As anyone who knows who's bought one, the official griffin Car Dock uses a non standard mount size, making it difficult for those who do not like the standard suction cup mount they offer. (This guy) This guide will show you what you have to do in order to make it accept the standard size ball to allow you to use any mount you want. I used an iMagnet mount with my old S3 and loved it, but due to pain in the a$$ back on the Moto X, using a magnet style mount is not preferable.
This first pic shows the various mounts I had, disassembled, and what parts I used.
They are:
Upper left: Griffin official car dock.
Upper right: My old S3 mount, the iMagnet mount, and the socket piece I will be reusing.
Bottom: The Mountek Snap 2 mount I want to put the Griffin dock on. This mounts in the cd slot, a much better place to put it in my VW.
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The only two pieces we really care about right now. The socket from the iMagnet mount, and the socket of the Griffin.
VERY IMPORTANT! When you slice your thumb open with an exacto knife and come back to your chair, YOU MUST REMOVE THE CAT.
All done with the cutting. I basically just cut the threaded part of the Griffin down until it hit a flat area. If you go to far it starts to get thinner, but if your doing this project, you'll know when to stop.
Remove the cat again.
I threw on some epoxy, secured it over night, and it's as good as new. (take note of the cat's disgust with my project)
There! now your official dock will accept any standard mounting ball! (that's what she said! heeyooo!)
This reminds me of all the DIY crap I had to do to the GSM Galaxy Nexus dock to get it to work with my Verizon model. It was a pain, but totally worth it in the end.
(And the cat pics were pretty damn funny)
Awesome. Looks like I'll be doing this in my future. Note is I can find one of my old docks.
How's the epoxy holding up?
Like it would take the force of the gods to separate it. Rough it up good with sandpaper first, clean it good, slather it on, profit.
Sent from my XT1060 using xda app-developers app
lucky13 said:
VERY IMPORTANT! When you slice your thumb open with an exacto knife and come back to your chair, YOU MUST REMOVE THE CAT.
Remove the cat again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Such a cute kitty! Wish mine were more friendly to me, lol! And thanks for the tutorial!
I would also advise when you have the epoxy securing it, to not let it run into the internal cavity of the main dock, as there are wires and other bits of wizardry in there.
Sent from my XT1060 using xda app-developers app
Related
I'm still laughing at myself...check it out...a large binder clip makes a great display stand with charging functionality. Just pull off the squeezing clips after you clamp down on the USB plug. It's actually pretty stable too. I'm sure you could even velcro it to your desk for more stability
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ha! thats brilliant!
wow...genius! xD
+1
Genius !
Ciao
Fred
F**k me! That's great!
Can't beat that.... +1
nice, now if only my girlfriend would let me make a hole in the desk to make it look built-in!!
excellent...works perfect!
ha just did it, thanks!
As clever as it is,... be prepared to find a replacement socket for your phone after a while. The connector can not handle the stress of supporting it's own weight for very long.
You should try to find a way to support the phone along with the plug-in.
This is, however, a good start to a generic cradle.
Fun find!
ktwildchild said:
As clever as it is,... be prepared to find a replacement socket for your phone after a while. The connector can not handle the stress of supporting it's own weight for very long.
You should try to find a way to support the phone along with the plug-in.
This is, however, a good start to a generic cradle.
Fun find!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the phone rests on the clip... what you talking about?
What about front to back movement?
Subtle movment wears on the connector circuit board.
thats what i mean... the front and back of mine rests on the clip. i have the rubberized snap case on so maybe my fitment is different.
I have just bought the clip and the "poor´s guy cradle"is just great! no problems here. Great idea!
Amazing found !!!
By site internet martinique
I will pay you $5 for this brilliant item!!!
Thinking outside the box. Great idea. As far as wear and tear, I think as long as you make sure you are putting the weight on the paper clip and not the device I wouldn't think there would be any problems even long term? I would go the extra length to cover the metal around the clip with something, wouldn't be hard, I don't like anything metal touching my phone. Heck, I haven't even set my phone down on a hard surface yet in fear the back diamond points will wear.
