I had been using the Mountek nGroove Snap for almost two years, but the thing they don't tell you in the product description is that the Mountek will compress and destroy the foam protector in your CD Player. When you take it out, your CD Player will look like a Hillbilly's smile.
I just bought a new car, and I didn't want that to happen again. I've always been interested in ProClip's offerings, since they are custom molded to fit your car, but the high price always put me off. For my car, I'd have to shell out 30 bucks for the custom mold and another 50 for the adjustable iOauto Pro Magnetic mount. Also, I couldn't find any posting anywhere that said that the iOauto Pro would hold the Nexus 5 securely without adding the included metal plate. I prefer my Nexus 5 naked.
My solution combines the Mountek nGroove and ProClip that more or less works perfectly with my Nexus 5 (I'll get to the drawback in a second)
Since I already had the nGroove, all I needed to buy was the Custom ProClip mount for my car ($30) and an AMPS ball adapter ($9.95), which I found on Amazon (search for iBOLT AMPS Adapter Plate).
The iBOLT comes with screws that are a little too big for the ProClip mount, so what I did was widen the holes on the ProClip with a power drill until they fit. Since both the iBOLT and ProClip use the AMPS standard, the holes lined up perfectly.
I'm happy with the finished product, although the ball on the iBOLT and the ball of the Mountek have a different texture. This made the Mountek piece sit a little too snug against the iBOLT ball. I'm thinking about sanding down the iBOLT ball until it can click into place.
Thanks for reading!
that looks awesome. id love to see some more pictures of it actually in the car. i might have just found my car clip!
Thanks for the setup. I was looking for a solution to this exactly. BTW you can take that yellow sticker off if you didnt know.
Thought that Proclip mount looked familiar. I have an XV Crosstrek and it looks like you either have an XV or impreza.
Related
I've always liked the simple use of the Garmin GPS clipping system, you just snap the unit in and that's it. When I saw the Kensington mounting system, I was ecstatic but then disappointed to find out that it would not work with my Seidio Innocase. I ended up staying with my MOBI vent mount but the vent clips aren't secure enough and the whole unit slides around when I turn and go over bumps so I went on ebay to purchased a Garmin GPS vent mount to use the coiled spring vent clips so it'll hug the vent. Turns out those spring clips don't attach to my MOBI vent mount. At this time I figured I'd just disassemble the two and get a $60 solution from ProClips. This is when I discovered my perfect solution. I just took a piece of foam from the MOBI unit and taped it to the wider clip of the Garmin GPS clipping unit and now my EVO holds securely with or without my Seidio case. It doesn't have to be a vent mount, as long as you have the Garmin GPS clippping unit and a 17mm ball mount. I've included a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri0AWroEzhQ
So I pretty much just bought this GPS vent mount from ebay user chxee (seems to be the only one selling them for cheap starting at 99cents. I got mine for $2.75, I've seen some going for just 99cent free shipping.)
Garmin air vent mount nuvi 255w
The foam piece can be purchased from a crafts store.
Anyways, here are the pics:
Try heating it up with a hair dryer and see if you can permanently bend it. Should work, and might be the perfect solution.
i thought about that, it was my last resort. but now with this foam workaround i think the foam gives it an extra grip to keep it from sliding.
How does that mount hold in your vent. I see it's similar to this one. http://cgi.ebay.com/Car-Air-Vent-Mo...EVO-4G-Black-/390229156793?pt=PDA_Accessories
I had a vent mount for my iPhone 3G but it was significantly lighter than the EVO, haha.
I ordered one (suction for $4.99 since I like that better), but I'm wondering if there's anything better than foam to use since that looks a bit tacky. I want it to look professional. Might try the hairdryer route, but am afraid of snappage. Let me know if you have any ideas.
Springs = CHINSEY
I had this car mount for my Evo 4G for about 2 weeks, and literally after taking the phone in and out of the cradle (Correctly, I might add. I wasn't tearing it out, rather pressing the release button, and then removing.) about twice a day for not even two weeks, both of the plastic connectors on the arm-end of the spring loaded clamp snapped off. Any suggestions on how we can reinforce this? If it hadn't snapped, I LOVED THIS THING!
