Car Holder-ProClip + Brodit

[akash84]

Not Much to say really...

I bought a ProClip specially made for my Volvo S40 (new shape!) which basically fits between the vent and the dash.
I wanted something that didnt cover the vent as... well obvious reason really, it would heat up the phone! (or cool it too much :))

I also wanted something that was not a drill-method to fit.

So i went ahead and bought a £56 kit including the proclip and a broadit holder for the Wizard. The holder is horizontal and holds the phone with the keypad open.

Fit was OK.. i was expecting a better fit but at times, i noticed the proclip does pop out. nothing to worry about as its only one part, the vertical part is defintly clipped in tight!

Brodit holder is great, had it not been for my steering wheel, i would have access to the full keypad and be able to txt. having said that, i can still sms and dial numbers etc but the end few letters does require stretching which is not advisable while driving!

thats it really.. i can get pics if anyone wants to see?
oh... it came with a car charger built in. although it does its job, it does it badly! charging = no probs but the cable is just far too short! it really does stretch across and at times the charger pops out. also, it can come in the way of the gear stick so again, not practical. i am thinking of wiring it directly to the battery and hiding the wires but thats if i decide to do that to the tomtom too!

anyway thats it for me...

[fone_fanatic]

I was looking at the brodit site, brodit.se i think it is, and they have a different site for US customers. I head over to the US site and they don't offer the holder for the wizard that charges it. On the brodit.se site they have 3 different ones. One for a cig lighter, one that u wire to the batter, and another which you wire to the batt as well but its a molex connection(beats me what that is) well i'm just bummed i couldn't get the one that charges. I think i should email them and see what they say. Also the reason i'm looking for a holder is because i'm planning on getting the new parrot car handsfree kit with gps.

[akash84]

I did not know about the brodit one that is directly wired to the battery
i was considering doing this manually because it just doesnt look right having cables going half way across the interior of the car

doing this with my tomtom too but now that you mention that something is already available, might just give me a chance to upgrade my kit.

only thing i find with the brodit is i guess with all things, its made in bulk and i find my proclip tends to "pop out" when using the wizard

its not a risk as the main bit is still in the side of the vent but the top support pops out which gives it a loose feeling

do let me know how you get on with yours

[edsub]

I am using a horizontal brodit holder for my Wizard.
It has a curled lead with a mini-usb connector to charge the device.
I managed to feed the lead (and plug) thru the vent and insiode the dashboard I made a fixed 12V connection.

I dont use a proclip, but a steel (spray painted black) home made dashmount wich i derived from the steel MTU dashmount (see http://www.mtu.no/english/DashMount/DashMount.htm for detailed desciptions)

[sp4rky]

I found this, looks intresting.

I think i would get a proclip but I need an alternate method for a holder. Proclip only lets me put in 2 places in my Scion tC and they are bad locations.

Accesories
http://www.gomadic.com/brand-htc-accessories-htc-wizard-accessories.html

Mount With Charger
http://www.gomadic.com/htc-wizard-powered-lighter-car-auto-mount-pda-phone-holder.html

[BennTech]

FYI, for anyone with a Cingular 8125, the Bordit/ProClip vertical holders for the Wizard are not compatible with the 8125.

I have been anxiously watching the ProClip website for the powered Wizard holder (which was supposed to be in early this week). However, the more I looked, the more I was afraid the square corners of the 8125 wouldn't fit in the holder. So I shot ProClip an e-mail to ask if the 8125 would sit properly on the charger. To my dismay, I saw the regular vertical holder got yanked from the 8125 listing a few hours later. That night I got this response from ProClip: We where able to test it today and the Vertical holder does not fit due to the horzontal thing on the back of the lower part of the phone. We are adjusting the hoder and expect it to be available within a couple of weeks.
Funny, I was worried about the boxy corners, but it seems possibly the pad across the back is the culprit (that's the only horizontal thing I see). Must keep it from sliding down past the back part of the holder, in which case I think the corners are still going to be a problem. They look like they curve inward to cradle the rounder Wizard body.

Oh well...thanks to my curiosity and big mouth, I'll have to wait many more weeks before I can properly mount my boxy Wizard. But I guess that's slightly better than buying a product that wouldn't work. <sigh>

--Bennett

[SuperDodge]

FYI, for anyone with a Cingular 8125, the Bordit/ProClip vertical holders for the Wizard are not compatible with the 8125.

