Related
a good news...
http://www.brodit.com/productinformation.jsp?anr=968649
the new ACTIVE holder
Thanks for the link...
Unfortunately no power output for a GPS unit?
I fail to see the difference between the passive holder and supplying your own cable, and this active holder... you still have to attach a cable every time you slide the device in!
timetex said:
I fail to see the difference between the passive holder and supplying your own cable, and this active holder... you still have to attach a cable every time you slide the device in!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly! (Glad I'm not the only person thinking this!)
I'm waiting for a holder like a laptop docking station. Slide the Universal into the holder in landscape/laptop mode, with connectors at the back for audio (with the jack) and the USB/power connection. It's surely no coincidence that HTC made this machine with all the connectors in a row on one face and with the connections in parallel? (On the XDA2 the main connector is at a different angle to the headphone jack so one holder couldn't provide both interfaces in one fixed cradle.)
Also I am looking for a holder that doesn't mean I need to butcher my dashboard with screws to fix it in.
A new dash would probably cost me as much as the Universal if I bodged it.
joebongo said:
Also I am looking for a holder that doesn't mean I need to butcher my dashboard with screws to fix it in.
A new dash would probably cost me as much as the Universal if I bodged it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These brodit holders don't need you to botch your dash...
You simply buy the proclip from Brodit which matches your car, and that attaches to your dashboard without drilling or screwing - they usually just involve you "spreading" the dash at a join and slipping it in. Works perfectly.
timetex said:
These brodit holders don't need you to botch your dash...
You simply buy the proclip from Brodit which matches your car, and that attaches to your dashboard without drilling or screwing - they usually just involve you "spreading" the dash at a join and slipping it in. Works perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a nice theory but they seem to be designed to block air vents though, especially on my car. I've never understood why this is an acceptable solution. Seems like a bad idea to be blowing either ice-cold or roasting hot air straight at the back of a £400 nugget of ultra-sophisticated electrickery instead of at my face. Whether it buggers up the machine or not (and I'm guessing it doesn't cos nobody seems to complain) I don't want this solution! I want it mounted somewhere unobstructive, away from the car's functions! A sucker-mounted screen attachment is ideal. But I'm still waiting for one...
SiliconS said:
timetex said:
These brodit holders don't need you to botch your dash...
You simply buy the proclip from Brodit which matches your car, and that attaches to your dashboard without drilling or screwing - they usually just involve you "spreading" the dash at a join and slipping it in. Works perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a nice theory but they seem to be designed to block air vents though, especially on my car. I've never understood why this is an acceptable solution. Seems like a bad idea to be blowing either ice-cold or roasting hot air straight at the back of a £400 nugget of ultra-sophisticated electrickery instead of at my face. Whether it buggers up the machine or not (and I'm guessing it doesn't cos nobody seems to complain) I don't want this solution! I want it mounted somewhere unobstructive, away from the car's functions! A sucker-mounted screen attachment is ideal. But I'm still waiting for one...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That depends entirely on your car...
Mine has at least 4 different locations for mounting, 2 of which do, indeed, foul the airvent - but I have my iPod mounted on one clipped down near my stereo, which is a perfect location.
The alternative is a bracket from Dashmount (www.dashmount.co.uk) as, IIRC, these don't block vents in a lot of cars.
Has anyone yet found somewhere that's selling these on behalf of Brodit yet?
When I got the XDA2(X) in 04 it was via www.handnav.co.uk, but I cannot see anywhere that's selling them at the moment.
Cheers
Ant
I have had one of these brodit and proclip combinations for all my recent devices and i can tell you there is nothing better, perfect holders and easy installation with no screws or anything into the dash, they clip in and are solid as a rock 10\10 in my book
Chris
ps anyone selling yet in the uk
SiliconS said:
I'm waiting for a holder like a laptop docking station. Slide the Universal into the holder in landscape/laptop mode, with connectors at the back for audio (with the jack) and the USB/power connection. It's surely no coincidence that HTC made this machine with all the connectors in a row on one face and with the connections in parallel? (On the XDA2 the main connector is at a different angle to the headphone jack so one holder couldn't provide both interfaces in one fixed cradle.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto, I've suggested as much to Brodit, let's see what results
Anton.Valleyman said:
Has anyone yet found somewhere that's selling these on behalf of Brodit yet?
When I got the XDA2(X) in 04 it was via www.handnav.co.uk, but I cannot see anywhere that's selling them at the moment.
