Car mounting....

Nunners · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 09, 2004 Posts: 10

I've got a HP 2210, bluetooth gps, and Sony Ericsson T610.... and not forgetting a Renault Megane..

I've been trying to find a reasonable solution for mounting these in my car for about a year now, and seem to find something, which is initially great, but then fails after a while....

I've currently got a suction pad for the mobile, which fixes to the windscreen, however both the sticker that holds the plastic pad that the suction connects to, and also the suction pad itself, have now started falling off repeatedly; which whilst driving is extremely annoying!

Not forgetting the PDA. Same sort of scenario, tried sticky pads using the mount on the top of my dashboard, but again, this has started falling off, when in use - the last time, while I was on the motorway at about 80 mph - not fun in the outside lane, with a pda wrapped around your feet!

I've thought about using screw fixings, but as I'm likely to want to sell my car, in the near future, I don't really want to ruin the dashboard.

Does anyone have any good suggestions?

Cheers
Nunners

dlegros · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 03, 2004 Posts: 30

Have a look at Ram Mounts, there is a review on this site - http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/rammounts.php

They are available to buy from GPS Warehouse.

I have set up a Ram Mount for TomTom in my Ford Focus as the currently supplied kit doesn't fit anywhere useful. The adhesive pad is VERY sticky!

Dom

smiffyz · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 23, 2004 Posts: 21

Nunners, have you thought of screwing it to something that you can replace like the plastic cover on the on the side of the windscreen (£20) or the cover to the left of your steering wheel etc.
By the time you've looked around and faffed about you can have it done. (thats what i did)

MikeB · Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2004 10:35 pm Post subject:

One of the best mounting systems is the Brodit ProClip which fits most cars these are a base platform on which you can attach all sorts of holders. As they make these clips for many different types of car they are sometimes on a bit of a lead time, but it it worth the wait.

Check out the various Brodit reviews on the site under GPS Accessories.
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Mike Barrett

Nunners · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 09, 2004 Posts: 10

Going with the Brodit solutions - it comes out at £80 for both phone and pda holder, but it looks well worth it - also, I'll be able to buy a differnt proclip when I get a new car!

I'll post the pictures when I get it - hopefully this week.....

Darren · Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2004 6:20 pm Post subject:

I'm a Brodit and Carcomm evangelist and can't praise them highly enough, they fit well, look great and if you buy a new vehicle you need only change the Clip.

Given the cost of the equipment you're mounting it's a worthwhile investment.
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Darren Griffin

Damian_27 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 18, 2003 Posts: 15

Darren,

What do you prefer - the brodit or the Carcomm mount? The Carcomm appears to be in the same material as the Nokia mobile phone kits and looks like a good match. Any significant differences in their quality or use though?

Thanks,

Damian

Darren · Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 7:45 pm Post subject:

A diificult question to answer. I have my XDAII mounted low down in a Carcomm cradle where my Nokia Carkit was and it looks and works superbly. Higher up on the dash I have two Brodit Cradles for my 2210 and Smartphone.

I honestly can't seperate them, the Carcomm is very well engineered and looks like an OEM carkit cradle albeit for a PDA. The Brodit's are simpler in design but work equally well and their simpler construction works better for me when mounted high-up as PDA's often need to be when used for GPS being less obtrusive.

The plus point of the Carcomm is the built-in serial ports, I have mine connected to a boot mounted GPS Receiver but you can (with an adapter) connect Haicomm, TomTom, Leadtek and any other PS/2 or RS-232 GPS Receiver which makes for a great fitted system.
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Darren Griffin

Damian_27 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 18, 2003 Posts: 15

Darren,

Thanks as ever for the response.

I can't call it but have decided on gut feel to go for the Carcomm. It will be mounted quite high up in my Focus on a Dashmount clip but offers some additional functionality (and a good price).

Now, I've got an issue with the GPS reciever. Was hoping that Origin would deliver on one of the additional selling points of the B2, i.e. the GPS output but have given up.

A CF solution seems useful given its ease of use (i.e. no connecting through bluetooth, no additional power required, etc). The Syson CF Plus seems a good option but the my only problem is that I have an heated windscreen. I'm not sure what the actual effect will be but may chance it - I gues it call always be returned for a bluetooth receiver, etc.

Anyway, thanks for your help so far.

Best wishes,

Damian

Darren · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:59 pm Post subject:

Damian, do you have a requirement to use the GPS away from the car? If not then my recommendation would be a wired GPS Mouse plumbed into the Carcomm cradle. As I said earlier, the Carcomm has both RS-232 and PS/2 inputs and with an adapter lead will couple to a TomTom/Leadtek or Haicomm receiver.
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Darren Griffin

Damian_27 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 18, 2003 Posts: 15

Darren,

I don't have a major requirement to use GPS outside of the car, although it may come in use when on foot in town.

I'm still a bit miffed that Origin never brought out the GPS output as it would have solved the problem. I was just impressed with the review of the Syson and its compactness but if I'm honest I'm not quite sure what is best - have a made a major mistake going for the Syson CF? If I have, do you know a good alternative.

I've just ordered the Syson from Global Positioning Systems but can always amend the order, oops...

Thanks for the quick response.

Damian

Darren · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 9:21 pm Post subject:

Were it me I'd go for a fixed GPS Mouse install, instant lock, no need to re-charge a BT receiver and far fewer problems and issues make it the best solution for in-car use. Consider the Leadtek or TomTom Wired GPS Mice, e.g. the Leadtek 9532 coupled with the £5 Carcomm converter cable (Leadtek make the TomTom GPS Mosue so the RJ-11 connector is identical). You can mount the mouse in the corner of the screen to avoid issues with coated windscreens, connect it directly to the cradle and have a nice neat install.
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Darren Griffin

arfurdaily · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 30, 2004 Posts: 8

have a look at this dual mounted cradle available on ebay, suction held to the windscreen and only £30, a cheap and easy solution.
Dave 8)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58538&item=5119003371&rd=1

Damian_27 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 18, 2003 Posts: 15

Darren,

Thanks for the info.

The wired GPS looks good and would be easy to connect to the Carcomm but what is the situation with the power. I gues it will need to have a standalone power source which would mean more hardwriring or messy cig. lighter connections. I already have an Origin B2, Nokia car kit pending Carcomm mount and the potential GPS mouse so I guess hardwiring is the answer.

Its a shame the power to the mouse could not be reversed from the PDA/Carcomm mount to the GPS, as opposed to powering the mount through the mouse connection.

I like the Carcomm mount so I guess there is no point in looking for a passive mount where I could connect the power supply from the mouse directly to the PDA.

Decisions, decisions - I guess no one ever said buying getting a sat nav setup was easy...

Thanks for the input, I gues I'm nearly there with a solution.

Damian

Darren · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2004 7:07 am Post subject:

The GPS Mouse is powered from the Carcomm Cradle using the same single connector Smile

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Darren Griffin

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