Custom In-Car Mounting System from ProClip Reviewed

I don’t think I need to sit here and tell any of you that driving and using your electronic devices is a bad idea. Your attention should be focused on the road and the other cars around you on the road. Trying to dig your phone out of your pocket, or trying to hold it and the steering wheel at the same time, is just asking for problems.

There are plenty of universal mounts available for your car. Most of them try to accommodate every device style and shape plus every cars unique dashboard. I’ve tried a number of these, but in the end it’s just another waste of $9.99 or whatever they’re charging for that crap. On a recommendation from a couple friends, I have recently outfitted my car with the ProClip system. ProClip has an interesting approach - they separate the device mount from the car mount. The ProClip web site has a simple wizard that will walk you through the process. First you select a manufacturer and device type to get the holder that works for your device. Then you need to select the make and model of your car to find a dash mount that is specifically designed for that car. The two parts then connect together providing the best possible fit for your unique device car combination. The two parts can connect directly to each other, or you can insert ProClip’s “Move Clip” between them. The Move Clip is simply 2 pieces of plastic, one half is cut with a v-shaped groove, and the other half has a matching v-shaped protrusion. By attaching one half to the dash mount, and the other half to the device holder, you can easily slide the two together and quickly remove or swap the device holder.

All said and done, it really didn’t take long to install. I spent more time washing and cleaning out the inside of the car than I did installing the mounts. There’s no marks on the interior of the vehicle at all - no screw holes, no drilling, no nothing. The dash mount just clips in around a vent, or inserts between the trim on the dash. I was pretty sceptical at first, as I’ve wasted so much money on those cheap mounts, that I didn’t figure something that sounded this easy could be true. However, It really didn’t take long for me to see how mistaken I was.

I ended up getting 2 device mounts, one for my Zune and another for my BlackJack II. As well as 2 car mounts, one for the Hyundai Santa Fe, and another for the VW Golf. I included a couple Move Clips for each mount, and even added the swivel attachment that allows you to pivot the mount and aim it a little more. Do you really need the swivels? Well, not really. If you’re on a budget but still want to get a solid car mount system, then I would recommend skipping the swivels. If you can spare the couple extra dollars, then I would consider getting them. You don’t need them, but they sure are nice to have at times.

Once you have everything installed, you may notice that it can stick out from the dash a fair amount. In my case, there’s the car mount, followed by the move clip, swivel mount, and then the device holder. While the move clip doesn’t really add much, the swivel mount does, as well as the device mount. Now, there’s not much that can be done with the swivel mount. If you’re looking for a swivel mount then you have to expect that this will add some distance to the solution. So keep this in mind if you would like to keep everything as slim and tight to the dash as possible. The device holder is another story. It’s a lot deeper than I would like. It’s designed to all for customizations to the device – like a higher capacity battery. Unfortunately, I don’t really have the need or desire for that, and there’s no slim device holder to pick. It would be nice to see ProClip offer a slimmer device holder.

The ProClip system doesn’t end at the car. They also have a desktop mount that you can attach your device holder to. So you can take the device from your car and into the office and use the same cradle. Of course, for this to work, you’ll need to invest in the move clips, which I have found to be well worth the investment. Not just because of the ability to move the device holder between mounts, but also for the ability to remove the cradle from sight. If I’m parking my car for an extended time at a public location, I will remove the device holder from the dash. Then if anyone was to look inside the car, they would only see the dash mount and have no idea if the device is still in the car or not. Hopefully providing less temptation for the thief.

One of the benefits of the ProClip system, is that you don’t need to replace everything if you get a new device. You just need to replace the device holder. As well, if you happen to get a new car, you just need to get the correct dash mount for your car and the rest of the system will still work.

The total cost of my ProClip system was about $175. I realize that’s a long way from the cheap $10 universal mounts that you can get from the dollar stores. However, when you consider that I got device holders for 2 different devices, along with mounts designed to work with both of my cars, and then the move and swivel extras. If you just get 1 device holder and 1 car mount without any of the extra’s, you’re looking at about $75.

One thing to remember, there is a big difference in the actually quality of the product. The ProClip pieces are pretty strong unlike those cheap dollar store units. As well, the ProClip system is easy to insert and remove your device. It also doesn’t block any of the ports you might need for charging or sync’ing the device. For these reasons, the difference in price is easily justified in my opinion. I’ve been really happy with my new in-car setup. If you’re thinking about outfitting your car, I would suggest you consider ProClip. I know that it’s change my attitude about car mounts for mobile devices.

Check out the ProClip web site to size up your car and device mount - http://www.ProClipUsa.com

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