Cheers
Ant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Handnav can get any Brodit Part once it's available to retail, another alternative is Nemesis the UK importer. http://www.nemesisgb.com/ Cr*p website but call them and they can' t be more helpful.
SiliconS said:
A sucker-mounted screen attachment is ideal. But I'm still waiting for one...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See this. Brodit even have a clip that will interface between that four pronged mount (known as the HR-Mount) and their cradles.
Decisions, decisions!!
In all honesty I'd love to have a good Brodit mount that sticks to the windscreen to show off the Exec in laptop mode to other drivers!! haha...though I've been weary of it losing suction and falling (in probably slow motion with me watching it) disasterously to the floor mid journey.
I'm keeping the arm of the existing car kit I had for the 2/2i but hoping to just rescrew in the Exec model.
Ant
Handnav will have the brodit in stock from the end of next week!
Oooo nice find ... I want ... no need this .
Just emailed HandNav asking when it's coming in and if I can order it .
Brodit also has powered Holder now for the JasJar QTEK 9000 etc
Major design flaw with Brodit. Follow thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=30022
I have Just ordered a powered Brodit Holder for my MDA PRO, it shall arrive on Monday. Costs: 53,55 Euro, this is for the Powered holder with sigarette plug.
Great, let me know when it arrives if your speaker is also covered by the device, like in my post above ^
I am trying to figure out, which car mount works best with the Jamin/s200?
I am thinking about purchasing the Brodit Proclip from www.proclipusa.com - is anyone using this car mount with the Jamin/s200?
Proclipusa.com has a device holder for the Jam/s100, which is 100% compatible with the Jamin/s200, correct??? :?:
yes, they are very good. At least I think so.
See responses to your post on HoFo
You can't go wrong with the brodit products. They are a little pricey but top quality. I have got the active swivel holder for the qtek s200 and it works very well indeed.
Just buy it you won't have any regrets.
Very impressed with mine also, a bit pricey but good quality and made for a neat installation.
Which option are you guys using?
The holder, which fits into the center console or the one for the air vent?
Also, if I have multiple devices, is it a rather easy task to switch out the device holders (I guess, I can use one mount for different holders, correct?)?
Hi,
You can use a 'Moveclip' This enables you to have x1 Proclip installed on your dash area, and fix the moveclip female part to the Proclip, and the x2 male parts to the back of 2 Brodit holders, meaning you can switch devices on your dashboard, be it JAMin or Tomtom, ipod etc.
Hope that helps, heres a link to view:
Cheers!
http://www.dsldevelopments.com/hotpages/march06/minimoveclips.html
Thanks bryson!
Perhaps you also know if I can put in a car charger into the non-active holder (directly into the device) without any trouble?
The active holder seems a little big and I dont really see the advantage on the picture compared to the non-active holder?
Whats the advantage of the active holder?
Thanks!
No probs, glad to advise:
If you already have a cigg lighter charger for your device, then the passive holder is your cheapest option. Its easy to plug it into your JAMin (UK this is known as the Xda Neo) just plug into the bottom and slide it into the holder, job done!
The advantages of charging holders are:
It has the dock connector so just slide the device in and job done.
If you dont have a in car cigg charger, active holders are your best option,both for practicallity and cost.
Other than that, the 'hardwired' versions are a bit different, (also more expensive) as you can hide the cables,power a GPS BT device and have a more pro install look in your car.
Click the link here for all the devices available for JAMin etc
http://www.dsldevelopments.com/hotpages/march06/xdaneo.html
Hope that helps, Bryson!
Quote:
Thanks bryson!
Perhaps you also know if I can put in a car charger into the non-active holder (directly into the device) without any trouble?
The active holder seems a little big and I dont really see the advantage on the picture compared to the non-active holder?
Whats the advantage of the active holder?
Thanks!
Hi,
Have a Kaiser on the way and want to have an external GPS antenna and an external phone antenna ready to go when it gets here.
But I can't find anywhere what types of antenna sockets the Kaiser has for these two antennas?
Does anyone know???
Thanks.
Great forum, by the way!
As far as i can see it only has a socket for a GPS antenna so i assume this would probably act as both although not sure
you can get the official antenna from expansys
http://www.expansys.com/htc/p_htc_item.aspx?i=151025
I can confirm spooki37 says, from what I can tell, there is only one port. It is located the rubber GPS stamp that is on the back of the device. eBay has them shipping to the US for about $15 - $20 non-oem from China.
When I remove the battery cover, it sure looks like there are two jacks. I too thought the other must be for external Cellular antenna.
So does anyone know what the 2nd port is used for?