I have been a longtime ProClip user, but I was tired of waiting for them to produce a holder. I really liked the OEM Verizon mount, so I bought one and found that it is quite easy to attach to a ProClip swivel mount (with move clip in my case). The Verizon mount is about $25-30, so it is actually cheaper than the ProClip part will be.
I did not take any "making of" pictures, but it is trivial to do it yourself. The back part of theh Verizon holder can be seperated from the front after removing four screws from the back. Then just drill two holes that match up with the swivel mount, find small screws to attach them, and reassemble the front of the Verizon mount.
I have several old holders that are useless, so I had parts around, and I really like the result. One downside is that you cannot access the center swivel mount screw to change the tension of the swivel wihout taking the whole thing apart, but I think I can live with it.
Brent
Nice work. I have considered doing exactly what you did. So does the phone enter a dock mode with that holder?
The phone does enter dock mode.
Brent
Nice! ProClip is second to none in quality and fit...but a few phone models later the price starts to add up. Personally I'm looking into either the tetax magnetic setup or the soundgate m2 to save some bucks.
Nice work for sure. If I stumble on a super cheap VW holder on eBay ill prolly do the same. Thanks for sharing.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
By pure chance I found out that my SIII with its slimline cover fitted works perfectly in my Garmin Nuvi 205 dash mount.
Secure and easy to mount, almost as if it was made for the S3.
The Garmin Part Number
Item 010-10936-00 Suction cup with bracket (Nuvi 2xx series)
Cost is around $10 - %15
Cover is a Cygnet BlackFrost Matte slim case (around $20)
I love finding a really good cost effective solution for my toys!!
Video Clip. Please excuse poor sound quality, had to dig out my old Olympus compact to make this,
Thanks, looking forward to the video.
good to know since Garmin has quality mounts.
Does it actually clip in? Is it firm?
If you remove the case, hows the fit?
Fits snugly, clips into the mount as if it was made for it,
Doesn't work without the cover though, phone is just to small,
Would be possible rather easily I might add to put some shrink tubing on the arms of the mount and build it up a little to hold the phone naked!
I wonder if it would fit with a tpu case. Your case seems pretty slim
ZaJules said:
By pure chance I found out that my SIII with its slimline cover fitted works perfectly in my Garmin Nuvi 205 dash mount.
Secure and easy to mount, almost as if it was made for the S3.
The Garmin Part Number
Item 010-10936-00 Suction cup with bracket (Nuvi 2xx series)
Cost is around $10 - %15
Cover is a Cygnet BlackFrost Matte slim case (around $20)
I love finding a really good cost effective solution for my toys!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the find. Do you think it would be able to fit the S3 with an Otterbox Commuter case on? My phone's approximately 7.7mm wide with the case on.
Cheers
Might fit but it would be tight, the rounded edges of the Cygnett case allows it to clip into the holder the otter box might be to square
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300TG using Tapatalk 2
my garmin gps always falls off from the windshield now..the suction cup doesn't hold..don't know how i'd feel putting my phone there..
am i suppose to wash it with soap or something to make it work again?
kl25 said:
my garmin gps always falls off from the windshield now..the suction cup doesn't hold..don't know how i'd feel putting my phone there..
am i suppose to wash it with soap or something to make it work again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should get a replacement one...They are super cheap on eBay. I have one that is over 7 years old (*back when standalone GPS units were +$300!) and it still works great.
kl25 said:
my garmin gps always falls off from the windshield now..the suction cup doesn't hold..don't know how i'd feel putting my phone there..
am i suppose to wash it with soap or something to make it work again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I fix that with alcohol. But then I fix everything with alcohol.
universal mount
I got this car mount from amazon.com
Search for Kropsson Aero universal mount.
the design of the mount was a great plus.
Feature wise, defiantly recommend.
proud a-clown said:
I fix that with alcohol. But then I fix everything with alcohol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:laugh::good:
couldn't have said it better myself!!!!
I can confirm this mount works great with the rock quicksand case. Easy to put in and take out and holds rock solid. Before the case showed up I had used a couple pieces of heat shrink tubing held on with electrical tape and it worked awesome with the naked galaxy s3.
