Accessories Pro Clip Holder misses the mark...

[dbpaddler]

Congrats on your setup and happy it works for you. It's all preference, and I'm just not a fan of holders you have to squeeze to get it to grip. I like to drop in and forget. Plus I haven't found one yet that didn't feel cheap (arkon, bracketron, pro-fit & panavise), and I've bought them all at one point or another. At least proclip's adjustable is a fixed one you can set to your individual phone and set it like it's a fixed holder. It's lasted me multiple phones, slim or extended batteries and will continue on for many phones to come.

Appreciate your opinion though. Nice that people can see various options.

Also, the reason they are more expensive is because they machine everything. Machining vs injection molding is a big difference. If you injection mold, the initial mold is expensive, but you can bang out product cheap and the mold cost is absorbed over the sheer volume. Now if you want to make holders for more consumer electronics than all the othr companies combined as well as offer multiple (in most cases) mounting options for pretty much every vehicle out there it is impossible to injection mold the product. The cost of molds would never be recovered because the overall volume isn't there. So you machine. It has lower setup costs but higher per poduct cost that is essentially the same whether you make one or 100. But again, ProClip offers more solutions for more vehicles and gear than any other company out there. I'm also not above suggesting other products when I don't think Proclip is the solution.

And 15" from the seat bolt is pretty low, in fact too low for my tastes as your eyes are much further away than some of the center mounts from proclip and still 6-8" lower than the angled type mounts that are radio high whether it's ProClip or Panavise. And I've used a gooseneck. Didn't like it sticking up out of nowhere, and I was constantly knocking it with my knee. Moved it to the passenger side, and my big friends would knock into it. I shoot for at least the middle of the steering wheel in regards to height. Not a fan of low console mounts unless it's for something like a media player that you don't look at nearly as often.

 

[Internetpilot]

Congrats on your setup and happy it works for you. It's all preference, and I'm just not a fan of holders you have to squeeze to get it to grip. I like to drop in and forget. Plus I haven't found one yet that didn't feel cheap (arkon, bracketron, pro-fit & panavise), and I've bought them all at one point or another. At least proclip's adjustable is a fixed one you can set to your individual phone and set it like it's a fixed holder.

Yeah, the one I have is the squeeze type, but that's because back when I bought it they didn't have the Slim Grip back then (there weren't any "slim" phones -- haha). I guess I'm a victim of my phone holder lasting too long. Haha. I also had a custom one from Arkon that I could drop my naked Treo into that was molded to the bottom half perfectly, but it obviously couldn't handle the Treo with a case/skin.

The newer Slim Grip model is a spring-loaded design so it's easier to just pop the phone in there, which would reduce, if not eliminate, the "Where'd my phone go?! DARN IT! I forget to squeeze the sides of the holder again!" Haha. Not that I've ever done that with my phone holder...no....never....haha.

Another nice feature of both of these designs is that because they actually apply pressure to hold the phone in place, you can also rotate the mount to landscape for navigation, movies, etc. The Slim Grip is especially nice for that (mostly because it doesn't look stupid on it's side like the squeeze type one that I have).

Also, the reason they are more expensive is because they machine everything. Machining vs injection molding is a big difference. If you injection mold, the initial mold is expensive, but you can bang out product cheap and the mold cost is absorbed over the sheer volume. Now if you want to make holders for more consumer electronics than all the othr companies combined as well as offer multiple (in most cases) mounting options for pretty much every vehicle out there it is impossible to injection mold the product.

That does explain the high price, but...thinking as a completely selfish consumer here, I don't really care if they provide a customized holder for every phone ever released -- I just want them to provide one for my phone as inexpensively as possible, which they can't seem to do since they're after bragging rights for providing the most custom phone holders (I did warn you that statement was from a "completely selfish consumer" perspective -- haha). Given that most phone models have a 2 or maybe 3 year lifespan on the market, it's almost like it's a bad business model. Their adjustable holder looks good, but it's still a little steep in price compared to competition's solutions out there. The custom vehicle mounts are almost a tolerable price, but it's when you combine them with the overpriced custom phone holder that's going to be obsolete as soon as you get a new phone that it doesn't make financial sense. At least that's what's always stopped me from pressing the checkout button on the ProClip website (and I've been there about 1/2 dozen times over the years).

And 15" from the seat bolt is pretty low, in fact too low for my tastes as your eyes are much further away than some of the center mounts from proclip and still 6-8" lower than the angled type mounts that are radio high whether it's ProClip or Panavise. And I've used a gooseneck. Didn't like it sticking up out of nowhere, and I was constantly knocking it with my knee. Moved it to the passenger side, and my big friends would knock into it. I shoot for at least the middle of the steering wheel in regards to height. Not a fan of low console mounts unless it's for something like a media player that you don't look at nearly as often.

Mounted to the seatbolt the gooseneck is low and takes my eyes a little too far off the road for my liking as well, but I don't like things mounted on my dash. Two out of my three vehicles are Limited Edition models that come with all the features and therefore all the darn buttons to go with those features. There's basically no room to mount something on my dash without it covering up a button or covering up a vent. You definitely have to think strategically with the bends in the gooseneck to keep it out of the way of the inside knees (BUMP..."Honey, stop bumping my phone, please").

All that being said, you don't have to mount the gooseneck to the seat bolt. There are typically dash support bolts about that same size on either side of the center dash consoles of most vehicles. You could mount it to that then bend the gooseneck around as required. That would also put the phone higher up on the dash. I don't do it that way because then it's in the way of buttons, vents, etc., but it could be done.

Your right, of course -- it is all just preference. Thanks for not jumping all over me for my response! I love civil debates. It is always good to know about other options, and also the specifics of why some people chose the options they did. Although I'm refusing to buy a ProClip holder at what I feel to be too high of a price, I'm quite certain I've thrown money away on what others would consider frivolous or not worth the money, so to each his/her own. It can also be a source of amusement (or irony) where and at what people will draw the financial line.