Whatever you do dont use the second port because it will damage your phone. I plugged an external antenna into my original phone and when I removed it the phone had no signal at all. The only way to get any signal was to use an external antenna after that.
That second port is an antenna port but htc doesnt support any antenna for it and is supposed to be used for debugging purposes only.
I use an external antenna all the time with mine... (TyTN II / Kaiser) works ok.. not great, but gets me one more bar, and seems to hold the signal better in a low signal area.
I use this adapter:
http://www.wpsantennas.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=441
with one of their antennas.
I don't have any problems with signal after I disconnect it, but i'm pretty careful with connect/disconnect, and I cradle it while connected. I bet a little torque would probably damage the connection which would probably damage the internal antenna connection as well.
So you remove the battery cover and plug that antenna into the smaller of the two ports? Ive damaged 2 phones trying external antennas and so have others. This one is a htc titan http://pdaphonehome.com/forums/ppc-6800-xv6800/96140-phone-signal-horrible.html and theres more reports like this one.
Ren13B said:
So you remove the battery cover and plug that antenna into the smaller of the two ports? .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I usually just pull my battery cover off, carefully seat the antenna into the port on the left, and then cradle the the thing.
I've done this with this phone, a moto blackjack, and at least two other moto phones in the past, and never had an issue. Again, though... I've pretty much ALWAYS immobilized the phone while it's got the antenna jack plugged in. I actually try to do the same when USB is in too... the boards inside these tiny devices are too thin and the amount of torque you can apply accidentally is quite high... best to be safe... but I get intermittent signal where I use it most frequently, so I accept the risk.
Thanks!
KarlFlick said:
I use an external antenna all the time with mine... (TyTN II / Kaiser) works ok.. not great, but gets me one more bar, and seems to hold the signal better in a low signal area.
I use this adapter:
http://www.wpsantennas.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=441
with one of their antennas.
I don't have any problems with signal after I disconnect it, but i'm pretty careful with connect/disconnect, and I cradle it while connected. I bet a little torque would probably damage the connection which would probably damage the internal antenna connection as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly the answer I needed - thanks heaps!
So obviously it takes the some patch lead as the Tytn. In that case I'll just get a Tytn patch lead off ebay and hope for the best.
The owner's manual I found for the Tytn says you can use the antenna plug, so they obviously thought it was safe then, but maybe hid it on this model because of a few reported breakages. I'm going to use mine only occasionally and in a cradle, so I hope I'll be OK if I'm very careful. Maybe I'll never end up using it given the risk...
Another option would be one of those universal antenna leads. They clip on the back of the phone and work by an induction coil. Their performance is very variable - mine works OK (+1 bar) on a friend's phone, but seems to make no difference on my phone.
I want to add this as well: plugging in an external antenna can damage your phone. I have plugged a wilson antenna into my 8925 and now my reception is extremely poor... I am not sure of the cause, or how to fix it.. just hope to help people avoid this.
We have the 8925 here at our office and have found that the port on the right side is for GPS only. The left port is for cellular reception.
We have not damaged the phone that we have here and have had the 8925 for about 6 months.
There are a few issues with using external antennas:
First of all, the connector must be properly sized for the phone.
With some device/connector combinations it is normal for the connector to appear to not be fully seated. If you try to force the connector on further you can do permanent damage to the phone.
In the phone there is a tiny mechanical switch that gets tripped when you plug the external antenna in. This physically disconnects the internal antenna and connects the phone's radio to the antenna port. Sometimes this switch gets stuck in the port position, so you get poor performance when you disconnect the external antenna. This is especially common with CDMA Motorola V3 models.
-Jay
any body uses a wifi external antenna????
How hard is it to fix this "switch"? I have a kaiser that will only work with an external antenna after using one. Port isnt damaged as far as I can tell and ive never had problems with external antennas with other phones.
Jay2TheRescue said:
There are a few issues with using external antennas:
First of all, the connector must be properly sized for the phone.
With some device/connector combinations it is normal for the connector to appear to not be fully seated. If you try to force the connector on further you can do permanent damage to the phone.
In the phone there is a tiny mechanical switch that gets tripped when you plug the external antenna in. This physically disconnects the internal antenna and connects the phone's radio to the antenna port. Sometimes this switch gets stuck in the port position, so you get poor performance when you disconnect the external antenna. This is especially common with CDMA Motorola V3 models.
