• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Anyone seen a car dock?

I just ordered an Infuse dock. For those of you that already have the setup, are there any other modifications you made besides drilling the two holes? And what size bit did you use? I don't want to mess up the dock trying to drill the holes.
 
Cochice said:
I just ordered an Infuse dock. For those of you that already have the setup, are there any other modifications you made besides drilling the two holes? And what size bit did you use? I don't want to mess up the dock trying to drill the holes.
Click to expand...

i didnt even drill holes, i can see how one may be needed for the speaker, but i havent used it to be able to tell if it really is necessary. mine is just as it came out of the box
 
So has anyone found a decent car mount that isn't for the Infuse? I was looking at the Arkons, but it seems they all suffer from the ball joint weakening after a short amount of time. I had the official mount for the original Incredible and never had a problem with the joints loosening up.
 
question729 said:
So has anyone found a decent car mount that isn't for the Infuse? I was looking at the Arkons, but it seems they all suffer from the ball joint weakening after a short amount of time. I had the official mount for the original Incredible and never had a problem with the joints loosening up.
Click to expand...

The only decent docks will be those that have integrated USB power connectors which so far as I've seen only include OEM docks.

The one handed swipe I do with my DX to slide in and lock my phone into place without having to worry about the power supply is a must have feature when you've done it thousands and thousands of times in 2 years.
 
question729 said:
So has anyone found a decent car mount that isn't for the Infuse? I was looking at the Arkons, but it seems they all suffer from the ball joint weakening after a short amount of time. I had the official mount for the original Incredible and never had a problem with the joints loosening up.
Click to expand...
Would you please provide sources to where you say the ball joints weaken after a short amount of time? I've had my Arkon Mega Grip(Droid X) for almost 2 years now and have no problems.

Edit: Im guessing you are referring to the Amazon reviews?
 
akita said:
Would you please provide sources to where you say the ball joints weaken after a short amount of time? I've had my Arkon Mega Grip(Droid X) for almost 2 years now and have no probl

Edit: Im guessing you are referring to the Amazon reviews?
Click to expand...

Yep. I don't know, maybe these people just adjust their phones obsessively! I'm looking more at the mobile grips, but the clips look like they could get in the way.
 
question729 said:
Yep. I don't know, maybe these people just adjust their phones obsessively! I'm looking more at the mobile grips, but the clips look like they could get in the way.
Click to expand...
Yeah 2 things I gathered from those reviews:
1) Those people must love making daily adjustments with the nut. If that's the case, then surely you would expect the nut and ball joints to go out considering its plastic and not metal to metal. I cant even fathom a reason to make those kind of adjustments so frequently considering you would could easily find the ideal spot(which the suction cup spot would leave a "fingerprint" on your windshield so you would know where to place it next time).
2)Some of these people are leaving the mount on 24/7, especially in the hot summer. Now im from Atlanta and it's a rule of thumb to NEVER leave your GPS mounts on display when you are away from your car. That's a red flag for thieves to break into your car and see if you have a GPS unit to steal(amongst other things). Also it gets hot as hell here so no sense in leaving it out in the open. I keep mine in my arm rest console when not in use and again, after 2 years its still fine.

Those "feet" shouldn't get in the way as there's only a charger port and mic in the middle. The grips shouldn't interfere with anything either. Since this has a ball joint adjustment, you have a lot of room to make adjustments horizontally and vertically.
 
akita said:
Yeah 2 things I gathered from those reviews:
1) Those people must love making daily adjustments with the nut. If that's the case, then surely you would expect the nut and ball joints to go out considering its plastic and not metal to metal. I cant even fathom a reason to make those kind of adjustments so frequently considering you would could easily find the ideal spot(which the suction cup spot would leave a "fingerprint" on your windshield so you would know where to place it next time).
2)Some of these people are leaving the mount on 24/7, especially in the hot summer. Now im from Atlanta and it's a rule of thumb to NEVER leave your GPS mounts on display when you are away from your car. That's a red flag for thieves to break into your car and see if you have a GPS unit to steal(amongst other things). Also it gets hot as hell here so no sense in leaving it out in the open. I keep mine in my arm rest console when not in use and again, after 2 years its still fine.

Those "feet" shouldn't get in the way as there's only a charger port and mic in the middle. The grips shouldn't interfere with anything either. Since this has a ball joint adjustment, you have a lot of room to make adjustments horizontally and vertically.
Click to expand...


Great, thanks for the perspective. As long as the joints don't suddenly loosen up from just the daily shakes and bumps in the car, it will do.
 
5 inserts and removals a day = 10. 7 days x 10 = 70 week, 52 weeks x 70 = 3640 inserts and removals a year x my DX has been alive for over 2 years.
Wow, I also will only accept a powered dock. I would think inserting a power cord into my DX over 7,000 in it's life would have detrimental effects on the cord and the port on the phone.

I would think the ULTIMATE would be an wireless charger! Just dock it and even the dock doesn't have to mate/plug into the phone. That is what I'm really waiting for my car and desktop.
Until then, the cheap one I ordered will suffice.
I think it will happen because of the shear number of S3 out there that are all EXACTLY the same, 10M + as of now. That is a huge market! I firmly believe the iPhone always had that advantage that all the phones fit the same docks, MP3 docks, car dock, desktop, multimedia, etc. I just makes sense to 3rd party hardware developers to make some thing for a phone that has 10M out there vice a HOX with far smaller volume on limited carriers. Not that the HOX is bad, I don't think it will see the support that the S3 will.
 
