Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Well you could always start off with the wired version I suspect and then go from there - more likely to have better access to the wires or just wire it into the loom on your car all the time for a neater finish.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

These mounts look nice. If I wanted to use the N900 in portrait, is there any way to avoid the N900 from slipping out? This is partially Nokia's fault for putting the USB socket on the top in portrait mode!

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Sweet! Now all we need is guided turn-by-turn navigation!!

Oh wait.. :(

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

That's simple - get one of those nice self-propelled versions with the bumpy jumpers. They also add a nice view to the vehicle in general I find :) lol:D

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

I agree that a lot of those units come with very nice styling, however, they are all fitted with "retrospective-turn-by-turn" navigation ("You should have turned Left back there....") :p
- You understand that I'm only posting this 'cos my unit is currently on recharge :)

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

I do look forward to this car mount coming to market though!
I listen to music on my N900 through 3.5mm in my car all the time, and currently the N900 rides shotgun. Will be nice to have a proper seat for it AND be charging at the same time :)

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

So, where in the US can you buy these?

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

I can't think of any particular advantage to mounting the N900 in portrait mode.
If you think about it, portrait mode is really only a help to onehanded operation, i.e. when you only have one hand free to both hold & operate the unit.
With a Dashboard mount, the unit is held for you so the orientation is (far) less important.

You could argue that certain applications work better in portrait, but I would suggest that there are really only 3 critical N900 apps used in-car (i.e. whilst driving):
The Phone, Sat-Nav and Media-Player.
In the limited interaction mode that (should) characterise use whilst driving, all 3 work just fine in landscape.
</2cents>

On the other hand - if Nokia release an OS-level portrait mode in the next update (or two), then I'm sure some enterprising soul can figure out a way, to invert the base co-ordinate for the Portrait-mode, so that the screen is then presented upside-down - which would put the USB port at the "bottom" - better yet, if they linked it to the accelerometer, then you could have the screen auto-invert

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

what is the problem? you can setup the brodit holder in every position possible! even 45 degrees is you like! so people that want portrait mode just set it up in porttrait. IF the bolt is tight enough you can even turn the holder form partrait to landscape. at least i made it work!

For the functions i can tell everyone that brodit is one of the best car holder builders that keeps all functions of a phone in tact while in the holder. you dont have to be afraid that a plug is covered or the slide wont go open.

The n96 holder from brodit even had been made so that the n96 could slide both ways open in the holder.

Well there is one function that doesnt work though :P thats the camera ;)

They are really good! and cheap!

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

I had thought about mentioning that 'feature' but chickened out, lol. There is however compensation in the form of 'Auto Repeat' on the retrospective warning. This appears to be more frequent when on a road with no means to turn around or exit too! :D

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

In this case, the power button is covered and also camera button. Sometimes you want to turn off the phone. While it may seem silly that you would use the camera I actually have the camera button camkeyed so that it brings up the task manager. This is a great function esp when you are switching between music and GPS while driving. I can do it mostly by feel. Now we have to rely on multiple screen interactions which makes driving use a lot less desirable.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Agree entirely that this was daft, also makes a desk cradle a bit tough. Already mentioned to engineers at Nokia though I suspect a retro fit of hardware unlikely! lol

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

You can address it in software.

Except for the phone which has specific speaker / mic placement why do the other apps care? Software should be able to orient the image based on which side is up and in that case a desk cradle would be fine.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Thanks sygys, that's answered my question. What I didn't realise was how tight the grip was, so it's good to know that this would work, even without anything underneath it to stop it sliding out. I realise that the N900 doesn't really have much of a usable portrait mode yet, of course.

I like the idea of a software hack for an upside-down portrait mode, though, where the USB would then be underneath the device.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Brodit Passive holder arrived yesterday. Now installed :D

Comments

Feels very study and well made and much better than their N95 mount. I decided on the passive mount as I already have a car charger and it is easier to mount my N900 as it mounts from the left side and means I do not have to adjust the mount position at all and can do it up tight.

It works well in portrait but I doubt I will ever use that, and the keyboard slides out very easily and all feels sturdy.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16...r/DSC_0007.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16...r/DSC_0008.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16...r/DSC_0012.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16...r/DSC_0014.jpg

All in all I am extremely happy, now just need to sort out my noisy charger and await a proper Sat Nav solution :(

p.s. Is there a way to stop the screen timing out when in battery mode?

