MountGuys Blog

January 27, 2012

Mounts for Vertical Vents

Filed under: GPS Mounts and Accessories, Other Mounts & Accessories — Tags: , , , , , — mountguys @ 4:34 pm

We must get a few questions weekly asking about mounts that will fit on vertical vents.  Most cars have vent slots that go across versus up and down and 99% of all vent mounts are made primarily for horizontal vents.

Finally, a solution is available for vertical vents from a company called Tetrax.  Based in Italy, they have developed a mount that combines a very small vice with a magnetic attachment for your smartphone, GPS or anything that weighs less than 300 grams (10.5 ounces).

So Tetrax has two kinds of mounts.  Some attach to your dash, others attach to the vent.  Since this post is titled “Mounts for Vertical Vents”, we’re going to take a bit more about the vent mounts.  These mounts are attached to your vent using a small vice with rubber grips.  They tighten and loosen using a small dial built into the mount.  Extremely easy to attach and detach.  We have found that the profile is so small that they aren’t even noticed when you remove your device, so we leave ours in the car after we remove our device.  But the neat part is that if you travel, it’s very easy to take with you.  Just don’t leave it in the rental!

The Tetrax XWAY and GEO lines are the vent mounts.  The XWAY is a heavier duty mount and recommended for GPS units and SmartPhones.  The GEO is best for SmartPhones and devices weighing 150 grams (5.25 ounces) or less.  The GEO works great with our iPhone 4 in a Tetrax XCASE.  We offer some picture below.

Tetrax Geo - See the Vice?

Tetrax Geo – See the Vice?

Tetrax XWAY with a TomTom

Tetrax XWAY with a TomTom

Tetrax XWAY

Tetrax XWAY

Tetrax Geo with an iPhone in an XCASE

Tetrax Geo with an iPhone in a case

Tetrax Geo

Tetrax Geo

November 12, 2011

Tetrax Mounts: A Little Magnet Goes a Long Way

Filed under: GPS Mounts and Accessories, Other Mounts & Accessories — Tags: , , , , , , , , — mountguys @ 1:14 am

Tetrax introduces a new concept in car mounts.  Pairing strong small magnets with corresponding adhesive chips, these mounts provide a strong grasp of your device and the magnets are completely shielded by the metal chips.  We were impressed with the holding capability of the XWAY mount as it held our TomTom XXL in place with no problem.  The mounting kits include the mount and adhesive chip for the back of your device.  We like the simple approach to attaching the device then removing it.  Much less effort than practically anything else on the market.  Manufactured in Italy, these are nice quality mounts.

There are a few different lines from Tetrax:

  • XWAY – for heavier items such as GPS devices up 300 grams (10.5 ounces).  This would include most units that have a 3.5, 4.3 and 5 inch screen size.  These also make excellent smartphone mounts.  This fits on your car air vent
  • FIXWAY – also for heavier devices up to 300 grams.  These use 3M adhesive disks for your car dash.
  • FIX – a lighter weight version for devices up to 150 grams (5.25 ounces).  These are for smartphones, iPhones, iPod, Nano, etc.  This is the dash version.
  • EGO – also for lighter devices.  This is the vent version of the FIX.
  • XCASE – a nice idea.  Incorporates the metal chip into a custom case.  These are available for the iPhone only.

May 11, 2011

Using a GPS in California or Minnesota

Filed under: GPS Mounts and Accessories — Tags: , , , , , — mountguys @ 6:28 pm

What do the states of Minnesota and California have in common?  Tick tick tick tick…

Give up?  Up until fairly recently, it was illegal to put a GPS on your windshield in those states.  Imagine buying a new GPS with the suction mount and getting pulled over a few days later for using the mount in the box.  We got all kinds of stories from people after their wallet was $100 lighter and sold a lot of vent, cup holder and dash mounts as a result.

Luckily, lawmakers have mulled things over in California.  In 2010, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Senate Bill 1567, the GPS Windshield Safety Act (we didn’t make that up) which permits the mounting of portable GPS units in specific areas of vehicle windshields.  The law stipulates that a California driver can place the GPS in the 5-inch square windshield area all the way to the lower left of the driver.  Well unfortunately that excludes the most common place to put a GPS which is right smack in the middle of the windshield.  So we still sell a lot of non suction mounts to California customers!

Meanwhile, Minnesota passed an equally useful law in 2006 known as Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 169.71, subdivision 1.  The law states that it’s ok to use your windshield as the mount point as long as it’s on the bottom portion.

Are these reasons to move out of California or Minnesota?  Probably not, but it sure is nice to be able to stick your GPS wherever you like in the great state of New Jersey!

Vent Mount for Most Garmin Car GPS

Vent Mount for Most Garmin GPS

TomTom cup holder mount

TomTom Cup Holder Mount

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