Drive Safely With PPCTechs’s Freedom Mount

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One of the most important things a driver can have in his car is a mount for his phone. That’s my opinion but I’ll tell you why. Not many of us turn off our phones when we start to drive. And when it rings, how many of us can resist the urge to just ignore it. Worse, I have seen drivers who actually try to drive with one hand while removing a ringing phone from their tight jeans pocket. Needless to say, I made sure I was never a passenger when they were driving again.

So you can see why a mount is important. It lets you position your device in a convenient location so you can use it’s navigational features. Or if you don’t have one, it’ll still make a great gift for anyone because their device is within access. But how do you go about choosing a good mount when there are so many models out there? That’s a tough choice but hopefully this review will help you make one.

Introduction

The Freedom Mount (whose full name is the Universal PPC 5″ Low-Vibration Freedom Mount) is a cradle for your Pocket PC from PPCTechs. While clicking on the link brings you to a page that describe’s it as something for the Glofiish X500, don’t be fooled because it’s actually a universal mount. The product is tied to my unit,
but you can pick your device from the list of manufacturers. So if you have a Pocket PC, it should fit just nicely. It retails for $19.95 plus shipping and unlike a lot of mounts I have seen out there, it does not come with the flexible arm and thus, does not suffer from the excessive vibrations of other models. But just how good is it?

Before I get to that, let’s take a closer look at what’s in the box shall we?

All pictures link to a large image.

What’s In The Box

There’s nothing much as you can tell from the screen shot above. There are only 4 components, the cradle, the arm, the pedestal and the manual. Let’s look at each part in more detail:

The Cradle

This is what holds your Pocket PC and there are 2 things that I actually like about it. Firstly, the side arms are padded and cut out nicely. So nice so that when I place my X500 in the cradle, it does not cover the Volume buttons on the left side or the reset button on the right side. Take a look at the photos below to see what I mean:

Unfortunately, it was not cut low enough on the left side because it did cover the record button. The problem with this is that if I were to place my cradle while the device was switched on, it would activate the record button once. The good news is that after that initial press, it does not activate it anymore.

Unlike the side arms, the bottom feet which supports the Pocket PC is movable. As you can see, I have adjusted it such that the feet are on either side of the memory card slot and it does not block the USB port which makes for easy access to the charging port.

To use the cradle, you would rest your device against it and then press the side arms inwards until they hold the device securely. Don’t worry about using too much force because there are soft pads to cushion it but that don’t mean you can be the incredible hulk so exercise discretion. Releasing the firm is pretty easy. Just press the button the side and the arms spring back to their original position. Thanks to this mechanism, you could fit a wide variety of Pocket PCs on the Freedom Mount securely.

The Arm

Without this, the cradle is pretty much useless. The arm has a suction cap on one end and an attachment for the cradle on the other. To attach the arm to your windshield, you can use the supplied alcohol swap to clean the area before applying it. For added suction power, there is a lever that you can press then that ensures a really tight. Just how tight, I’ll tell you later but for now, I’ll tell you that it’s got a lot of suction power.

There are joints that you can play with. The first joint which is pictured above, allows you to adjust the upper part of the arm up to 90 degree angles on either side for a total of 180 degrees of fun.

The second arm is closer to the cradle and controls the it’s tilt. With this, you can ensure that you get a good view of your device when you are driving. Both joints lock pretty tight so your device would not wobble when you are driving.

The Pedestal

Now if you do not want to place the Freedom Mount on your windshield but on another part of your car, chances are, the suction would not be as strong there. To solve this problem, PPCTechs has supplied a pedestal with a strong adhesive on the back. By applying this pedestal on any flat surface of the car (but it on your dashboard or any other place you deem appropriate), you can now place your Freedom Mount on places that were not possible in the first place.

The Manual

Well, what can I say? It serves it’s purpose in helping you set up but it’s not really rocket science that you need to rely on it. Still a good inclusion for those who have trouble setting things up.

Now that we know what’s in the box, let’s go about setting it up and testing it.

The Initial Setup

Setting up was a breeze as mentioned earlier. Just connect the cradle to the arm (reminded me of Transformers) and then you can stick it to your car’s windshield. I chose not to use the pedestal as I was attaching the mount to my windshield. Here’s where the fun began.

