Does Brodit Kaiser/TyTN II mount fit Vario III perfectly?

[Guest Swampie]

I see that the Brodit Kaiser mounts are now available, but they don't list the Vario III as a compatible phone. I know that T-Mobile customise the handset style (buttons etc) but I don't know if they've changed anything to do with the shape at the edges etc, which might make the Kaiser mounts not fit properly.

Has anyone tried out one of the Brodit Kaiser mounts with a Vario III yet? I'm after the active model btw.

Additionally, am I right in saying that there's just 1 type of mount (ignoring passive/active etc) for both vertical and horizontal with keyboard exposed? When I got my old Vario mount from Brodit, they had 2 - 1 for keyboard closed and another for keyboard open. The pics of the Kaiser mount suggest it supports both keyboard open and closed, but the charger connector seems different in the 2 pics of the active model, thus making me wonder whether they really are the same mount in both pics.

Thanks

[Guest Phil Lee]

Mine arrived this morning (Active Holder, Tilt Swivel with cigarette lighter plug for HTC Kaiser, P4550, TyTN II, item 968752). The Vario III fits in perfectly. The mounting can be rotated through 90 degrees to accommodate portrait and landscape. The keyboard can be opened whilst the phone is in the mounting too. I'll post some photos of it when I fit it at lunchtime.

Edited October 15, 2007 by Phil Lee

[Guest creamhackered]

Nice one Phil - thinking of getting one of these myself. So you have the active holder - does that mean you just slip the device in and it's automatically charging? Does it slide in well enough to do that?

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Sweet, I need to order one too ;)

P

[Guest Phil Lee]

I just nipped out and fitted the holder to the Pro Clip in my car (Toyota Corolla Verso). I re-used the tilting mechanism from my Vario holder as it is identical to the one with the new holder and saved unscrewing it from the Pro Clip. The phone fits perfectly and charges when the cigarette adapter is in place and the ignition is on. I don't know if it is detected as being in a car holder for profiling (I'll check that later). Here are some photos showing it in my car.

Brodit Active Holder, Tilt Swivel with cigarette lighter plug for HTC Kaiser, P4550, TyTN II (item, 968752):

Here's my Vario III in the Brodit holder in portrait mode:

You can see from the left hand LED and the battery icon that the phone is charging:

A twist later and the holder is in landscape mode:

The keyboard can be opened as well:

See the full sized photos on Flickr.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

That looks SWEET! ;)

P

[Guest Phil Lee]

I forgot to mention, the holder even has a little recess for the camera button which juts out more than the other buttons. They've really paid attention to detail.

Edited October 15, 2007 by Phil Lee

[Guest Swampie]

Excellent - thanks for confirming that. I've now ordered mine.

Like you, I had a Vario in a Brodit mount and plan on reusing the swivel mount to make it easier to fit (one screw rather than five).

My only concern is that I currently have my Vario mounted on the left of the wheel, rotated to horizontal (use mostly with TomTom) with the charger plug on the right and the cable hidden down the side of the steering wheel housing. Thus nice and easy to slip in with my left hand and discrete cable. With the Vario III's keyboard slide out side being switched, I should really rotate it the other way, with the charger on the left - meaning the cable sticks out into the middle of the dash, and inserting it into the cradle will be a bit more difficult.

As TomTom allows you to rotate it however you want, I can keep it as it is, but it'll make things weird when I use any non-TomTom apps and won't be able to use the keyboard with TomTom...

Why did they have to switch the keyboard side.... ;) That's about my only serious complaint!

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

I worry about the design of this holder, and whether (since it 'seems' to clip in betweens screen and keyboard) it will loosen the slide over time.

Hopefully someone with the holder can allay my fears ;)

P

[Guest Phil Lee]

The part of the holder tha sits in the gap between the two halves of the VIII is perfectly sized to the gap. It doesn't force them apart at all so I would have no worries about loosening. I also checked on the profiles and unfortunately the phone doesn't automatically see the holder as being a car holder.

[Guest tsutton]

I'm assuming it's screwed on the car's dashboard?