I like this style of mount because you can position the phone with it gripping the middle, top or bottom to fine tune where the screen is in relation to your windshield.
I went with this one though, instead of one of the $5 options: (replace spaces with ., I don't have enough posts to post links) www amazon com/gp/product/B0042PJ8NY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00[/url]
It's the actual oem garmin mount instead of a knockoff, and judging by the reviews the difference is the mount that holds the ball is made of metal, so it won't break. It came with one of the 3m PE Foam adhesive backed discs for mounting to the dashboard as well. Highly recommended.
I just tried it. PERFECT fit with my diztronic TPU case. Thanks OP!
I've been thinking about creating my own wireless car dock. Basically I was thinking of using a case protector and trimming the edge off that locks the phone into the case to provide for easy insertion/removal from the "dock". On the back of the case I was going to cut an opening for the wireless charging transmitter...preferably one with magnets to assist with keeping the phone in place. Not sure if I'll just buy/use the Nexus 5 charger I currently have build my own. On the back of the charger I was going to attach one of the swiveling mounts which can then attach to one of the mounts similar to what the Pro.Fit mounting brackets and such use.
Any comments, concerns, better ideas?
sorry bro its been done.
The Air Dock
and the official website
http://www.theairdock.com/
undivide said:
sorry bro its been done.
The Air Dock
and the official website
http://www.theairdock.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really the same thing at all. The OP is looking for a solution that uses magnets. You could get a random car dock, trim any plastics past the ball joint to fit, epoxy a nexus wireless charger to it, and be done. That would work nicely.
did you even read anything about the air dock ?
you probably skipped over this part...
"Inside the Air Dock are magnets that pull the phone tightly into the foam face"
the FAQ also covers the nexus 5 & 7 + magnets
only reason I bothered posting the product is because the price seems reasonable when you consider how much it would cost to "rig up" something hack style which, in the end, would probably not function as well nor look as nice as the air dock does.
I realize the air dock exists...and it's $69. I already have numerous cases and Qi chargers I can use to do this. The only thing I really need is the swivel adapter and the bracket to install in the car. I think the air dock is great but I feel like I can create something very similar that would work just as good if not better and for less money. The way I look at it, the air dock is missing one thing that I would like just for my own piece of mind, especially since I drive in Pennsylvania a lot (and if you ever have driven in PA, you know you can practically lose your car in the potholes there). I like the idea of a case/surround that doesn't require it to "snap in" to but provides just enough support for a solid hit so it doesn't pop out/off. Basically my idea is very similar to the air dock except it includes a case around the charger part. The way I look at it, even if I were to buy everything to make this, I can still make it cheaper than the air dock. The "case" I would hack apart I can get as cheap as $10 or less, and I already have 3 spares. The charger can be had for around $12 (even if I want to buy just the coil and PCB) unless I want to spend a lot and get another nexus charger which is $50. The only other thing I need is the adapter and mount which is about $9-15. So I can make the same thing for as little as $31-$37.
hey man thanks for writing back ! yes I used to live in PA near philly, now I live south of wilmington DE, this winter has been hell ! my rearview mirror fell off 2 weeks ago from hitting a pothole so I see your concern. one of the reasons why I stopped mounting my phone in my car (used to have an iphone 5) I bought a cheap mount from walmart as you can see here they say the stickiness lasts awhile as long as you wet it when it starts to dry out however mine will no longer get its stick back so its worthless to me.
are you going to fix mount this to your dash, or suction cup it to your window ? the latter I would not recommend
I'm sure you've seen the ram mounts x-grip, it looks top notch and I think if I ever upgrade from the cupholder recess in my scion my phone would be so lucky to find its place there.
sometimes I rest it in front of my stereo so I dont have to look at the word "aux" while the music's on!
Pandages said:
Not really the same thing at all. The OP is looking for a solution that uses magnets. You could get a random car dock, trim any plastics past the ball joint to fit, epoxy a nexus wireless charger to it, and be done. That would work nicely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what I did just yesterday lol.. iMagnet dock with the Qi Nexus charger. The iMagnet dock has 4 strong mangets on the end, well I took those and put them on the plates that you're supposed to put in between a case and phone and glued them together to create a flat surface for the nexus charger.
