cell phones

[yucatec]

Dear Panthers,
I have just bought my first cell phone. I will be traveling through the rural west and will be listening to mp3s at high volume.

My queries:
What's the best way to attach my phone to my dash - preferably on a charger?

Do the cell phone antennas make any significent difference? If so, what's the best - least obtrusive - way to attach them?

Thanks for your advice.

Donald McCaig

[85crownHPP]

They cost a lot, but you should be able to buy a car-cradle specially made for your phone that will provide you with the charging and remote antenna/mic/speaker connections.

Ive seen some that plug right into the cig lighter and use that the hold the phone in place (flimsy to me) and some have stronger looking mounts that attach to the dash with 3M tape or screws. (damging if removed)
Take your pick.....

Also Ive seen generic cell cradles that slip into a cupholder with no connections... I bet with some creativity one of those could be used with individual charger etc hookups.

I cant imagine that a larger antenna would give you better service, and having it mounted on the outside might help a little, but I wouldnt bother unless dropping a call is something that could ruin a conversation (buisness?)
On a sedan I would mount a cell antenna on the trunk with a padded magnet mount, but you have a waggin right??
Glass mounts require a hole drilled in the glass, you'd want a pro to do that.

[gadget73]

If you have a decent phone, you shouldn't have trouble with service even not using an external antenna. My old LG on Verizon used to drop so much it was almost useless. I can now make the trip to Scott's usually without losing signal, or if I do, its not more than about 10-15 seconds. I've become a fan of Motorola phones because of this. I'm still on Verizon so its not a carrier change, just the phone. The battery life is also very good on it, usually 3-4 days without needing a charge, and handily my Krazr uses the same USB cable as my camera and I can actually just plug it into my laptop to charge. Its fairly small too so it fits into a cupholder or clips onto the visor without problems.

[interceptor1985]

They have some that mount with suction cups at radio shack I bought one for my old sprint phone and it worked great I would get at least 4 bar's where I would only get one so I say check them out + it was cheap too about $10-$15 bucks.

[85crownHPP]

... and handily my Krazr uses the same USB cable as my camera and I can actually just plug it into my laptop to charge....

my motorola Vsomething also hase the same plug as my camera... I hooked the phone up to my pc but nothing happened. I was hoping I would be able to retrive camera phone pic off it that way but it didnt work...

[87vicFIVEO]

Welcome to hell!

Now anyone can get a hold of you anytime...sounds good but it sucks, life was simpler with out the damn things, but they atach to you and stick liek the tumors they cause!

[gadget73]

my motorola Vsomething also hase the same plug as my camera... I hooked the phone up to my pc but nothing happened. I was hoping I would be able to retrive camera phone pic off it that way but it didnt work...

Motorola Phone Tools is what you need to do that.