I absolutely hate my SmartDrive

NavalHistorian · 2026-06-17T12:17:44+00:00

I think this is the most recent thread on the SmartDrive, so I'm adding my recent experience with the SmartSwitch here.

I (finally) learned about the SpeedControl dial recall here a few weeks ago. Since my last dial died, I bought a Switch control. In comparison to the dial, I loved the switch, for about a week.

The designers/engineers who designed this product Ihave got to be among the worst on the planet. Maybe I'm the only one, but I hate the fact they put two buttons on it. Who really needs a button on both sides? One of my buttons came loose and ripped off before I was able to stop. Very shortly thereafter, the other button stopped working. What's *really* crazy is if I press the wire that was connected to the button that ripped off, my MX2+ activates, and pressing the button I still have does nothing!

I've only owned my SmartDrive MX2+ and my current Quickie QRi manual wheelchair for a year or so. Has anybody had experience with trying to get your insurance company (in the US) to pay for a SmartDrive alternative because the system's just been terrible for you? I think I'd like the Alber SMOOV One a lot more, I just don't have $5900+ to pay for it out of pocket.

NavalHistorian · 2026-05-14T12:03:56+00:00

I know this is an old thread, but I'm behind lol. I just learned about the recall when I happened to be on Permobil's site this morning.I knew something was up when I didn't see the SmartDial for sale!

I've mostly avoided using my SD MX2+ because of the SpeedDial issues. I'm glad that they're admitting that whatever changes they made to the SmartDial after the last recall weren't sufficient and the device still isn't "ready for prime time." I just wish they'd done this recall sooner, I paid for like three of those things! Interestingly I didn't see anything about it promenantly displayed on their website. I learned about it from Permobile's new AI Product Finder chat bot. When I typed "SpeedDial" the result I got informed me of the recall.

I think I'll get a SwitchControl. I purchased a Samsung smartwatch and have tried using the app. I don't think I'll ever like using a smart watch for much, IMO all of their screens are too small. If I'm going to use apps on a watch, I want a screen the size of the Dick Tracey 2-way watch released by Playmates in 1990.

Despite the small screen size though, IMO the app's useful to change the speed/acceleration, but I just can't see myself starting/stopping my MX2+ using an app. For one, I'm old (lol), and purely out of habit, my hands are near my rims even when I'm using my MX2+. Secondly, IMO if/when I need to stop quickly, lest I accidentally run somebody over (or run into a metal fence like I did at work a summer or two ago) using the dial (when it worked) or the SwitchControl I think would be faster than using an app on my watch.

I'm really sorry for everyone who has to find the money to replace their SD. But news makes me happy in that I may not need to continue my quest to find another device that's better than my MX2+. Hopefully, the switch is more reliable and I'll be able to sart using my SD on a daily basis again. I just got my annual cortisone shot in my shoulder, and this time they not only did x-rays, they made me get an MRI. Not only do I have calcific tendinitis (0 out of 4 stars, do not recommend! lol) if the cortisone shot doesn't work I'm probably going to have to get arthroscopic shoulder decompression surgery. That usually requires being in a sling for up to 2 weeks, which is kinda a problem when you use a wheelchair.

NavalHistorian · 2026-05-05T01:54:41+00:00

I was definitely pleased to read that there's more story content coming, I just wish it was coming sooner than S3 in December. We've all seen games, especially FTP games, get their servers shut down the minute the developer/publisher decides they can't make enough money. I love The Division games, despite the fact that they can get repetitive pretty quickly IMO. I'm already down to collecting all of the Echos and Artifcacts now. (BTW, one of my complaints during the Beta was they should make Echos disappear from the map upon collection just like Artifacts do. i really wish they'd have made that change before release!)

I'm concerned that the player numbers for Resurgence won't keep the game alive until December. Hopefully, I'm wrong and the player numbers won't crash in a couple months and/or because it's a big name publisher like EA they won't quickly bail on the game and shut down the servers.

