Not loving the car mount

[danham]

Garmin had it right with my 660: the power cord plugs into the mount, not the GPS, so you can do things like conceal it partially behind dash trim, which also keeps it out of the way of controls and makes it fast and easy to insert the GPS and be off, or remove it and it shuts off. Not the XT. Not only do you have to deal with the plug each time, but the cord enters on the left side of the XT, meaning it is even more in the way (for those who drive on the right). At least it was grossly overpriced for a 12v adapter and cheap plastic plate.

-dan

[Peobody]

Be careful with the plug too. Mine failed while under warranty. Whatever material and engineering was used to secure the jack broke. It would move when trying to insert the plug. Apparently this affected the wiring inside because if I held it in a certain position I could get it to work. I only used it for connecting to a PC which is a lot lighter use than car. Admittedly, I connected and disconnected it a lot while learning it and Basecamp, and then creating and transferring dozens of routes to it.

[Oop North John]

Not a cheap option, but saves messing about with the USB connector each time:

[danham]

Be careful with the plug too. Mine failed while under warranty. Whatever material and engineering was used to secure the jack broke. It would move when trying to insert the plug. Apparently this affected the wiring inside because if I held it in a certain position I could get it to work. I only used it for connecting to a PC which is a lot lighter use than car. Admittedly, I connected and disconnected it a lot while learning it and Basecamp, and then creating and transferring dozens of routes to it.

Yeah, USB ports are fragile. That's why I remove the SD card (hope that part isn't fragile too) to transfer routes and tracks. Plus it's faster.

-dan

[danham]

Not a cheap option, but saves messing about with the USB connector each time:

I was afraid it would involve buying some expensive bits to imitate the motorcycle mount, and sure enough. Not cheap indeed, but thanks for the suggestion.

-dan

[colirv]

Yes, a useful suggestion. Our cheapskate alternative is to mount the XT on a friction pad and plug it in only once each trip. It then sits comfortably on top of the dashboard when navigating, and out of sight in the passenger footwell otherwise!

[TripleThreat719]

Dating back to when I had a Zumo 660, I have always purchased an extra motorcycle mount for use in my vehicles and just click it into the mount when I get in the car/truck. I really dislike messing with cables. With the Zumo 660, I used a RAM Mount suction cup because I found that the stock auto mount, while powered, suffered from a weak suction cup that constantly was falling off the window.

With the XT, I built a custom adapter to connect the motorcycle mount to a QuadLock suction cup. It is, by far, the best suction cup windshield mount I've ever used. I have a quad lock in all my vehicles for my cell phone with their wireless charging head on it. I also have one of their wireless motorcycle charging heads mounted to a standard RAM Ball so I can transfer a cell phone mount to any vehicle I have, including my boat.

I just hate having to mess with getting in the car, fiddling to find the end of the cable, messing with the little flap on the back of the XT (which will eventually fail if you open and close it enough times), and plugging in the cable. Worth the additional cost to me to eliminate years of that hassle with cables.

[danham]

I have now used the car mount at night and found new reasons to dislike it. I have a nice mount with RAM ball that clips into one of the dash vents, so no hassles with suction cups, but the car mount seems to be harder to engage than the bike mount when putting the XT into it, especially in the dark. And the power cable goes from being inconvenient to a real PITA when trying to plug in to the back of the XT in a dimly lit car interior. Makes me miss the ease of clipping in my 660, ready to go.

-dan