My only question right now is: I wonder how good it would work if I clipped in the dongle so I can have earphones connected for radio, and still charge it through ac, hmm and what would happen if you plug in the usb cable to the side of the dongle? Would you still be able to access it from a computer while its charging through ac or no?
Just did this mod.. Works great... Using the "handles" squeezed into the base works to stabilize the phone better when pulling it off the charging station . I will need to find some simple padding to rest the weight of the phone since it floats a bit over the clip..
... and I always thought I'm CHEAP ...
$19.95 Bought from Amazon: MENB+ME-04: Heavy Duty Windshield Mount
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I bought it on Wednesday last minute because I am going on a 2 week road trip. I will develop this into a real review as I use it, I will also get some real pics as soon as possible.
First Impressions:
Plastic, not a big fan of plastic but overall it looks OK and feels OK. Uses knobs to loosen / tighten the arms as well as ball joint at base. It came in 2 pieces, the suction + arm, and the actual tablet holder piece. They join together by just slide and snapping in place.
Out of the box it did not fit the Iconia, but a quick unscrewing, pulling out, and re-screwing of the adjuster knobs fixed that. It is a slight struggle to just slip in the tab as the spring loaded wedge wants to push it out past the bottom arms so you have to push a little at the bottom is you slip it in, though it does hold very snugly once seated.
On quick inspection it seems none of the devices features where blocked, as I personally plan on doing time lapse video of driving sessions and stuff, I was really relieved to find the rear (and forward facing) camera both go UN-obstructed, as well as power, volume, Power Input, and SD. I did not check the USB ports but I am fairly sure they are also UN-obstructed.
The feet of the arm that show on the front of the device do seem to come in kind of far, but they do not go past the bevel at all, so there should be no screen blockage either.
The suction cup seems to be excellent, it came with a nice protective film over the suction cup, showing they at least think about making sure it's clean when you get it, and it's performance on initial testing seems very promising. The second I touched it to the glass it stuck on, and the locking tensioner for the suction cup really seems designed well for locking the suction to the glass, though I suspect it will eventually break considering its made of plastic, which could be a big flaw for the way it's designed.
Sofar I have only driven around the block with it mounted, and my overall feel was that it seemed kind of loose, though bear in mind I had not yet properly tightened everything down, which I feel will make a large difference.
I am optimistic about this mount, as it overall seems to be well built, though if anything it's flaw will be being made of plastic. I am happy to find it does indeed leave all features and functions of the tablet open and accessible, which makes it a very versatile mount for anything from GPS to video recording, to whatever.
I am about to embark on a 2 week road trip driving an Isuzu box truck from Northern Cali to San Diago, so I will get some really good real world usage out of this thing. I will make sure to update this review as I go along.
The Note II rear battery cover has fragile hooks that hold it in place in addition to the usual tabs. Failure to remove/install the cover in the proper fashion can result in broken hooks and a loose/creaky cover.
My cover was creaking in the corner above the volume rocker. I didn't realize the hook was broken until I stumbled across a thread where other users were experiencing the same issue.
I drew something up to hopefully prevent others from breaking their tabs/hooks. The green arrows show the direction on how to safely remove/install the hooks.
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This is from a Sprint device but I assume the design is the same on the variants.
thanks for the guide, this back cover is harder to put back than note 1 and s3
Good to know, thanks! :good:
Yeah I was victim of creaky cover because I removed it really hard first day I got it. Anyone know where I can get a replacement cover?
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
What's the black bit on the inside of your cover? Looks like a place-holder for a wireless charging module.
clubmajestyk said:
thanks for the guide, this back cover is harder to put back than note 1 and s3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I looked at my S3 cover and the tabs looked reinforced. The hooks on the N2 are weeeeak. I only had my phone for a couple of days until I noticed that the hooks broke.
MohJee said:
Yeah I was victim of creaky cover because I removed it really hard first day I got it. Anyone know where I can get a replacement cover?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try your local Sprint store that services phones. They usually have extra parts laying around but the N2 is still new so they might not have them yet. I'm still looking for a replacement cover.
CitizenLee said:
What's the black bit on the inside of your cover? Looks like a place-holder for a wireless charging module.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That black plate is for my iMagnet car mount (thread). Highly recommended! I know a magnetic mount sounds crazy but I'll let the 5-star reviews speak for themselves.
i have no broken or bent tabs and it's still lose by the volume button. such a simple flaw on such a great phone. this stinks!
