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iPhone 4S car dock?

drb1992

drb1992

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 4, 2011
311
0
I need help finding a good car dock that works with the iPhone 4S and is reasonably priced. I would prefer a cigarette lighter car dock. I have a question before you recommend a car dock. Would charging my iP4S for 15-20min (however long it takes to get to my destination) hurt the battery? If it does, I would prefer a car dock that either doesn't charge the phone (even if that means I have to get a non cigarette lighter dock) or has an on/off switch for charging the phone.

EDIT: Also, the dock needs to be compatible with an iPhone 4S that has a case on it. (the case I use is pretty thin) And the dock needs to be able to play music from my 4S through the car speakers. (FM transmitter)
 
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meder87 said:
I've thought about buying this. It's gotten 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon. Looks like the arm is long so its adjustable for length. It also allows for rotation to have a vertical or horizontal orientation. http://www.amazon.com/Kensington-K39217US-Universal-Windshield-Smartphones/dp/B003SE6LD0/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1318994639&sr=8-13
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link, but I want a dock that allows me to play music on my 4S through my car speakers. Sorry for not specifying that I wanted that feature.
 
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I've done a lot of extensive research on this and ended up buying the Satechi SCR-31 mount. It comes with two attachments - one for a naked iPhone 4S and one universal attachment (which will fit a 4S with a case.) It has 250+ reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 4.5+/5 stars, and at under $30 it's relatively inexpensive.

I bought this USB car charging adapter to go along with it because it draws at 2 amps as opposed to the standard 1 or .5, and thus charges way faster.

EDIT: in response to your above question, just connect an Aux cable.
 
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drb1992 said:
I need help finding a good car dock that works with the iPhone 4S and is reasonably priced.
Click to expand...
Post your budget. What you find "reasonable" isn't necessarily what anyone else finds reasonable. I mean, I find ProClip's mounts reasonable yet I suspect you won't.

drb1992 said:
Would charging my iP4S for 15-20min (however long it takes to get to my destination) hurt the battery?
Click to expand...
No. Please read any reputable resource on Li cells. Nothing about the 4S makes it any different in that regard.

SGMD1 said:
EDIT: in response to your above question, just connect an Aux cable.
Click to expand...
That kinda defeats the purpose of using a dock (i.e. using the dock connector). Keep the OP's requests in mind.
 
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takeshi74 said:
Post your budget. What you find "reasonable" isn't necessarily what anyone else finds reasonable. I mean, I find ProClip's mounts reasonable yet I suspect you won't.
Click to expand...
30-40$ max (possibly more). Unfortunately my car radio doesn't have any way for me to connect my iP to it, other than using an FM transmitter, so I guess I am just looking for an iP4S dock that has a good FM transmitter built in.
 
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Proclipusa is the be all end all. But only if it gets hard wired. If you aren't comfortable with $90 + install. No idea sorry!

Vent clips suck as so hanging wires. I can post a pic of my proclip install in my gti if you want.
 
What the OP wants, and what is possible especially with the budget is virtually impossible.

It sounds like what you want is a dock connector that will send out the audio via FM Transmitter?

To be honest, FM Transmitter devices suck unless you are willing to spend $50+ and even then it is hit or miss. The best way is either via some form of Aux connector on a head unit/stereo in your car. This is either A. Thru a 3.5mm male to male headphone cable or B. thru a dedicated iPod doc connector. If you have neither of these, your best bet is to replace the head unit/stereo in your car but that will cost you $100+.

I find anything other than the B option to be useless. I've bought probably 4-5 FM transmitters and have never been happy. It wasn't until I went into my local electronics store, bought a stereo and installed it that I finally got what I had always wanted....

This is one of those "you get what you pay for" situations...
 
Try the DLO Transdock 3.0. (Search ebay for it... it's under $20 shipped).

It is not technically made for the iPhone 4/4S, but I use it on my iphone 4 and it works great... charges the phone and holds it firmly in place by the gooseneck cigarette lighter plug. It also has an FM transmitter but I just have an aux plug plugged into the bottom of the dock that leads into my car stereo. Makes it really quick to start listening to your music... no need to plug in the aux cable into the phone every time you dock it.
 
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h00ligan said:
Proclipusa is the be all end all. But only if it gets hard wired. If you aren't comfortable with $90 + install. No idea sorry!

Vent clips suck as so hanging wires. I can post a pic of my proclip install in my gti if you want.
Click to expand...

i have golf 2012, is your proglip center or angled mount?(I'm considering the angled mount but i'm not sure how it works)
does it swivel to horizontal? thanks!
 
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