Throw-and-go car dock

[piusg]

Greetings, all... I'm not an iPhone user just yet; I'm one of the many long-time Verizon customers anxiously anticipating the impending release of the iPhone 4 on Verizon's network. After years of stalwartly sticking by Verizon for their network reliability, quality, and coverage, and after years of watching friend after friend get an iPhone, I'll finally be getting one myself. Hooray!

First things first: I need accessories--one specific accessory, actually.

My current phone, the Droid X, has a killer "plop-in" car dock, with a fantastic suction-cup windshield mount. You just plop the Droid X in its dock and it's connected to its charger. No fumbling with wires, ports, and the like. I'm looking for a similar dock for the iPhone 4, and am having difficulty finding one. Universal docks and/or any docks with dangling wires that you must manually connect to the iPhone's docking connector and headphone jack once you physically put it in the cradle are disqualified--it must be a true iPhone-4-specific, throw-it-in-and-go dock.

I'm not putting the phone in a shell hard case or anything. The phone will be naked, like all my other phones were--not even a screen protector (I've never used screen protectors and I'm still alive).

So what do you guys use, how do you like it, and where do I get it?

Cheers!

Gregory

 

[upandown76]

http://www.arkon.com/iPhone_Car_Mount.php

 

[piusg]

Thanks, upandown76. That is certainly cool-looking, and along the same lines as what I'm looking for. But am I right in thinking that the iPhone already has a GPS receiver built into it?

I wasn't looking to spend quite that much...

 

[iGaz]

The iPhone has in built gps. However some car mounts can 'boost' the strength/accuracy of the phones gps or even replace it if you loose signal...

 

[Knight]

I have been searching for the same thing from the time I got the Nano 1st gen....

SO far I haven't found one.
I ended up making my own out of plexiglass. Just heat up the plexi with a heat gun or torch lighter (regular lighter turns the plexi black) and then bend it into the shape you want.
The first one I made was for my 1st Gen Nano. I was able to just drop the Nano (with it's case on) into the mount which guided it onto the Aux cable and charging cable fixed on the mount.
Since this I have made my own mounts for 2 3g's and my 4. I also incorporated a bluetooth headset holder onto each of the phone mounts. Each of these mounts has had a fixed power cable that the phone just slid onto.

I used the ProClip brackets to attach the mounts to my car because they are easy to install and remove without damaging the car.

 

[Matth3w]

Been looking for one. I got the non-GPS Arkon, it sucks. It's a piece of crap.

Knight, you got pics of your custom mount?

 

[Knight]

piusg: I have a friend with that mount ... I'm always jealous.

Matth3w: I will take some quick ones of my temp one and post them soon. I'm in the middle of building a new holder that will also hold my Nano and Richard Solo 1800 spare battery.

 

[Knight]

Here's a couple quick pics of the temp holder..
This one is being held on by command release strips whereas the final version will be mounted some recessed screws. This one also doesn't have the 30-pin connector permanently mounted ... but the rough support for it is there.