Brodit Amplified Holder Review

MikeB · Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 6:06 pm Post subject: Brodit Amplified Holder Review

When we were at CeBIT back in March Brodit swore us to secrecy then showed us a number of new products that they were going to release this year. One of these was the amplified mount. Well this is now available and Handnav Technology have kindly provided us with a sample for review.

One of the problems with some of the modern PDAs is the small speaker and lack of audio volume. This had led to some PDA holder companies producing mounts with external speakers. There are quite a few of these amplified holders on the market so how does the Brodit version compare?

Click here to read the review and find out...
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Mike Barrett

amcluesent · Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 8:33 pm Post subject:

>Those of you who use TomTom will know that the voice files are over amplified and distorted<

Can't agree on this, at least with the TT3 voice on an iPaq 3850. Sure the voice has been processed to reduce the dynamic range and normalised, but I find this means that the voice is load but clear with the iPaq set to maximum volume without requiring any external amplification. I don't doubt that the 3900 series iPaqs were the last that could go loud without distortion...

RichDem · Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 9:19 pm Post subject:

Hi Mike,

I was wondering which version of TomTom were you running for the review??? Looks like the Palm version but on a Pocket PC!!!! Do you know something we all don't ??

Richard
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If it ain't broke then fiddle with it until it is!

omaruk · Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 10:20 pm Post subject:

slightly off-topic but can you use bluetooth phone headsets to hear the sound rather than through the IPAQ. Mine is a 3870

MikeB · Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2004 11:12 pm Post subject:

farwellbooth · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 12:52 am Post subject:

I'm using an iPAQ 4150 w/ TomTom Navigator USA and the iPAQ alone is plenty loud. If I have the music up I have to turn it up a little but full volume it's PLENTY loud and clear.

I have a Brodit w/o the speaker that has a hard wired power supply of which I absolutely LOVE.

Darren · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 7:55 am Post subject:

omaruk · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:43 am Post subject:

Thanks darren, thats a shame I sometimes use mine in a Lotus Elise, prblem is the noise of the car completey drowns out the sound of the IPAQ, only way to here the sound is through an in-ear device, an amplified mount does not suffice. I checked the registry hack but mine does not have the right reg key (must be on later versions) Crying or Very sad

BrummyGit · Regular Visitor Joined: May 19, 2004 Posts: 113

I have been using one of these with my iPAQ 5550 and TT3 since July.

I initial bought a Seidio 2500 mount which was a cheaply put together piece of rubbish which started to have problems within a week or so - especially with the connectors into the PDA.

This mount is a level above - well made, sturdy and the connectors work perfectly - but pricey. It doesn't vibrate or rattle coupled to a Brodit Pro-clip and has been totally reliable.

The sound does distort on full volume, but knock it down a notch or two and it is loud enough without distortion. The speaker size initially worried me but it works fine. It's as good as the Seidio 2500 but relies on the internal volume control for the PDA.

I was initially disappointed not to have the speaker connector built into the base (as on the Seidio), but in reality its a small inconvenience and as I had problems with the Seidio sound output I would rather have reliability in the design.

All in all I'm really pleased with mine.

icsys · Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2004 11:22 pm Post subject:

BrummyGit · Regular Visitor Joined: May 19, 2004 Posts: 113

Within a week my Seidio was not connecting properly. This just does what itsays on the tin. It works - no worriesh

lexuscol · Regular Visitor Joined: Jun 25, 2004 Posts: 102

I puchased the Brodit active mount with speaker for use with an ipaq 2210.
I agree that the mount is well made as far as fitting the pda goes but i think you must have a specially amplified version for review. the sound from mine is not amplified at all, it is no louder than the ipaq on its own and that is inaudible when travelling. maybe mine is faulty I don't know I would send it back but it took so long to come in the first place, that I am reluctant to do so.
Col

MikeB · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:41 pm Post subject:

Col,

Yours is very definatley broken. From the sounds of things (no pun intended) the amplifier chip is not working. The volume is such that you should need to turn it down from your normal maximum.
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Mike Barrett

lexuscol · Regular Visitor Joined: Jun 25, 2004 Posts: 102

Thanks Mike, I will endeavor to return it then.

Darren · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:42 am Post subject:

Just got my new car so have installed a Brodit Amplified Mount in favour of the Qubit PDA Amplifier I had in the last one.

I'm happy to say that it's almost as loud, in fact as the speaker is nearer you (the Qubit Amp uses the vehicle's stero speakers) it's possibly louder. With the volume turned down a few notches (too loud at full volume) it's plenty loud enough and distortion free.

I had planned to use the Brodit as a stop gap until I had time to install the Qubit but having used it for a few days I'm going to be keeping it.
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Darren Griffin

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