I have been anxiously watching the ProClip website for the powered Wizard holder (which was supposed to be in early this week). However, the more I looked, the more I was afraid the square corners of the 8125 wouldn't fit in the holder. So I shot ProClip an e-mail to ask if the 8125 would sit properly on the charger. To my dismay, I saw the regular vertical holder got yanked from the 8125 listing a few hours later. That night I got this response from ProClip: We where able to test it today and the Vertical holder does not fit due to the horzontal thing on the back of the lower part of the phone. We are adjusting the hoder and expect it to be available within a couple of weeks.
Funny, I was worried about the boxy corners, but it seems possibly the pad across the back is the culprit (that's the only horizontal thing I see). Must keep it from sliding down past the back part of the holder, in which case I think the corners are still going to be a problem. They look like they curve inward to cradle the rounder Wizard body.

Oh well...thanks to my curiosity and big mouth, I'll have to wait many more weeks before I can properly mount my boxy Wizard. But I guess that's slightly better than buying a product that wouldn't work. <sigh>

--Bennett

CRAP! I already ordered and paid for one of these, while it was listed as being compatible with the Dopod 838.

[SuperDodge]

I just went to www.proclipusa.com and it still shows the holder as being compatible with the 8125?

[BennTech]

I just went to www.proclipusa.com and it still shows the holder as being compatible with the 8125?
Hmmmm...so it is. I know it wasn't there Mon, Tues, & Wed. Maybe they fixed the problem or maybe there wasn't a problem after all. (Or maybe now they're just including a metal file with the holder so you can remove the horizontal thing from your Wizard.) ;)

Sorry...didn't mean to panic you. Let me know how it turns out. I'm still waiting on the powered version myself, but I'll be happy to hear from someone who has the vertical holder and the boxy Wizard. (I still don't understand how it can hold the round Wizards and still fit our square Wizards.)

--Bennett

[SuperDodge]

I just went to www.proclipusa.com and it still shows the holder as being compatible with the 8125?
Hmmmm...so it is. I know it wasn't there Mon, Tues, & Wed. Maybe they fixed the problem or maybe there wasn't a problem after all. (Or maybe now they're just including a metal file with the holder so you can remove the horizontal thing from your Wizard.) ;)

Sorry...didn't mean to panic you. Let me know how it turns out. I'm still waiting on the powered version myself, but I'll be happy to hear from someone who has the vertical holder and the boxy Wizard. (I still don't understand how it can hold the round Wizards and still fit our square Wizards.)

--Bennett

Mine is supposed to be delivered on Monday. I will let you know if it works or not as soon as I get it.

[bryson]

ive just checked the release notes I get from Brodit, and it never mentioned compatability with the 8125 cingular model, so where 'proclip-usa' have got that info from I dont know, might be a mistake on their site, as mentioned in previous post.

Ive just had a look at the images for the cingular 8125 (not a UK device) and compared against my stock of the Brodit codes 968650/655 and i cant see it fitting, certainly not without modification. Sorry guys, hope you get it sorted. PS Most Brodit team are at CeBit in Germany over the next few days and into next week, so may take a bit longer to resolve i suspect.

Hope that helps,

Bryson

[SuperDodge]

Believe it or not, my Proclip holder came today! It fits like a champ with my Cingular 8125. The rubber piece on the back gives you some resistance when you slide it in and out, but the fit is good.

If you remove the battery cover (and thus the rubber piece on the back) the phone slides right in and out smoothly, though the fit is no different.

Give me a few minutes and I'll take a picture.

[bryson]

Good news then it seems! Look forward to the pictues.

[SuperDodge]

Here are a few pictures of the phone in the holder. I didn't like the location of the proclip vehicle mount, so I ordered one from another supplier that should be here next week (still AMPS-so it'll work). I'll take a few pictures of the setup in the car when that comes in.

(btw bryson-thanks for taking the time to help)

http://www.superdodge.com/images/Forum%20Links/proclip01.jpg
http://www.superdodge.com/images/Forum%20Links/proclip02.jpg
http://www.superdodge.com/images/Forum%20Links/proclip03.jpg
http://www.superdodge.com/images/Forum%20Links/proclip04.jpg

[bryson]

hi SuperDodge!

looks a pretty good fit, must confess i was surprised (and concerned!) to see any brodit holder or proclip product released to market without extensive R&D as that is why they remain the best at what they do.

I notice you have the passive (non charging version) code 848650 if that fits then so will the UK versions of the Active (cig charging) version code 968650. This is known in the UK as the xda mini s or Wizard/K-Jam.

