Car Cradle - What do YOU think?

The only problem with all of those mounts is that there are no magnets to activate the droid into car Home, which you can manually do. Also somone mentioned that if you don't use the verizon craddle then the phone will also shut off so you will need to hit the power button to turn back on or set the screen to not time out.

Phoenixdroid said:

The only problem with all of those mounts is that there are no magnets to activate the droid into car Home, which you can manually do. Also somone mentioned that if you don't use the verizon craddle then the phone will also shut off so you will need to hit the power button to turn back on or set the screen to not time out.

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The phone cradle that is included with the Verizon dock is what has the magnets. That cradle has the Dual T-Notch plate on it as well and allows for you to mount it to nearly any compatible AMPS mounting plate.

There is an app on your phone called Car Home which is the same thing as if the magnets initiated the app switch. So technically you don't NEED a magnetic mount to use the Car Home feature.

Prior to the Droid I had an iPhone 3G and the mount in my car had the iPhone cradle attached to my mount. The day I picked up the Droid, I got in my car and put the Droid in my iPhone cradle (yes it just fit fine). The phone didn't switch into Car Home mode of course b/c I wasn't using the magnetic mount at the time. I opened Google Maps and Navigated back home. The whole time I did that, the screen never shut off. I didn't even have a car charger plugged in. So I really think it's the app you use that can determine if the screen will turn off or not.

-Z

I have the Motorola car dock from Verizon. Other than it being absurdly large (as compared to a typical GPS mount), it's great.

I find it strange that the phone doesn't default to Speakerphone while docked - so that's an additional button that needs pressed after placing or receiving a call.

And the fact that you still need to swipe left or right to accept/decline a call is annoying. Its not so easy to do while driving and not necessary (like it is when not in the car mount). A couple single touch buttons are more appropriate for Accept/Decline functions.

I've posted both of these complaints in the Android developer bug/feature request list.

Phoenixdroid said:

The only problem with all of those mounts is that there are no magnets to activate the droid into car Home, which you can manually do. Also somone mentioned that if you don't use the verizon craddle then the phone will also shut off so you will need to hit the power button to turn back on or set the screen to not time out.

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Pick up some small magnets at a craft or hardware store and glue them to the back of the dock where the droid's magnetic switch is located.

So, I have this dock, and I like the dock, but not crazy about the car dock software. It would have helped to have a default music player selection on the home screen.

But my biggest problem is this: When in landscape mode, and a call comes in (or I need to make a call), the phone touchpad (that displays the name, options for the call, etc), DOES NOT switch to landscape mode, it stays in portrait mode. So I have to push buttons sideways or turn the dock. That SUCKS. If that isn't fixed I have to take this back.

Another bother is that it doesn't automatically go into a mode that keeps the screen on, you have to have the power in to do that.

I dunno, I kind of like my air vent mount that I had for my old cell phone. The Droid would always be in portrait mode, but at least I wouldn't have these problems.

Is that a Mazdaspeed3?! We have the same car!

I like that mount though.. it's very simple, functional and not so big and bulky.

I also have a Speed3, been looking for a clean setup that I can use with the Droid and a DashHawk. Looks like a perfect solution, thanks for posting it.

How hard is it getting the bracket onto the side of the center console?

Zcast,

Nice setup! That's pretty much exactly what I have in my Mazda as well. I actually had the single T-notch bracket on there from when I used to have XM, but it seems to work just fine. Now I need to get an AUX adapter so I can listen to tunes from my DROID.

X3RO said:

I am a car nut. I love to keep my car clean and I don't want a mount to attach to my windshield.

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Same here, No car dock needed.

zcast said:

If you like to keep things clean and professional looking, here are a few suggestions.

First, get yourself a VSM (Vehicle Specific Mount) made for your car. These are custom made metal brackets that attach to already existing screw terminals behind your radio/dash (no extra drilling required).

...


You can get VSM's and AMP plates at several places. I recommend

SIRIUS Radio, SIRIUS antennas, SIRIUS accessories | TSS-Radio

Bracketron : Mounting Solutions for Mobile Electronics

Arkon

ProClip Mounting System*-*Device Holders and Dashboard Vehicle Mounts


Hope that helps,

-Z

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I'm a big fan of proclip myself - so often they just clip onto the nooks and crannies in your dash in like 10 seconds without needing to peel back anything to get to screws.

does the Proclip swivel???

lmmmmm said:

does the Proclip swivel???

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they have a universal swivel that you can put in between the proclip mount and the actually dock.

(but typically they skew them so the device is aimed right at the drivers face so for the driver there's no need to swivel.)

CAn you install the car specific mounts yourself? Are there any instructions online? I also have a mazda3.

