Goodbye Worthless Clock = Hello Tablet Mount

[ericb1]

Thanks all for the input. The tablet holder comes tonight and Ill get some pics up. I will post in the reserved space below my initial post. Just some interesting facts, I don't want this to turn into a Prius thread, I wanted to post a simple tutorial on something I think is sorely needed in an 80 that sees trail duty, but...

• A Prius is an AMAZING car to drive. I can FLY past any car going up Sunset Hill (AZ) doing 80+ and getting 20+MPG while doing it. Most people who bash a Prius have never driven one and simply jump on the redneck bandwagon, and sorry to say, are simply ignorant. I have full leather, a JBL sound system, average 48 MPG over thousands of hilly miles, very spacious interior believe it or not, and it is virtually maintenance free.

• A gas engine has to reach peak torque before you begin to "feel" power. Electric motors make peak torque at 1 RPM and have an almost flat torque curve. If a Prius driver wanted to they could blow the doors of your turbo diesel. That being said that is not why people buy a Prius, nor is it the maturity of the average Prius owner

• After calculating the cost of Gas in my lifted, supercharged, 03 Prerunner Tacoma I was getting approx 14 MPG. I calculated my commute after moving far from work and when gas was $3/gallon (a reasonable average) I came to the mathematical conclusion that I will save over $5000/year in gas alone. Add to that the cost of tires, maint, insurance and everything else and I arrived at $7000/year savings. I bought a USED Prius for $12,000 and other than tires and oil have not spent a dime. The Prius paid for itself in 2 years and is now saving me $7000/year over the Tacoma that I sold for the Landcruiser. FWIW I sold the Tacoma for 13K and Have a lifted, locked, and armored LC for under 12K all in.

Thats the math. People who make choices in life based on emotion are easy to spot, People who make choices in life based on logic are also easy to spot. There is a reason A LOT of very wealthy successful people drive a Prius, and there are reasons people who live paycheck to paycheck have 4 trucks on their lawn because the trucks are just awesome, and they "like" them. This is a generalization of course, but easy to sand by. Laugh away at my Prius. I love it.

But I digress, lets talk tablets in an 80!

 

[aae42]

i thought you said this wasn't a prius thread, what's with the diatribe...

don't feel like you need to defend yourself to anyone on the internet man... i personally have 0 interest in a prius, they're too beigemobile to me, not interesting enough

if i wanted something with great mileage, i'd probably go get a miata or a BRZ/FRS, or maybe Fiesta/Focus ST....


aaaaaanyway, i'd like to see more work done on getting a 7" put in the dash, in place of the double din radio.... my radio/speaker situation in my LX is dire (100% stock, blown speakers and all) and i just don't even know where to start with it...

part of my problems with tablets in the dash, is that i want it to work exactly like a radio, i work in IT and i'm not interesting in screwing around with stuff non stop to get it to work the way i want it to...

i would want a device that has a dedicated OS designed to be a headunit for a car...

 

[ericb1]

There's a guy here who posted a thread on an android based head unit. It looks REAL slick. I didn't go this route because I wanted a bigger map screen, and I wanted it more eye level. If my priority wasn't the map I would go this route. Off brand, but good reviews

Installing a Joying 7" Android Head Unit in an 80

 

[Brentbba]

OP is a smart dude! I too drive a Prius as a daily for the same reasons - 45+mpg vs 10 mpg and have the LC as a weekend toy. Great taste in cars and trucks!!

Back on topic - nice mount for the tablet!

 

[greentruck]

If folks are going to get their noses bent by the idea of Prius as a DD, they're really going to birth a cow when the hybrid LandCruiser arrives...there's already murmurings of such a thing over on the 200 board.

Hacking an 80 into a hybrid...well, doubt that will happen, but it's an idea. Probably a bad idea, but who knows?

Looking forward to the results of the tablet mount despite my own misgivings.

 

[Hornd]

Thanks all for the input. The tablet holder comes tonight and Ill get some pics up. I will post in the reserved space below my initial post. Just some interesting facts, I don't want this to turn into a Prius thread, I wanted to post a simple tutorial on something I think is sorely needed in an 80 that sees trail duty, but...

