Car dock?

[Nidisa]

Does the car dock exist yet? The one that puts the car into car dock mode is the one I'm looking for. Nothing on Verizonwireless page

 

[CRPercodani]

It's on the VZW page, I bought mine on there already. Hold on I will get the link. Enter your location

 

[Nidisa]

Huh....that just wouldn't show up on my page. Just listed car chargers. Showed the multimedia dock, but not the vehicle mount. Thanks!!

 

[raphytaffy]

People who own the car dock.. thoughts?

 

[Gunner]

Ordered mine direct from VZW website. Got free overnight ship + 20% off.

It works well. Nice to have a mount that's purpose built for the Droid. Better than my old universal mount. Snaps in and snaps out easily. Just wish it had come w/ an air vent option. Don't really want to use it stuck to my windshield or dash. I'm currently using just the actual mount piece, and have it attached to an old vent clip. Works well this way.

 

[CRPercodani]

Actually it is under Headsets & Mounts, I had trouble finding it the first time too. @raphytaffy I think the Car Cradle is really nice, the suction cup is a good one and it doesn't fall off a lot like some do. Also it is extremely adjustable and you shouldn't have any trouble getting it to a proper viewing angle. The only downsides to it are that if you corner to fast or sharply it might confuse the accelerometer and go into portrait mode, also if you hit to many bumps it can shake a little bit. The biggest thing is if you have a loud system (bass) in your car, it will vibrate the windshield so much that the accelerometer gets confused again.

 

[raphytaffy]

The biggest thing is if you have a loud system (bass) in your car, it will vibrate the windshield so much that the accelerometer gets confused again.

Lol damn, that could be a future problem.. what are you bumping in your car?

Also, once the accelerometer is confused and goes into portrait is the only way to fix it to unmount and shake it back into landscape? That could be annoying.

 

[stevenfstein]

would be great if they came out with a beanbag mount like the Garmin. Anyone know if one exists?

Regards.... Steve

 

[CRPercodani]

I have a Kicker 15" Solo Baric L7 in a 4.6 cu. ft vented box tuned to 44hz running off a Kicker 2500.1 mono amp. It will keep trying to fix it self and once you turn it down it goes back to normal, I will give you a link to a video I took of it happening. Check out the first video Android Overdrive - View topic - Better GPS AND Car Home video reviews

 

[CRPercodani]

would be great if they came out with a beanbag mount like the Garmin. Anyone know if one exists?

Regards.... Steve

Well I have seen those beanbags sold by themselves and you just use the suction cup to mount it so it can already be done.

 

[Gunner]

For those of you who plan to windshield mount your Droid, I'd make sure you have the bottom of the Droid resting on your dash, not just floating in the air. Eventually...it will fall off if you have it just cantilevered out into the air. Anything I've ever had on a windshield mount would fall off eventually if wasn't fully supported by the dash. Which is why I just go w/ a vent clip.

 

[Nidisa]

Where does one get a vent clip? Then can that attach to the mount that holds the Droid?

 

[vincentp]

It exists.. I bought it on day 1 when I bought the phone. It doesn't look like it has anything special going on with it; I'm pretty sure it just activates car mode via a magnetic sensor of some sort. It's just a holding arm that you can mount on the windshield or dashboard, and it should be on Verizon's website.

 

[zandroid]

Just got mine and mounted it to the dash, a must have if you're going to be using the navigation software a lot.

 

[colnago]

would be great if they came out with a beanbag mount like the Garmin. Anyone know if one exists?

Regards.... Steve

Use any mount that works for you, and the DROID, and install the "Car Home" app from the Market. Its an app to put the DROID in "Car mode" at any time. That way you won't have to worry about the magnets to change modes.

 

[zandroid]

would be great if they came out with a beanbag mount like the Garmin. Anyone know if one exists?

Regards.... Steve

check out this thread
http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid/16665-car-cradle-what-do-you-think.html

 

[michaelk]

Where does one get a vent clip? Then can that attach to the mount that holds the Droid?

if you have some spare bucks- you can get a proclip and then attach the actual holder from the car mount to that.

the proclips are like custom molded peices of plasic that snap into the nooks and crannies of your car's dash. The few I've had a are very sturdy. All withoug foam tape, suction cups, wobbly vent clips, or the like.