Aquineas said:

Have you personally used that site before? I like their selection, but I couldn't find them in www.resellerratings.com. Unless they're affiliated with www.fommymusic.com

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If you don't want to buy from them Amazon has them on their web site though they are not in stock.
A company called Amzer
AMZER***::***Products***::***Mobile Accessories***::***Cases
makes a bunch of accessories including car cradles for the Droid but do not sell direct. They do list Fommy as a seller along with Amazon.

Apex said:

I also have a Speed3, been looking for a clean setup that I can use with the Droid and a DashHawk. Looks like a perfect solution, thanks for posting it.

How hard is it getting the bracket onto the side of the center console?

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The bracket is easy to install. On your car, all you need to do is take off the dash trim piece above the radio to get to the 2 screws that mount the radio in place. Unscrew those to top screws and the radio lifts and rolls out from the top, then pull it to you. The bracket mounts on the inside wall of the radio housing. You choose how high or low you want it. The bracket comes with 2 or 3 screws. I just used a low-power electric screwdriver. You can even do it by hand, the plastic is really soft.

MotoAlex said:

Nice setup! That's pretty much exactly what I have in my Mazda as well. I actually had the single T-notch bracket on there from when I used to have XM, but it seems to work just fine. Now I need to get an AUX adapter so I can listen to tunes from my DROID.

Click to expand...

Depending on the mount, you could just buy a Dual "T" mounting plate and swap out the single. My VSM was used for an XM radio I had that used a single "T" as well, I just unbolted the plate and put the dual "T" in place.

Make sure you get and AUX adapter that takes advantage of the factory aux input on the rear of the stereo. Assuming you don't have a MiniDisc or Tape player that is using it, it should be open. Something like this:

Mazda 02+ Auxiliary interface

is what you are looking for. It will give you the best sound quality.

lmmmmm said:

does the Proclip swivel???

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Not without an adapter. The thing with Proclip is that the one made for my car mounts low by the A/C controls and I wanted it placed higher up by the factory stereo, so I opted for a different brand. While the Proclip pads have a standard AMPS hole pattern, and you could probably mount a Slim Swivel adapter plate to it, you are actually screwing through the Proclip plate rather than bolting through a standard AMPS plate. I opted for the bolting and keeping things a little tighter and compatible.




Also, they do make VSM that adapt into ball mounts rather than angled mounting plates. Like this one:



Then you would just buy a Dual "T" mount -to- Ball Mount adapter.


-Z

virtus said:

Does it activate the dock features? The description doesn't mention it.

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You still need the actual dock to stick to it.

The dock does come with a round disk with double-sided tape that you can stick to your dash and then mount the dock to that if you want to go that route. That's what I did.

DrDroid said:

I got the Motorola OEM Droid car mount, once docked it set the Droid to car mode. The only gripe I have about all these mounts is that you paid that much for it and they should come with a car power adapter. Now you have to shop around for the power adapter.

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Yeah... what I find aggravating is that the multimedia dock, which has electronics in it and clearly costs more to make, comes with a cable and charger.

The car dock, which costs exactly the same amount to purchase, and clearly costs less to manufacture, does not come with any type of charger.

DrDroid said:

I had post the $24 deal on my other post; can't beat it w/ free overnight shipping. http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid/15822-droid-car-dock-24-a.html

check it out.

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I can beat it... I got the multimedia mount as well as the car dock for $22 each from the Verizon Wireless store.

I guess it helps that I get a huge discount through employer.

radef said:

And the fact that you still need to swipe left or right to accept/decline a call is annoying.

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My other minor annoyance is that the screen displayed while you are on a call (picture of the caller, end button, etc) does not rotate landscape.

jeepguy_1980 said:

This is the one I plan on getting. It's not sold online yet. So, I'll wait.

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I bought this and it's terrible. I sent it back and just stuck with the Motorola dock.

There is no magnet to launch the phone into Car Mode. It is very hard to snap the phone into the dock. The power socket just dangles by the power cord, and it has screws and wing nuts sticking out all over the place. Worst of all my phone wouldn't get a gps signal hanging out in my lower 12V socket.

thaJack said:

My other minor annoyance is that the screen displayed while you are on a call (picture of the caller, end button, etc) does not rotate landscape.

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This is my most major annoyance with the Motorola Droid. The list is very short, but this is at the top.

jeepguy_1980 said:

This is the one I plan on getting. It's not sold online yet. So, I'll wait.

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they need to fire there proof reader desc states the unit "comes with power dongle to charge your IPHONE"
ROFL!!!!

jeepguy_1980 said:

I bought this and it's terrible. I sent it back and just stuck with the Motorola dock.

There is no magnet to launch the phone into Car Mode. It is very hard to snap the phone into the dock. The power socket just dangles by the power cord, and it has screws and wing nuts sticking out all over the place. Worst of all my phone wouldn't get a gps signal hanging out in my lower 12V socket.

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What's real fun is when you take a corner fast. POS will fall over on it's side. If you're lucky, it will just rotate in the socket, if not, it will twist the whole socket, usually breaking shit behind the dash.