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iPhone in Car Mount/Dock?

L

LERsince1991

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 24, 2008
1,245
37
UK
Hi,

I'm looking for an in car mount for my iPhone 4 and struggling to find one so was hoping someone here could help.

Looking to spend about £20 or so.

Brief:
Available in the UK
Mounts on windscreen
Can mount with a case
Only "squeezes" the iPhone on the sides and is adjustable? - to allow a connector on the bottom.
Secure & reliable! (don't want a breakage)
Easily rotates 90 degrees for portrait or landscape use
Visually appealing to leave in the car (willing to pay a little more accordingly for a better one but cant justify more than £25)

I also want to use an Fm transmitter, I currently have one, hence the "only squeezes on the sides" requirement as it plugs in the bottom. however Its not brilliant so could use an upgrade here. I also dont fancy plugging everything in twice a day so would like to streamline it a bit. If the holder had a dock connector "extension" then I could dock the phone in the holder and then squeeze the sides. Then all I need to do is turn my handsfree earpeice on.

Final point which is very minor but could be useful is to charge it as well.

So could anyone recommend some please?

Option 1/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Goos...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1353781836&sr=1-24
 
Last edited:
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I bought something that looks a lot like this from Tesco, but they don't seem to have it on their website (I haven't been in the store for a while): http://www.amazon.co.uk/iTALKonline...8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1353784207&sr=1-8

If it's the same as the one I have, it will hold anything up to an iPhone 4 in a giant Otterbox Defender case. It grips perfectly well without marking the iPhone, the only downside is the slightly wobbly ball joint, but this can be fixed by unscrewing it entirely and putting a piece of paper or something in there to pack it, or just ignored.
 
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Thanks, thats an interesting design.

Though I think I still prefer the belkin one though as its a little more elegant. Would just be better if it streamlined the plugging in process more though.

edit:
Up to about £20 or if it looks nice too - £25
 
Last edited:
Last edited by a moderator:
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LERsince1991 said:
Thanks, thats an interesting design.

Though I think I still prefer the belkin one though as its a little more elegant. Would just be better if it streamlined the plugging in process more though.

edit:
Up to about £20 or if it looks nice too - £25
Click to expand...

I can't comment on the Belkin, but others I've seen that gripped the sides have used a sliding arms with a ratchet, and they've all been rubbish, getting stuck and then breaking. The bulldog-clip style is a revelation, minimal moving parts, so little to go wrong.

As far as plugging it in goes, I'm guessing you'll want to leave your FM transmitter in the car? Since there are so many different ones, you're not going to find any holder that will work with your specific one and allow you to dock the phone on top. The best you can do is use zip ties through an air vent to keep it near the holder, so you don't have to reach very far for it. It's still going to be a hassle. You might want to look into changing your head unit for something with bluetooth and using that to stream music from the phone.
 
rbrian said:
I can't comment on the Belkin, but others I've seen that gripped the sides have used a sliding arms with a ratchet, and they've all been rubbish, getting stuck and then breaking. The bulldog-clip style is a revelation, minimal moving parts, so little to go wrong.

As far as plugging it in goes, I'm guessing you'll want to leave your FM transmitter in the car? Since there are so many different ones, you're not going to find any holder that will work with your specific one and allow you to dock the phone on top. The best you can do is use zip ties through an air vent to keep it near the holder, so you don't have to reach very far for it. It's still going to be a hassle. You might want to look into changing your head unit for something with bluetooth and using that to stream music from the phone.
Click to expand...

Ah ok, interesting thoughts on the grip style thanks! (convinced!)
Not going to go into changing any car parts, though I might look into modifying in a AUX input but dont really want to pay for anything expensive!

I thought that maybe the mount can have a dock connector which is basically a pass through (like the apple table docks) so you can plug your accessory into the dock then easily add and remove the iphone as needed without moving around accessories you see! - couldn't find one though lol
 
LERsince1991 said:
Thanks, thats an interesting design.

