8 replies to this topic

[jchamier]

Anyone seen any windscreen type suction mounts suitable for the Vario III, since its quite heavy.

I'm contemplating replacing my stand alone TomTom Go with the Vario, as my Peugeot 307 has an isothermic screen that makes signal reception hard for my 4 year old TomTom Go!!   I'm expecting the Vario has a newer receiver and it will work better. Plus I'll get CamerAware :-)

I've heard the recommendation for Brodit kits, but they seem to mount the device quite low down in the car; any others out there?

thanks!

[Swampie]

Personally, I hate suction mounts and feel they should be banned from car windscreens.  The windscreen for looking out of - and anything which obscures that view out onto the road should be avoided.  Now, having tax discs etc in the corner tend to be quite small - but even so, they should be placed in a position which won't obscure the view of the road.  With sat-nav's, I frequently see them slap bang in the centre of the window - blocking a large proportion of the middle of the wind screen.  I've even seen a number of them which were placed directly above the steering wheel - right where the driver should be looking!

Sat-navs should be an aid to driving - but not a distraction.  Their voice directions should be sufficient for most directions with occasional glancing at the actual map to give context.  To need it within your continual field of view is excessive.

Brodit produce a range of clips for each vehicle, typically having a clip low down near the gear stick area, and clips higher up, on the vents both centre and at the sides near the wing mirrors.  Whilst I would agree that the lower clips are too low for sat-nav use, the higher ones on the vents are ideal.  Typically they're higher up than the speedo - so don't require much time to glance at - yet are outside the wind screen area giving you the full view the vehicle was designed for.

Anyway - the Brodit mounts are brilliant - good quality and hold the phone very safely.  I've used them for my Vario and Vario III and been very impressed.  No wobble or movement at all when driving, and because it looks (and is) a simple phone holder, it doesn't draw attention of the thieves who see a suction cup mark and think it'll be in the glove box (which people probable still do).

I've used Brodit clips in a Peugeot 306 and a Ford Focus and have always been able to find an option which was sufficiently high that it could be glanced at quickly, without obscuring the view of the road.

[jontelfer]

I don't want to piss on your chips but I think the assumption that the GPS will be more powerful than your old Tomtom is optimistic.

[jchamier]

Thanks for your post, appreciate your view, years ago I had a Nokia 6310 (probably like half the UK) and I had a Nokia holder that attached to the central air vents.  The problem of the isothermic windscreen means that I suspect I need the GPS antenna as close to the windscreen as possible.

As jontelfer says, I may find the Vario III is actually worse than my 4 year old TomTom GO in reception, and of course the solution is to change the windscreen :-)

[PaulOBrien]

Brodit all the way!!!

P

[Swampie]

jchamier, on Mar 19 2009, 22:51, said:

Thanks for your post, appreciate your view, years ago I had a Nokia 6310 (probably like half the UK) and I had a Nokia holder that attached to the central air vents.  The problem of the isothermic windscreen means that I suspect I need the GPS antenna as close to the windscreen as possible.

As jontelfer says, I may find the Vario III is actually worse than my 4 year old TomTom GO in reception, and of course the solution is to change the windscreen :-)

I would doubt that getting the GPS as close to the isothermic windscreen as possible would make much difference.  The amount of signal loss over 30cm of air is probably tiny compared to the screening in the windscreen.  In general it's best to get the GPS in clear sight of the sky (therefore removing, for example, the metal roof, from the signal path) - although I don't know what elevation is needed (ie. straight up, 45 degrees up etc).  However in the case of an isothermic windscreen I doubt you'll find much difference with 1cm away than 30cm away - unless it doesn't have line of sight of the sky.

I don't know if any of the side windows have the same coating - if not you may find that a side vent mount may be better as then you'd have signal coming through the side window?

[Evilkern]

Regarding the Kaiser being better suited to picking up GPS Signal through Isothermic windscreens, I've found that even though it is better than older devices, getting a lock in the first place does take a while. I found if you get a lock outside of the car and then get in the car it's quicker, however that's far too much fuss for me  - an alternative is to get the extra antennae and have that around the outside of the windscreen on the inside, then it is better at getting the signal:). Of course this does sort of also make it possible to use your older GPS:P

I got a suction mount from ebay about 3 years ago, I originally got it for the wizard and when i got the Kaiser I found it was fine due to the resizable side bars

[tsutton]

If it's any help, I use the cheapy Halfords suction mount for my Vario III and it has worked well for me.

[Monkeyturnip]

as mentioned Brodit all the way, ive used their holders for years and installedthem in over 200 cars with no complaints

http://www.brodit.co...;search=tytn ii

they do a holder that allows audio out whilst also charging, so you could connect it to your car stereo if it has an audio input, or if factory fit then through the changer port via an adaptor

when you have chosen the bracket look on this site to buy, normally cheaper, but they only have the passive and active holders

http://www.mobilefun...s.htm?man_id=72

then to "bolt" it to all to your dash and look"nice" use a dashmount bracket

http://www.dashmount...nufacturers.htm

go through and findyour car and bracket,

a bit of wiring and you get a nice install, if you want i can get a photo of the Kaiser in my Focus with all this for an idea