Hey Richard,
GEEZ started off as a software package to work together with
the G.Analyst. At the time the G.Analyst was the best
budget data acquisition hardware around. Pretty much the
ONLY reasonably priced option. But the software produced
only strip charts, which most (myself included) just didn't
find very intuitive. So we started writing GEEZ as a better
analysis tool for the G.Analyst.
About that time, however, the G.Analyst went off the
market. So we set out to create a newer technology piece to
replace the G.Analyst. The result is the G-Cube.
The G-Cube is smaller, lighter, faster, and more accurate
than the G.Analyst. And cheaper. Which is to be expected
as the G.Analyst was built using 1985 technology, all of
which has improved dramatically. The G.Analyst has memory
on board. The G-Cube does not. Instead, the G-Cube
requires that you plug in a laptop or Palm computer to
capture the run. This design decision has worked out very
well as prices on Palms have continued to drop. We expect
that the time will come when we'll be able to work with many
different kinds of PDA's, in addition to Windows laptop
systems.
Since we were building our own hardware we took the
opportunity to build in several features that we couldn't do
with the G.Analyst. Some of these are AutoStart and Stop,
20Hz sample rates (Windows PC only), Automatic trimming of
the start of runs, self-contained power source, etc.
Additionally, we have a much longer memory capability than
the G.Analyst, whch is limited to 8 minutes of data total.
A Palm M100 recording from a G-Cube can store up to 100 runs
and 4 hours of data before running out of memory. For a
single continuous run, we have a 25 minute limit (but
looking to expand that again shortly...)
In all, the G.Analyst is a terrific device, not just in 1985
terms, but even in today's terms. We made the G-Cube fit
the needs of a broader market in features and price. I wish
I had Mike Valentine's money to develop the G-Cube. He did
a spectacular job with the G.Analyst. The packaging, the
look and feel of the product, all of that is truly
excellent. Yeah, it's bigger and heavier than our product.
But it's a real *quality* piece of big heavy stuff. ;-) I
have nothing but good things to say about the G.Analyst.
But our device does more for less.
So if you are using the device to record road racing
sessions, you'll probably want to use GEEZ software either
way. It gives you track maps, color coding, and 5 different
kinds of graphs to choose. Plus gages, unlimited maps all
running together, lapping features, setup diary, etc, etc,
etc. If you go that far, most go the whole route, and buy
the GEEZ Racer's Bundle, which gives you hardware and
software for $395 total. This is less than the final
selling price of the G.Analyst, which came with no software
at all at that price.
But many GEEZ users, myself included, still have
G.Analysts. I haven't used mine in years, but I'll probably
keep it forever. It's nice to know it's there if there's a
time that it's features would work better than a G-Cube.
But that hasn't happened yet.
Also, I have begun replacing G.Analysts at
Bridgestone/Firestone. They've used G.Analysts for years to
do basic testing of their tires. They now use the G-Cube
because it's faster, better suited to their needs, cheaper,
and still available. They say they can get much more done
now that they are using GEEZ and the G-Cube than they used
to with the G.Analyst.
Same for Toyota, who has just finished testing their first
G-Cube against a $2000-5000 system they've been using for
basic setup. Toyota has a high dollar (over $20K) data pack
that they use for the final details, but for the quick
testing, they used to spend big dough on Vericom's stuff.
Apparently they wanted to buy several of the Vericoms that
will log data both laterally and longitudinally, but they
were $5000 per pop, without software. After testing, they
say they can run twice the tests per day because of our
efficient and intuitive layout. At about 1/10th the price.
Vericomm won't be seeing any more checks from Toyota for a
while.
--Byron
RFN06@aol.com wrote:
>
> I'm a little confused here. Help me. I have a G-Analyst that I never really
> liked, and rarely used. What's the relationship between the Geez and the
> G-Analyst?
>
> I have a m100 Palm. I run road courses and would like to know what the best
> setup for collecting data is.Should I just put the G-Analyst back on the
> shelf and forget it? Or, is there some connection between the GEEZ and the
> old G-Analyst?
>
> Richard
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