• A Prius is an AMAZING car to drive. I can FLY past any car going up Sunset Hill (AZ) doing 80+ and getting 20+MPG while doing it. Most people who bash a Prius have never driven one and simply jump on the redneck bandwagon, and sorry to say, are simply ignorant. I have full leather, a JBL sound system, average 48 MPG over thousands of hilly miles, very spacious interior believe it or not, and it is virtually maintenance free.

• A gas engine has to reach peak torque before you begin to "feel" power. Electric motors make peak torque at 1 RPM and have an almost flat torque curve. If a Prius driver wanted to they could blow the doors of your turbo diesel. That being said that is not why people buy a Prius, nor is it the maturity of the average Prius owner

• After calculating the cost of Gas in my lifted, supercharged, 03 Prerunner Tacoma I was getting approx 14 MPG. I calculated my commute after moving far from work and when gas was $3/gallon (a reasonable average) I came to the mathematical conclusion that I will save over $5000/year in gas alone. Add to that the cost of tires, maint, insurance and everything else and I arrived at $7000/year savings. I bought a USED Prius for $12,000 and other than tires and oil have not spent a dime. The Prius paid for itself in 2 years and is now saving me $7000/year over the Tacoma that I sold for the Landcruiser. FWIW I sold the Tacoma for 13K and Have a lifted, locked, and armored LC for under 12K all in.

Thats the math. People who make choices in life based on emotion are easy to spot, People who make choices in life based on logic are also easy to spot. There is a reason A LOT of very wealthy successful people drive a Prius, and there are reasons people who live paycheck to paycheck have 4 trucks on their lawn because the trucks are just awesome, and they "like" them. This is a generalization of course, but easy to sand by. Laugh away at my Prius. I love it.

But I digress, lets talk tablets in an 80!

You get paid for driving 3+ hrs a day? 12 hr days?

 

[foeix]

A few Neodymium magnets behind the little storage pocket + an iPad back cover with some metal in the back.

Have used this on over 10K miles on the roughest terrain out there with zero issues - it's rock solid. Usually it is running Gaia and Spotify. The lip of the iPad rests on the ashtray pulled out about 5mm - adjust this to your angle preference. The magnets can support the weight by themselves but this helps.

I didn't want hard metal in the dash area - and this solved that and is completely unobtrusive.

 

[greentruck]

Now that is slick and avoids the areas of concern I had with mounting a tablet up front...and I have some of those magnets, just need a case/cover with a metal back...

It's also somewhat stealthier in traffic than a higher mount. True, gotta glance lower, but good judgment tells you when you can do that in any case.

 

[Markuson]

Thanks all for the input. The tablet holder comes tonight and Ill get some pics up. I will post in the reserved space below my initial post. Just some interesting facts, I don't want this to turn into a Prius thread, I wanted to post a simple tutorial on something I think is sorely needed in an 80 that sees trail duty, but...
But I digress, lets talk tablets in an 80!

Heehee... Funny redneck comments about Prius...

OK. So for future reference... here is an answer that won't stir the rednecks from their slumber:

"I drive this wimpy, gas-sipping Prius 1000 miles a week....so that I can GUZZLE 200 GALLONS OF GAS over the weekend in me CRUISER! 'Course...that's when ah ain't running me Croozer own mah owns kind o MOONSHINE gas-o-leeeeen. Woooooo!!!

Voila!
Rednecks...will now leave you alone.

 

[JCruse]

A few Neodymium magnets behind the little storage pocket + an iPad back cover with some metal in the back.

Have used this on over 10K miles on the roughest terrain out there with zero issues - it's rock solid. Usually it is running Gaia and Spotify. The lip of the iPad rests on the ashtray pulled out about 5mm - adjust this to your angle preference. The magnets can support the weight by themselves but this helps.

I didn't want hard metal in the dash area - and this solved that and is completely unobtrusive.

I'm liking that. It blocks the stereo HU, but on a trip I'd rather have easier navigation.

I also have two silver dollar sized neo magnets (made for magnetizing guitar pickups just by passing them between the magnets!) that are quite hard to pull apart. I imagine these would make nice firm mounts.

 

[greentruck]

Our HU usually has a USB-connected device playing through it, so is on autopilot much of the time. Blocking it is a minor issue. Then there's the possibilities I could put iTunes om the iPad that would likely sit there and at least the stored tunes would be controllable via it. Wouldn't help with radio, which we sometimes tune around on when travelling, though.

You may need smaller magnets in order to use inside the front of the cupholder. I checked today and the 1/2" diameter ones I have will fit. Bigger ones will be a problem.

 

[ericb1]

Your magnet idea makes me angry. Angry cause I didn't try it!. I run usb through my head unit and have a remote so access is not that important, I have to admit, solid idea. I do like the location of both. I like the heads up display of mine so I don't have to look down, but it's not stealthy at all and could get attention from the wrong people, cops being the biggest concern. If nothing else this can hopefully get all the tablet ideas in one place, as I could not find any ideas when I searched

 

[Dragos80]

If a Prius driver wanted to they could blow the doors of your turbo diesel.

How the hell did you figure that out?

Is that the reason they all drive like ass holes? Either too slow to save gas, or too fast thinking they get better mileage anyway?

 

[foeix]

Nice thing is you can remove it in a second since its not mounted permanently.

Also I couldn't find any arm mounts that didn't vibrate at least a little.

Here's what you need -- just attached the backing plates to the tablet or a hard plastic case.

1 set of backing plates ~$10

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BSAD7ZQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

8 magnets - 2 behind the cubby and 2 outside the cubby:

N50 Disc Neodymium Magnet 1/2"X1/4" NdFeB Rare Earth Epoxy coated

 

[etarasoff]

You guys running IPADs or Android tablets may want to consider a Sony head unit that supports their "App Remote" feature via blue tooth. You would then be able to mount your ipad as shown @foeix 's picture above, and with the App Remote app on the ipad, control all the functionality of the head unit (radio, CD, etc) with the ipad or Android tablet:

Check out this video of an ipad mini being used like that:


I use the App Remote app myself and you can see it in action (last post) on my tablet write-up: Nexus 7 Tablet + Tuffy Console + Backup Camera + CB

 

[etarasoff]

People who make choices in life based on emotion are easy to spot, People who make choices in life based on logic are also easy to spot.

And people who drive Priuses are also easy to spot. Around here, we call them "chicks."

Just busting your balls! Agree with everything you said. And for the record, my DD (an electric Fiat 500) attracts more "fun" comments from my buddies than a Prius ever could...

 

[ericb1]

I updated the 2nd post to include the mounted tablet. I am really liking this mount. The position is perfect for viewing and is rock solid with no movement. I humbly admit the idea of the ashtray mount is better for some situations as it requires no fabrication and is dead simple. However this mount does provide a more natural viewing angle and is better (IMHO) under 3 fairly common conditions

1. If you have the double cup mount on the center console as I do there is a space issue with the cup-holder and the ashtray mount location of the tablet, at least an issue for me
   
2. if you don't have access to a welder this is obviously less of a practical idea
3. I am almost certain the passenger side airbag would hit the tablet if it were to deploy. My son rides in the back until we get off-road, and this is more or less a dedicated trail rig with the exception of driving to the trail. I will still probably d/c the airbag, however I would be very surprised if the airbag would do anything but move the mount as it deployed. Everything is very solid. For a DD the ashtray is probably better for this reason.

I think if I had seen the ashtray mount I probably would have used that idea first, however I would have eventually gone this route as I like a more dedicated installation. I would liken it to mounting a permanent fridge as opposed to just throwing one in the back when needed. I like the dedicated implementation, but for a there when you need it type of scenario, the ashtray is super cool and is a good idea. Anyway, at least now we have a thread on the idea, hopefully it will grow with other ideas and become beautiful