Review: USBFever’s Car Windshield Mount for eeePC / UMPC / iPad

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How big is too big?  I guess that depends on what you are talking about.  In this case we are talking about a screen to run a GPS program on.  For the past year and a half I have been using my Xperia X1 as GPS device and before that I used the Sony Ericsson P910.  So I have been accustomed to using the smaller screens of Smartphones in place of regular screens of GPS units.

Last year my mom got a TomTom for Christmas and using it a couple of times I really didn’t see the difference in the slightly bigger screen of it compared to my Xperia. 

 

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USBFever was kind enough to send me a product in exchange for a review of a window mount that can turn your Netvertable, Tablet PC, or iPad into a window mounted GPS.  

This is my Lenovo S10-3T mounted to the windshield of my 96’ Explorer.  At first thought I loved the idea of a 10 in. screen to navigate to my destination but after actually doing it it may have some fallbacks.

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The device from USBFever is the most solid screen mount I have had.  I have one for my Xperia that I have had to glue the bendy arm back into it’s hole because it came out the first time I used it.  This fact also makes me nervous that it may happen to a 45.9 oz. netvertable that dangles awfully close to a window.  

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It does appear to be a lot more secure than other ones I have used.  The actual bendy part is very thick and seems very sturdy.  The clip is also very thick and sturdy.  I would imagine that the image of my netbook falling out the window will never actually come to fruition. 

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This is the part that actually hold the device.  It has a soft foam rubber back and the spring out sides are also covered with the foam rubber padding.  It grips the device tightly however there is no lip to come up in front of the bottom to give it a little extra snug fit.  As you can see from the pictures I live on a dirt road.  It is also a private road so it doesn’t get maintained regularly.  needless to say it did fall out after a few bumps.  It also has two rubber spots on the back so that you can set it back against something to get some extra grip.  I never figured out where it could go that they could be utilized. 

The problem with this part is the vents on my device are covered on the left side and rear because it is made of solid material.  I haven’t tested this long term to see how hot it gets but if it’s only running the GPS application I don’t imagine it will get too hot.

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The place you see it mounted in the picture is the only place I could figure to put it.  Even if I am driving alone, putting it in front of the passenger air bag (without being able to turn it off)is a bad idea because in an accident it will diffidently trash your device.  I could have put it in front of the dash control panel and looked through the steering wheel but there are obvious problems with that as well. 

My only other complaint is because it can’t really lean back on anything and it needs to be tilted toward you so that it won’t fall out, it bounces a bit on the bendy part. 

All said I am satisfied with this device to do what it needs to do.  If you have an iPad and are looking for a similar device, this one will work but USBFever will have a specific for iPad device by mid June.  I think the iPad may be a better choice for large screen navigation because it is smaller and lighter then this specific device, but like i said I will definably be using this for the Summer road trip.   

I am not exactly sure what a Police Officer’s take on a 10.1 in. windshield mounted netvertable will be, so hopefully I will never have the opportunity to find out.