C100- Good but not Perfect

[Gearhead Jim]

We just returned from a 4,400 mile road trip in the Corvette. Installed the C100 just before leaving; completely separate from my V1. Combining the two has produced gripes from some users and I've been using just the V1 for over ten years; so I left 'em individual. My opinions:

I didn't know there is a hardwire power cord available, would have bought it had I known because my Valentine is already hardwired.

The C100 has good reception, I simply laid it in the ash tray of the 'vette (2009) and it works just fine. That's a rather "buried" location for the antenna and I'm impressed that it works there.

The speaker is marginal, couldn't hear it with the top off the car. I don't think you can do much better because the unit is so small, what kind of auxiliary speaker would work with the headphone jack?

My biggest gripes are that the unit tries too hard to be helpful, like an over-caffinated waiter in a restaurant. Specifically; I would really like to turn off the compass, clock, and speedometer. My car already has those functions by itself and they are distracting in the C100. The "Concealed Display" for my Valentine is mounted on top of my steering column and simply glows a steady "L" unless it is detecting radar. But the C100 is constantly flashing different numbers at me and that's too distracting to put in my line of sight. Just give me a simple glowing dot to know the unit is working, and I'll be happy.

Misc info:

The C100 showed the Corvette speedometer to be dead-on up to 100 mph, at 150 mph the 'vette speedo was actually reading 1 mph slow. OK, now I know that; let me turn it off in the C100.

My wife and I have never had a red light ticket, camera or not, and there are plenty of them around here. But the whole "revenue before safety" attitude of the camera crowd really annoys me. Never been hit by a speed camera either, but why wait for it to happen?

Our route was from Chicago suburbs across WI and MN to SD, up to ND, west to MT, south to WY, east to NE and IA and home. The only warning we received for the entire trip was a red light camera in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Who would have guessed?

Radar, mostly X-band, was VERY dangerous in the western states because the police use moving instant-on on the back roads. And that oncoming SUV might not be a farmer... we were very careful.

[Z1NONLY]

Stalker, could you, or anyone else, comment on the C100's "Hey look at me!" behavior he is talking about?

[Stealth Stalker]

Yeah, I mentioned that too when I first got it. Pretty much the same reasoning. I don't need two clocks and four speedometers in my car. And most people who do are driving an old POS, and wouldn't buy a Cheetah anyhow. But other than than the pointless redundancy, I certainly don't find it particularly annoying because, again, it's just not that bright or noticeable. In fact, I the only time I see or notice it is when I am intentionally looking into the RVM, even at night. Think about your V1 display. Does it distract you much, or do you find yourself pretty much tuning it out unless it beeps?

I think that, ideally, it would have a programmable display mode. I could use a nice compass, but I don't need the speedo or clock. Others may need a clock or speedo, but not a compass. You never know. So the ability to choose the display mode (including an off mode) would be the biggest improvement I could recommend for the Cheetahs.

[Z1NONLY]

Just placed my order!

[Gearhead Jim]

...
So the ability to choose the display mode (including an off mode) would be the biggest improvement I could recommend for the Cheetahs.

I agree.

[KnightHawk]

...
So the ability to choose the display mode (including an off mode) would be the biggest improvement I could recommend for the Cheetahs.

I agree.

I think you're too focused on the C100 the way I looked at it. I just have to place my C100 near my shifter and just rely pretty much on the audio alert. Do you really have to look at the C100's screen all the time to get that much distraction? Seems to me that you're too focused on the C100's screen specially when you see the compass, time and speed while driving. I don't even pay attention to it. My suggestion is to move your C100 not directly in front of you but yet visible if you need to see those information and rely more on the audio alerts.

[Stealth Stalker]

Yeah, if it doesn't distract me on the mirror, I just don't see how it can distract you down in a cup holder.

Once the new wears off, and you're not so focused on it, it'll be fine.

[QuickTrigger]

yes it did take me a while to get used to it. But its only a matter of days. I dont even pay attention to it anymore. I didnt like the compass when i first seen it. But now its pretty small and it doesnt distract at all.

My suv has a huge coin box and can easily fit the C100 in there. The audio alerts are pretty loud, even over the music i listen and the unit picks up recepetion pretty good. i would tuck it away from sight if its seems to be a big problem. But over all the sounds i hate the X band sound. i dont know why but it bugs me......i cant switch it off in ohio.....

[Gearhead Jim]

To clarify my previous comments:

The C100 does NOT distract me right now, because I've got it down in the ash tray where it's out of my line-of-sight.

The "Concealed Display" on the steering column for my Valentine does not distract me because although it IS in my line-of-sight, it does not change or flash unless it is detecting something. The flashing is good because it catches my attention even if I don't hear the beeps.

I'd like to use the same concept with the C100; program it so nothing catches my attention unless the unit is alerting me to a danger. Especially since the C100 audio is not loud enough in a noisy enviornment.

Perhaps I could learn to ignore the C100 without progrqmming, but I spent many years in airplanes that were designed to "Don't tell me unimportant stuff unless I ask you to tell me". The Corvette uses the same concept- the Driver Information Center readout stays blank unless something important changes, or I call up information with a button.

[focalcivic]

To clarify my previous comments:

The C100 does NOT distract me right now, because I've got it down in the ash tray where it's out of my line-of-sight.

The "Concealed Display" on the steering column for my Valentine does not distract me because although it IS in my line-of-sight, it does not change or flash unless it is detecting something. The flashing is good because it catches my attention even if I don't hear the beeps.

I'd like to use the same concept with the C100; program it so nothing catches my attention unless the unit is alerting me to a danger. Especially since the C100 audio is not loud enough in a noisy enviornment.

Perhaps I could learn to ignore the C100 without progrqmming, but I spent many years in airplanes that were designed to "Don't tell me unimportant stuff unless I ask you to tell me". The Corvette uses the same concept- the Driver Information Center readout stays blank unless something important changes, or I call up information with a button.

I do not think it is a bad idea to have a blank display until the information is needed.

I will say like with any other electronic item in a car you can get used to it, like a GPS system etc.