Segway Max G3 charging question…

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Here is something I am wondering about … When I plug in the Segway Max G3 to charge it, the tail light will light up and slowly fade up and down as it charges.

At some point, I heard a sound I did not recognize. I assume it was a sound from the scooter. I opened the Segway app, and saw that the scooter was now at 100%. I now assume this sound means “I’m done charging now.” I also noticed that the brake light was solid red instead of fading. I now assume that “fading on/off means charging” and “solid red means done.”

Screenshot

You will notice it says 100% with an estimated range of 40 miles. This means the app is showing the low-end of the “40-50 miles” range that their marketing states of this scooter:

However, you will also see that the time left for charging says 33 minutes. So are we done, or are we not?

I left it plugged up to see what happened. After a half hour or so, I noticed that the brake light as now completely off. I now assume “off” means “I am done charging now, for real this time.” The app still shows the same 40 miles estimate, but no longer has the “time left” readout:

My question is … what is the purpose of having the initial “I’m done” with the sound, 100% in the app, and the brake light changing to solid, but still having a “oh, but wait, there’s more time to charge” indicator. I wondered if that extra time would get the range estimate higher than 40, but as you can see it did not.

Thoughts?

The tech in this scooter is amazing. There is a TON of battery diagnostics. I’ll have to post about that at some point. But first, I need to finish my multipart blog post about what I dislike about this scooter, in hopes it might save someone from making a $1200 mistake if they also don’t like those things ;-)

Until then…

Segway Ninebox Max G3 electric scooter problems

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I have a writeup in progress that will document the things about the Segway Max G3 electric scooter that I really dislike. (Sneak preview: If I had test ridden one first, I would not have gotten one. Period.)

But, as I learn that more and more owners are experience the same jerky throttle issue that is my #1 complaint, I thought I’d post this quick update. Inside the Segway app, the jerky motion is addressed with the following entry about a hardware issue:

Perhaps this is why all the YouTubbers have amazing, fantastic glowing “reviews” of the scooter, and then there are those of us experience absolutely awful throttle control wondering why none of them mentioned how bad this scooter rides.

More to come… (Including how awful the range is on this $1200 scooter.)

Experimenting with Insta360 timelapse…

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A feature I have only played with a few times (on any camera) is timelapse. The first time I did it with an Insta360 camera was when I got my first one – a ONE X2 – and tested it while visiting Universal Studios Florida. While having a meal, I let the camera run . This video is on my Park Hopping YouTube channel:

Later, when I upgraded to an X3, I stuck it on the top of my car with a magnet mount and just let it record the sky.

I did a few tests like this, and they are somewhere on my Sub-Etha Software YouTube channel.

By the time I had an X4, I think I only used this feature one time — and that was just a few weeks ago. I let it record while folks where leaving Silver Dollar City at the end of the day. That video is posted on my DisneyFans.com/ParkHopping.com Facebook page, I think.

And that was the end of my experiments with timelapse…

But recently, I saw an interesting “day to night” timelapse posted by Best360:

This motivated me to began experimenting again. I used an external battery pack handle, attached to the top of my tripod, and set up my camera to record from 7:30pm until it was dark at 8:30pm.

My first attempt failed. Apparently I did not hit the button properly…

My second attempt went much better, but at the end of the timelapse, everything was still pretty bright due to the new X5 producing a brighter image. I am unsure if the camera is doing something to change modes as it gets dark — I just used the “Timelapse” mode and let it do whatever it wanted to do.

My third attempt I ran from 7:30pm to 9pm. It was even more dark, but you can see it still does not look dark in the timelapse:

It is an interesting feature, but quite boring unless you actually reframe it to pan the video and give it a bit more motion.

Have you done much with this mode? If you know of a good use for it, leave a comment.