I noticed that the pictures don't show the wireless charging pins, which should look similar to the NFC pins but it's next to the battery
Beamed from Jupiter on my Galaxy Note II
The pics were taken from a Sprint variant where the housing covers the wireless charging pins. They're there underneath.
thanks
Hello there, this should probably not be worth an own topic, but i thought it could be helpful for others alike me, looking for a quick
and cheap solution to use your XPERIA Z on your Motorbike to Navigate through the Streets.
I first (sucessfully) attempted a "prototype" case in which i basically build up a "negative" case, that just flipped right over the Xperia Z and the Dockinstation, basically like a cassete-case:
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But i had my doubts that it would probably not withstand a bigger fall (yet to happen ) and the the mini-usb Port on the Dockingstation would be prone to rain if not siliconized properly.
So... i kept looking around and probably found _THE_ sollution or more precisely the case that just fits the dockingstation and the xperia both inside and is sturdy enough to withstand a fall alike some mayor rain falling on top of it
It's the PELICAN 1040 Case!
I first had my doubts if the "grid-like" bars at the translucent front would allow to have a clear view, but yep, it absolutelly has, you just have to remove the sticker.
And then the Xperia-Z+Dockingstation fit in like its been designed just for this purpose, you just need a right-angled Micro-USB Cable as there isnt that much space to fit in a straight one.
Just drill a hole, push it trough the box so that it is centered as precise as possible and then plug in the dockingstation to see if everything fits okay.
Then clean everything with rubbing alcohol and after that apply enought silicon so that it sits in there and want come out that easy.
I used some sand-paper to grind it up a bit and give it more grip on both sides.
The way mount it unto your bike, depends on your bike and the way you like it most, i justed used some absolutelly standard Motorbike-Mount fixed by four screws (drilled trough the back of the pelican-box) that sits just in front of the spedo
Like this basically just thinner aluminum.
I will make some pictures as soon as iam able to get my hands on a secondary camera (wouldnt make sense to take a picture of an empty box with my xperia :laugh::silly:
Hope this might help someone, that is probably thinking about something similiar!
An alternative to trying to make sense of the mobile phone after market is, as always, Do-It-Yourself. On this occasion others did 'it' for me and I'm grateful, as I'll explain.
What am I taking about? 3D printing that's what. 3D printers are eye-wateringly expensive for a few seemingly off-the-shelf parts. And sometimes things go wrong But no matter; the technology is in its infancy and will mature to match the pockets of the 'early majority' of its potential users in time.
I have been following thingiverse.com for a while - site catalogue of 3D things to print - and came across this for the N7.2
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For the uninitiated - what you do is download the code to print the item in the form of a .stl file - normally zipped - and then send the file to a 3D printer.
I found one of the many on-line printing services - as it happens - on eBay. Dale Charnock of Lune-Valley 3D was very helpful. I sent him the.stl file and promptly received an email telling me it would cost nothing to print! Nothing; zilch; not a penny. Dale explained that to get people interested in 3D printing he was offering first time customers a free print - for a while. So with nothing to lose I asked Dale to run the print.
A couple of days later it arrived in the post. Dale had added a rubberized spray coating that makes holding the N7 in your hand feel much more secure. He did say the coating was expensive and would in future probably make a charge for that.
My original idea for the printed cover was to produce a holder that I could cannibalize to make a car mount. My last car mount for my now sold N7.1 cost nearly 50 Euro from Brodit. It is a superb mount but way too expensive for a chunk of ABS plastic.
Serendipity! What I found was the 3D print cover fit very nicely into my N7.1 Brodit mount - meaning I now had a Brodit car mount adaptor! Whoohey! See the photos below.
All that remains is to remove a millimeter or so from the end wings from the clip - as the N7.2 is a couple of millimeters longer than its predecessor. A file or end mill will do it.
More and more things to print are being added daily to Thingiverse take a look.
I had spotted this on thingiverse and was gonna try printing one while I wait for my folio case
Sent from my sweet Nexus 7 (2013)