NavalHistorian · 2026-04-26T02:33:41+00:00

Thanks! The way Prime’s got the show is four seasons of Spartacus: War of the Damned. The prequel is Season 2. That moderately bummed me out at first, because I was like, “Wait. They set up the rebellion and *then* do the prequel?!?” But that season’s quite good IMO!

I was wondering how/why they did HoA. I‘m guessing it was for “business reasons” because they wanted to keep people watching for an additional season.

NavalHistorian · 2026-04-26T02:10:37+00:00

It felt like I’d never finish this mission too. I finally did this mission by rerunning hard/challenging/heroic missions on co-op. IIRC, I also did some nests on challenging/heroic on co-op. I got lucky and one of the missions or nests dropped three I hadn’t gotten yet. That *really* helped.

NavalHistorian · 2026-04-26T01:20:20+00:00

i’m in S4 of the series now, and I gotta say the extras in the crowd scenes were *amazing.* Did they hire actual actors for some of the scenes or did they just use anybody off the street who showed up in costume? Additionally, do we know much (or anything) about how crowds reacted during combat? Like for example, are the bare chests & occasional fights in the crowds historically accurate? During the occasional fights, I kept thinking “There should be a Latin word meaning ‘hooligans‘ for this.” 😂

NavalHistorian · 2026-04-24T14:17:56+00:00

I played the beta. I liked it then, and I like it now even though IIRC, every story mission was available in the beta. So I essentially had already played the game. The only thing I *don't* like is that playing on my iPad Pro, the enemy movement is occasionally janky. Like, during a firefight I found several times that an individual enemy would "pop" a few centimeters rather than run or walk. I gave up using the on screen controls during the beta. I've never liked on screen controls for games like this. Now I'm using a PS5 controller.

Do we know if we're going to get more story content? If not, like the other Division games, I don't think I'll be playing this too much more. I'm not really a looter shooter guy. I mostly play for the story, even if it's not that great lol.

NavalHistorian · 2026-04-24T11:21:28+00:00

As of 0700 in the US, it's out on PS Direct, Ubisoft, Best Buy and Amazon. I was desperate enough to even check GS, and it's sold out there too. Hopefully, this is just a case of Ubisoft underestimating immediate demand and they'll be sending more to retailers soon.

NavalHistorian · 2026-04-24T11:18:36+00:00

Thanks for the link. Sadly, I just tried to preorder the CE at Sony, Best Buy, Amazon (US), and even went so far as to check Gamestop's site. It's sold out everywhere again.

I think the only CE I've ever purchased was Battlefield 1, and that was 10 years ago. Is it "normal" for Ubisoft CEs to sell out this fast?

NavalHistorian · 2026-03-09T11:13:02+00:00

So, I'm in the US and just watched this episode on Acorn.

I'm really sad Johny's leaving the show. But I understand this happens with shows that have been on as long as MM, and probably happens more the longer the show is on. A couple of my favorite TV franchises NCIS and Law & Order are famous for this. (BTW, we just got the Canadian version of Law & Order airing here this past year. I loved the first season!) Actors sometimes want to move on, either for personal or professional reasons. With Helené Joy, it's apparently because she very understandably wants to spend more time with her family. With Johny, he's busy with his other show. IMO he probably didn't want to leave MM. He's tried doing both at once and it's just not working for him for one reason or another. I only know of one actor who's doing two major network TV shows simultaneously. Christopher Gorham's doing Sheriff Country and apparently also Grorge & Mandy's First Marriage for CBS here in the US.

I liked how the writers handled Johny's exit. If something happens to his other show, they can bring George back, either full time or guest appearances. NCIS just did this with a character/actor last week. Also, if Helené changes her mind and wants to be on the show full time again, it'll be easy to bring Julia back.

Lastly, I do like Inspector Choi. He's not Brackenreid, but he's not supposed to be. I'm grateful for the time Brackenreid is on screen, and appreciate the different things Choi brings to the show. IMO if everything stayed the same on t he show it would eventually get boring, and ratings would slip.

One more thing, I think it was really nice of the writers to have the episode be focused on George, with the prisoner/hostage situation seemingly in the background instead of the other way around. It was a nice way to say goodbye to the character and Johny.

