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Wednesday, 18 August 2010

Quick review of cheap, dedicated car holder for N900

When I've got myself a Nokia N810 couple of years ago, I was nicely surprised by very good quality car holder that came inside the retail box as standard. When I've got myself a Nokia N900 last December, there was no car holder inside the box. Even worse - Nokia didn't seem to care providing one as an optional accessory to buy later. They still don't seem to care, anyway.

However, by complete accident I've recently got myself extremely cheap (less than £10, more on this later), non-genuine, yet dedicated N900 holder, which turned out to take 2 full weeks to get delivered from China. Is it worth the hassle? Let me cut the story short and focus on main points, starting with some action pictures.

In action
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Pros
  • fits N900 perfectly
  • has quite large and strong windshield suction mount
  • swivel head seems solid and gives good amount of flexibility
  • allows to slide out N900's hardware keyboard while mounted


Cons
  • made with "soft"/cheap plastic, hence doesn't hold device firmly enough to avoid wobbly action while actually driving a car


Overall
For this price - definitely worthwhile, yet it works best if you can mount it to the windshield in a way where bottom edge of holder is supported by dashboard or generally something solid, which should get rid of wobbliness effect. I've had that opportunity and I am happy, as I have perfect-fit holder that allows me to open N900's keyboard too. Otherwise I suspect it could fall off/break/fail epically in relatively short amount of time, yet again - for this price you rather can't expect anything substantially better.

Where to buy
I've got mine from nokia-n900.com store for EUR9.99, where I didn't expect it will arrive from China. However, Chinese fellow who sent the item through was kind enough to include his business card within package, so I traced him on eBay where he sells exactly the same holder for even more ridiculous price of $5.99 (incl. postage), which makes a total of less than £4, which is peanuts.
Posted by at 23:33
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9 comments:

  1. That looks like it is right in front of the steering wheel. You can most likely expect a nice fine for that when you next get pulled over. Order a holder from proclipusa.com. Fits fantastically, and you order a mount that fits you car from them so it isn't obstructing your view. You'll love it.
    ReplyDelete
  2. I know ProClip solutions, however these are slightly pricey and I rather prefer to not mount anything to the dashboard itself for good. Btw, I've been driving with windshield-mounted holders for years and never had an issue with police or anything. Must be an European thing ;)
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  3. I would still consider the matter of safety personally, as it does hinder you view. The proclip isn't a permanent mount. It isn't screwed into the dashboard, but rather clips into the car, so there is no damage to the dash.

    It may cost more, but it's conventient, looks a million times better and doesn't obstruct your view at all. The choice is yours, of course, but for me it was a no-brainer. ;)
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  4. Thanks man, I immediately ordered one. I was driving with Sygic Mobile Maps 10 and it's great but not cruising autobahns at 200kmh with the phone lying around the centre console :)

    Keep the great posts coming!
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  5. Is the n900 still firmly in place with the keyboard slid out?
    Looking at the pictures, it seems as if the n900 can fall out of the holder when it's opened.
    ReplyDelete
  6. Dieter: yes, but only when you put bottom edge to something solid.
    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for the advice, I ordered one.
    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey, dude! Cool stuff! Is possible to connect headphones in the holder?
    ReplyDelete

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