ProClip USA HTC Touch Diamond 2 holder with charging cable

Every mobile enthusiast who has bought a “new” car probably is familiar with the process of adapting the “new” car to the mobile devices and gadgets you own (and not vica versa). Personally I was searching for an easy to install custom-fit solution to dock and charge a smartphone, without having to put screws into the dashboard. My search ended with the ProClip 2 part solution, and the article below will describe the different pieces of the 2 part solution as well as the install process in the car.

On the screenshot above you can see that ProClip USA offers a mounting solution for a wide variety of mobile devices (from MP3 player, to navigation devices, to smartphones). On the right side there is also a “check out our blog” button, where you will be redirected to the recently launched ProClip USA blog. On this blog the latest news, for example new device holders will be announced as well as regular ProClip USA news.

The ProClip 2 part solution, or is it a more part solution??

When you first visit the ProClip USA website and you hit the “click here to configure your mounting solution”, you will be asked to select your county. With this step the correct shipping details will be calcultated as well as filtering the mounting solutions on localized devices. 

A very simple 3-step process will help you to get the right parts of the ProClip 2 part solution. The description of of each step is in multiple languages, providing global support and which deserves a great compliment for the designers of the website !

Step 1 - Holder with Tilt Swivel and Cigarette Lighter Charger (Item No. 512011)

The first step of the ordering process is getting the right holder for your device. Select the brand or manufacturer and select the right model. For example I select “HTC” and “Touch Diamond 2″ and hit the search-button. The result is an overview of 6 (!!) different device holders for the HTC Touch Diamond 2 from a Standard Holder to a Holder with Tilt Swivel and Straight Cable for Fixed Install.

I choose for the Holder with Tilt Swivel and Cigarette Lighter Charger, simply because you don’t need to attach a third party charging cable and it gives you a nice and complete solution for a good price.

The picture above shows the packagecontent of the ProClip Holder for HTC Touch Diamond 2 with Tilt Swivel and Cigarette Lighter Charger. You can see that ProClip USA provides an installation manual, which in addition can also be found digital on the ProClip USA website, and some srews to attach the device holder to the other part of the ProClip 2-part solution.

I want to emphasize on the great level of- and focus on details in the design and manufacturing process of ProClip USA. The tolerances are very accurate, resulting in a great, just-right fit of your device in the holder. It’s not to tight that you damage your device, or that it’s hard to get the device in the holder, and not to loose that the device slips out or that the device starts to rattle. It’s simply just right !!

Furthermore the ProClip USA engineers have thought well about the functional design. The tilt swivel let’s you adjust the viewing angle onto the device, despite there is already a great deal of related-work embedded into the design of the carholder.

The HTC Touch Diamond 2 holder also contains a fixed charging-unit (and cable). You simply slide the HTC Touch Diamond 2 into the holder and “dock” the device. Here again the high tolerances and levels of accuracy are shown, since the sliding- and docking-process go in one movement !!

Step 2 - ProClip Angled Mount (Item No. 853029)

The second step in the ordering process is getting the right vehicle mount for your car, in my case a Volkswagen Polo. Again you need to enter the brand, the model, the year of manufacturing and the last part of the filter is choosing between left-hand- or right-hand steering. (ProClip USA also thinks of our British friends !)

The result of the filtering process is 5 (!!) different vehicle mounts. The options vary from a Center Mount on the air intake, a device holder placed more on the center part of the dashboard, and even an Adjustable Console Mount. I chose for the ProClip Angled Mount, simply because I don’t have any cup-holders on that place, it doesn’t block an air intake and the position of the ProClip Angled Mount is on a perfect distance to the cigarette lighter !!

The picture above shows the content of the ProClip Angled Mount package, again with a detailed installation guide on paper. In addition you see two special tools, which help you installing the ProClip Angled Mount onto your car’s dashboard. Remarkable is the fact that you don’t need any installation equipment, like screwdrivers. The functional design is really clever and the holder is simply “snapped” onto the right place of the dashboard.

Before I go to the third step of the ordering process, which is confirming the order, I continue shopping a little bit and read on below why ! 

