Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This dock is listed as a Droid dock, but as you probably already know (but just in case you don't), it's a generic smartphone dock, the identical dock is also listed under probably every name brand smartphone there is. Not that that's a bad thing, just want to be clear on what to expect.
The construction feels pretty solid, sure it's plastic but that gooseneck thing is nice and sturdy. The one-size-fits-all mechanism is compatible with the Droid, doesn't block any connections or buttons, though the end that says "audio cable" is at the other end from where the Droid's audio jack should go -- fortunately, the plug reaches, so it's no problem. To get it solidly mounted, it takes a pretty hard squeeze - there's a click right before it's solidly in there which will keep the Droid in if it's balanced, but it would fall out easily, so *squeeze* until you get the next click. I find using both hands helps.
The plug fits in the car lighter socket fairly solidly - but it seems a good idea to make sure that the gooseneck is bent and the adjustable arm tightened down so that the phone is balanced over the arm -- especially if you tend to pull a little g-force in turns :). I have only had it in portrait orientation so far, but it seems like it'll be no problem to use either way. EDIT: meh. It doesn't seem to be all that flexible, however, I have it "sort of" landscape. Will take pics & and post here.
You'll probably want the screen not to go to sleep - it's awkward to fumble for the button then unlock the phone, especially since the gripper arms kind of get in the way of doing that full, across-the-screen swipe to unlock -- and it kind of defeats the purpose of making the phone safer and easier to use in the car if you're fumbling. Also, while the lighter-plug mount supports the weight of a phone pretty well, it does move around quite a bit when you apply any sort of hand-force. Tapping the screen is fine, but trying to press the wake-up button, it's not meant to hold it steady for that. I use the Locale app to tell my phone if it's plugged in to keep the screen on (unless I'm at home) so I don't have to change the display timeout every time I get in the car.
Slightly bad thing: when talking on the phone, it comes over the speakers nicely, but the phone can't be in speaker mode, so the person on the other end is hearing you like you're talking with the phone several feet from your face. Luckily the Droid has that awesome call clarity :) You can definitely hear a little static while on calls, but it's not terrible, and the fact you're listening to phone calls over your car stereo makes up for it.
The first time I tried listening to music, I could hardly hear static at all, the second time, I heard a little more - I've never experienced a portable audio device fm-transmitter without a little static. At medium volume it becomes almost unnoticeable, however I'm sure audiophiles would find it very annoying. But audiophiles probably don't use portable audio device fm-transmitters in cars anyway, so no worries. (I have tried it tuned to 88.1, then, tried 100.1, which was less static-y, so, do play with the frequencies, your area will no doubt be different.)
I'll update this review if my experience with this device changes as I use it under different conditions, but as it is I'm happy with my purchase, thrilled to have my whole music collection with me in the car, happy to be able to use the GPS without balancing the phone in the console, and keeping the Droid charged up is never a bad idea :)
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