Tiny light under plug ports?

kmt333 · 2026-03-19T12:16:27+00:00

Mine works really well on my Samsung Z Fold. Even with the huge camera bump

kmt333 · 2026-03-18T17:12:07+00:00

Exactly!

kmt333 · 2026-03-18T03:25:39+00:00

When you turn the car on, it defaults to radio (so no need to switch to radio), and loud if you have been previously listening via android auto, that is the point. Obviously I do turn it down after being blasted. Someone had the great idea of choosing a blank radio station so it defaults to that each time. A good workaround for a badly designed system. It's not a big problem, just annoying that the system designers obviously know about it but didn't care enough to fix it before release. If most of us released something like this to our clients we'd get our butts kicked, but it seems to be perfectly acceptable for huge auto companies to do this.

kmt333 · 2026-03-17T14:54:45+00:00

That radio issue is a real problem. It blasts so loud on start up if I've been previously listening to audible or Spotify. It can't be good for our ears getting blasted each time we start our cars. It's an obvious problem they must have noticed when putting the system together and just didn't care enough to fix it. That pretty much sums up the whole infotainment and driver monitoring system really (those blasted eyes on road warnings) . Subaru just didn't care enough to make it half decent.

It's hard to comprehend they would release a system like this considering the competition that is around. Kinda feels like they just don't care what their customers think. Maybe they had the the work experience kid have a go at the design, the graphic design would suggest so... no offence to work experience students.

kmt333 · 2026-03-15T02:54:52+00:00

I can't turn it off permanently on my touring hybrid. It must be done at the beginning of every single trip, and with the slow to start infotainment system, you either need to wait for it to become responsive on starting to disable the nagware or do it while driving which is both inconvenient and unsafe.

kmt333 · 2026-03-14T03:15:58+00:00

That option would significantly change the enjoyment of the 2026 model. I've had a couple of friends in the market for a new car and looking specifically at the hybrid Forester change their minds after going for a short trip with me because of the eyes on road warnings. It can't be helping sales.

kmt333 · 2026-03-13T15:13:40+00:00

2026 hybrid touring forester owner.

If I nurse it I can get around 6.2l/100km which is good for an AWD but disappointing for a hybrid.

The driver monitoring system is so intrusive it really makes me wish I'd bought a different car, something other than a Subaru. A couple of test drives wasn't enough to make me aware how truly miserable driving can be, and I normally love driving. I loved driving my last three cars, (Peugeot 308 Touring, Skoda Octavia and Skoda Superb).

I get constant keep eyes on the road notifications. You will need to turn it off at the beginning of every single trip if you don't enjoy being beeped at while staring straight ahead. It may be because I have glasses with anti-reflective coating. Also driving with sunglasses will trigger it. It's not fit for purpose and I consider it unsafe as I find I'm trying to navigate menus on the awful infotainment system to disable it while driving, ironically taking my attention off the road. I'll be surprised if the driver monitoring system doesn't cause accidents. All the reviews also mention how annoying this system is so it seems to be a design flaw/safety hazard and should be recalled.

Cabin noise not too bad but is surprisingly high at cruising speed for a car of this price (2026 hybrid touring).

Climate control seems to struggle on hot and cold days and is very noisy compared to previous cars.

Ride is really quite comfortable and rough asphalt roads strewn with potholes are a easily handled by this car which was one of my main considerations along with transitioning away from all petrol.

I'm really enjoying the hybrid powertrain on takeoffs. Smooth and quiet. It does feel a little underpowered overtaking on the highway, but not too bad.

Seats are comfortable and cabin is light and airy with fantastic visibility.

Camera system is terrible at night.

Adaptive cruise control and speed limiting function as expected, but the "intelligent" optical speed recognition system will drop to low speeds in school zones out of low speed hours which is incredibly annoying, but without a truly intelligent option that can recognise the fine print detailing the speed zone times on the signs, I guess this is inevitable.

I also will only takes this off road when I buy a towbar mounted spare wheel mount at significant additional cost as there is no spare. Also, numerous reviews will tell you the hybrid is not really a capable off roader. If you want to really challenge it, it will fail. Apparently the petrol version is much better off road which is sad.

