds. This means that, while the gear is being shifted, all the power from the engine is waisted and a feeling of on-off-on is felt in the car as the pneumatics shift from in gear, to clutched, and then back into gear. The smoothness of this in the car depends on the software controlling it: for the fastest changes it can feel quite 'bumpy', similar to a bad gear change in a manual car. The only way of releaving this issue in the past was to fit a torque converter, this is the way that a standard auto box does it, and why it feels far smoother than any of the manual gearboxes produced. A torque converter, however, is very wasteful in terms of power, and usually very heavy.
The DSG box takes the basic idea of pneumatic clutched boxes a step further. The heart of the DSG comes from the fact it has two clutches. The basic idea being that the gearbox can then have two gears engaged at any one time, one driving the car, the other waiting to take over.
The clutch arrangement is setup for odds and evens, where clutch 1 operates the 1-3-5 gears and clutch 2 operates 2-4-6.
DSG works by allowing the software to decide what gear the car will need next, and then pre-selects it. If you are accelerating, it will have the next gear up, and likewise if decelerating, the next gear down.
The system can then watch for a change signal – this is either done by clicking the corresponding paddle by the driver, or if in full auto mode the computer – and the gearbox can then tell the currently disengaged clutch (the one driving) to engage, and at the same time tells the engaged clutch (the pre-selected gear) to disengage. In this way the driver and passengers do not experience the on-off-on feeling associated with manual gearboxes. Instead, the gear change feels much more like that of an automatic gearbox.
However, because the change happens so quickly – around 8 milliseconds – the engine can maintain drive and the losses involved in the gear change are much reduced. This can be seen visually in the video below.
The video clearly shows the benefits of the DSG vs a very quick-changing manual driver.
The DSG gearbox is obviously controlled by computer, and this adds other benefits as well, even over race-going Sequential Manual Transmisions.
The computer in the DSG box monitors many of the cars sensors, these can be RPM, speed, angle of steering input, amount of wheel spin, braking and g-forces. It can then use these inputs to make decisions on which gear the car has to be in at any one moment.
For example, if you are approaching a tight corner you may want to change down two or even three gears. The computer sees that you are braking heavily, and that steering input is being applied, and can then change down either more quickly, or skip gears altogether and shift from sixth into third in one step. This allows the driver to keep the RPM in the best range for drivability. Likewise, if driving in snow or mud, the computer sees that there is a lot of wheel spin at low speeds, it can then shift up into a higher gear to allow the wheel spin to be controlled.
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The gearbox also keeps the F1 style gearbox's benefits. Because the computer will change gear very precisely, and not over stress the components, the weight of the whole unit is not much more than a conventional gearbox and clutch. This is because the parts can be made to much tighter tolerances, but still manage the same life expectancy as the manual counterparts.
There is a downside to the gearbox though: it cannot be used in races. This is because it changes gear so quickly, and the loss of drive is so minute, that the gearbox gets classed as a Constantly Variable Transmision. The FIA and other governing bodies outlawed this in the early 80s. However, with the speed that some of the current Formula One cars can now change, this may be altered. The current Honda gearbox is called the 'Lossless' gearbox after all, but they did prove that it reduces engine power and its use was therefore allowed.
The crowning achievement of the DSG is the English-made, Ricardo Company's seven speed DSG, for use in the Bugatti Veyron. That particular car is worthy of it's own – more detailed – article, so that will have to wait.
So, next time you drive a DSG car just think: You can change gear faster than even the Formula One and Indy drivers.
Special thanks to Audi for the images and the link to the video demonstrating the gearbox in action.
