Adventure with mounting iPhone to the car

When I first got the iPhone, one of the first thing I need was to connect it to the car.  My first solution was the iCarPlay from Monster, left over from my iPod.  Of course, they are not compatible.  I then picked up the Griffin RoadTrip.  The first few days was fine.  But over the course of weeks, problems start to arise.

 

1. The goose neck is only flexible to a certain degree, you can bent it beyond that a bit but it always flex back.
2. The connector has a series of interchangeable housing that was meant to fit snuggly with different Apple products, iPhone 3G S included.  Unfortunately, it assume you are using the devices without a case or a sleeve. (?!)  The bottom line is that none of the housing fit so the phone was not fully supported beyond the electrical connection.
3. On our trip to Maui, we discovered that this device is too short to fit in all vehicles (we were driving a Dodge Caliber).  For those that has a low or down angled 12V connector, this simply won’t work.
4. While the product itself is of good quality, the weakest link of the entire setup is the 12V plug in the car.  Unlike most things inside a car, the 12V plug is meant for a cigarette lighter, not anything that has significant weight. 

No. 4 turns out to be the killer.  With the iPhone, the transmitter, and the goose neck all applying weight at a 90 degree angle to the 12V plug, it was starting to fail.  Not the Griffin part mind you, the receptacle in the car dash was starting to come loose.  In fact, I dare say this is applicable to ALL power adapter and/or FM transmitter that puts weight on the 12V plug.  In any case, it was time to find a new solution.

While there seems to be a million products out there, three good rules will help eliminate the majority.

1. If you use a case, any case, your solution requires an adjustable phone holder.
2. The following 3 things must work together: the phone’s connection at the bottom, the opening at the bottom of your case, and the plug from the adapter (whether it is an FM transmitter or just for power).
3. If the product puts weight on the 12V plug, forget it.

In weeks of searching, I was not able to find a single solution that fits all 3 rules.  The conclusion I’ve come to is that I need to separate the two requirements: a FM transmitter and an adjustable holder.  Once that premise changed, the search became easier.

FM transmitters are aplenty.  I ended up picking up the Satechi FM Transmitter.

I chose it because if need be, I can run it without a cable.  Reviews were all over the place but then, so are everything else.  Of course, I had assumed that the opening in the case was wide enough and of course it wasn’t.  So I ended up having to widen the opening with a Dremel so the phone and the transmitter can connect properly.

The holder was another story.  The biggest issue of all: how would it be attached to the car?  There seems to be 3 types of solutions out there:

1. Suction cup that attached to smooth surfaces, most likely wind shield.  This works if the arm is long enough and attaching things to your wind shield does not violate local regulations.  You can attach it to the driver side window too… if you don’t plan to roll it down…ever.
2. Sticky tape of sort sticking to some place on the window/wind shield/dash.  This is very situational.  If you have some flat surfaces, it could work.  If where you are have strong sun or high temperature, it might not.  The adhesive quality is never certain so it might work for a while and fail later.  At the end of the day, when you have to sell the car, you’d have to deal with the glue.
3. Custom mounts that are designed specifically for the purpose.  Some require drilling and mounting a long pole/goose neck through the car’s undercarriage, some mount on the driver seat rail, some are custom fitted pieces that are make/model/year specific and clip/mount to specific part of the dash/vent/etc.

I didn’t want to damage the dash or deal with any surgery in the car.  Hawaiian sun, moisture, and salt will always kill stickies.  I don’t believe in suction cups or sticking things on the windshield either.  The best looking choice left was from a place called ProClip (http://www.proclipusa.com/).  Unfortunately it was also very costly.  I might revisit them as a last resort.

For now, I settled with a JAVOEdge kit.

As I spend a good Saturday morning messing around and deciding how to mount it.  I finally came up with a solution: zip ties.  I pried open the center dash, slipped in a couple of zip ties, and mounted the adjustable holder to the dash.  It wasn’t elegant, and it did block the AC vent a bit, and it did covered up two of the dash buttons (AC and re-circulate, which are left on all the time anyway).

But it will do for now…