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Anyone with the car dock?

T

theacoustician

Android Enthusiast
To anyone with the car dock:

Does the TB change modes when in the car dock a la the way the OG Droid did? If you don't know what I'm talking about, the Nav Dock screen looked like this
droid-nav800.jpg


I've tried looking for info on this but I'm coming up with nothing.
 
Not only does it change to car dock mode, it also rotates Sense into Landscape Mode... something that hTC never does on a keyboardless phone. Also something that is really cool is the recent contacts that you can click on when you click phone call from the car panel screen. It lists a large icon of all of your recent calls you have made for fast and easy dialing. When in a call it gives you a ton of options like Navigate to the person you are talking to or Mute, Speakerphone, add a caller and a really big long end call button at the bottom. Pretty awesome. I just wish hTC would give you a toggle for car panel, if you kill it you have to redock the phone to get it back but the phone stays in Landscape mode even if you kill car panel which is really cool.
 
Tech Addiction said:
Not only does it change to car dock mode, it also rotates Sense into Landscape Mode... something that hTC never does on a keyboardless phone. Also something that is really cool is the recent contacts that you can click on when you click phone call from the car panel screen. It lists a large icon of all of your recent calls you have made for fast and easy dialing. When in a call it gives you a ton of options like Navigate to the person you are talking to or Mute, Speakerphone, add a caller and a really big long end call button at the bottom. Pretty awesome. I just wish hTC would give you a toggle for car panel, if you kill it you have to redock the phone to get it back but the phone stays in Landscape mode even if you kill car panel which is really cool.
Click to expand...

I really like the fact that Sense goes into landscape mode when in the car dock. The only thing that would make it better is to customize the options. I would muuuch rather have a Music button instead of Footprints since I'll never use it. Looks-wise, I think I like the OG Droid's car mode better.
 
With my original Droid, I could not use the car dock if I had a silicone case on my phone. Is that also true with the Thunderbolt?
 
Would it be best to just stick this onto your windshield? My dash is made of material that I think is not able to help the suction stick
 
MAJones77 said:
With my original Droid, I could not use the car dock if I had a silicone case on my phone. Is that also true with the Thunderbolt?
Click to expand...

I have the car dock and the standard hard shell case from Verizon. I have to remove TB from the case to get it to plug into the dock. I don't particularly like taking the phone out of the case. I wish the design of the dock would facilitate cases, but there are so many types I can see how that would be impractical.
 
I picked up a car dock today and a Rocketfish Advanced Micro USB car charger. After about 30 minutes in the dock with it plugged in my TB was very warm to the touch. It was not just in the batter area, the whole back of the phone was hot.

Anyone else tried using it with a charger? If not, how do you get it to stay on? Mine kept shutting off the display.

TIA
DLM
 
dmunz said:
I picked up a car dock today and a Rocketfish Advanced Micro USB car charger. After about 30 minutes in the dock with it plugged in my TB was very warm to the touch. It was not just in the batter area, the whole back of the phone was hot.

Anyone else tried using it with a charger? If not, how do you get it to stay on? Mine kept shutting off the display.

TIA
DLM
Click to expand...

Every phone I have owned since my old flip phones get majorly hot during use while charging. I doubt it will cause an issue, but dont take my word on it.
 
Brianm109 said:
Is there a way to activate the car dock mode without the phone being in the car dock?
Click to expand...

Yes, what exactly causes the Thunderbolt to enter "car dock" or "Navigation" mode when placed in the HTC car dock? On my Droid X, a magnet placed in the proper spot on the back of the phone would cause it to enter "car dock" mode, which came in handy with the universal car mount I use (so I can place the phone in the mount with a hard case on it).

The magnet seems to have NO effect on the Thunderbolt at all! Any suggestions?

Dennis
 
^Bump

I also would like to know where the magnets are (if they exist) or how the dock works. Would like to make my own that works with covers and/or extended battery.
 
If you're looking to find a VERY SUITABLE replacement for the car dock, may I suggest Car Dashboard in the android market. It's also available in the Amazon Market as well. For $2.00, you can't beat it with a stick!

Works just like car dock and has a very friendly UI.
Very customizable, you can add up to 20 different applications to choose from while in this mode and in addition, there's speed, altitude, and weather information built into it!
 
ohvzwguy said:
^Bump

I also would like to know where the magnets are (if they exist) or how the dock works. Would like to make my own that works with covers and/or extended battery.
Click to expand...

I read somebody speculating that the dock mode is probably triggered by shorting pins in the USB port. Makes sense, since there don't seem to be magnets involved.
 
I just picked up the dock about an hour ago and I'm trying my best not to compare it to the OG Droid car dock. I dont like the fact that it takes two hands to get the TB into the dock. I don't like that it snaps into place right around where the micro USB port is on the phone itself. I think that after some time the port is going to get f'd up from having to use so much force to get the phone in place. The built in charging port is cool and all but this dock is so friggin clunky compared to the OG Droid one. I also don't care much at all for the fact that you can't change any of the icons in car-home. I hope Seidio or some other third-party company come out with something better because this being my only legitimate option (besides those stupid universal ones) is just not cutting it. I know the phone just came out, I'm just sayin.....
 
I've noticed that once I've used the iGrip car dock, my HTC charging accessories are loose in the micro USB port. The unit has decent cling to the suction cup base in the box, but compared to the D1 Moto car dock, it was engineered by an underfed monkey. The weight balance is way off. Putting the phone into the dock is as far from snap and go as Rush and Hillary. And people get paid to do this...
 
I've got an iGrip traveler kit myself, that I turn sideways for this. Run my car charger to it, and manually launch Car Panel in the Apps. Works pretty well for me, no worries about cases, ports, etc. I imagine I could Tasker it up to put it in gear for me when I plug it in, as well. But it only takes me a moment to put it in and plug it in. Probably would take me just as long to get it in the dock, after removing my case, and all that.
 
Which car mount model are most of you writing about? I've seen the mount that Verizon is offering and I've seen another one named Naztech N4000. Do both of these models enable the car apps?
 
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