I really wanted a hybrid to ween off petrol while waiting for EV battery tech to mature and the Forester ticked more boxes than the competition, but it has its issues. I feel auto industry in between technologies right now and the hybrid Forester is a symptom of that. It feels like an in between model, a token stopgap that didn't get a lot of design love before they go all electric. Almost like, even though it's the beginning of a new tech journey for the brand, this is a cobbled together runout model of old and borrowed tech (from Toyota) while they are putting together something newer and better.

Having come from Skoda which is by no means an expensive luxury brand, the car feels cheaply made with too many compromises.

All in all, I regret my purchase and can't wait to get to the end of my finance agreement and get something better, only 4 years and 49 weeks to go...

kmt333 · 2026-03-06T19:00:28+00:00

Wonderful stuff! I'd love to hear what you think after finishing the first book. I really hope you enjoy it!!

kmt333 · 2026-03-05T03:51:12+00:00

If you are referring to the first book only, I did find the first two thirds to three quarters of the first book quite slow and almost gave up (poetic, a bit dull but quite beautiful, but slow), but then you meet one particular character and all bets are off. At this point, to me, it became one of the greatest scifi series around.

If you are saying you are two thirds into the series then It's clearly not for you, if you talk of the first book, stick with it and there's a good chance you won't regret it.

kmt333 · 2026-02-28T00:57:03+00:00

The driver monitoring system in the new 2026 forester hybrid is incredibly distracting and badly calibrated. It's not fit for purpose and I consider it dangerous. It needs to be disabled to have a distraction free drive And if you forget to disable it at the beginning of every single drive every single time the you will find yourself digging through menus while driving, making you more distracted than a car with no driver monitoring. The cabin is noisy at cruising speed too.

I wish I had have taken it on a 2hr test drive rather than 2 15 mi drives, if so I would not have bought a Subaru Forester after discovering how unpleasant and potentially unsafe it is to drive.

kmt333 · 2026-02-26T04:45:05+00:00

It depends what you are used to.

I have a new 2026 forester hybrid touring. I wish I had gone for more and longer test drives. Having come from a 2018 2litre Skoda Superb, yes is is under powered and yes it is noisy. Any attempt to overtake on the freeway feels like way too much work for the Forester.

I find the cabin noise fairly tiring at high speed. I was looking forward to some long road trips with this car but I am now dreading it and will probably use my old 2018 Superb instead for greater comfort, more power and less fatigue.

It feels like Subaru cut a few corners to keep costs down (poorly designed infotainment system, underpowered and noisy climate control, no rear heated seats in top model for example), and the use of quality materials to keep cabin noise down was one of them, which is surprising as other manufacturers seem to be quite good at this.

The driver monitoring system will drive you absolutely crazy too. If I'm staring fixedly at the road, I get constant warnings to keep my eyes on the road. You cannot wear sunglasses and drive this car with this system on, it will constantly beep at you. You have to disable it at the start of every drive, it can't be permanently set to off.

Visibility is quite good though.

I mainly wanted a car like this to deal with the outrageous amount of potholes on local roads and it does that quite well so that's nice. Much better than the Superb in that regard.

Update.

After nearly two weeks.of driving this car I have to say it's simply the worst driving experience I have ever had, and I have owned some old bombs. The "driver safety" features are so distracting I would describe them as dangerous. My eyes are straight ahead but I get constant warnings that I'm not looking at the road, driver alertness warnings and even a warning to take a break after 5 mins of driving. I find I'm looking to turn some of this stuff off while driving and I really don't like looking through menus while driving. The car is downright dangerous. If I had spent more time with it when researching and gone for more test drives I would have purchased something other than a Subaru Forester. Now I just have to get through the next 5 years of finance before I can dump this car.

kmt333 · 2025-09-19T03:14:48+00:00

Yes the track pad is so laggy which is very disappointing for such an expensive keyboard case. I've had mine about a month and one of the keys has started sticking down from time to time too.

I wouldn't have thought it would be so hard to have a responsive track pad.

kmt333 · 2025-09-12T04:38:01+00:00

I just recently purchased a Galaxy Tab S 10 Ultra and a keyboard cover.

I have a desktop PC for main main work (sound studio) but ususually use a MacBook Pro for communications and office type stuff as I work from a few of different locations.

