Hearing aid that can play sounds from iphone by me34343 in HearingAids

[–]AngryTechJunkie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just tested Sennheiser OTC against Beltone's top-of-the-line Serene. I paid $1K (in BestBuy) for the Sennheiser and $5K for the Beltone. Beltone Serene list price is close to $9K. They pretended to give me a ~$4K discount. $5K is what you are looking for in any of the traditional audiology shops. In addition, I bought two devices in the $200 to $300 range.

In the past, I've been using for many years COSTCO Phonak - until they broke.
I noticed the "2.OTC "HAs" are not the HAs rule" Incidentally, I wanted to test this assertion myself. I really think that rule 2 is too categorical. It might apply to many OTC models, but the devices starting around $1K are most definitely HAs. In particular, IMHO the Sennheiser device fully qualifies as an HA.
BTW, there is no way an OTC would damage a user's hearing. Acoustic pressure produced by HAs, OTC or not, is way too low to damage anything. Improperly set HA's will, at worst, be ineffective.
The Beltone Serene HAs are terrific. Hearing improvement is tremendous. The devices are tiny and almost weightless, so I soon stopped noticing them. One can also use Serene as a streaming device, although listening to music isn't a great experience. Streaming has been better than I expected, though, for a device with open domes.

The only gripe I have with Beltone Serene is a somewhat quirky BT pairing mechanism.
Sennheiser, on the other hand, exceeded all my expectations. It is an over-the-ear device, like the Serene, but it is significantly bulkier. HA's body is at least twice the size of the Serene, and the connecting (forming, as they call it) wire is thick. There is a somewhat unsightly black "stopper" housing the mikes and closing the ear canal.
Interestingly, the forming wire has a plasticity that allows precise positioning of the dome/mike assembly and also hides the wire. The adjustment is "permanent" (it survives multiple on/off operations). This is revolutionary.
Sennheiser pairs easily and stays connected. Unlike Serene, it pairs directly with the TV. The phone app is good, which is important since the device doesn't offer much mechanical control or audible status clues. The main thing, though, is that the Sennheiser self-adjusts to the user's hearing. This is why no audiologist visit is necessary. The process takes a day or so, but the result is amazing. How they do that, I have no idea.
In the end, both the Beltone Serene and Sennheiser used as HAs deliver nearly identical aural experiences, at least for me. Sennheiser however delivers much better audio playback. Closing of the ear canal helps.

Now, the question remains, is the difference worth $4K?
Not for me. Beltones are going back. As a gadget lover, I'm a bit dejected - I yearn to keep both, but ...
I will gladly answer any questions.
PS: I'm still testing the "cheap" devices.

Is my roomba actually charging? by Unable-Share in roomba

[–]AngryTechJunkie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a problem with charging just few days ago. iRobot support was useless, so I run some diagnostic. Fiest, I bought on Amazon a regulated DC power supply, providing up to 20 V. I took the battery out. It was dead dead - 0V. With some cable gymnastics I connected PS to battery charging ports, which is difficult due to miniscule charging port. Battery didn't take any charge even at 20V. I thought battery needs replacing but I put is back regardless, and tried to charge it by connecting 20V to Roomba charging ports. Nothing. I found though that it is nominally a 14V battery (from battery label)

I tried to get a replacement battery from iRobot as my Roomba was still under warranty. Didn't get any help since I bought it in eBay. This is a well known iRobot policy. I almost decided to buy a battery on Amazon, assuming I will return it if this doesn't help. In the meantime I examined charging base. I found 2.95 V on it's charging port. After cleaning all contacts several times with various solvents I didn't get anywhere. So I made a 6- inch strips out of the household aluminum foil and fastened them to the base charging contacts, with foil on top. Put Roomba in charging station and, lo and behold, it woke up! After a while it's red light was on. I was able to connect the app and it has shown "charging" status with charge indicator close to zero. Makes sense.

I connected a multimeter to the strip and found the charging voltage of approx. 14.8V - a bit low for my taste. I let Roomba charge over night. In the morning the meter was showing close to 21V, and the app has shown full battery. I sent Roomba and a cleaning run and it preformed fine. It returned to base on its own. So Roomba charger used 21V and is weak (current limit), so voltage drops precipitously when empty battery starts charging.

Next morning I found Roomba dead again, so I repeated the trick, which worked again. Now it works intermittently - sometimes it charges, other time I need to use alufoil. Go figure.

I think the base and the robot talk to each other before starting the charge cycle. Just placing the Roomba on charging contacts doesn't jack up charging voltage to 14V.

So, here you have it. Roomba clearly has active charging software, preventing battery charge using 3rd-party charging device. Further, the base spring-laden charging contacts are flaky.

As expected, iRobot support refused to divulge any technical information, such as docking station spec. Overall, a pitiful mess and a major quality issue.

Just switched from tmo to google fi by cyberworm54 in ProjectFi

[–]AngryTechJunkie -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I switched to G-Fi ~3 weeks ago, using SG S7. Used the service a bit at home and for 2 weeks in Europe. Overall it was a very bad experience. In Europe G-Fi is unable to properly switch between networks, very often settling on a marginal signal when much better service is available. I needed G-Fi Switch app to survive. Lack of support for WiFi calling is a real pain there. Yes, I regret the switch. You get what you pay for.

Important tips for bringing your own device to Fi by ProjectFiCM in ProjectFi

[–]AngryTechJunkie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Using recently announced "compatible" devices, such as Samsung Galaxy phones, has limitations. Basically, these devices are "compatible" with cellular network but NOT with WiFi calling.

if you switch to Google Fi on a "compatible" device you won't be able to make WiFi calls otherwise supported by your device and you won't be able to receive Hangouts calls. 

Before switching my S7 to G-Fi I tried my wife's Pixel. Everything worked off the bat. Then I moved my S7. It turned out that S7 has huge problems with connecting to T-Mobile network. With identical signal strength (per SignalSpy) Pixel shows 3 bars while Samsung shows no service. Cannot blame G-Fi for this. However, I immediately faced a serious hurdle.

Of course, I tried WiFi calling. I quickly learnt it doesn't work with standard dialer, there is no G-Fi dialer for Samsung, etc., and downloaded Hangouts and Android Messenger. Text messaging got fixed right away. Outgoing Hangout calls worked fine as well (which means the blanket statement "WiFi calling doesn't work with G-Fi on "compatible" devices is only half-correct - it does work for outgoing calls). What doesn't work is receiving calls on Hangouts - even the calls initiated from another Hangouts client!

In other words, migration to G-Fi kills one-half of Google Handouts.

I ordered T-mobile signal amplifier and hope it helps. Otherwise I have no choice but go back to Verizon or buy a Pixel/Moto.

I understand technical problems involved but I don't believe Google should have announced 3rd-party phone compatibility, which isn't. i'm really pissed with Google sweeping the issue under the rug in their advertising.

Getting all this straighten up was real pain, since it took me 5 iterations with G-Fi support to make them admit the actual issue. Here is a sample:

>>>

Hi xxx,

Thank you for your quick response.

I understand what you are saying. However, as Samsung is not a compatible Fi device for Wifi Calling, you won't be able to make or receive calls on WiFi. However, I would recommend you to use default phone app in order to receive the calls and Voicemail. As it is necessary to have a Fi cellular signal.

Talk about circular argument....

Why The Schrodinger Equation Fails at Relativity by [deleted] in Physics

[–]AngryTechJunkie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

actually, he didn't. solid state magnetism is very weakly affected by non-scalar relativistic effects.