Disqus
I was slightly agog (yes, agog!) the other day when I saw Wills post on the pricing for the iPhone bracket for the iPhone. £100? Oh, come on now!
And hang on…. The App doesn’t even come with the bracket – so let’s now add on the cost of the App, coming in at a weighty £59.99 (that’s just the UK & Ireland, not full Europe maps!). So whats the total cost? Well by commanding the power of maths, I make it the best part of £160!
That is A LOT of money, and even with the supposed features the bracket brings (enhance GPS signal, charging dock function), it’s still way way more expensive than it’s ‘budget’ (in price, not in features) rival, CoPilot Live. But wait, we shouldn’t compare Apples with Oranges, so let’s chuck in a similar kind of bracket, at least one that will charge the iPhone whilst it’s mounted. I recommend the Brodit Active mount by DSL developments (you can see options here). Right, so totalling up, you need:
- CoPilot Live: £25.99
- Brodit Mount for iPhone 3GS: around £50 (depending on what specifically you choose)
- Brodit Proclip (to attach mount to your car specifically): around £16 depending on car
- Total: just about £92
Being completely fair, the Brodit mount doesn’t enhance the GPS on the iPhone, but to be honest I’ve found the CoPilot Live app to be more than capable without any need for boosting it. I also think the Brodit clips look better than the TomTom bracket!
In my mind, the choice is clear – save nearly £70, or don’t. In fact, use that £70 to get a pro-install and hide the cable from the mount to the cigarette lighter, and suddenly you’ve got an install that (1) looks professional, (2) charges your device, and (3) doesn’t make you feel like you’ve overpaid.
(Note: I’m more than happy to hear from TomTom PR to explain why in fact their solution is better, and to write an objective piece comparing the two – a word to the wise though – CoPilot PR already seeded me a free review copy of their software – that’s probably a good start 
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About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
