i might be done buying vintage garmin screens
I got my first Garmin screen in 2005, a StreetPilot i3. After that, a c340, then later on a c580. After that, a nuvi 270, then 255W. Then from 2012 all the way to 2018 I used a nuvi 40 and then a 50, which are both the same model (the only difference is the 50 is a 5" screen while the 40 is a 4.3"). 2018 is when I began using a DriveSmart full time.
It wasn't until about 2020 when I started buying all the Garmin screens I ever wanted. During this time, a ton of those screens were available in near-mint condition for very cheap. As in the $15 to $35 range cheap. Nobody wanted them, so I jumped on that and bought a bunch over the years.
What's funny is that screens that were worthless now aren't, and it's for one reason. Both smartphone and infotainment navigation has gotten so bad that it actually increased the value of old Garmin screens. Another additional cost is the increase for flash memory. It used to be that 5-packs of 32GB microSD cards (the most a Garmin screen will support) were cheap, but now the 8GB and 16GB microSD is what to get. Thankfully, that's enough space for map data with room to spare since the entire US+Canada+Mexico maps from Garmin clocks in at just under 5.2GB.
I did not buy every Garmin car model ever made because that wasn't necessary, and because some will have future problems that cannot be fixed. The Garmin nuvi 3597 for example uses a stupid proprietary powered mount. When that goes, and it will, the screen is totally unusable, so I never bought that screen in the first place.
This isn't to say I haven't made a few goofs with some screens I've bought. The nuvi 2455, while nice and works just fine, does have a bespoke-to-screen mounting clip. That clip thankfully isn't a stupid powered thing like the 3597 has, but if that clip ever breaks, there are no new reproductions available. I'd have to use a car phone mount. Yeah, that's at least something, but still, I always prefer to use the original mount whenever possible.
At this point I have bought all the old screens that were worth buying. I learned which are the good ones and the not-so good. I also learned which have the best legibility, the brightest daylight readable screens, the ones that can handle scorching summer heat and freezing winter cold best, the proper alternative power cable to get that works with a standard USB-A port and so on. All of that is info I know now.
What will I do with all the old screens I have?
I have a selection of them that will serve as backup screens.
I'm currently using a Drive 52 (which does need an 8, 16 or 32GB microSD card) because it can handle the blazing summer heat, and it's still summer right now. When the heat is over, I'll switch back to the DS66 or DS76 (neither of which need the additional memory card). I have both, but I'll probably go back to the 76.
With the older screens I have, I go by portability, legibility and ruggedness.
The nuvi 1350, 2455, and 40 are good. All of those are 4.3" matte screens, but are legible and daylight readable.
For 5" matte screens, the nuvi 50, 55, 56 and 58 are good, along with the Drive 52 I'm using now.
For 5" capacitive, this is where things go into not-as-rugged territory. These screens still work fine but can't take as much of a knock. The nuvi 2539, 2599 and Drive 53 are decent.
The only 6" capacitive I trust is the DriveSmart 66. I have other 6" models both for matte and capacitive, but the DS66 is the only one that cuts the mustard.
For 7" capacitive, DriveSmart 65 with Alexa and DriveSmart 76. The non-Alexa DriveSmart 65 is a no-go. I have both the DS65+Alexa and DS65 without Alexa, and the no-Alexa variant is the only Garmin capacitive screen model I've ever owned that exhibited screen burn-in. The burn-in is very small and almost unnoticeable, but it's there. The no-Alexa version is also slightly less bright compared to the one with Alexa. I don't use the Alexa feature at all but that's the defining feature between the DS65 models.
Also in the 7" realm, I do have a DriveSmart 70, but that's a no-go for a different reason. Bright screen? Absolutely. Legible? Absolutely. The problem with that one is the bezel, making it too big for use in my car. That bezel makes the entire thing 7.44" wide by 4.38" tall. The DS65 and DS76 with the edge-to-edge screen is also a 7", but with total dimensions of 6.8" x 3.9". I can just fit that in my car. The extra physical bigness of the DS70 makes it a no-go for me.
What about traffic reporting?
Traffic reports are submitted by humans and/or automated systems. If a human submitted the report, I have to trust that the report was accurate, which I don't. If an automated system submitted the report, I have to trust it's not a "ghost report", which I don't.
No matter the traffic reporting source, that's how traffic reporting works. At best, it's only reliable somewhat of the time, regardless of what system it is. Could be Garmin over FM, Garmin using Drive app, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, whatever.