John

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Is this available for purchase in the US, and where?

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Why not email Brodit and ask, they replay very quickly.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

It's coming soon. I've spoken with them and they said one to two weeks for the passive holder. I didn't ask bout the active.

http://www.proclipusa.com/home/home.aspx

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

I've got an email in (sent this morning) to them asking about the active holder, will report back here when I get a response in case anyone else is interested.
I looked at the proclip holder prior to my post above, looks like a nice passive holder, but I did not see an active holder :(

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

anybody got a brodit mount for their N900 and an invisible shield body protector?
just a thought but if it is so tight it either won't fit in with the invisible sheild or the shild will get damaged.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Thanks for the pics, I'll be picking one up when it's available in the U.S. I don't know of a way to keep the screen lit when on battery power, but you can prevent it from auto-locking by disabling the "lock screen automatically" option in Settings->Display. This way it just needs a tap to light back up.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Looks great! Thanks for the impressions.

Simple Brightness Applet seems to be the easiest way to keep the display from timing out when you don't want it to.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

i was on the phone with peter from brodit, who said shipments of the n900 active holder will commence next week. i already ordered, might report back when shipment arrive.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Did you order directly from them or ????

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

LOL and I have that loaded, forgot all about that function. Cheers
John

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

www.servcat.com, since i wanted it delivered to an address in finland. other options are available for other countries from www.brodit.se.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Ah I'm an idiot, for some reason I thought you had found a supplier in the US who was taking orders :o

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Proclip USA has the brodit N900 mount available for order. I just snagged one. :D
http://www.proclipusa.com

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

They've had that passive holder up for at least a week.. I want the brodit 'active holder' though (that charges the device while holding it) :)

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

hi
i have not had time to get a proclip jet
but today i will order one i think..

i have looked at brodit/proclip stuff alot
and its very nice that you can install them without
doing damage on your interrior
and if you just order the clip for your phone its also
easy to attach it to any flat surface with bolts

the quality also looks great

but please tell me if you found other active types for the phone.

by the way i live with in walking distance of servcat

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

im waiting for the active version to be available for the u.s. but im curious how well will it work with a full body skin protecter or even a hard care or rubber case?

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

from experience with previous devices, brodit mounts fit pretty snug. I would like to hear from someone who has one of the Brodit mounts for N900 and a zagg body shield fitted.

As far as any other type of case that is thicker than a body shield, i would expect them to be a complete no-no. Won't fit. Would need to be removed prior to inserting your N900 into the Brodit mount.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

I can tell you in a few days.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

I have the brodit passive holder in my car and the zagg shield on the N900. The N900 will not fit into the holder with the full body cover. The side cover parts of the shield interferes with the "holding grip" of the holder, damaging the cover while sliding the N900 into the holder. Also the additional thickness added to the N900 by the zagg back cover will make fitting the N900 to the holder really really tight (too tight IMHO).

I removed all but the screen cover and now it fits really nicely in the holder. Win some, loose some... ;)

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

thanks for the feedback. i figured it might be that way.

have you used the fm transmitter whilst the N900 in being charged by the Brodit active mount? i have heard reports about other chargers that they create so much interferance its almost unusable.

edit : just re-read your post and noticed its a passive mount you have. same question to anyone else :)

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Man, that stinks. IMO, it shouldn't be THAT tight of a fit to where a layer of microns interferes with it.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

well im glad i didnt wait because the full body would of been great instead i ordered the PDAIR metal case and PDAIR CAR MOUNT just unsure if it can be positioned in landscape mode at the same time.

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Get a Mkiv Golf, flip the stand out and slide in above the air vent. Holds nicely, just waiting to hit a pothole and the shock snap it off! :D

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

Does anyone know of any online shops in the UK who have the Brodit Active holder for the N900 in stock?

I've had one on order from PDAhut http://www.pdahut.com/store/product....2&cat=0&page=1 for a couple of weeks, but they don't seem to have any stock.

MobileFun http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/brodit-ac...900-p23465.htm have been saying "in stock from tomorrow" for several days, at least.

Thanks in advance,
Simon

Re: N900: Car Kit & Mounts
 

The Brodit Active holder for the N900 does not exist yet.

http://www.brodit.com/productinformation.jsp?anr=512099

----- Aztekker