Until next time…

Microsoft Bugs

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There is an old Disney urban legend that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen and, when medical technology has evolved to cure his cancer, he will be thawed out and cured. In modern internet times, this tale really took off with Disney fans, leading to several books and even a movie:

The Further Adventures of Walt’s Frozen Head (2018) – IMDb

If I recall, my name is in the credits of that movie … because I backed it on Kickstarter or whatever fund raisingsite it was using at the time. ;-)

But I digress…

It has been claimed that Disney’s “ice princess” movie was released under the title Frozen so when people web search for “walt disney frozen” the search engines will return hits about the movie Frozen instead of the urban legend. “Ah! It’s a cover up! It must be true!”

And this is clearly not true, because if you web search for that, you get a bunch of front page results about the urban legend, well before you get to anything about the animated movie.

What Would Microsoft Do?

But this does give me an idea. Microsoft has released a number of games for Windows over the year, such as Microsoft Solitaire, Microsoft Freecell, Microsoft Minesweeper and Microsoft Pinball Arcade.

I propose Microsoft create a new game for Windows called “Bugs” — perhaps some modern update of Dung Beetles (known as Mega-Bug on the CoCo).

That way, when you web search “microsoft bugs” you get results about the game, and not about the frustrating thing that just got pushed to your PC in the latest Microsoft Windows Update.

Just a thought…

Until next time…

What’s next for consumer 360 cameras?

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I have had a variety of 360 camera systems since I first purchased one in 2005. My first Insta360 camera was the ONE X2 which was released in October 2020. Next came the X3 in September 2022, then the X4 in April 2024. Now, with the release of the X5 in April 2025, many are wondering why they have gone from “every two years” to “every year.”

Online camera ramblers(tm) suggest it is due to the impending release of 360 cameras from competitors DJI and GoPro.

However, if you search for “GoPro bankrupt” you will find many (many!) videos talking about the impending end of that company. Here is one that was posted to YouTube about a week ago:

…however, you should be aware that the above video is sponsored by Insta360, and videos about the “impending bankruptcy” of GoPro have been showing up the past few years.

Still, a new 360 camera from a well-stablished camera company would get my attention. I’d certainly switch to it if it were better than what I am using.

The same goes for DJI which has slowly been becoming a camera (and wireless microphone) company as much as it is a drone company.

Competition is good, and there is as much praise for the DJI microphone and camera offerings as there is for their drones (i.e. “flying cameras”).

And I find it sad that RICOH, which was one of the first affordable consumer 360 cameras, doesn’t seem to ever pop up in 360 camera discussions any more.

What do you think will be “the next big thing?” Leave a comment…

Selling my X4 and tons of accessories

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UPDATE: Sold for $400. Congrats to the buyer! You got a great deal!

It has been only a year since I picked up my Insta360 X4, but now that I have a new X5, I am getting rid of all my X4 gear. This includes the X4, three batteries total, quick charger, dive case, lens covers, lens guards, several carrying cases, mix wind muffs, and more — some of these items never got used. I really expected the X4 to be around for two years before the replacement model came out ;-)

The X4 by itself is $424 on Amazon, but you can buy my whole kit for less than that right now if you want, or bid and try to get it cheaper:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/335935741599?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=AvuV3Hq0Tee&sssrc=2524149&ssuid=AvuV3Hq0Tee&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Insta360 X5 low light performance

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Here are some raw footage clips of the Insta360 X5 camera recorded at night. For the test, I had my X4 recording in 8K 30fps Video mode, and put the X5 in 8K 30fps PureVideo mode.

One surprising thing was that even the preview screen looks much brighter on the X5:

Insta360 X4 (left) versus Insta360 X5 (right)

Here are the results:

As you can see, the X5 produces a significantly brighter image. But, freeze frame along the way and you will see it still suffers from graininess and image blur when recording in low light levels.

And since the X5 has a slightly larger image sensor, I wanted to do a comparison that I did not see in any of the pre-release YouTuber videos. For this test, I set both the X4 and X5 in normal 8K 30fps Video mode (NOT using PureVideo on the X5). I was surprised at how much brighter the X5 video is even in “normal” Video mode:

There may be a few more short tests I want to complete before selling off my X4 gear, so keep checking this site.

If you have any specific things you want to see tested, leave a comment. If I have time, I will try to do them.

Until next time…