I have a bunch of Garmin screens with the traffic reporting feature, and run with reporting on but auto-rerouting off. When I receive a traffic alert, I decide for myself whether to take an alternate route instead of letting the computer do it for me.
What about routing?
The two best practices for routing is to either a) know when to ignore certain instructions, or b) make a custom route from saved favorites. All DriveSmart models have a little Route Planner (formerly Trip Planner) built-in app.
When I want the best custom routing, the DriveSmart 76 is best at that, no question. The 7" screen in combination with custom route shaping makes it real easy to shape a route without doing the saved favorites thing first. The 66 and Drive 53 has this same custom routing, but the 7" screen makes a difference in getting it done quicker.
However, knowing when to ignore certain instructions is just as effective, and in fact easier since no custom routing needs to be done.
Oldest model I could use comfortably?
Comfortably is the keyword here.
I can't use 3.5" screens comfortably, but I can with 4.3". I mentioned the 1350, 2455 and 40 above, but of those 3, the 1350 and 40 have the legibility advantage even though not as feature-rich. And of those 2, the 40 is slightly faster, so at the end of it all, the nuvi 40 is the oldest model I could run with comfortably.
The 40 is very basic and has almost no features, but it would get the job done.
I bought 'em all!
All the screens I cared to buy, anyway.
Took some years, but I finally reached the point where yep, there is nothing left to buy. Not unless Garmin releases a new fancy dan model that sparks my interest.
usps po box street addressing is completely broken
If you use this, you will get screwed. I did.
First I'll describe what this is and how it's supposed to function.
The United States Postal Service rents PO boxes. The USPS offers a thing called Street Addressing that is included with the box rental agreement. The entire reason to use Street Addressing is to have an alternative physical address for package delivery.
For example, UPS, as in United Parcel Service, does not deliver to PO boxes. But they will deliver to a PO box address using the alternative Street Addressing.
For example, if your PO box address is this:
Your First Name Your Last Name
PO Box 123
City, State 12345
...and the physical address of the post office that PO box was rented from is this:
Post Office
123 Any St
City, State 12345
...then the Street Addressing for that PO box is this:
Your First Name Your Last Name
123 Any St #123
City, State 12345
That little # with the box number after it on the address line tells the USPS, "This package is supposed to go to PO BOX 123 at that post office location."
In the past, I have used Street Addressing to successfully receive packages that required a physical address. It was rare whenever I had to use it, but it did used to work.
Yeah, used to work. Now it doesn't.
There was a package I needed to receive, and the shipper used UPS. Okay, fine, I'll just use my USPS Street Addressing to receive it.
The package is shipped with the UPS courier. I am given a UPS tracking number. UPS, of course, delivers the package properly and on time because UPS actually knows what they're doing. I now know 100% for a fact the package is at the post office.
The package was delivered and signed for at the post office last Friday.
Okay, let's drive on down to the post office to pick up the package.
I arrive, then go check my PO box. No package.
Okay, no problem. I go to the desk and tell the USPS clerk that UPS delivered it, you signed for it, it's not in my box, where is it?
Clerk goes to the back to "check" for it.
Five minutes later, clerk comes back, lies straight to my face and said she "couldn't find it", but it should be sorted and put in my box by tomorrow.
Mm-hmm.
I go to the post office the next day, Saturday. It was after 12pm so the location was closed, but I could still check my box.
No package.
Today, Monday, I go to post office again. Encounter the same clerk. This time I brought along a printout from UPS saying oh yeah, you received and signed for this, where is it?
Clerk lazily shuffles back to go "look again" for the package.
I wait a few minutes, clerk shuffles back. I get lied to once again and am told nope, it cannot be found, let me take your phone number and CALL YOU BACK IN ONE TO TWO WEEKS.
I wanted to start screaming at this point, but no no... stay calm. I gave the clerk my phone number, then softly and politely asked, "Why do you need to do that when it's here and I know it's here?"
Oh, the look I was given. It was one of those "How DARE you ask me that?!" looks. A look that was a combination of absolute annoyance and anger for even thinking about asking such a thing.
A very fake and forced smile came across that clerk's face. "Well, see, it's not our tracking number, so, um... sorry! We'll call you back!"
All I could do is give a short stare, then say, "Okay...", and left politely.
There will be no followup to this. There will be no way to track this incident online because this absolutely won't be put into USPS Informed Delivery. All I can do is wait and hope my package actually gets delivered to my box.