It works perfect for me. Also had to order a charger to support the nexus charger.
iMagnet Dock
Car Charger
Truck is dirty, shhhh waiting for a nice day to clean it, damn you Michigan!
I know what I'm getting with my next paycheck
I just hope the magnet on that dock is strong enough to hold my phone through its fairly thick silicone case
ilikethepenkils said:
That's exactly what I did just yesterday lol.. iMagnet dock with the Qi Nexus charger. The iMagnet dock has 4 strong mangets on the end, well I took those and put them on the plates that you're supposed to put in between a case and phone and glued them together to create a flat surface for the nexus charger.
It works perfect for me. Also had to order a charger to support the nexus charger.
iMagnet Dock
Car Charger
Truck is dirty, shhhh waiting for a nice day to clean it, damn you Michigan!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's pretty similar to what I want to do, although I was thinking of taking a Nexus 5 case and cutting a hole in the back and epoxying it to the charger two allow 2 things. One is to provide a little extra support for severe potholes and also to allow the wireless charger to sit directly on the phone maximizing the charge rate. I was going to cut the lip off around the edge of the case so the phone can just be placed into the case instead of snapping it in since the magnets will take care of the bulk of keeping the phone in place while the sides of the case will just provide extra support. Just an idea. If anything I'll start off with the same/similar thing as what you have and possibly add the case idea if I notice issues of slipping or popping off with pot holes.
As for how/where I was going to mount it (2009 Scion XB), I was thinking of either mounting near the stick shift or possibly to the right of the stereo. Either way I'd rather have something relatively close to the top of the dash. The stick shift would be too low but at least it's accessible if I need to take a quick glance at it.
undivide said:
I know what I'm getting with my next paycheck
I just hope the magnet on that dock is strong enough to hold my phone through its fairly thick silicone case
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Cruzerlite TPU cases. They've always served their purpose well for me at least. The magnets on the Nexus 5 Qi charger are pretty strong without a case. With the cruzerlite cases it's not quite as strong but it does hold a bit. Probably wouldn't hold well hitting a series of potholes though. I guess it also depends on how vertical it would be to. I would imagine it would have a better chance of breaking loose completely vertical as opposed to some angle to it.
ParadingLunatic said:
That's pretty similar to what I want to do, although I was thinking of taking a Nexus 5 case and cutting a hole in the back and epoxying it to the charger two allow 2 things. One is to provide a little extra support for severe potholes and also to allow the wireless charger to sit directly on the phone maximizing the charge rate. I was going to cut the lip off around the edge of the case so the phone can just be placed into the case instead of snapping it in since the magnets will take care of the bulk of keeping the phone in place while the sides of the case will just provide extra support. Just an idea. If anything I'll start off with the same/similar thing as what you have and possibly add the case idea if I notice issues of slipping or popping off with pot holes..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in an apartment complex with speedbumps.. Made the truck go about 40-ish and the phone didn't even budge.. so you should be good. lol
I know what I'm getting with my next paycheck
I just hope the magnet on that dock is strong enough to hold my phone through its fairly thick silicone case
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My N5 is without case currently. Every case I have is too bulky and just eh, thinking about trying the poetic bumper one Ive seen on amazon..
I Made this
DIY wireless car charger: http://youtu.be/dDH2_auNWVs
It would actually be nice if there were a thread specifically for DIY Qi charger projects which included pics/plans etc. I guess creativity and the search feature will have to suffice for now.
I was also thinking of building my own Qi charger. I'd like my case to be much smaller though, similar to the Nexus 5 Qi charger. I was thinking of stacking the coil on top of the PCB but I'm not sure what shielding if any is required between the coil and the PCB.
If only that new NXP semiconductor solution were available right now. Check it out here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50hjojLLDww. Nothing much you can do about the size of the coil, but that tiny PCB is freaking sweet.
ilikethepenkils said:
That's exactly what I did just yesterday lol.. iMagnet dock with the Qi Nexus charger. The iMagnet dock has 4 strong mangets on the end, well I took those and put them on the plates that you're supposed to put in between a case and phone and glued them together to create a flat surface for the nexus charger.