When I first attached it to the windshield, it was a position I realized a few seconds later that it was not the place I wanted. However, removing the mount from the windshield was pretty tough. The suction power of the cup is that strong! Even the white plastic that you’re suppose to pull at to release the suction did not help but that could be because it was on the short side. Fortunately I had a nail filer in the car (don’t ask why) to stick in between the suction cup and window to remove the mount. I made sure the second time that I was sticking it would be the last time and thankfully it was.

Next, I placed my Pocket PC into the cradle in an effort to adjust it for comfortable viewing when I’m driving. Here’s my advice to you: do not fully tighten the joints until you are sure that’s the position you wanted. I made that mistake and it was a hard time loosening it (which also goes to show just how tight the joints are when they are in place which means low to no vibrations). I could have remove the mount totally but you know how that would go too.

Was setting up really as tough as I made it out to be? In a nutshell, not really. It’s just that the suction cup was really strong and the joints were anchored tightly which is great when you are out driving, but not so when you are setting it up. So I’d prefer this kind of power and experience a bit of difficulty when setting up rather than to have my mount drop on me or vibrate excessively while driving. Guess you can’t have it both ways can you?

The Driving Experience

So now that we got it all set up, how does it handle in the real world? On paper, it all looks great so I decided to take it for a spin.

Easy To Reach

I was initially skeptical about access when I got the Freedom Mount because it looked pretty short. After setting it up and getting a good position, I am glad to say that my doubts have been cleared and I no longer have to worry.

While driving, I can still comfortably reach out and access my Pocket PC if I need to (though this is not recommended) while at the same time, maintaining a good look at it. For those curious, I was driving a sedan (Honda Civic) though I think it can be positioned well with just about any vehicle. If not, you could always use the supplied mount.

Vibration Test

Needless to say, there were no excessive vibrations. In fact, I hardly noticed any vibrations to begin with. The lack of a flexible arm that you see in many other models does help but on top of that, when the joints are tightened, it’s really hard to even shake them. So when I was out and about using the navigational software on my Pocket PC, I could see instructions and routes very clearly. Even when I hit a pothole along the ride home, the suction cup was strong enough to hold everything in place. Impressive indeed!

Heat Test

When you’ve already set up the mount so nicely, you wouldn’t want to remove it every time you left your car would you? I know I wouldn’t but I was worried about the rubber on the suction melting and causing a mess. I have heard horror stories with cheaper models (being sold by other companies that is) so I was not sure if the Freedom Mount had the same issues as well.

Thankfully (at least for this review), Philadelphia has been experiencing a heat wave recently and even though it’s been said to pass, temperatures are still flirting with the 90s. In short, it is still hot and what better way to test the durability of it than to leave it in the sun for a couple of days?

Thankfully, I have no horror story of my own to tell. The rubber handled well despite being left out for almost 50 hours in the sun. There was no melting or flaking of any kind. The suction was still as strong as ever and did not show any signs of problems.

What I Like

• Easy to setup.
• Very powerful suction.
• Side grips secure the device well and comes with foam padding.
• Support feet are movable for better placement.
• Joints are rigid and firm when locked.
• Stood up well in the heat test.
• Low to No vibration encountered while driving, even over a pothole.

What Could Be Improved

• Very powerful suction (what can I say, it’s a double-edged sword).
• Ability to move side grips up and down so that it does not block buttons.
• A slightly longer plastic stub to pull at to release the suction when removing the arm from the windshield.
• Joints were hard to unlock when the mount was attached to the windshield. Only solution is to completely remove the mount.
• A longer warranty period. 90 days seems a little too short for me for such an item.

Conclusion

When it comes to safe driving, we should do as much as we can to make sure that we do not pose a threat to others because it’s not just our lives that we’re putting in danger. By having the Freedom Mount, your Pocket PC can now be positioned at an optimum location for viewing while you are driving so as to minimize distraction. While it would be great if everyone could turn off their phones to eliminate this distraction, that will not happen anytime soon so we’ll have to look for other avenues to make the road safer.

And for those of you looking for a mount, be sure to check out the Universal PPC 5″ Low-Vibration Freedom Mount. With a powerful suction force and firm joints, it really lives up to it’s name to bring you a low vibration mount for your device. Don’t get a headache because your old mount shakes your Pocket PC like it was high on something. Get the Freedom Mount from PPCTechs. And drive safely my friend.

Vital Stats

• Model: Universal PPC 5″ Low-Vibration Freedom Mount
• From: PPCTechs
• Price: $19.95 plus shipping
• Warranty: 90 days

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