What that USPS clerk did was attempt to shift blame to United Parcel Service to make them look bad. Bad move. Really bad move. "It's not our tracking number" is a piss poor excuse for USPS incompetence. I followed the USPS rules exactly for Street Addressing. UPS absolutely did deliver the package properly and on time. It is absolutely and totally 100% the fault of USPS for not putting that package in my PO box.
Now if I wanted to be a prick about this, I could call UPS to inform them what's going on so they'd have a nice little chat with that post office to resolve this, because they really don't like it when the USPS tries to shift blame on them.
It's no secret that UPS absolutely hates the USPS, and for good reasons. I can only imagine the amount of fires UPS puts out due to USPS bungling on a daily basis.
Side note: Years ago I actually did work for UPS as a driver delivery helper for Christmas seasonal work, so I saw first hand how hard a driver works to get everything delivered. I've had a deep respect for UPS ever since, because the men and women who run that shop really bust their asses to get the job done.
See, here's the deal.
UPS delivered the package to that post office. I know it's there. There's no question it is there, in that building, right now.
The only reason that package was not put in my box is because the USPS doesn't know how to follow their own rules.
Even though the street addressing format the USPS requires was used correctly, it doesn't matter. Because the address didn't explicitly say PO BOX on it, it's a herpy-derpy "durr, we don't know where this goes" shitshow... even though the label very plainly states the address of that post office with the # and the number representing the PO box number the package is supposed to go to.
Had I not brought that printout that showed proof positive UPS did their job correctly, USPS would have instantly shifted blame over to them. I've had to bring proof-of-delivery printouts many times to this post office over the years just to prove a package actually got there, because wow do they love blame-shifting.
So what happens now?
Probably the same that happened the last time I went through this.
Oh, I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that I've had to deal with this BEFORE.
The last time I dealt with a USPS Street Addressing bungle, the post office flat out told me the package was lost. Yep, gone, don't know where it went, oopsie, hope it wasn't important, have a nice day! Then, magically, it just happened to show up in my PO box two weeks later. Except it wasn't magic. Some USPS dolt employee finally "found" the package and put it in my box. And oh yeah, that package was all sorts of scuffed up. I'm amazed it even survived.
Will the USPS call me back concerning this package? Doubt it.
Will my package magically show up in my PO box that I know UPS delivered properly and is there, in that building, right now? Maybe.
It's either that or that package is gone forever.
If anyone from UPS happens to read this, please go yell at that post office, because they deserve it. I'm sure you can figure out which post office it is I've been talking about.
The moral of this story:
Never, for any reason, use USPS PO Box Street Addressing for package delivery.
I was stupid enough to believe, "Well... maybe this time it will work because the courier delivering it is United Parcel Service, and they're the best shipping company in the business. There's no way the USPS could bungle this one, right?"
Wrong. USPS bungled a package delivery transported by UPS. And if the USPS can't handle a UPS delivery properly, which they obviously can't, there's absolutely no hope Street Addressing would work with anyone else.
my first classical guitar
I was sent a guitar recently for review, and it's interesting this happened because the universe really wanted me to own a guitar like this. I say that because a little over a year ago I tried out a few classical guitars. Then at one point I went to buy one, but passed on it because the ones I tried weren't to my liking. After that, I thought okay, I'll just get one whenever when I find something that works for me.
Then out of the blue comes Sonicake. They emailed me and ask if I wanted to review their Crossover model. I said yes, they sent it, I made a video review, and now I own the thing.
Until I got the Crossover (a.k.a. QGT-30 model), I didn't know this was actually the exact type of classical guitar I wanted. Instead of a chunky baseball bat neck with no truss rod, this one has a C shape neck with truss rod. It also has strap buttons that many classical guitars outright don't have. It's also electrified with a preamp, is super light in weight, and has a thin body that actually projects well.
In other words, the Crossover is basically a folk style electric-acoustic guitar with cutaway body, but uses classical nylon strings instead of steel. Think of it as a Yamaha NTX1 with a much nicer price.
Over the years I've owned a few steel string acoustic guitars, but could never get along with them; it was the strings that were always the problem.
Generally speaking, the softest and easiest-on-fingers steel acoustic strings are the silk & steel type. Specifically, D'Addario EJ40. True, D'Addario has the phosphor bronze .010 gauge EJ38 and even a super light .009 EJ23, but they simply won't be as easy on the fingers like the silk & steel type.
If even silk & steel doesn't cut the mustard, then it's time to go nylon. As far as I'm aware, that's as soft and comfy as it gets.
However, there are a few things to consider.