Though I think I still prefer the belkin one though as its a little more elegant. Would just be better if it streamlined the plugging in process more though.

edit:
Up to about £20 or if it looks nice too - £25
Click to expand...

Oh, ok. A brodit is out of the question then :)
 
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Still... I can't justify it ;)

So is there anything a bit cheaper WITH a pass through connector? Between the belkin and the brodit

Might just go for a cheapish one like rbrian mentioned
 
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How exactly do the brodit mounts work?

How do they attach? The diagrams look like they screw in or something? Can they take an iphone with and without a case? There are so many different models/options its very confusing!

I would like it to rotate landscape or portrait, take any size iphone case or without, attach in a way that is removable (changing car soon)

Can get one for fairly cheap without the connector:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DSL-Brodit-...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1353869837&sr=1-50

It appears they are not universal or adjustable so I'll go for a "claw" :)

THANKYOU
 
Last edited:
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Yes, they do many versions of holder including adjustable ones for cases. They meet all of your requirements.

You also need a Proclip for the holder. They are custom made for each car (some cars have more than one proclip, depending on where you want to position it. They require no screws or glue etc, they just attach to the dash and can be easily removed. They are solid once attached, don't wobble around like windscreen ones can.

http://www.dsldevelopments.com/brodit/holder/Apple+iPhone%205-Brodit-Holder.asp (see page two for models with cable attachment).
 
rbrian said:
I bought something that looks a lot like this from Tesco, but they don't seem to have it on their website (I haven't been in the store for a while): http://www.amazon.co.uk/iTALKonline...8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1353784207&sr=1-8

If it's the same as the one I have, it will hold anything up to an iPhone 4 in a giant Otterbox Defender case. It grips perfectly well without marking the iPhone, the only downside is the slightly wobbly ball joint, but this can be fixed by unscrewing it entirely and putting a piece of paper or something in there to pack it, or just ignored.
Click to expand...

I bought this by the way, very good, cheap, little wobbly but its not the joint, its the sturdiness of the plastic but nothing major, wont wear out, so very happy, I mounted it on a smooth surface on the dashboard and looks neat
 
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I use this proclip setup, wish the adapter ( bought from apple) was black but i am happy with it.
 

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LERsince1991 said:
Hi,

I'm looking for an in car mount for my iPhone 4 and struggling to find one so was hoping someone here could help.

Looking to spend about £20 or so.

Brief:
Available in the UK
Mounts on windscreen
Can mount with a case
Only "squeezes" the iPhone on the sides and is adjustable? - to allow a connector on the bottom.
Secure & reliable! (don't want a breakage)
Easily rotates 90 degrees for portrait or landscape use
Visually appealing to leave in the car (willing to pay a little more accordingly for a better one but cant justify more than £25)

I also want to use an Fm transmitter, I currently have one, hence the "only squeezes on the sides" requirement as it plugs in the bottom. however Its not brilliant so could use an upgrade here. I also dont fancy plugging everything in twice a day so would like to streamline it a bit. If the holder had a dock connector "extension" then I could dock the phone in the holder and then squeeze the sides. Then all I need to do is turn my handsfree earpeice on.

Final point which is very minor but could be useful is to charge it as well.

So could anyone recommend some please?

Option 1/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Goos...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1353781836&sr=1-24
Click to expand...

Hi! I currently use a breffo spiderpodium and by your description of what you are looking for, this seems perfect. http://www.breffo.com/collections/spiderpodium

check that out and i hope its solves your issue!
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008ALV0V4

This is what I use for my IP5. It's tiny and works great. Rotates 360 degrees. Holds 3.5-5.2in phones, navis, etc. It's not bulky at all like most and looks great too. It has a very minimal design. It also sticks to most surfaces and comes with a circular 3M adhesive pad just in case it will not hold.

I too was looking for a dock forever and finally stopped looking after running into this.

Here's a YouTube video for it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mJ3PGCZ8DM

Hope this helps.
 
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