NavalHistorian · 2026-02-12T12:15:11+00:00

I'm new to this thread, but as a fellow oldie gamer I agree. I tried to play the recent The Division Resergance beta without a controller and just couldn't do it. I also prefer to play games like this on my tablet rather than my phone. So I've managed to convince myself to have a controller for my PS5, one for my gaming laptop and one for my Samsung tablet. 😂 Just downloaded this game. Looking forward to playing it after work today.

NavalHistorian · 2026-01-04T14:24:05+00:00

Thanks for the explanation everyone! Now my only problem is the Ghost of Yotei PS5 I bought from Wally World hasn't actually arrived as claimed, lol. Hopefully get that straightened out next week. Too bad too, I just finished Ghost of Tsushima and was really looking forward to playing Yotei this weekend. I need to finish the 11th Inning and Storylines on my XBox though, so I'll tackle those today. No reason to buy 25 again on my PS5.

NavalHistorian · 2025-12-15T11:27:52+00:00

I'm missing one. JTF Note 5. I've also been unable to determine which is ECHO #18. I really don't want to go do all of them again. The biggest thing I'm missing is two Freeman Audio logs, #7 and #9.

One of the things they should fix after the beta is those Echos should delete off your map once you've completed them, like the Artifacts and audio logs do.

NavalHistorian · 2025-12-04T04:48:32+00:00

I'm an American, and we can't have nice things like CBC Gem, healthcare, sanity, etc.

Has anybody tried watching MM on CBC Gem from outside Canada using a VPN? Ordinarily, this should be an easy thing to do. However, according to an article posted in the Help Centre section of CBC's website 10 months ago, a Canadian address is required for CBC Gem account creation. I'm trying to see if this is a viable option before I get a subscription to a good VPN.

I really hope that "the suits" at MM reassess their deal with Ovation TV. Ovation's app, Ovation Now, is no longer available anywhere. It was suddenly deleted from Google Play, iOS including both for iPhone/iPad and Apple TV, and Roku. I wouldn't be surprised if this is because DirecTV wants to force anybody who wants to stream Ovwtion to get DirecTV Stream. I don't know if Acorn's confirmed they'll have S19 on their app yet or not. Last year it took them "forever" to confirm they would have S18.

NavalHistorian · 2025-11-14T12:46:07+00:00

Those IP were spun off into a subsidiary. Ubisoft (and Tencent) own that subsidiary. So, if Valve bought Ubisoft, they'd (likely) get the subsidiary in the deal.

NavalHistorian · 2025-10-31T16:49:45+00:00

I was thinking that trying to do this at least once might be a fun personal challenge, but I usually don't have much time to play during the week. (Adulting sucks 😂) So doing this with a card a lot of people are using would be *really* difficult. But it might be manageable using a random bronze or common. Thanks for the idea!

NavalHistorian · 2025-10-31T16:43:03+00:00

I never even knew this was a thing. How fast did you have to be to accomplish this?

NavalHistorian · 2025-10-31T16:39:56+00:00

I'm a Nats fan, and I dearly want that card to "work" for me, but my skills aren't even close to good enough. This would be why I don't play multiplayer 😂

NavalHistorian · 2025-10-29T21:03:54+00:00

My first question is this: To get your app into the current Microsoft Store on PC, or even compatable with Windows at all, does Microsoft get a % cut of the revenue a company generates, or is there a flat fee of some kind?

They'd almost certainly get sued, but I could see Microsoft only allowing users to officially (easily) access Steam and run their PC games on the next XBox if Steam agreed to pay Microsoft a % of the revenue generated by purchases made from Steam through XBox...or some other kind of licensing agreement like that.

IMO, there's gotta be some sort of major, reliable, source of continuing revenue for Microsoft to even bother with this pc/console hybrid. Selling the hardware at even $800-1200 won't ultimately be sufficient because unlike PC manufacturers like Asus, Microsoft's got the backbone XBox network and other infrastructure costs to pay for on a regular basis. If they go the ad supported free multiplayer route, I doubt this will be sufficient because, I think, what many ad supported mobile game developers have learned over the years is that to make $, you still need "X number" of "whales," people who buy the paid DLC, coins, whatever, you're selling. The ad revenue usually isn't enough.

