Where do you mount your device??

Joined
Sep 26, 2010
Messages
167
Location
Coquitlam BC
TomTom Model(s)
Go Live1535
I read somewhere on the TomTom forums- in California, it is against the law to mount your device on your windscreen.. (?)
Now I would imagine this to be true if you mounted the device below your rear view mirror in the center of your windshield which would of course cut down the viability drastically.

I mount my GPS in the extreme lower left of my windshield just an inch off the dashboard..
This works for me in many differant ways.

1. It is barely noticeable for others who peer into your car as you drive as it appears to be part of your instrument panel ..
2. if the mount fails (suction) the device only drops to you dashboard top in a few centimeters rather than a few feet.
3. The visability of watching the road and the device at the same time is drastically improved rather than trying to watch the device in the center of your dashboard ( where your radio normally is).. and therefore it would make driving more safely .


I ask this only because out of the dozens of GPS fitted cars I see that are manually installed I'd say 8 out of ten is mounted below the mirror ..

Factory Installed GPS replaces the center of the dashboard with a large screen that incorporates both radio and GPS together on one screen .. Again in the middle of the dash making driving more difficult ot watch at the same time ..

I know that voice helps when driving but you still look at the screen for distance change // or speed // or time remaining ..

So my question is where do you mount your device in your car ??
 
This is where mine is mounted in my E46... cable is hidden between the trim and dash, running into the glovebox for switched power.

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My Go940 lives on a custom mount on the dash, which puts it below the level of the windscreen (and also gives a very nice ledge to rest my wrist on while operating it).

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Any other model I'm playing with gets stuck on the on the standard windscreen mount and is much harder to reach.

But then I don't live in California where I believe they do enforce that law about not restricting the view at all quite strictly?.
 

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Thanks for the great replys back ! ..
I should have uploaded a photo as well.., so will do that now ..
:)
 

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I am driving a Berlingo, which means the lower parts of the windscreen are quite a distance away, which would make it awkward to use, and also have leads trailing across the dash.

I had plans to get some kind of fixing on the dash, but temporarily, I stuck the windscreen mount on the driver's side window (the bit that is fixed, not the bit that opens). This is surprisingly good - it is easy to reach and I can glance at the GPS at the same time as the driver's mirror. I thought that opening the door might catch it, but it doesn't, and it actually provides an excellent reminder to put the thing away when I leave the car.

I don't know if I will leave it there permanently, but for now it is a perfect solution.
 
If I'm in my car (old type Fiesta) my TomTom gets mounted in the centre of the windscreen as low as possible.

If I'm in a work van we don't have any rear view mirrors so I mount mine in the centre of the windscreen at the very top. This way it's mostly inconspicuous and doesn't say "steal me" like it would if located at the bottom.
 
Mounting

I mount mine in the centre of the windscreen about 5" above the dash as my wife also like to see the screen. :rolleyes:
 
Device? Singular? Eh?
 

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Honestly, I don't need three in there very often. However, when I review units, I sometimes need to do a lot of comparisons, and having them running concurrently helps to do that. For example, what better way to compare the quality of RDS-TMC traffic vs. Live traffic than to be stuck in it with both running? :D

That said, I have become VERY partial to having two units running -- the left hand unit set on the 3D view, and the right hand unit in 2D view with a very much wider zoom level set for a broad overview. I have a peculiar use model, so if you think of the left side unit as the navigation side used while navigating to a particular target, and the right side unit as a map of POI that are 'targets of opportunity', you can see how that might work nicely. I run a 5" unit on the left side, and a new 6" high resolution unit on the right.
 
Device Mounting

Hi....What a good idea. I might buy a pre-used model and try using both next time I am trying to negotiate my way through/around Madrid. :)
 
I use a vent mount also - much more reliable than the easy port on the windshield.
 
I have no fondness for any type of suction-cup mount. In addition, any suction-cup mount on my windshield places the GPS too far away from me for convenience.

What I have done is to use a third-party mount that fits into the cup holder. This places the GPS in an almost ideal location in my car and in my wife's car, but it may not do as well for some other people. (For example, it would be a terrible location in my son's car.)

I took a look at the third-party vent mounts, but had some reservations about the durability of the vanes in my vents, so the cup-holder was more attractive to me.

With best wishes,
- Tom -
 
I mount mine on the steering column, close so I can see it and out of the sun's glare. Blocks a little the speedometer but heck, Tomtoms's speed display is more accurate.
 

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