I received the Exomount the other day and have mixed feelings about it. The suction base is very good. The rubber material reminds me of the "wacky wall walkers" I had as a kid. Very flexible and has a tacky feel, but doesn't leave any residue.

The clamp is easy to use and holds my DX just fine.

I'm a little disappointed in the ball joint though. I can't get the nut tight enough to keep it from moving once adjusted.

If the ball joint worked this would be a great universal mount.
 
question729 said:
Great, thanks for the perspective. As long as the joints don't suddenly loosen up from just the daily shakes and bumps in the car, it will do.
Click to expand...
Yeah. If you are wanting to buy it, but it from Amazon. If for some reason it doesn't work out you can always return it(within the return window). Not sure how the manufacturer is to deal with directly.
 
serpa4 said:
5 inserts and removals a day = 10. 7 days x 10 = 70 week, 52 weeks x 70 = 3640 inserts and removals a year x my DX has been alive for over 2 years.
Wow, I also will only accept a powered dock. I would think inserting a power cord into my DX over 7,000 in it's life would have detrimental effects on the cord and the port on the phone.

I would think the ULTIMATE would be an wireless charger! Just dock it and even the dock doesn't have to mate/plug into the phone. That is what I'm really waiting for my car and desktop.
Until then, the cheap one I ordered will suffice.
I think it will happen because of the shear number of S3 out there that are all EXACTLY the same, 10M + as of now. That is a huge market! I firmly believe the iPhone always had that advantage that all the phones fit the same docks, MP3 docks, car dock, desktop, multimedia, etc. I just makes sense to 3rd party hardware developers to make some thing for a phone that has 10M out there vice a HOX with far smaller volume on limited carriers. Not that the HOX is bad, I don't think it will see the support that the S3 will.
Click to expand...
When you think about it, the Droid X's placement of the charger port on the side is useful when you are using a mount that does not have a built in charger port. That's assuming you would place the phone in landscape mode.
Now the problem im going to run in on reusing this Arkon Mount for the S3 is the charger port is on the bottom end of the phone. So unless i find a right angle adapter, that's going to create some unnecessary stress on the port and cable.
 
Also factor in that I've probably rotated my DX from landscape to portrait and back at least a thousand times in the dock. I do it daily when switching between video surveillance for my house and navigation. The stock Motorola dock has never loosened or given me any issues.
 
I thought this car dock looked interesting based on the claims that it will mount to multiple surfaces without the need for the smooth disk adhered to the dash, which can be difficult to remove without damaging the dash.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008BSCZ3I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&m=A2E944XTTK6JT6

same unit but from their main website. It seems the image on the buybits website looks like a more custom designed cradle for the SIII versus the amazon image that looks more like a universal holder.


Galaxy S 3 S3 SIII i9300 Multi Surface Car Mount (sku 14511) :: [ BuyBits ]

I ordered and received the infuse dock already so hopefully that will work well (I don't have the phone yet).
 
akita said:
When you think about it, the Droid X's placement of the charger port on the side is useful when you are using a mount that does not have a built in charger port. That's assuming you would place the phone in landscape mode.
Now the problem im going to run in on reusing this Arkon Mount for the S3 is the charger port is on the bottom end of the phone. So unless i find a right angle adapter, that's going to create some unnecessary stress on the port and cable.
Click to expand...
Ya, I know what you mean. My old, sit in the car trunk, GPS is that way. You can find 90 micro USB cables. I'd go that way if I was using a non powered mount to reduce the stress.
 
serpa4 said:
Great idea, but that looks like it would really floppy, really really floppy bouncing around.
Click to expand...

I read some reviews and from what they said it is good for GPS but is not good enough for cameras. I guess the guy was a drift racer or something and likes to have a windshield video cam.
 
scotty001 said:
Not scaremongering but spotted this a few days ago someone's SG3 go up in flames from the charging point possibly using an in car charger (possibly not Samsung) and could be the cause or what Samsung may say is the cause

...Photos redacted...
Click to expand...

Told you something wasn't right about his story. Now he says a friend put it in a microwave to dry it out. I hope Samsung or his carrier go after him.

samsung-galaxy-s3-burns-not-caused-by-smartphone
 
I received my Infuse car dock from Amazon. No GS3 yet but I like the dock a lot. It is one of the more sturdy docks I had so far.
 

Attachments

  • 2012-07-08 08.55.57 (1).jpg
    2012-07-08 08.55.57 (1).jpg
    92.5 KB · Views: 338
shotinthenads said:
I received my Infuse car dock from Amazon. No GS3 yet but I like the dock a lot. It is one of the more sturdy docks I had so far.
Click to expand...

Yes received mine yesterday and does appear to be a good dock. I may just keep it unless a wireless dock comes out. Very sturdy looking. I REALLY like the headphone out jack as my car does not support bluetooth streaming, only phone calls. I currency plug and unplug my headphone jack from my cellphone to the car radio daily. This headphone jack in the dock will be great! I may never upgrade.
I have a thought though. On my DX the speaker is also on the rear of the phone. I have mastered the cup technique when holding the phone, but when docked obviously cannot cup. I wonder if not making a speaker hold will reflect more sound forward towards the user instead of the window.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom