The absolute perfect place for mine, usability and unobstructive visibility-wise, is over most of the engine warning lights. I’d like to stick it on the screen but it’s very far away

Stick it in front on the speedo.

Dash with Steely:

[/url]Untitled by Adrian Hillier, on Flickr

Dash with phone mounted:

[/url]Untitled by Adrian Hillier, on Flickr

I thought nothing was allowed on a windscreen ? As above I have a map and a good memory for a route once I have looked at the map

Had a mazda 3 through work. Barely any windscreen left due to the massive windscreen sensor behind the rear view mirror and fixed tv sized sat nav/media wotsit on top of the dashboard.
Other than not being able to see it was quite a nice car.

Middle of the windscreen here, just below the rear-view mirror. Everything on the road is ‘below’ the screen.

What’s the ****ing problem?Blimey, how ever do you reach the pedals if you’re that short ?

I’m 6’2″.

That Steelie thing looks great. Is this it?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nite-Ize-Steelie-Mount-Holder/dp/B00BAQKRHY
Seems to be lots of cheap copies too

Yup, that’s the puppy! Works really well, very unobtrusive, compared to a regular mount, and it’s strong enough to hold my iP6+ with an Otterbox fitted, as in the photo.
The only issue I had was with the structure of the case, which is a hard plastic inner with a flexible rubber-type outer; sticking the magnet to the outside doesn’t work because it stretches and pulls away from the rest of the case.
Solving this involved carefully cutting a neat circle out of the case outer and sticking the magnet to the hard inner.
Bit of a phaff, but it worked perfectly.
I suppose the only other issue is with the larger phones the amount of vertical/horizontal adjustment is relatively small, but it’s still more than an installed unit, and I drive by spoken instructions mostly, just a quick glance at the screen to confirm from the map.

I use tetrax magnetic mounts, same principle as CZ’s and similarly mounted away from the windscreen – you can also get a variety of bits that let you clip it to the air vents etc if you want to

(had to take a dremel to my (leather) case too)

I’ll put my hand up and admit I used to mount my mobile phone (for Google Maps) in the middle. I’m tall and it got mounted low down. I personally didn’t feel it obstructed the view but I moved it when recently on a Driver Awareness Course (ahem) the guy said this was a definite no no and you could get pulled for it.

So it got moved to the right by the driver side pillar and I agree with a previous poster that it seems more obstructive there. And slightly more distracting when you glance that way for directions.

That said I was following some crazy* woman this morning who had her Sat Nav mounted slight driver side underneath rear view mirror. How the hell that ISN’T obstructing I’ll never know!

*stuck behind a tractor for all of 5 mins this morning 3 aborted passes before it was finally safe to pass, she gave the tractor driver a trailer full of car horn and middle finger. I followed, road was clear we got up to 60 and she decided to brake test me.

Hoping I don’t meet her on the road when I’m out on my bike.

Yeah, sat nav plastered to the central area of the windshield is a blind spot and bad practice, imo.

Worked with a guy once who treated himself to a satnav. Asked me to help set it up for him. His main priority was to have the volume set as loud as possible for the audio direction instructions.
He didn’t see that well.

kongman28 – Member

An ex policeman who gave us a driving course at work said anything obscuring your view out of the windscreen in the area the wipers cover should be removed.

Probably not a bad start point but there’s a fair amount of area at the bottom of my screen and wipers that just gives me a nice view of the bonnet.

I’m 6’2″.

So, you’ve taken the seat out and you sit on the floor ?
Or else you drive a bus ?

Am I warm ?

I was chatting with my optician, said I’m glad my current car lets me put my satnav far enough away from me* that I don’t need bifocals. She spoke of an elderly lady she’d seen who said something like ‘now I don’t see so well, I have my satnav right in front of me so I don’t need to see the road so much’. I hope the optician referred this to whoever needs to know, the lady’s GP or the DVLA. Obviously she didn’t say.

*Up against the A-pillar, close to the line of sight but not in it. I’d like a head-up display, please, projected onto the screen.

And why are satnavs in landscape format, wouldn’t portrait be the better option?

Am I warm ?

Relatively! You should be 37 degrees C, to be precise.

slowoldgit – Member

And why are satnavs in landscape format, wouldn’t portrait be the better option?

