Garmin Portable Friction Mount
by Garmin
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List Price: Our Price: $17.69 You Save: $22.30 (56%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $17.68 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin Portable Friction Mount
Customer Review: There are two versions: one great, one less so
Summary: 4 Stars
Excellent, but if you have one from 2xxx series and want to use it with your Nuvi, try contacting Garmin and explaining situation. They may send you the adapter you need to use you old base for free. They did for me.
I have a 2720, which uses the same base supplied with the gps. Works GREAT!
Update:
I had one of these. It came with my 2720 and it was GREAT. Also worked very well with a Nuvi 680 (Garmin sent me the correct bracket on request).
I sold the 2720 and so had to buy a new mount. Bought the "worry-free" packaging (or whatever Amazon calls it) version. They mean it just comes in a box. Two problems: the box is too small to let the base spread out, so it is folded over and takes a set. So the weighted wings of the base do not make good contact with your dash board...at least for a while. Second, the original base I had is like that pictured in the main Amazon ad. Very nice all-black, with tasteful black piping sewn with black thread around the outside. The one I got has white threading attaching the piping and it looks CHEESY and CHEAP. Why Garmin screws around with the color of their thread, I don't know. This version also seems to be a little wider, as the old one I had fit very well in a pouch I used for storage and this one is a tight fit.
The old version was better. I don't know how you would control which you get. The Amazon ad pictures show both versions (black thread and white thread) in the same ad.
A GREAT product went to merely GOOD. maybe if you buy the retail packaging version you get the better old one?
Customer Review: Solved my problems
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought my Nuvi 350 based on a recommendation of a trusted friend and must say that I am quite happy with it. The only complaint I have is the adherence of the suction cup mount. It came off on the first two attempts to use the unit. I am sure that the manufacturer would advise that I clean my windshield and the unit would have held. My response would be that this was on a brand new car with virtually zero miles on the odometer prepped for delivery by a professional car dealership. In a word(s) "clean window".
The unit held for 40 min. of an hour trip landing on my passenger's lap.
It was remounted for the remaining ride and return trip only to come off 10 minutes from home.
I have been told that I should not leave my unit in my automobile at night because it is a favorite target of thieves (who, I've been told look for telltale suction cup marks).
I've solved both problems with a second purchase, a portable friction mount made by Garmin. It's a beanbag chair/mount with a skid proof bottom that can be placed on just about any regular or irregular horizontal
surface. If it sounds clunky it isn't. There a four lobes to the beanbag each lobe splayed out every 90 degrees keeping it at a resonably low profile. The Nuvi can be mounted, placed on the dash, dismounted and stowed away without hassle. Some of the other mounts require permanent gluing of the mount to your dashboard.
I believe this should be the standard base provided with the unit. In a few states the suction cup mounts aren't even allowed (probably a visibility issue).
Customer Review: Does exactly what it's supposed to do
Summary: 4 Stars
We ordered this product for a trip to Minneapolis, where it is reportedly against the law to have a windshield-mount installed. What I didn't expect was to like it so much that I would prefer to use it over the windshield mount all the time! Our GPS is a nuvi 260W, and we've also used it with a friend's nuvi 650 without any trouble.
The friction mount is easy to use, it's never slid an inch on the dashboard of a Honda Odyssey, a Mustang, or a Dodge Avenger rental car, and the cool advantage is that when you're parking, you just remove the GPS and slide the friction mount under the seat, so your car isn't screaming to be broken into.
It has some weight to it, but it needs to in order to use the tackiness of the bottom surface to sit still on the dashboard. A friend borrowed it for a trip to California (another anti-windshield mount state) and he had no problems with the weight in his luggage.
I recommend using the friction mount over the windshield mount. It's well worth the money to have the convenience and security of not having the windshield mount or its telltale black circle residue advertising that you have a GPS in the car when it's parked.
Why the four stars instead of five? It doesn't come with the plastic bracket to mount the GPS to the ball joint of the friction mount - you have to use the one that came with your GPS. Maybe the brackets vary by model or something, but considering the low cost of including one, I think they should have done so if there is a generic mount for all of their nuvi units.
Customer Review: Convenient GPS accessory to have.
Summary: 4 Stars
I really quite like this thing. While I prefer to have my GPS mounted on the windshield in the left corner where I can see it best, if I'm driving with my family I tend to use the friction mount to put it on the dash. The way my windshield slopes, if you mount the device in the center of the windshield, it's just too far away to be conveniently reached (maybe even dangerously far). However, with this thing I can just plunk it on the dash and my wife can easily access the functions or do new searches while I'm driving. There's also the added benefit that this thing leaves no telltale marks that might indicate to a thief that you could possible have a GPS device stashed in the car. I also like it as it's easy for me to transfer to other cars if need be. Overall, I'd say it's a smart buy and for good value at that. There is one drawback though, it doesn't come with its own clip. I like to keep the suction cup mount along with my extra set of cables in the car so that all I have to do is grab my Garmin and go. I keep my other set of cables and the friction mount at home with my device so that if I need to I can just grab everything to be able to use it in another car (such as a friend's car or a rental). While not terribly inconvenient, it's much easier to take the device out of the clip and leave the clip attached to the mount. The ball joint on the clip makes it a bit of a pain to disconnect. I realize that the clips might vary to fit the different sizes of the devices, but I'm sure Garmin could come up with something to solve this issue.Customer Review: Definitely the BEST way to mount a Garmin nuvi!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been the proud owner of a nuvi 660 for several years now. It succeeded my earlier more primitive Garmin GPS. I love everything about my nuvi except its former habit of falling off my windshield. The suction mount it came with would let go at will -- because it didn't like the way I had secured it, because it was hot outside, because it was cold outside, maybe because it got tired. And my nice nuvi would crash to the floor of my car. And it got very old cleaning the windshield for suction cup, looking at the little circle the suction cup left when the GPS wasn't mounted, and worrying some thief would spot the telltale ring and break into the car.
Well, all that is over now, because this friction mount is the best thing since sliced bread. It works ANYWHERE -- in my Town Car, in my Subaru, in my husband's truck, and any other place with a flat dashboard, which is virtually every car made. It does not move at all. It perfectly positions the GPS for viewing and easy reaching of its touch screen. The design is simple and straightforward. The ball mount that comes with the flat part of the dashboard mount simply slides into place, and a small lever to the right of the slide locks it. (Removal of the ball mount for the GPS is equally easy: unlock and release) Then add your GPS and you are good to go.
I rarely write reviews but this product is simply wonderful and anyone with a nuvi should get it. In fact this should be Garmin's standard mount, not its irksome windshield suction cup.