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In-Vehicle Device Mounting Solutions

If you have ever thought about getting a in-vehicle mounting solution for your Mobile device, be it a Pocket PC/ Phone, Mobile Phone or GPS then ProClip USA may have the answer for you, they use a clip system that is  made for your vehicle which you clip in to your dashboard and then screw on the holder which is designed for your device.

ProClip products are custom fit for each vehicle model and for each communication device—including cell phones, handhelds/ PDAs, navigation systems, multimedia monitors and others. Currently, more than 1,500 custom-made ProClip vehicle communication accessories are distributed in more than 30 countries worldwide. The products are formed from quality ABS plastic—rather than being mass produced through injection molding. – www.proclipusa.com

I have just recently tested ProClips Mounting Solutions for my Axim X51v, when I visited their website it was easy to find my device via the drop down menus, by choosing Manufacturer, Device and then it gave me the following options.

· 848627 – Holder with Tilt Swivel

· 968627 – Holder with Tilt Swivel and Cigarette Lighter Cable

I decided to chose the holder with the cigarette lighter charger as I like to have power to my device while I am out and about, next chose the mounting bracket, my vehicle is a 2000, Mazda MPV, and it is right-hand steering. I still had doubts that it would in fact work, just had to wait and see.

I was expecting it to take a few weeks to arrive as they were sending it to Hamilton, New Zealand, however FedEx came through and I had my package with in 3 days. After the un-boxing I found the mounting bracket and Holder in separate packaging all with instructions. Installation was easier than I expected…

1) I had to unscrew the swivel section from the holder, 2) Then screw the swivel section to the bracket, 3) Clip the mounting bracket to my car, 4) Then screw in the holder to the swivel section and it was ready for my Axim.

Bracket & Swivel connected              Connecting Holder to the Swivel

Connected & ready for my Axim.         Axim connected and ready to go.

The Axim fitted very nicely into the holder, a lot better than the Seidio G4500S that I already own, as it felt secure when the Axim was placed down into the charger connection, also cables and cigarette power adaptor are all partly hidden by the Axim.

I can move the holder up, down, left and right this enables both the driver and passenger to view the device and use the GPS, Diary or phone. To me this was great as I like to move the device a bit.

My Axim connected                             Axim turned towards driver.

A big bonus for me is that the holder is sort of hidden from view, so when I take my Axim out of the car no one will actually know that I have a device, where as before when it was mounted to my windscreen it was in plain sight and a pain having to take it down all the time so that no one would be likely to break into my car thinking a GPS or Mobile device was in the car.

Now what if I sell my car or upgrade to a second car as the wife wants to drive mine, surprisingly the answer is easy, just order a new mounting bracket for your new car and attach the holder to that, couldn’t be any easier.

The Driving test

I decided to test ProClip’s unit with my Axim using GPS, on the way to work, now I am used to having the Axim in front of me attached to the windscreen so I can look at the device and check the Street I am driving on, were as with the ProClip is was a bit harder as I did have to look down, however on most trips away my Wife is with me and can then interact with the Axim and check the street names etc and there is the turn-by-turn voice instructions as well.

Next on the drive was the SHOCK treatment… we have a railway track that is pretty rough like going over 5 big potholes, with my Seidio G4500S my Axim would bounce up & down a lot with the ProClip not even a hair width of movement was very surprised by this as I was expecting some bounce or shaking movement.

Overall

As I stated before, getting something delivered from the USA to New Zealand in 2/3 days is impressive so this started my review off on a big plus, I did find that it uses small screws to attach the Swivel section to the mounting plate, so for me it was a bit frustrating as I had to find a Phillips screw driver small enough to use.

Once I had everything installed I was actually very impressed with the over all size, location and space it took up in my car, to put it another way my Wife thought it was great… and at the end of the day that always wins out.

Another thing I would have liked to have seen is a speaker phone built into the holder which I do have in the Seidio G4500S, this would be great for GPS turn-by-turn navigation and possible making a phone device more hands free, however another plus is that the power cable is built into the holder were as my old Seidio G4500S has a DC out and the cable can be pulled out and it means I have more parts to worry about.

I thought the price was very well placed with the total price being about $98.98 USD for both units, and not bad for a custom made unit that fits your vehicle, where as I paid over $150 USD for the Seidio G4500S that has a long goose neck attached to the windscreen.

For more information please visit www.proclipusa.com

PPCApache (7 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

Jason has been using WinMo devices for the past 8 years starting with the iPaq 1700 series PDA them moving through to conversion devices and also an Axim X51v, Jason has been working in the Telco industry for the past 5 years. His current devices are the iPhone 3G 16GB with OS 3.1, Motorola Q9h 6.0 smartphone & an iPod Touch 16GB (1st Gen) . Jason also enjoys reviewing products & being involved with technology.