Playing with regular picks is absolute no-go because it will wreck the strings. No celluloid, no delrin or any of that. Wooden picks are required because they have the softest strike and will make nylon strings last longest.
You absolutely do not stretch nylon strings like steel. Common wisdom (or at least should be) is that when new strings are installed, tune up to F standard, let the guitar sit for an hour, then tune back down to E standard, and the strings will be mostly stretched. If you do that pull/stretch thing on nylon, it absolutely will create "dead spots" in the strings. Steel can handle the pull/stretch thing okay, but not nylon.
You have to know that with a nylon string set, on the wound strings (as in the bass strings), one end will be floppy and the other not. Tying the floppy end at bridge side is a bad idea. Any knot made won't be as stable and the string can break quicker.
With classical nylon string sets, for comfort you don't pay attention to thickness but rather tension. Some string manufacturers will state the total tension in pounds for all strings in the set combined when tuned to E standard, while others list tension on a per-string level. Things get a bit stupid because tensions are listed using a whole bunch of generic words. Super low, low, normal/medium (same thing?), hard/high (again, same thing?), and so on. I'll make it easy. Just get a D'Addario Pro Arte EJ43 set. If that happens to be too light, go normal tension EJ45. If that's still too light, try another brand "normal tension" set before going with hard/high.
Higher action is totally normal on a classical guitar. Some adjustment can be made if the guitar has a truss rod, and/or you can pull the bridge (as in the white thing the strings rest on) with pliers and shave the bottom with sandpaper, and/or you can use a file to shave the nut slots a little bit. However, it's always better to start with low tension strings first before shaving/filing anything.
Is the classical right for me? Too soon to tell, but I definitely get along with it better than a steel string acoustic. Even if it were a traditional classical build, I like the smaller bodies compared to a standard dreadnought shape. The classical is a much easier acoustic to get along with... after learning how nylon strings work, which is the only real hurdle. Once past that, it's pretty much all good from there.
i never liked summer
This year in particular has been one of the worst summers I've ever dealt with, heat wise. Is it the worst ever? I'm honestly not sure, because I've experienced some brutal ones over the years.
What I did was think back to when I was a kid, wondering if summers then were any better decades ago. Surely, they must have been.
Nope.
The #1 thing my kid self liked about summer was not having to go to school. Does that mean I went outside all the time? No. My family had a pool, and yeah, that was nice, but I didn't swim in it every day. Also, it was always better to go swimming at dusk or night, which made nasty hot summer evenings much better. I'll talk more about that in a minute.
While I did get outside a lot as a kid, I wasn't out there all that much in the day during summer aside from the pool stuff. Too hot to ride my bike. Too hot to go tromping through the woods. Too hot to do damned near anything.
So what did I do to pass the time? If it was just a typical summer day at the house, I stayed inside, played video games, and watched gobs and gobs of television. For games, it was either Atari 2600 or the Commodore 64, then later Nintendo when that came out. I would play the same games over and over again until I got bored with them. After that, watch TV. Usually PBS, because we didn't have cable, mom insisted on nothing but educational programming during the day, and we lived in an area where the cool UHF channels that had the awesome cartoons were barely in range. Oh, believe me, I tried to watch those cool cartoons and did everything I could think of to make those UHF stations come in better, but no such luck. The best I could get was a semi-snowy picture for that one station that broadcast Transformers. I watched what I could until the picture would fuzz out too much to figure out what was going on.
You'd think that growing up in the northeast would mean summers that were easier to deal with. No. Wrong. Very wrong. The only advantage to a northeast summer compared to other parts of the United States is that it's shorter, and not by all that much.
Also, that very old, very tired saying of "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" actually isn't bullshit. Northeast summer nights means two things. Hot, sticky air and mosquitoes. Tons and tons of mosquitoes.
Dad at one point had installed a large bug zapper. He decided to install it on a tree in the front yard and hang it off a large branch, which in all honesty was the best place he could have put it. Big ol' tall thing with two tubes that glowed purple, which to me looked magical.
That bug zapper was run every summer night for years, and was actually a source of entertainment. On a summer night, yeah, the air was still hot and sticky, but you could actually go sit outside since all those damned mosquitoes would go straight for the zapper instead of us. Watching the zapper was entertaining. Every time a bug hit it, said bug met its doom. A little spark of light with a *bzzt!*, dead. Every few seconds, here a little bzzt!, there a little bzzt! It was all a bit therapeutic in a way.
The most entertaining thing about the zapper was something that happened a few times a week when a moth would hit it.
