Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Sticking it to the Thieves - the Proporta Magnetic Dashboard Mount
Posted by Don Tolson in "HARDWARE" @ 08:00 AM
Introduction
Having your Pocket PC (with or without phone) handy and accessible in your vehicle is a great convenience, especially if it's equipped with a GPS receiver and navigation software. Unfortunately, thieves are becoming more technologically astute and recognize the suction cup mounting systems as an invitation to search the car for electronics. Specifically in the last few months, there have been a number of articles (for example, here, here, and here) regarding the rise in break-ins and thefts of phones and portable navigation systems that were left, even out of sight, in cars. So, for those looking for an alternative, Proporta has developed a magnetic mount which is easily attached to the dashboard or any other surface in the vehicle and provides a secure mounting for your Pocket PC or phone. The best thing about this mount is that it's relatively small, unobtrusive, and it doesn't look like the typical device mount when installed.
What Comes in the Box
What arrives from Proporta is a small but complete kit of everything you need to use the mount.
Figure 1: What you get from Proporta.
Figure 2: And here's what's inside the box...
As you can see from the picture above, the system is pretty simple. It consists of:
I know it's a 'nit', and the manual is also available on Proporta's website, but really guys, do we have to print a one page installation guide in multiple languages that tiny and on paper that rips when you breathe on it?