[Guest Flubster]

I've got the passive version, and it fits to a proclip which is designed for your vehicle, look at your local brodit dealer and look at the proclip for your vehicle

http://www.dsldevelopments.com/ is where I got mine.

The only place that might sell them in norwich is that car phone place opposite bottoms up (Near that wicked toy shop), its been a while since i've been in there so It may have closed (Never knew how it kept going anyhow)

Flubster

Edited October 15, 2007 by Flubster

[Guest Phil Lee]

I'm assuming it's screwed on the car's dashboard?

Nope, the Brodit Pro Clip fits between the panel gaps of the car, causing no damage. They are made for each specific car that Brodit support.

[Guest nevawlkalone]

annoying thing is for my hyundai, the only place they support installing it is near the gear shift so no good for gos.

Might give THIS a shot when i get my confirmation email form T-Mob.

Little more tailored to what i need but that does look damn nice.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Ordered mine from DSLdevelopments, should be here tomorrow (passive version).

Hurrah! ;)

P

[Guest Phil Lee]

Mine came from DSL Developments too ;)

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Yeah, they're good! ;)

P

[Guest URPREY]

I ordered mine this week, and should have it by Friday. On my TyTN holder, I changed the USB adapter out for a y-cable to give me simultaneous audio/charging when I put it in the cradle. It worked great. The holder had screws holding the plate onto the USB adapter. I can't tell from your pictures, but is the USB charging cable secured differently on this cradle?

There has to be a way to remove the adapter I would think. If you have any other pictures of how the USB adapter is attached to the cradle I would appreciate seeing them so I know what kind of modifications I'll need to do when I get my new cradle. Thanks!

[Guest robt]

I ordered mine this week, and should have it by Friday. On my TyTN holder, I changed the USB adapter out for a y-cable to give me simultaneous audio/charging when I put it in the cradle. It worked great. The holder had screws holding the plate onto the USB adapter. I can't tell from your pictures, but is the USB charging cable secured differently on this cradle?

There has to be a way to remove the adapter I would think. If you have any other pictures of how the USB adapter is attached to the cradle I would appreciate seeing them so I know what kind of modifications I'll need to do when I get my new cradle. Thanks!

Hi all

Got my active holder this morning and the bad news is, the usb plug at the bottom is moulded and fixed unlike the previous holder that had a screw clamp.

The quality of the holder, fit etc is superb and all that I would expect but the moulded plug is a real disappointment. I have ordered the audio adapter, an external speaker and was all ready to do your mod Urprey, but this has scuppered all my plans ;)

I dont see anyway around it as the position of the plug is critical so any mod involving a hacksaw will probably write the whole thing off. Damn. :(

[Guest robt]

Hi all

Got my active holder this morning and the bad news is, the usb plug at the bottom is moulded and fixed unlike the previous holder that had a screw clamp.

The quality of the holder, fit etc is superb and all that I would expect but the moulded plug is a real disappointment. I have ordered the audio adapter, an external speaker and was all ready to do your mod Urprey, but this has scuppered all my plans ;)

I dont see anyway around it as the position of the plug is critical so any mod involving a hacksaw will probably write the whole thing off. Damn. :(

Ok, been thinking and the only option I can see is a cable splice. But whose gonna be first to chop the cable to find out how many elements there are?

Argh! Why did they have to change it??

[Guest tsutton]

Nope, the Brodit Pro Clip fits between the panel gaps of the car, causing no damage. They are made for each specific car that Brodit support.

Thanks, good to know!

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

/me waits patiently for CityLink (and my holder!)

P

[Guest URPREY]

Looking at the larger pictures, I'm still confident this will work. It looks like the USB cable is held in place by a top plate that looks to be glued in place. Remove that, replace the USB cable, and re-glue the top plate.

Once I receive mine later this week I'll get it apart and replaced and post a tutorial with pictures.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Bah, no sign of mine today ;)

P

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Tell a lie, it arrived last thing. Brodit have really excelled themselves on this one IMHO!

P