Thursday 22 September 2011

Vehicle Mounts - cell phone holder, android


I received the Arkon sm321 as a christmas present and I am very pleased with it. I used it for a 10.5 hour car trip across Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas all on local roads, state highways, interstates and workzones. Yes it wobbled, but never slipped. I had it coming out at a 45 degree angle leaning and it never tilted over. Road conditions never affected it, not even in road work!



The Pros:

Sturdier than expected, but could be light weight phone helping.

charges fine keeping my phone alive when needed most on car trips. I was also worried about the location of the grips, but it never interfered with the plug.

the adjustability of just about everything on it - being able to set it up to face me perfectly, and the ball socket on the holder worked wonders.



The cons:

May not work on shallow sockets. I had to make sure it was pushed all the way in to use the charger. It stayed put once it was in.



Its plastic, and it wobbles, depending on the cigarette lighter socket, but it works. The micro usb charger is perfect for my phone and it holds it in place even at diagonal angles. A good product worth a good look. Arkon MICRO Universal Lighter Socket Mount with Micro USB Charge Cable for Mobile Phones and Smartphones (Black)

I bought this right after my I got my Evo 4g and this thing is perfect for it. The sides clamp down to hold your phone nice and tight. There is a button on the left side that when pressed the clamps open up to release your phone. I placed this inside my 2010 Ford Focus and It works pretty nice cause it also chargers while docked. Also, Its perfect if you do video calls cause the people video chatting with you can see you while you talk and can still keep your eyes on the road. Pretty nice to be able to do in the year 2010! Ive had plenty of people ask me where I got this so they could buy one for their smartphone.



Update 2/6/2011



After having for a few months the part where the wire comes out from the cradle is no longer working. It must be from the constant bending and it just no longer charges.

I've been using this daily with the HTC Evo and I feel a lot safer on the road. My truck has lighter socket in the dash so it is positioned nicely for me. Is a little loose and wobbles some, but I think thats due to the plastic dash supporting the lighter socket. Holds Evo nicely though!

Charger cable broke after three uses. Product is extremely flimsy. This product is a waste of money. I ended up returning this for another arkon car phone holder. You have been forewarned, don't your waste time or money with this item.

I bought this because i thought it would be convenient to bring up the phone because of the longer mount. However once the phone is put in the mount, the mount becomes unstable and keeps popping out from the socket! The cable does not fit snug into the phone either and keeps popping out. Good thought but bad design and definitely does not work out for cars where the socket is horizontal below the instrument panel and not in the cup holders. I tried to use it in my Cayenne and also Insight and it did not work well in either of them.

The Arkon Universal Lighter Socket Mount works very well with the LG Optimus V phone. In my car, I have to rotate the mount slightly in the lighter socket so the metal leads will connect. When I do this, it will charge the phone. I use an auxillary cord to run the phone's audio through the car's speakers. It is a great set-up for non-bluetooth hands-free calling and for using the phone's built-in navigation and GPS systems. The Arkon mount also makes it convenient to play mp3s, audio books, or stream hd radio from the phone.



I am a little leary as to the sturdiness of this product, but I guess time will tell.

I'm familiar with this type of mount and was aware of the issues regarding wobbling/shaking and the long lighter plug so I fully expected this.



I have a similar mount for my Tom Tom and find it works adequately and was satisfied with it which is why I still gave this one 4 stars. This product is exactly as advertised.



However, I purchased this mount based on an earlier review that claims it works with a Droid X.



It does not.



This review is to negate that claim so others won't make the same mistake I did. The clamping mechanism is in the way of the usb plug and presses on the camera button and if I flip it around it squeezes the volume buttons. The clamp opens wide enough and it will grip my phone but it's also much shorter than my Droid X. I will make this work by doing a bit of trimming and grinding to make clearance.



I know it wasn't made for a DX which is why I didn't dock more stars.



Update 4/1/2011: After checking Arkon's website I found that the proper size cradle, that will fit the lighter socket mount, is available.



http://www.amazon.com/Arkon-Mega-Grip-Dual-Cradle/dp/B004IMCVW6/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_cart_2 - Cell Phone Holder - Dash Mount - Droid - Android'


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