-Jay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DaMilky said:
How hard is it to fix this "switch"? I have a kaiser that will only work with an external antenna after using one. Port isnt damaged as far as I can tell and ive never had problems with external antennas with other phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never actually had this happen to any of my phones, so I don't know how hard it is to fix. If the external antenna was forced onto the connector you may have to send the phone in for service to have the port replaced. The only other thing I can think of is to put a small amount of contact cleaner on the port itself, the gently work it in with the external antenna connector. This may loosen the switch and let it return to the internal antenna position if this is your problem. In all likelihood I'd say that a warranty exchange is probably your best bet.
-Jay
has anyone notised a 3rd port? its between the camera and the speaker and slightly higer than the other 2 I bet that ones for wifi at 1st glance I thought it was a screw.
I don't understand why the port were designed in the first place when things seem to be such a useless purpose ...etc
comes with INTERNAL GPS ... so why the need for EXTERNAL ??? and if you do need to use it ... it is delicate and chances are, you're screwed and damage it !!
so why bother designed it ?? <scratching head> !!!
External antennae that are properly sized for the operational wavelength will always have higher effective gain than any built-on antenna that is capable of fitting on a typical handheld device.
The External GPS antenna has 27 dB Gain (typical)... I cannot find specifications for the internal antenna on our Kaiser's, but I am willing to bet they are probably at best a unity antenna, maybe 3db on the good side.
That means you will recieve SIGNIFICANTLY signal strength and more satellites when you are doing anything involving GPS, and weather, antenna position, and all standard environmental factors will have significantly less effect on your GPS activities.
The same goes for an external antenna for the cellular portion. The internal radio boosts power output when it has degraded reception which means when you're in a poor reception area, you burn more battery doing the same things you typically do.
A "gain" vehicular antenna directly connected to your phone will increase battery life when using wireless connections to the cellular network, as well as provide you good reception where you would otherwise have poor to none.
Of course, if you live in an urban area, this is probably of no use to you... but in a built up area with many large buildings around, you may not have as good GPS resolution and reception as you could with an external antenna..
*
The primary reason they put these on there is moreso for diagnostic purposes probably... hook it up to a freq counter and/or spectrum analyzer and you can tell that the radio is actually putting out what frequency and it's strength as well. Without those, there's no external way to ensure transmission is occuring without possible interference.
mech_supernova said:
has anyone notised a 3rd port? its between the camera and the speaker and slightly higer than the other 2 I bet that ones for wifi at 1st glance I thought it was a screw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've examined this very closely under a bright light, and I have concluded that it is a screw with a Torx head.
I still like the Iconia (a lot), but (now) four issues, IMO:
1. The A500's finish and relative weight make it a slip magnet. Though not the best build (or price), the Acer Protective Case takes care of this.
2. The location of the USB host port is counter-intuitive to normal handling of the tablet. The gTablet has the USB host in a more logical place (away from a bottom corner).
3. Wifi is weaker than the gTablet. Either the gTablet spoiled me with overly robust wifi, or the Iconia is a tad on the weak side.
4. GPS seems very hit & miss, but this appears to be depending on what A500 you get. Though I can not get a signal outside, yet alone in, the demo in Best Buy picked a signal up and did it quickly. Seems some batches may have borked GPS.
I still have my gTablet as a back up and to play TigerArcade (does not scale correctly on Honeycomb), but the Iconia kicks the gTablet's butt in everything else.
I have one of those silicon pads you use to stick stuff to your car dashboard on the back of mine. Sticks to it really well. This not only gives me something to hold it by but also lets me sit it on my leg or a pillow and it won't slip down.
I have no issue with the location of the USB port.
Yes, the WiFi is weak in comparison to my Archos even.
I haven't had any issues with wi-fi signal strength.
Mind you I'm typically no more than 100' from the router - still though - I can surf fine in the backyard with the router inside on the second floor at the front of the house. I'm sure your location and router quality (how much of whatever material is between your tablet and the router) will have more to do with how strong of a signal your tablet receives than the the tablet antenna itself.
I do agree, to a point, about the USB Host port and even the mini USB port but it only bothers me when I'm holding it. I don't know why they don't put those kinds of connection on the top...?
It is a tad on the big-boned side (har-har). I just hold on tight and never hold it at my side like a book. It stays screen up or I put it down.
I've got mine in the official Acer case from Staples.com, and that isn't going to slip I don't think
In terms of WiFi, I did notice that my A500 wouldn't connect to my home WiFi when I was reading in my bed, although my Droid connects from the same spot (albeit with poor signal strength.) Pretty consistent over 2 days, and a couple of my PCs in the same room occasionally have connection issues anyway, so I bought a Netgear Wireless Range Extender and set that up in the corner of the room closest to the router, and bingo, excellent signal strength at all times.