In the way the zapper was made from the factory, it had metal fencing on all four sides, which serves three main purposes. First, to actually hold the thing together. Second, to prevent animals like birds and squirrels getting in there. Third, to prevent larger bugs from hitting it.
But even with that fencing there, a smaller moth would sometimes wriggle its way through it, hit the tube and bzzZzZzZzZZZZzzZZzzzz along with sparking/arcing and so on. Looked like one of those fourth-of-July sparkler things sorta/kinda. That dumbass moth would ride the lightning for so long that it literally started smoking until it finally fell to the tray below. I'd hear the sound from inside the house and go out the front door to actually watch this. If dad was nearby, he'd come out to watch it also. After that bug finally fell, yep, dumbass moth is dead, show's over, time to go back in the house.
I do remember a few hell-hot northeast summers from my teens. One that sticks out in particular is when I left a tape of ZZ Top's Eliminator on the dashboard of my first car - which by the way did not have air conditioning. Got home the previous night, parked, I had been flipping in/out tapes in my car stereo, put the ZZ Top tape on the dashboard and didn't think about it. The next day I go to the car at some time in the afternoon, and that tape got cooked so bad that the plastic warped. Totally ruined. Bummed me out, because I liked that tape, but oh well, lesson learned.
Another thing I remember is seeing radiating heat coming from the pavement while driving around. Specifically, when driving slow in parking lots, and when stopped at stop signs or traffic lights. I always got uneasy feelings whenever seeing that, as in, "This can't be good for my car... or me." I still get those feelings whenever I see that radiating heat.
And I remember that if a quick rainstorm passed through on a hell-hot day, that water would be literally steaming off the asphalt. Again, I'm still talking about in the northeast here.
The only true difference I've experienced when comparing northern vs. southern US summers is the length. In the northeast, hell-hot garbage was usually gone by early to mid September. Again, usually, but not always. In the south, add a few weeks. October is usually when the hell-hot crap stops.
In addition, for whatever temperature is considered comfortable in the north, add 10 degrees for the south. 72F to 75F is the just-right outdoor temperature for the northeast. 82F to 85F is just-right for where I've lived in the south. For example, 72F pretty much anywhere in New England is great, but that same temperature legitimately feels cold in Florida. And yes, that means 82F feels perfect in FL but crappy in New England.
And speaking of perfect when it comes to weather, New England gets only six weeks of that, or maybe eight if they're lucky. It's either mid-September and all of October, or for better years, mid-September to mid-November. In Texas, twice a year the weather is great. October to mid-December, then March to mid-May. Florida has the lion's share of fantastic weather. December all the way through to May. Six straight months. Hurricane season ends around mid-September, but the hot shit still takes a bit to shake off. After Christmas and all the way to Cinco de Mayo (more or less), glorious.
Speaking on Texas a little more, yeah those two perfect-weather periods depends what part you're in because it is a huge state. Corpus Christi for example is very Florida-like because it's aligned almost exactly on the same latitude with Tampa Bay Florida. But generally speaking, anywhere in the "Texas Triangle" (Dallas-Ft Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Houston) has October to mid-December and March to mid-May as the best weather times. You get six to seven months of great weather in TX, but it's split.
And speaking on Florida a little more, does that mean mid-May to December weather sucks? Yes and no. Yes, in that for summer in particular, in Tampa Bay there's that thing where a torrential half-hour rainstorm happens almost every day, typically with lightning and a lot of it. And if there's any threat of hurricane, it will most likely happen during that time. But at least with that daily storm crap you can literally see it coming while driving on the highway. If up ahead you see a gray blur, that's a wall of rain. Slow down a lot and just power through it, or find a bridge and park underneath until it passes by (which motorcyclists and convertible owners do routinely).
When I do become a millionaire, because, y'know, I have goals, would I hop around the country only staying in places where the weather is perfect? No, because that means I'd have to own or rent multiple properties, and possibly have to manage multiple cars with multiple registrations for insurance, tags and whatnot. I don't want to juggle that mess.
It's better to know now that I never liked summer. Didn't like it when I was a kid, and have never truly enjoyed it at any time in my adult life. It's hot, it sucks, and I'm always glad when it's over. Do I hate summer? No. But I do hold some hatred for winter, and I'd be lying if I said otherwise. Not a lot. Just some.
Regardless of where I am, summer is very unlikely ever to be a thing where I think, "Oh, joy! It's summer!" That's not happening. And hopping around the country would be a fool's errand trying to escape summer heat, because it sucks everywhere.
