MountGuys Blog

May 31, 2010

Garmin TomTom & Magellan GPS Charger and Power Cable Options

Filed under: Other Mounts & Accessories — Tags: , , , , — mountguys @ 10:39 am

We get a lot of questions regarding this topic so figured it was time for a MountGuys Blog posting on the topic.

First, the easy ones.  TomTom and Magellan.  All of their GPS units made in the past few years use a USB charger.

Now, the difficult one.  Garmin.  It all depends upon which on you guys.  The Garmin Nuvi 600, 700 and 800 series all use a proprietary ending that plugs into their cradle.  Can you use the USB type directly into the GPS?  Garmin does not recommend it but we have found no material effects with doing that.  It’s always good to pay attention to the manufacturer though.  So we suggest that if you can do it, use the flat charger with the cradle.  A few pictures are presented for the Garmin Nuvi 600 700 and 800 series.  By the way, the same charging end is used for the Zumo using the car cradle.

What about the rest of the Garmin Nuvi family?  They use cables that are USB as well but with proprietary pin settings.  Be sure that the cable you purchase is made for a GPS otherwise you risk going into the dreaded PC mode.  Another important tip:  many of the cables made for GPS units with traffic can integrate the traffic receiver with the cable itself, so be sure that the cable you buy is rated for traffic if you choose to retain that feature.

Last one.  Magellan.  They use USB cables with proprietary pin settings too.  Ask us any questions you might have about powering up your GPS at customerservice@mountguys.com.

Motorola and HTC Droid Car & Motorcycle Mount Options

Filed under: Other Mounts & Accessories — Tags: , , , , — mountguys @ 10:13 am

The Droid is here to stay.  And it’s giving the iPhone some serious competition.  Excellent feature, lots of apps, and you don’t need to be tied to AT&T.  It will be interesting to see what happens when / if Verizon and others start carrying the iPhone.

Well, we aren’t cell phone experts, but we are mount and accessory experts.  So today, we present Droid mounting options.  The HTC Droid Incredible and the Motorola Droid have similar dimensions so most mounts will fit both models.

Most mounts will feature a mini cradle with gripmatic jaws that expand from 1.5 to 2.5 inches.  Many rotate and pivot to bring your phone into landscape mode if desired.  We’re especially excited with a newest addition which integrates the charger with the mount.  It will use your lighter socket as the mounting point for your phone.

What about a Droid on a motorcycle or bike?  We have you covered there too.  The Droid is not waterproof, so remember to take it off your bike if it is raining.  Can’t take it off?  No problem!  Take a look at a water resistant motorcycle mount.

Blackberry Car and Motorcycle Mounts

Filed under: Other Mounts & Accessories — Tags: , , , , , — mountguys @ 1:07 am

We decided to write an article on Blackberry car and motorcycle mounts.  Not sure why we didn’t write one before.  We sell a large number of Blackberry mounts on our MountGuys site.  Blackberry mounts feature universal and custom cradles.  The difference is that a custom cradle will have better allowances for unique features such as a camera or buttons.  Not every Blackberry is made the same.  So when offered, always go with a custom cradle.

The most popular models are the Bold series, Tour, Curve and Storm.  Yes, there are custom cradles available for all of these models.

There are mounts for almost anywhere you need them.  In the car:  floor, sun visor, windshield, vent, cup holder and dash.  On the motorcycle:  handlebar, clutch, reservoir cover, mirror.  Want to put your Blackberry on a boat?  Yup, got you covered!

We also have been rolling out a series of powered mounts that have been very popular.  The mounts consolidate the charger and mount all in one.  This uses your lighter as the base for the mount.  Not only does it serve two purposes, but when you think about it, it’s at an excellent location and easy to reach.  As to bad guys looking to steal your Blackberry, it’s out of sight, so makes it easy to conceal.

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