I haven't had problems connecting to public hotspots with the A500.
In terms of the USB connector location, it hasn't been a problem for me. Normally when I'm plugging a USB stick into the unit, I'm in Landscape mode so the USB port is on the lower-right side, right where it is for most of my laptops, so I guess I'm used to that.
I agree that the unit is heavy and slippery, but I haven't had any issues with the wireless. I have it connected to my Wireless-N network at home (Netgear N600 dual-band) and have been able to go inside the neighbor's house (about 200' from my front door) and still have signal to my network. Total distance from router is probably close to 300' with at least 3 - 4 walls in between.
I also seem to have higher signal strength on the Iconia than I do on my iPhone, though I believe it is connecting to the Wireless-G band on the same router, I'll have to check that when I get home to verify.
rushless said:
I like the Iconia, but three issues IMO:
1. The Iconia's finish and relative weight make it a slip magnet (anyone know a good option for a grip skin or one that can modded for the Iconia?)
2. The location of the USB host port is counter-intuitive to normal handling of the tablet. The gTablet has the USB host in a more logical place (away from a bottom corner).
3. Wifi is weaker than the gTablet. Either the gTablet spoiled me with overly robust wifi, or the Iconia is a tad on the weak side.
I still have my gTablet as a back up and to play TigerArcade (does not scale correctly on Honeycomb), but the Iconia kicks the gTablet's butt in everything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I watched a movie with a usb and what I did was turn the tablet upside down, usb was on the left, screen flipped and I was all set to go.
I agree on the wifi, everything else isn't much of a concern. It is the same thing in coming from a Xoom, it's just not nearly as good. It's one thing I've noticed with both the A500 and the Transformer.
They both lack 5Ghz wireless compatibility.
It also lacks the gtablet's ability to use all 14 channels. For those of us free from the FascistCC
I don't know if the op is looking for a bug list but here's mine
GPS is very weak
compass doesn't work, 90deg off
digitizer unresponsive 1 times
no swype
market crashes a lot
microphone volume to low?
bluetooth sharing only shows visible devices and not paired devices
michaelh99 said:
digitizer unresponsive 1 times
market crashes a lot
microphone volume to low?
bluetooth sharing only shows visible devices and not paired devices
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm I have had none of these problems and find the microphone volume perfect.
Vereynn, thank you!!
I had no idea the Acer case even existed. I went to my local Staples and it was so new that I had to tell them that it was in their inventory. I have one now. THANKS!
-----
Doc Kinne
Somerville, MA
kinnerc said:
Vereynn, thank you!!
I had no idea the Acer case even existed. I went to my local Staples and it was so new that I had to tell them that it was in their inventory. I have one now. THANKS!
-----
Doc Kinne
Somerville, MA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You lucked out, since Staples is not supposed to sell until Sunday (best by exclusive through this week).
rushless said:
You lucked out, since Staples is not supposed to sell until Sunday (best by exclusive through this week).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding is that they can't sell the tablet until Sunday. Picked my case up yesterday.
SmittyRN said:
My understanding is that they can't sell the tablet until Sunday. Picked my case up yesterday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, was reading on my phone and missed the "case" part. Thought meant the tablet. Poor reading skills.
Doesn't Skinomi make back covers for these?
Hi everyone, I basically have an ongoing project at the moment where I'd like to have a headunit in the open top kit car me and a friend are building. Everything is full on stripped down back to basics, no ABS, no powersteering but we're keen to have a bit of fimiliarities with the headunit. I'm struggling a little bit on exactly what to get, I don't know if an off the shelf solution exists or if I'd have to go down something like the rasperry pi route but effectively here's what I'm after from the unit. Don't mind the idea of a tablet of sorts as well, but it would need multiple USB slots (see below).
Android OS is probably best for what we're after however open to suggestions/other ideas
Multiple USB slots 3 minimum - 1 for ODB/ Diagnostic connection, 1 for Apple CarPlay and the other for DAB radio if required
Resistive touch screen - there's no roof on the kit car we'll do our best to weatherproof it but we'd like for the screen to be not effected by droplets of water if it does start raining
Something that's not incredible slow
The monitor and the OS can be two separate devices if required e.g Resistive monitor and then trailing a HDMI/USB to the computer which would be in a dry wiring tray.
Has anyone done this? Seen anything that'd suit? We're really open to suggestions and looking to find a solution asap.