Chris Smith

Member since: Jan 9th, 2006

Chris Smith's Latest Comments

Blog Activity

Blog	# of Comments
Autoblog	6 Comments
Engadget	4 Comments
Download Squad	1 Comment
Engadget HD	1 Comment

Recent Comments:

Completely loaded Pontiac G8 may will cost just $32,895 (Autoblog)

Nov 7th 2007 4:31PM Um, these prices are all already up on Edmunds and have been since at least last week:
http://www.edmunds.com/pontiac/g8/2008/index.html

Bioshock Tuesday: win an Xbox 360 and a copy of Bioshock (Engadget)

Aug 25th 2007 10:56PM Ace Combat 6 (when it comes out, that is). Love the demo.

Spy Shots: Twin-turbo V8 BMW 7-series at the 'Ring (Autoblog)

Jun 28th 2007 9:19AM Ah, I doubt it.

1. BMW has never put a "M" motor into a regular production car (the Z8 doesn't count as a regular production car)

2. The V8 in the M3 is a high-revving, low torque engine. The original N62B44 made more torque than that engine, and the current 4.8 liter version makes lots more. It's also very unsuitable for forced induction with it's 12:1 compression ratio.

This is probably an evolution of the N62 with forced induction, or a diesel as someone else posted.

TimeTools T1000 syncs your PC's clock with GPS (Engadget)

Jun 14th 2007 9:39AM Is RS-232 even fast enough to send the time at 100 ns resolution? Wouldn't the latency of sending from the box to the PC pretty much cancel out any benefits of this?

Blackboard promises not to sue open-source software makers (Download Squad)

Feb 5th 2007 5:51PM "Unfortunately its often the finance and admin departments that buy the software, not the users or even the IT departments (the IR department were some of the more vocal opposers)."

As a former employee of a huge online university (starts with a K), I can attest that this is 100% true. We had our own CMS that was suddenly "replaced" with an outsourced 3rd party service. We had to jump through all kinds of hoops to integrate it with our existing stuff, and it was (is) really crappy and unreliable to boot.

Your comments about usability, reliability, stability and integrity are spot-on for most educational software. I guess as they say, those that can, do. Those that can't... write CMS software.

Sony's G11 12.1-incher brings carbon fiber and battery life to Europe (Engadget)

Jan 31st 2007 10:31AM In addition to roads, Europe apparently lacks sarcasm as well.

Engadget HD giveaways: win a Philips 42PF9631D 42-inch plasma! (Engadget HD)

Sep 22nd 2006 4:09PM The Office

2008 Buick LaCrosse Super a go (Autoblog)

Jul 7th 2006 12:55PM Zane, another point too, about the complexity: the Valvetronic V8's in the newer BMW's are an ORDER OF MAGNITUDE more complex than the simple pushrod V8 in GM's. Not only are they DOHC, but they have variable cam phasing AND cam lift. In fact, BMW has been backing away from Valvetronic for the very reason that it makes the engine too large, too complex and too top-heavy (lots of moving metal parts in those heads, not to mention the Valvetronic actuator). Why do you think they don't use it in the M engines and the new 3 is coming out with 2 turbos bolted to the older M54?

Oh, and as far as mileage, the 4.8L in the BMW may only have 91% of the volume, but it still gets similar mileage numbers to the M3 (16/23). So how does the smaller displacement do any good in that case...?

2008 Buick LaCrosse Super a go (Autoblog)

Jul 7th 2006 12:48PM Zane, you might want to compare the fuel efficiency of the BMW engines vs the GM V8. Although the BMW has a smaller displacement, it's going to be hitting higher RPMs more often and thus will use more or the same amount of fuel as a low-revving V8. In fact, the EPA's mileage numbers bear this out: the M3 gets 16/24 and the Impala SS gets 18/28 in a heavier car with a slushbox (albeit with DOD, but what's wrong with that?). HP/Liter is a nice way to try to show technical superiority, but what really matters is how much power an engine makes and how much fuel it uses to do so, period. I'll bet the alloy V8 is even lighter than the iron block S54 in the M3.

I consider myself a BMW fanboy, but GM really does know what they're doing in the drivetrain department.

More Volkswagen Scirocco pics (Autoblog)

May 23rd 2006 2:06PM Too bad VW = FWD and huge overhang. I love the rest of the lines of the car. Could've even been a Z4 Coupe competitor with the 3.6, too. Oh well.