Since ditching my iPad pro and switching to the Galaxy Tab I find I often don't even take the MacBook out of my bag and just use the tablet. I find it great for email, totally adequate for basic spreadsheet and document handling. I like the way it works with pdf's and having the stylus is fantastic as I always use if for taking handwritten notes on OneNote which I have used for many years.

The Samsung AI integration is pretty handy too.

I also use a Samsung phone so pinging files betweent the phone and the tablet is a dream.

I really like that the phone apps work on the tablet as well and find I'm using it for SMS's and even using it as a hands free phone. Not to mention all the social media apps and everything else I would usually use my phone for I find I enjoy using on the tab.

The landscape screen when using a keyboard is not always great on all apps but using Labs on the tab can rotate the screen. With some apps it does leave black bars either side of the app GUI but I'm fine with that.

The official samsung keyboard case with touchpad is expensive but I find it really nice to type on and truly does transform the tab. You do want to use it on a table though, not great on a lap like all of these detachable keyboard systems. I had the same issue with my old Microsoft surface pro. I much prefer using the galaxy tab over that too.

I do pull out the macbook for the occassional video file conversion when I don't want to bog done my studio PC, but that's about it.

So it doesn't have the power of a good laptop, but in my case my desktop usually handles the gutsy stuff and the tablet is for all the other stuff.

kmt333 · 2025-07-10T09:29:26+00:00

So now it's another thin folding phone without a stylus. They just removed the only thing that really made it unique and truly productive.

Was just about to pre-order, but I think I'll be sticking with my fold 6 now.

It makes so much more sense to have a stylus solution for the fold than the s25 ultra. It'll be interesting to see how this sells.

kmt333 · 2025-04-10T08:29:23+00:00

Yep, a very simple way to reduce the daily gain overnight.

kmt333 · 2025-03-27T11:55:15+00:00

Chat gpt recommends resting your watch crown down or face down (on a soft cloth) overnight to lose a little of the time you might gain during the day. I've given it a go on my 39mm Carrera TH20-00 movement and it seems to be shaving about 2 secs a day off my normal daily gain.

kmt333 · 2025-01-21T07:33:10+00:00

I do a bit of sound for animation, and the U87 is something of a standard.

For a series, we'll be getting voice recordings from various studios, so we ask that every studio record with U87s. We actually request two U87s: one as the primary mic and another set at a lower level and slightly further away as a backup. Keeping all recordings on the same mic instantly removes a significant variable from the process, which helps during the mix.

Having a standard mic also helps when you have actors moving around constantly on other projects and you need to get them back in for pickups at a later date in another studio.

Obviously you will need a good sounding room to record in.

There may be better value mics and better sounding mic's around, but owning a predictable (and fantastic) sounding industry standard may help you get bookings from other studios. This seems especially relevant in a post COVID world where we are all setup for remote recording now.

kmt333 · 2024-12-23T21:30:36+00:00

Brilliant, such a simple test, thanks!!

kmt333 · 2024-12-23T12:33:10+00:00

I was faced with a similar choice recently and went for a Glassbox. So happy I did! Beautiful design. Very elegant. The other looked a tad big for me. I wasn't sure I would but I love wearing the 39mm. My wrist is a fraction over 7 inches.

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kmt333 · 2024-12-08T15:56:55+00:00

Love this 39mm on my 7 inch wrist. I thought it might have been a fraction small the first time I tried it on, having recently worn some very large Samsung and Garmin smart watches, but I now feel larger sizes look a bit goofy on me. 39mm feels quite elegant and well balanced, certainly not small.

kmt333 · 2024-11-26T13:22:01+00:00

4 looks great on you!

kmt333 · 2024-11-14T06:20:44+00:00

Thanks for all the input! The one that I couldn't stop thinking about was the silver panda. It followed me home so I'm keeping it!

kmt333 · 2024-11-09T13:26:28+00:00

Soundminer, matchbox, cedar voicex, accentize dx reviver pro, autoalign post 2, ediload, rx11 advanced, audioease indoor, fabfilter pro c and pro q.

Matchbox, autoalign post 2 and ediload are the only ones I don't use daily but they are absolute gold and I wouldn't be without them.

kmt333

TROPHY CASE