Every mobile user must be facing this problem: You’ve just bought a new device and it does not fit in the holder you have installed in your car. I faced the exact same problem and already knew for sure that it won’t fit in the holder I had installed for my HTC Touch Pro. As I have been using Brodit holders for about seven years now, I went to their website to see if they already had manufactured an active holder for my brand new HTC Touch Pro2. Again I was not disappointed because most of the time, whenever a new device surfaces, Brodit has already a new holder, or it is ready after a couple of weeks.
Some background on the Brodit company:
Brodit develops and manufactures products for installation of communication devices in vehicles. Brodit was founded in 1983 and is located in Karlsborg, Sweden. The company has 80 employees, is market leading in Scandinavia and exports to 30 countries.
Brodit was conceived back in June 1983 as its founder Ebbe Johansson was sitting in his Taxi and had the vision of talking on the phone while driving without having to pull over. Some of you still remember the mobile phones from back then. They were not as neat and handy as they are today. They were more like suitcases weighing about 40 pounds with receivers as big as a brick! Ebbe saw the need for an easy way to have the receiver installed close to the driver’s seat in order to use it comfortably. As a result, the ProClip was born, which is still the market leader for mounting platforms for communication equipment in vehicles today.
Since then, many thousand different models and solutions have been developed for just about every vehicle in the world. Easy installation is one of the objectives, and another is not having to drill holes or in any other way damage the interior of the car! Brodit also produces holders for PDAs, mobile phones, GPS devices and multimedia monitors, but the ProClip is still Brodit´s main product.
After a short while, I received the new active holder for my HTC Touch Pro2 and this is what you’ll get:
- Active holder for HTC Touch Pro2 (art. number 512021) with cigarettelighter plug.
- 4 screws for mounting it on a Proclip solution
- User manual
Installing the holder
The best way to install the holder is mounting it to a Proclip. I always have one or two ProClips installed in my car so I can mount at least two holders for two devices, which most of the time comes in handy when testing or comparing devices.
I have mounted an angled mount from ProClip in my car.
The ProClip is a mounting bracket for the vehicle’s dashboard. Onto the ProClip you can install e.g. a holder for your mobile phone or PDA or a handsfree set etc. Safe and convenient -always within easy reach. The ProClip is car specific and easy to install. The installation is quick, no special tools or dismantle of the dashboard is required and it will not damage the interior of the vehicle.
If you need to install a ProClip, you can have a look at the article that my fellow editor Remo wrote here.
After mounting the holder onto the ProClip it was time to see if the HTC Touch Pro2 fits into the holder. I am used to the fact that all devices that I have ever owned and used with a Brodit holder, have fitted the holder perfectly. There is no need to apply any excessive force to push the device in the holder. You just have to slide it in and it fits the holder perfectly. The holder for my HTC Touch Pro2 is no exception. It fits like a gloove andthe connector on the bottom is perfectly aligned so it will not damage the connector in your device. I experienced the same with the first Brodit holder I ever used, so the build quality is still the same. A big thumbs up here for Brodit for keeping their quality at the same level for al those years.
Now, let’s return to the holder:
The default position for the holder is upright. This way you can use the touchscreen and all buttons without any problems. The swivel mechanism allows you adjust the device in a way you can look at it in the most comfortable position for you.
In this position it is also possible to use the keyboard of the HTC Touch Pro2, but it is pretty useless because the keyboard is tilted. Therefore it should be great if you can tilt the holder itself, so that the device would be in an ideal position for using the keyboard. Well, that is also possible: If you turn the holder left 90 degrees, you can slide the keyboard out and use it if needed.
The downside of this position is that the connector and the cable will be “hanging around” in your car and if you are as neat as I am, you will probably use the holder in this position often and put it in the vertical position.
Overall conclusion
This overall conclusion will be a bit short as I have no negative comments on this holder. The device fits the holder perfectly and thanks to the design of the holder, you will not get any scratches on your precious Touch Pro2. There is only one thing I would like to see: A choice between a curled and a straight cable with a cigarettelighter plug. In my car the ProClip with holder and the cigarettelighter plug are close together, but when I use it in another car, the curled cable covers the dashboard. It would look a lot better if it was a straight cable. Although this holder can be ordered with a straight cable, you must install it professionally as it comes with a Molex connector.
Apart from this, I will give it 10 out 10. A real musthave for all mobile users !
You can get it here: ProClip USA website for $59.99