It works perfect for me. Also had to order a charger to support the nexus charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bingo! This is exactly what I was suggesting. I think I'll wind up doing the same. I've got one of the CHOE Qi chargers at home, but it is magnet-less. I'm also picking up a PowerBot unit to throw on my desk at the office.
I think you'll find that using a case to hold the phone snugly is not only overkill but also a hassle. Magnets work great on their own, but having a rubbery surface makes it even better.
I have the Air Dock (see here) myself but am considering downsizing to an official Nexus 5 charger fixed to a ProClip (see here) This would not only be smaller but also sturdier. First I might affix the Air Dock itself to the ProClip and see if that satisfies me.
Definitely happy with the Air Dock, though. Great product. The guy making them is great as well.
active nfc, Qi & bluetooth car dock
Hi all, I''ve been messing about with different versions of this for months now, since i had my Nexus 4. When i changed my car last year, the new one came fitted with an active, adjustable Brodit/Proclip iPod dock and a Parrot bluetooth system
The first thing i did was removed the active ipod plug from the bottom of the mount and replaced it with a standard micro usb for the Nexus.
Then i added an nfc tag to trigger a LLama event to switch on bluetooth and start music playback when connected
I decided i didn't like the Parrot system so i removed it and went back to the Belkin Aircast Auto i had from my last car and routed all the cables behind the dash to the lighter socket
Then i thought i'd try a cheap "puck" Qi charger. The jaws on the old ipod mount are very deep and the puck fitted in behind the phone nicely, with the nfc tag on top (first pic). The phone charged well even while streaming bluetooth, but would only maintain charge while using bluetooth and Sat Nav. together, so i kept the option to unplug the Qi and use wired charging when i needed more juice. The charger was a little wider than the phone, hence the foam and slight "v" angle on the mount jaws to hold it firmly
So last week i ordered a new pull tab slip case for my phone and the one that arrived was too small, so i thought it was time to break the guts out of the Qi charger (unclip the 2 halves and remove 4 screws to release a one piece coil and circuit board) and tidy the mount up a bit.
I made a taller plastic backplate for the brodit mount, stuck the circuit board to it with mounting tape and stuck the nfc tag directly to the centre of the coil. Then i added packing to even out the thickness of the whole piece and altered the slip case so it would slide over everything while leaving an access flap so i can still use the wired charger cable when necessary (pics 2 & 3)
If this works well i'll rebuild the charging "sandwich" from better plastic to decrease the thickness a little, then i'll fit an extra lighter socket behind the stereo for the charger
would be interested in something good to use with Fire Phone while navigating (and possible video registrator as well)
Because 300+ have viewed with no response I guess I will...lol. I think any holder that gets good reviews would work!
I am using a Mountek nGroove Snap 3 Magnetic mount, it goes in the cd slot. I use the large metal plate inside my case between the layers. I am using this case:
i-Blason Amazon Fire Phone Case- Armadillo Series 2 Layer [Ultra Slim]
Search both of those at Amazon to see pics.
Heavy phone it moves around a bit, but hasn't fallen off. I use the same setup with a Galaxy Note 2 with an extended battery which is pretty heavy, and it only fell off once or twice.
I use the Aduro U-GRIP PLUS Universal Dashboard Windshield Car Mount for Smartphones. Got it on Amazon for $10 and it works very well. Takes both hands to put the phone in it, but once it's in it stays put. An added bonus is that the actual holder part can be attached to the ball mounts that come with Garmin GPS (which I already had), so it can be used with any Garmin type holder (look at the last pic on Amazon to see what I mean).
Just got the Magnetic Phone Mount Suction Technology By Gizmount from Amazon. It was on a lightning deal so I grabbed it. Has the same Garmin type holder like the one above but uses a magnet to hold the phone. It works really well and doesn't take two hands to put the phone on or take it off.
I too use a magnetic holder that attaches to the CD holder. I love it. I also bought a $5 magnetic suction cup holder and use it at my desk. Works so great! I also did a little modding of the Amazon charger so it is magnetic too and I can just stick my phone to it to charge (I plan on writing up the howto for this soon). If anyone wants more info/links, let me know.