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iPad Do You Prefer iPad Car Mounts To Use?

R

Richard bach

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 29, 2015
1
0
U.S.A.
Hey guys, i am newbie to this place and want to get your feedback regarding the iPad and tablets car mounts. How do you prefer to use it for yourself in your vehicles?

& How they prove useful for you. Kindly give your practical views.
 
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It is best if you can run it through your car's stereo system, and get recharged as well. Then you have many choices for navigation programs, better than what usually comes with the car, and iTunes. Of course you can use it for other things as well, such as locating gas stations, food, recommendations, etc. if it has cellular ability, or WiFi at many places.

Get a sturdy quality mount! No good if it flops around or doesn't hold the iPad securely.

Be careful though. A guy was arrested for having porn on his when a family pulled up next to him.

I use my iPhone this way, but it is small. Might get a 6+ or a mini for this use at some point.
 
I have my Mini 3 in a mount that goes in to the CD slot in my truck. I use Waze for navigation and stream Spotify via bluetooth. I really like it.
 
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TWO2SEVEN said:
I have my Mini 3 in a mount that goes in to the CD slot in my truck. I use Waze for navigation and stream Spotify via bluetooth. I really like it.
Click to expand...

May I ask which mount you use? I am set up with my iphone and sygic for navigation (now on my ipad mini also), plus a direct connection to the stereo aux and usb for charging, but need to upgrade to my ipad mini as these old eyes are getting worse.
 
I had a Ram Mount (http://www.rammount.com) in my previous car. It was on a rod that allowed it to be used in the front and back seats. Worked good. I haven't mounted it in my current vehicle. Might get something smaller to mount my iPad 4 in the front seat area.
 
Here it is in my truck. The buttons on my steering wheel make up for the ones that are blocked.

Also, I could raise the iPad in the mouth, but it tends to bounce a little more that way.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1433042689.906555.jpg
 
Thanks for posting it, looks good. I have steering controls also, so thats not a problem. I figure the cd mount ones probably bounce a little more because the horizontal attachment (cd slot) but I also figure it"s best for our car. Thanks again.






TWO2SEVEN said:
Here it is in my truck. The buttons on my steering wheel make up for the ones that are blocked.

Also, I could raise the iPad in the mouth, but it tends to bounce a little more that way.

View attachment 557123
Click to expand...
 
I have a slightly different setup.

Initially used the RAM Seat Mount, the thing is a single flexible aluminum stick that ultimately gets really wobbly and isn't as secure as I'd like. I drive a Diesel VW with hard engine mounts, so the cabin shakes quite a bit and I really abuse my car, never sexually though. It also made it so my front seat couldn't pivot forward, a big problem for Beetles and their stupid triangle seat mounts.

I didn't want to do a custom mount at the time. This was pre-iPad mini or something and I knew that a solution for the iPad 2 would need to be redone for the later versions.

I took some 2x10s or something and shoved them into the CD slot. Glued and screwed them down, and then bolted in a male 1/2" ball mount. For this you simply pick a RAM case and mount that sucker to the ball. Very secure, won't fly away during your next ten car pileup.

Stereo:
  1. iPad cable to RCA & 5V USB power inside the dash. (Apple cable)
  2. RCA to a volume knob/PRE-AMP from Scosche. This gives me volume control. Knob is mounted on very bottom of console on left, right in front of fingers when my hand is on the shifter. This also boosts the signal to appear as if it is coming from a HU so no noise/gain issues.
  3. RCA to a $50 equalizer on Amazon (Clarion?) It is excellent.
  4. EQ has line out to Alpine F?M?300 amp for the fronts and rears.
  5. Old Alpine M?F?250 wired to drive a single cheap Kicker sub in a box in the trunk. Hits hard enough for me.

Benefits of this solution: I can unscrew and chuck it in the back seat. iPad is likewise removable. It leaves a wooden block (now painted black) so there's nothing bright or shiny to steal. Also, you don't have to deal with stupid Head Units with techno strobe lights, dumb colors, or stupid software/buttons. This is a pure hardware solution, no software, using dedicated hardware for each step. Hence the equalizer. All of this is hidden in glove box or under panels.

This setup is old and I've been overseas for a long time. When I get back I plan on getting a TP-Link WR702N travel router that has been modded to be an airplay receiver (check amazon) so I can just hit a button on my phone and stream music. I'll probably get the mount too, not sure. I honestly want to go back to the stock classic radio and just keep it there for looks/added crappiness. A good idea would be to get a second scosche volume know and wire it to the subwoofer to control that too.

I can't find the name of this cable or even find it on Amazon/google, it may be by another big name audio company. It has an inline fuse, power, ground, and remote wiring, RCA inputs and high/low male outputs I believe.

I'm very happy with the setup, but I've since transitioned to the iPhone 6+ only, so I'm not sure how to use this moving forward. A possible solution is just to dump a cheap iPad 2/3 w/ 3G in there and call it a day since I only use it for tunes and maps.

http://i.imgur.com/AZEI6RG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nNFdCX2.jpg
 
I use a hoverbar .. Clamps onto a little plastic part behind my handbrake and hovers above handbrake, between front seats, facing me (driving).
 
My vehicle is older so I have this flex smart bluetooth device that plugs into the cigarette lighter, connects via bluetooth with the iPad and broadcasts the sound coming from the iPad to a station on my radio. It's kinda crazy, but it works lol. As for a mount I just use a general purpose tablet mount that's generic. With my life proof case on the Mini I had to get rid of the iPad Mini specific mount I had before.
 
I don't have iPad mounted. Iphone 5 and a car gizmo that gives me few more gauges.

I'm using a combination of ram mount brackets, and Brodit iPhone mount. I have lightning to 30 pin (apple as it passes digital audio), then 30 pin that splits into 3.5mm and USB for power.

I like the setup a lot but it does vibrate. I have it between steering wheel and radio, fastened to the bezel around cluster.

Always wanted a mount for iPad that does not shake...
 
This is the Ram Mount with flexible rod that I was using. It's nice and is able to be used in the front or back seats. Just slide the rod from the front to the back. I find that it's pretty stable when in the front seat area. The rod is between the seat and center console so that keeps it stable. But it takes away from some room for the passenger. I went with a long rod so I could bend it back and forth. Only drawback to that is it moves around when being used in the back seat while the car is moving. Someone has to hold it.

ipad4_zpsf5deda46.jpg


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ipad1_zps41ca3c4e.jpg


ipad5_zps5eb196b7.jpg
 
I don't need to have the iPad mounted in the car much so I'm currently not using it. I might go with something that fits in the cup holder. Would just need a small rod on it or bracket that would angle it away from the shifter. Would also be able to move it to the backseat center armrest cupholder for passengers back there to use it while on the move.
 
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