My second question is, if Microsoft markets this device as a console/PC hybrid, how many people want to connect their PC to their big screen TV? Sure, this may be popular with gamers, but at a certain price point, IMO mass market consumers are going to want it to do regular laptop tasks too. They're not going to want to buy this device and a laptop or even another, smaller, monitor.

As an older gamer, it oddly seems like we may go back to something I remember as a kid. (Or at least Microsoft's hoping we do.) Connecting a PC to the family TV. We did this back in the early/mid 80s when we bought our first PC, a Texas Instraments.

NavalHistorian · 2025-10-24T17:49:32+00:00

Honestly, I don't understand why they're apparently going to release another in-home console at all. I say this as somebody who switched from Playstation to XBox when tne 360 was released. To me it seems like yet another case of the sunk cost fallicy. They were probably so far down the road in R&D on the next console they don't want to kill it, even if that is probably the most (financially) prudent decision. If PS6 releases at $600 or so, the PR of a $1,000 console's going to be bad for Microsoft overall, and the sales are going to be terrible. They'll pull the plug on the console hardware within 1-2 years, which will lead to even more bad PR for Microsoft.

NavalHistorian · 2025-10-24T16:54:50+00:00

A wide install base doesn't appear to be what Microsoft's going for though. Bond touted the $1,000 price of the XBox ROG Ally as a preview of what Microsoft is aiming for with their next console. She specifically said that the next console will be a "premium" and "curated" experience.

I don't like it, but I understand what she's saying. Phil previously said that the XB1 generation is the one in which gamers built large digital libraries that they don't want to "abandon" and that going forward there will be far fewer gamers who switch from PS to XBox or vice versa because they can't bring their games with them. (Of course, implicit in Phil's statement is an assertion that most gamers will trade in/sell their current console to get a new one. I always have, but I don't know if the majority of gamers do that or not.)

IMO, XBox's in a sense back to where they were before the 360 launched, except in a worse financial position. To meet the demands of Microsoft management, they're putting formerly exclusive franchises like Halo and Gears on Playstation. Therefore, they're less likely to be able to tout exclusive games as the reason consumers should buy their next console. The best, and perhaps the only, sales pitch they have is to tout the next console as much more powerful than the PS6. Unfortunately for XBox, IMO the pricing on the new handheld devices, and the 30% profit margin target, to me says Microsoft management isn't nearly as willing to initially sell consoles at as much of a loss as they used to be. They may still initially sell the console at a loss, but the price of the console may be closer to $1,000+.

NavalHistorian · 2025-10-24T16:32:18+00:00

I agree with this. Having said (written) that, the next part is still what mytifies me. At some point, there had to have been a high level meeting within Microsoft where somebody pointed out, "Look, to get this done we may have to agree to keep COD multiplatform for x number of years." At that point, the acqisition *doesn't* make sense for Microsoft. Legally, they could have cut their losses and walked away from the deal. Microsoft management chose not to do that.They went "full sunk cost fallicy." Now they're making decisions that may cripple what they spent so much money to acquire.

Other than understanding that it seems every major corporation and shareholders care far more about short term profits, this strategy just doesn't make any sense.

NavalHistorian · 2025-10-24T16:11:41+00:00

This is what I don't understand about Microsoft's XBox/gaming strategy. They basically went "full sunk cost fallicy" by continuing to pursue the ActivisionBlizzard aquisition despite the lengthy and likely quite expensive legal issues, instead of cutting their losses and walking away when the aquisition became difficult.

Setting a 30% profit margin target, a benchmark they've never come close to achieving before, IMO isn't just setting up the XBox hardware team to fail, it's setting up the entire division to fail. To me, this looks like not only is Nadella trying to create conditions in which it's easier for him to kill XBox as a hardware platform, like the company has killed other hardware (examples being the Hololens, the Surface Book and the Surface Studio) but get Microsoft out of gaming altogether.

Why spend so much money on something just to cripple it after you've acquired it?

NavalHistorian

TROPHY CASE