If anyone needs any I have them in stock, and shipping to the USA takes approx 5-7 days, and costs £5.99 GBPounds on top of the cradle at £37.99 (so total price £43.98 GBPounds or $75.93)

If you need any help or advice, please feel free to drop me a line ok,

Thanks again

Bryson

[AndyM]

Just thought I'd sing Brysons praises a little.

I ordered a proclip and active holder from his website for my wizard on Sunday and it arrived today (Tuesday).

All installed now and is a really good fit. Just what I was looking for. I emailed with a few questions first and he was really helpful and got back to me nice and quick. I ordered previosuly from a US site and was told I'd have to wait about six weeks!

... and no I don't work for him or anything!

Also... anyone know how many wires are internal to a cig lighter cable. I'm debating cutting the end off and wiring it directly to the car. Was thinking of seperating it out and using some "scotch locks?" to crimp it onto the wiring behind the radio. Good/bad idea???

[BennTech]

SuperDodge, thanks for the pics. I'm jealous! So, exactly how tight is the fit with the rubber piece? I plan using it everytime I get in/out my vehicle, which is several times a day. Hate to have it rubbing day after day until eventually the rubber just falls off.

Shame that proclipusa.com still doesn't have any active versions for the Wizard. Wonder what the hold up is? At least Bryson can get it to us. BTW, the proclipusa.com quoted me $69.99 for 968650 and $79.99 for 968655. Of course, they also told me they'd be in early last week. :)

Also... anyone know how many wires are internal to a cig lighter cable. I'm debating cutting the end off and wiring it directly to the car. Was thinking of seperating it out and using some "scotch locks?" to crimp it onto the wiring behind the radio. Good/bad idea???

Cigarette lighters have 2 wires, a red 12V and a black ground. Meanwhile, USB connectors are 5V, so you can't just cut the wire and patch it in. Also, the cable might actually contain 4 or 5 wires (one for each lead in the 5-pin mini USB connector), so you'd have to figure out which ones to use. Unless he says different, I assume for edsub's fixed connection mentioned above, either he has a 978650, which has the 12V wires instead of a cigarette plug, or he installed a cigarette socket somewhere under his dash.

I took the latter approach for my current charger setup. I wired a $10 Target 3-socket adapter directly to my internal fusebox with some Littlefuse "Add-A-Circuit". The adapter is tucked away nicely under my dash (but still accessible) and the 3 sockets give a permanent home for my various car chargers. I even wired 2 of the sockets to be switchable to "always-on" so I could leave my devices charging when the car was off. I was working on a detailed How-To with lots of pictures to post to a car forum, but never finished the doc. Unless you happen to own a Honda Element, some of it won't apply specifically to you, but it'll give you the idea of what to do. If you're interested, let me know and I'll add it to my lengthy todo list.

--Bennett

[AndyM]

Thanks for the info.

I have a spare mini usb to cig lighter cable so will have a play with that first. As you say it should be just a case of identifying the correct positive and negative connections. A project for this weekend I think!...

[BennTech]

I have a spare mini usb to cig lighter cable so will have a play with that first. As you say it should be just a case of identifying the correct positive and negative connections. A project for this weekend I think!...

Whoa, Andy! Let me emphasize one point. The cigarette plug itself has circuitry inside of it to convert the 12V to 5V. The wires coming out of plug and going to the USB plug only carry 5V and your phone is expecting only 5V. If you cut the wires and splice the 5V onto 12V you will fry your phone! I failed Electrical Engineering in college, but I at least learned that much. :)

I don't want to get too far off-topic here (these really aren't even the forums to discuss this), so let me just say that it really is a lot easier to hang an extra socket under the dash. (1) The wiring to your car's 12V and ground is the same, (2) the conversion to 5V is handled by your adapter, (3) you don't have to destroy any adapters, and (4) you can use the socket for anything, not just your phone. Maybe I should really finish up that How-To doc to show you how easy it is install extra sockets...

--Bennett

[AndyM]

Sorry didn't go into as much detail as I should have!!

Wasn't for a minute going to just connect it up to the 12v on the car. Just use and old cable and take a look to see what its made up of (more for curiosity). Will go for the extra socket idea.. but need to find one at the weekend.

Thanks for the advice though! :wink:

[pewe]

For those of you who can't find a Brodit car mount, I have ordered a Brodit screen mount with an XDA cradle today from DSL.

See here: http://www.dsldevelopments.com/suctionmount.html

Hopefully they'll arrive in the next couple of days and I'll post my comments.

[pewe]

They arrived.
Very pleased. I have also used the same cradle to use as a desk mount.

See here http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=44796