 Review by Dave Burrows
Introduction
Brodit are a well known name in the mounting industry both for PDA's and GPS's a like.
We recently received two new iCN510 Cradles from Brodit and thought we would put these to the test.
Mounting Options
Brodit supply a number of different mounting plates or Proclips as they're called for each car. They cover a wide range of manufacturers and vehicles so you should find a mounting plate available for your car make, model and year. Here's 4 mounting solutions for a Vauxhall Vectra C which is what I currently drive.
The base platform or foundation of the Brodit system is a dashmount car bracket. This is a small plate that slips under the trim of the centre console, vent mount or gear stick and uses the existing screws to secure it firmly.
The face of the plate has a number of holes and slots allowing a number of mounts and cradles to be bolted on.
 
 
No Proclips were supplied with the two iCN510 cradles, so I had a dilemma on my hands. Either try and source some, or be pro-active and make myself two modified mounts. Always up for a challenge I decided on the latter and created two windscreen mounts using the Brodit cradles. Likewise you could create your own vent mounts for the iCN510 if you wanted to.
Swivel Mount
On top of the Proclip foundation is a tilt/swivel mechanism. These came with the two iCN510 Cradles we received. This bolted directly onto the dashmount plate and likewise onto the back of the cradle providing a strong and rigid mount that could be angled. There's also a centre screw on the tilt/swivel mechanism that can be tightened to lock the angle so it doesn't move around whilst driving.
Making the custom mount
Making the customised mounts were easy. Rummaging around in my drawers (that's my GPS Drawers!), I found two spare magnetic windscreen mounts. Usually I stay clear of these, but I received them recently with some other mounts. I've already had one MicroDrive erased and magnetically altered because of a magnetic mount, but seeing that I won't be putting a PDA close to this mount, I thought these would be ideal.
In both the cradle packs, you receive 4 self tapping screws which will allow you to screw into plastic and create your own hole without using a bradle. So using the 4 supplied screws, the magnetic mounts, I then screwed the 4 holes on the cradle to the the magnetic mounts creating a nice windscreen mount!
Passive Holder Tilt/Swivel
The first iCN510 Cradle we received was the Passive Holder. This had the Tilt/Swivel mechanism and fit the iCN510 like a glove. It allows you to put the power cable into the iCN510 like you can on the original mount.
Holder.F Cradle Connection Tilt/Swivel
The second iCN510 Cradle we received was the Holder.F Cable Connection. This again had the Tilt/Swivel mechanism and fit the iCN510 like a glove. This one allows you to screw the cable into a crevice behind the front face plate where the Brodit logo is shown, so that way as soon as you slide the iCN510 into the cradle the power cable is then connected as you press down. Ingenious!
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