I've got a car monut on order and if it looks like I can unattach the actuall holder from the suction cup gooseneck I'll be picking up the proclip to attach it to the car.

 

[michaelk]

Use any mount that works for you, and the DROID, and install the "Car Home" app from the Market. Its an app to put the DROID in "Car mode" at any time. That way you won't have to worry about the magnets to change modes.

isn't car home the one that comes on the device out of hte box?

I think the home dock app is the one at the Market

no?

 

[colnago]

isn't car home the one that comes on the device out of hte box?

I think the home dock app is the one at the Market

no?

I think you're right...haven't slept in 48 hours, and been playin' with AnyCut to get some things working. Evrerything is blending together at this point.

FWIW, I have a Bracketron universal mount, that I strapped onto my visor. It comes with vent mounts and something else...I think. The clamps are fully adjustable and puts the device a lot closer, and out of the way when parked. It can be mounted portrait, or landscape.

 

[GorillaTheHutt]

i'm actually pretty disappointed with the car dock. actually, i guess it's the Car Home mode in android 2.0 (which in turn means the car dock isn't useful). below are my complaints...feel free to offer solutions.

1. phone does not default to speaker phone in car home. this is the deal breaker for me. it renders the droid useless as a phone, since you can't easily grab it and put it by your ear when it's in the car dock (not to mention that is illegal in CA).

2. display backlight problems in car home. i notice that if i DO get or make a call when the droid is in the dock, when it turns the screen off it can be very difficult to turn it back on. in fact, usually i have to remove it from the dock and slide the keyboard to turn the screen on again. this means i can't hang up the phone, turn on speaker phone, press number buttons, etc.

3. no way to make backlight stay on. ideally you want the backlight to stay on the whole time it is in car mode so you can follow the navigation/see the map/not have to deal with the issues mentioned in 2. i know this would use battery, but it should at least be an option. setting it to always be on while charging doesn't work for me, because then when i charge it at night the screen stays on.

 

[Gunner]

Where does one get a vent clip? Then can that attach to the mount that holds the Droid?

Any online gps store or cell phone store will have them. I currently have the Droid mount - just the rectangular plastic piece - attached to an old vent clip that went w/ a universal phone holder. I'm probably just gonna roll with it like that. It's clean, outta sight, and unobtrusive.

 

[Gunner]

isn't car home the one that comes on the device out of hte box?

I think the home dock app is the one at the Market

no?

Car Home is pre-installed on the Droid. The Home dock mode doesn't have a shortcut anywhere that I've seen, but the 3rd party app on the Market can turn it on.

 

[Gunner]

@Gorilla:

1. I agree.

2. I don't seem to have this problem. I believe my screen always stays on. I also use a BT headset when in the car, so I don't have to touch the Droid to answer or end a call. I use voice dialing to make calls.

3. My backlight stays on all the time when navigating. Used it on a 4hr drive, and it was always on. There must be an option somewhere that I've turned on. There also apps you can get that will keep the screen on/awake for any particular program. One is called Awake, I think.

 

[Arsonman]

Is there an app that turns the Droid into the same mode as the car dock. I am already returning the multimedia dock because of the app.

 

[GorillaTheHutt]

@Gorilla:

1. I agree.

2. I don't seem to have this problem. I believe my screen always stays on. I also use a BT headset when in the car, so I don't have to touch the Droid to answer or end a call. I use voice dialing to make calls.

3. My backlight stays on all the time when navigating. Used it on a 4hr drive, and it was always on. There must be an option somewhere that I've turned on. There also apps you can get that will keep the screen on/awake for any particular program. One is called Awake, I think.

right now i use a combination of ScreenModeWidget (which can toggle always on) and Car Mode (which toggles speaker phone) to accomplish what i want...but it's kinda sad that i have to run these 2 apps every time i get in the car (and again when i leave).