As a kid, I spent most of the summer inside. As an adult, same, but I can go out more since I can drive at night (driving with the windows rolled down and feeling only wind with no A/C running is nice).
There are a few memories I have of actually having fun, as in real fun, during summer as a kid in the northeast. Many of them revolve around amusement parks. One of them was Rocky Point. Others were Aquaboggan in Maine and Water Country in New Hampshire (both of which are still running today). I even did Riverside back in the day, which is now Six Flags New England. Aside from that, dad took me to see races at Thompson Speedway and the fireworks shows local towns would put on for the Fourth of July. So yes, I did have some actual good summer times in the past.
These days, being my middle aged self knows all too well that summer heat sucks no matter where I am, I plan for it.
If Thing is an event I can drive to and enjoy without too much hassle at night, okay, good. If Thing is something I drive to during the day, can I park the car in shade or in a parking garage? If yes, okay, good. If no, I make sure to have my sunshade ready.
I even plan for sucky summer heat for normal errand running. Attention is given to whether I can do Thing during day or night, the routes I'm going to take, what traffic I may encounter, whether where I'm going has parking OUT of the sun or not, and so on.
For parking specifically, if Thing is something that for whatever reason is done during a hell-hot summer afternoon, I will purposely park in shade even if that means an extra minute or two of walking is required across the parking lot to get to the building. It is absolutely and totally worth it to sweat a little on that walk so I don't have to deal with that stupid shade. Yeah, I'm glad to have the shade, but if I can avoid using it, I will, every time.
I've lived in enough places to understand there is nowhere in the United States that has 100% perfect weather year round. But I have learned to pay attention to sunrise and sunset times.
In order, this is how light works over the course of a day:
Night, Astrological Twilight, Nautical Twilight, Civil Twilight, Daylight, Civil Twilight, Nautical Twilight, Astrological Twilight, back to Night.
Civil Twilight is by far the best time of the day during summer. It is the time of the day where daylight is visible but the sun cannot be seen. In other words, it's visible daylight before sunrise, and visible daylight after sunset. Not exactly dawn and dusk, but very close to it.
Both of these periods are about a half-hour each. Even on the nastiest hottest summer days, the weather usually feels pretty nice during those times. It is especially good when driving on a Sunday. And if near the ocean, the beginning or tail end (depending on time of day) of nautical twilight is visible to add in another 15 minutes or so.
These are times of the day when not only does summer weather feel nice (usually), but there is also the least eye strain just looking around at things outside.
Pity that these times of the day are so short, but hey, it is something to look forward to every day, so there's that.
The sunrise/sunset stuff was important to recognize because I can enjoy it anywhere during summer no matter where I am. No need to take a big vacation or anything like that. Just pick where you are, set an alarm on your watch or phone for when civil twilight begins and enjoy the half-hour when it comes.
I know I do.
casio w221h, one month later
A little over a month ago, I bought a W221H, still have it, and it's still on my wrist.
It's interesting what has happened in the month's time that I've owned it.
The price online for one of these has thankfully dropped significantly, but only for the white one. The black version is definitely more popular.
I've bounced back and forth between the W221H, WS1600H and W735H. The WS1600H has the best date display, no question. The W735H has the best night light, also with no question. But the huge time display on the W221H... wow.
It's not that I can't read the time on the other two watches, as I totally can. But the time digits on the W221H absolutely dwarf those on almost any other Casio digital model. Yes, almost. More on that in a moment.
With the W735H for example, the time digits are literally half the size of the digits on the W221H. And bear in mind the W735H is physically larger than the W221H is.
Using an analog comparison, this is like comparing a Seiko Presage to a Seiko Prospex PADI. Both tell the time just fine, but the PADI with its thick hands and the hour hand being an arrow (on most PADI models) will always be more legible.
The W221H is the only Casio digital with huge time digits in a smaller case. Otherwise, you have to go with one of two physically large models, AE1500 or AE1600.
I'm aware of the AE1700 also, but that one is just weird. A digital with a timer bezel? Makes no sense. But the time digits are huge.
I did own the AE1500 briefly, but didn't care for that model and returned it, and I know why. I forgot that I prefer square or rectangle with digital. Momentary brain fart there.
Yes, this means I may pick up the AE1600 at some point. While very blocky looking, so is the W221H, and I like that just fine.
The only functional complaint I have about the W221H is that it loses 1 to 2 seconds a week, which for a quartz digital isn't bad at all.