I use a phone, it’ll do both but I prefer landscape tbh. I think maybe just because I’m used to screens being landscape, mostly.

scaredypants – Member

So, you’ve taken the seat out and you sit on the floor ?
Or else you drive a bus ?
Am I warm ?

the vehicle in question is a vauxhall zafira, it’s basically a bus, yes.

Has anyone mentioned Sat Navs at night? In-front of the drivers face, daytime setting, blazing away!

Not only restricting their view, but the driver won’t have any night vision left.

I didn’t want to shout about this, but BOY IT MAKES ME MAD!

People with their tw*t-nav in THE MIDDLE OF THE WINDSCREEN
FTFY

ArcticBeast – Member
at least its just a satnav, not like the ipad i saw the other day stuck to the middle of their windscreen, and it wasnt an ipad mini either.

I remember seeing this on the A1 a while back, full sized iPad (the orignal with the wider bezel) smack bang in the middle of the screen under the rear view mirror.

I’m surprised I didn’t crash into anything in front of me as I stared open mouthed they drove by!

The National Trust book when it comes round says you shouldn’t stick any stickers in the area cleared by the windscreen wipers.

I have my Sat Nav at the very base of the windscreen in the centre. I would prefer it right up against the A-pillar but for some reason in the Fabia Skoda have had the wisdom to put the 12v output behind the handbrake- no cable will reach all the way to the A pillar without going diagonally across the driver.

What’s the view on built in sat navs in the centre console where you have to completely take your eyes off the road to view it? My wife gets really cross about these.

What’s the view on built in sat navs in the centre console where you have to completely take your eyes off the road to view it? My wife gets really cross about these.

Are you being serious? No, you’re not.
😉

What’s the view on built in sat navs in the centre console where you have to completely take your eyes off the road to view it? My wife gets really cross about these.

They only take a quick glance, like when you look in your mirror or your instrument panel. Even if it’s attached to the screen you’re still taking your eyes off the road.

What’s the view on built in sat navs in the centre console where you have to completely take your eyes off the road to view it?

TBH, it’s fine for me. Once running it only needs a quick glance now and then because you’ve also got audible voice directions. No different to glancing at your speedo, really.

Biggest problem I find with it is the whole thing is touch screen and controls the sat nav, radio, etc so the temptation is to faff about with it when driving and you can’t really do that safely. There’s voice control on mine and basic controls on the wheel / dash, so ideally they should be disabling the touch controls when the car’s in motion but there’s still stuff you can’t do without the touchscreen like respond to traffic alerts. In that respect it’s a pretty poor design.

TBH though, I can’t offhand think of a factory-fit sat nav I’ve used that hasn’t been a bit crap in some way or other.

i like those magnetic steely things……

but doesnt the magnet affect the phone at all?

Phew. That’s sort of my view as well.

What’s the view on built in sat navs in the centre console where you have to completely take your eyes off the road to view it?

I have one in the Focus. The main screen is in the centre console but it also shows the next move on the trip computer in the dash and it talks, so I don’t find myself staring at the main screen that often. The main issue is that it’s actually pretty crap as a satnav so I end up using NavFree or Google Maps if it is remotely complicated.

Mine has to go in the middle, to the left of the telly.

What’s the ****ing problem?

I’ve seen quite a few cars with satnav smack bang in front of the drivers face so while I’m in front of the car I can’t see the drivers face, pretty sure this means driver will have difficulty seeing me.

That’s the problem 🙂

I’ve heard the “anything obscuring where the wipers wipe” thing before, dunno how true it is.

According to this-

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_830.htm

it’s anything that isn’t an “official” sticker (disabled passes, tax discs, parking permits etc are fine) encroaching more than 10mm into the “the swept area of the windscreen”.

How about these?

CD slot mount

Just to make you really angry…
Notice how slow they drive at night, cos it ruins your night vision as they always have the brightness too high. Can’t see anything on a dark road.
Kill them all to death.

.. And don’t get me started on people wearing flip flops, with sat navs in the middle of their wind screen – good grief! 🙄

How about folk with sat navs on thier feet and flip flops on the windscreen?

.. And don’t get me started on people wearing flip flops, with sat navs in the middle of their wind screen – good grief! 🙄

You guys are funny.

On the air vents – does not obstruct the screen at all.

I tried putting my flip flops on the air vents, but found my braking reaction time wasn’t very good.

I don’t put my satnav in the middle of the screen, dashcam’s already there. 😛

Just noticed my housemates phone holder (for his sat nav and hands free) is positioned at head height right next to the A pillar :head-banginging-on-wall: