Charging Car Dock

[reasonableperson]

Rather than using the non-charging suction cup car mount, I'm thinking of using the multimedia dock in my car to hold and charge my Droid. I'm also thinking of using a Blackberry Bluetooth Gateway to transmit the audio through my speakers. That way I can simply drop my Droid into the dock and have it automatically charge and connect through my stereo system.

Before I get any of these parts, does anyone have any thoughts or issues you think I may run into?

One of the things I'm wondering about is whether I can modify the placement of the magnet in the multimedia dock. Is it possible to at least remove the built-in magnet? And possibly replace or flip the magnet to trick the droid into thinking it's a car mount?


Amazon.com: BlackBerry Remote Stereo Bluetooth Gateway for BlackBerry 8100, 8110, 8120, 8130, 8300, 8310, 8320, 8330, 8800, 8820, 8830, 9000 (Black): Cell Phones & Service

 

[CRPercodani]

One thing about that is you always have to keep it plugged in (the BB BT gateway) with the usb, so why not just use the 3.5 to go straight to your car's AUX input. It would be less wire I think, from what I see you need to have this thing plugged into the AUX of your stereo AND into a car charger since it has no battery so it seems like a extra step. As far as the MM dock you can't move the magnet or anything unless you cut it up yourself and reversed it.

 

[Redflea]

Rather than using the non-charging suction cup car mount, I'm thinking of using the multimedia dock in my car to hold and charge my Droid. I'm also thinking of using a Blackberry Bluetooth Gateway to transmit the audio through my speakers. That way I can simply drop my Droid into the dock and have it automatically charge and connect through my stereo system.

Before I get any of these parts, does anyone have any thoughts or issues you think I may run into?

One of the things I'm wondering about is whether I can modify the placement of the magnet in the multimedia dock. Is it possible to at least remove the built-in magnet? And possibly replace or flip the magnet to trick the droid into thinking it's a car mount?


Amazon.com: BlackBerry Remote Stereo Bluetooth Gateway for BlackBerry 8100, 8110, 8120, 8130, 8300, 8310, 8320, 8330, 8800, 8820, 8830, 9000 (Black): Cell Phones & Service

Likely you could move the magnet if you're "that kind of guy" (the kind that takes things apart w/out turning them into a pile of broken pieces and can put them back together). You could also leave it as-is, and simply hit home and then select the Car Home app...it has been shown that it only takes one magnet to engage the two modes (multimedia dock/car).

Where/How are you going to hold/attach the multimedia dock in your car?

 

[MileHighAko]

A few concerns:
1. Bumps, bumps, bumps. I'd worry that you might damage the phone's usb port as it isn't exactly super snug in the dock.
2. Go around a really sharp curve, get rear ended, or get into some other accident, and your phone potentially becomes a projectile.

The car dock keeps the phone in place, snug in the cradle. Although inconvenient to manually plug in the power each time, it might be worth it, depends on how important #1 and #2 above are. That's up to you.

I agree that it's a bummer that the car dock doesn't have a charging option. I also am disappointed that the phone's camera lens is covered up by the dock, it would have made a great dashboard camera otherwise.

 

[Jon Nale]

1. Bumps, bumps, bumps. I'd worry that you might damage the phone's usb port as it isn't exactly super snug in the dock.

I would agree with this. The phone doesn't really snap in to the media dock, It simply just rests on it. The USB part obviously goes into the phone, but that doesn't give it the proper sturdiness for driving. I would be worried that any bumps would cause the phone to fall out of the dock.

 

[Dave17]

I agree with others that suggest that the phone could jump out of the dock in the car. Might want to stick with the car dock and put up with the PITA that is the separate charger.

I also am disappointed that the phone's camera lens is covered up by the dock, it would have made a great dashboard camera otherwise.

Agreed. I have been thinking about getting a second car dock (well, just the cradle if that's possible) to see if it could be modified to allow the camera to be used. In looking it over, it wouldn't be as simple as drilling a hole for the camera.

 

[reasonableperson]

http://enfigcarstereo.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/media/2POINT5_AUDI8PV2I.jpg

 

[booone0]

Thank you for posting this. I never heard of these.

I just got my Droid set up with an FM Modulator in my car. Sound quality is not perfect, but way better than my FM transmitter which was recently stolen.

I think I'm going to pick one of these up to complete the kit, and then I'll only have the car charger to plug in if I am using my Droid for a longer period. My drive to school/work is only 20 minutes, so I don't really foresee myself using the car charger in that amount of time.

Does it pair quickly with this/other bluetooth devices? Does sound quality suffer too much?

 

[reasonableperson]

I actually am "that kind of guy." Here's a link to my all time favorite website: Make: Online

Their motto: "if you can't open it, you don't own it."

 

[barry99705]

get rear ended, or get into some other accident, and your phone potentially becomes a projectile.

That little suction cup thingy isn't going to prevent this either. It will let go, or the double sided tape holding the disk on the dash will let go. Most likely a combination of the two.