“Step 3″ -   Move Clip Kit -1 Male and 1 Female- (Item No. 213093)

On the ProClip USA website there are ways to customize your mounting solution even further, and I noticed the sections:

• Move Clip System
• Extension Plates

The extension plates make it possible to change the relative position of the device holder compared to the vehicle mount, or you could even attach two devices holder to one vehicle mount. Again very clever but foremost functional designed ProClip USA !!

If you are in the position that you own more than one device, or you want to switch your deviceholder between different cars, ProClip USA also has thought about these scenario’s. The result is the move clip system, which consist of a male part and a female part, which can easily be connected and disconnected. The accuracy and tolerances of the product design is again of a high quality-level !

The picture above shows the package of the Move Clip Kit. While ProClip USA adds a paper installation guide to all it’s products they furthermore provide a piece of cloth to degrease the surface of the device holder and/or vehicle mount. The move clips are attached to the mount and holder with two-sided tape, and you have the option to put two screws in it (however that isn’t needed from my own experience).

Again this is a very functional and clever solution, to easily switch the device holder without any construction work !  

Build-in process of the ProClip 2 part solution

Normally you think about these build-in processes as rather complex, where you need special technical skills and additional equipment. The build-in process of the ProClip 2 part solution is very simple (you don’t need a technical background at all) and the best part is that it took me less than 15 minutes to complete !!

I started with a little preparation, and read the installation guide for the move clip system. With the piece of cloth I started to degrease the surface of the ProClip Angled mount and the surface of the tilt swivel on the ProClip holder with Tilt Swivel and Cigratte Lighter Charger. On the Angled Mount I sticked the female part of the Move Clip System while on the ProClip device holder I sticked the male part of the move clip system.

I quickly tested the fit by sliding the male-part into the female-part. Conclusion, excellent fit and time to do the in-car installation of the ProClip Angled Mount. 

In the picture- and the section about the ProClip Angled Mount, you can see that a set of special tools which have a wedge. I took one of them, looked into the installation guideliness and put the wedge on the right place between the car-radio and a part of the dashboard. A gap is now created.

The next step is to hook an edge of the Proclip Angled Mount to the dashboard on the side of the dashboard-locker (on the right), and pushing the other edge of the ProClip Angled Mount in the just created gap followed by releasing the special tool from the dashboard. The gap is closed and the ProClip Angled Mount is attached to your dashboard.

The onyl thing that you have to do now, is slide the male-part on the device-holder into the female-part (of the Move Clip System) on the car mount. Put the charger plug into the cigarette lighter charger, dock your device and you are good to go ! And the best of all installation is less than 15 minutes !!

Overall conclusions

At first let me start with the ProClip USA website, which is easy to navigate and helps you in an easy step by step process to order the right parts, dasboard mount as well as device holder. The explanation of each step is in multiple languages, so great compliments about the functional design of the website.

Second the speed of which ProClip USA brings device- and carholders to the market is remarkable. On their blog I noticed an announcement that there are device holders for the HTC Magic and the HTC Snap.

In the HTC Snap review on this website, one of my complaints was the position of the mini-USB-connector of this device, and the resulting problem not be able to “dock” your device as it is the case with the HTC Touch Diamond 2 holder. Again my compliments for the ProClip USA engineers, since they have found a great functional solution with the Charging Holder with Tilt Swivel and Cigarette Lighter Plug.

In addition to the clever, highly accurate and high quality design ProClip USA provides a wide range of device holders, vehicle mounts and other cusomizations, resulting in a unique and flexible system which you can personalize to meet your own needs and demands. In that respect ProClip USA is offering a complete total solution for the end-user.

The completeness of the solution is also reflected in added “special tools” and the lack of needing any additional equipment for installation into your car. For the installation you don’t need any technical background, and it took me less than 15 minutes to install the ProClip solution into my car.

I can be very short about the price-point. For such a clever and well though-out design and the high level of quality the price if worth every dollar / euro, and making it a solid investment.

If you are looking for a great in car solution, of high quality product design and an even better an d highly customizable functional design, don’t wait any longer and start configuring your ProClip USA complete solution over here !! I will certainly get me a HTC Snap device holder !