Surprised with beanbag

Then you won't have to worry about it loosing it's holding ablility... (as much) and keep the turns down to a roar...

Finally bought a beanbag mount myself not too long ago, as I'm currently driving a car where the windshield sits way back and I wouldn't be able to reach my Nuvi without slightly standing up otherwise. Now that I'm using it, I can't believe that I didn't get one long before - so much faster to set up and easier to take down, and it stays in place perfectly.

I just go back from Idaho and was traveling on some back roads and ATV trailes in my jeep. I had the mount on the dask and it stayed pretty still except when the road was like a washboard then it bounced a little but so did we. I move mine from vehicle to vehicle all the time.

On my recent trip to Boise on some of the back streets there are shallow wide gullies that channel rain water and after several re-pavings they have become deeper. I treat them like speed bumps, anyway I hit one at speed once and it my NUVI a foot on the dash.
I understand that Miss POI has trouble with hers around corners but I think she usually goes around corners on two wheels anyway

I've had my beanbag mount about two weeks and think it's great. It doesn't move a bit. It would be nice if Garmin would give you a choice of mount when you first purchase your GPSr. I know I'll never go back to a windshield mount.

In that I too bought one based upon recommendations I read here. Super product.

My only complaint would be that the local Garmin dealers don't stock it, and I had to wait 3 weeks to get one special order.

The Garmin Friction mount (beanbag) and others.

They are great when they are new. After time they do lose the grip. The work around is one of those sticky pads. No movement now.

They stock them at WalMart.

When stay start to slip.Clean the grip surface and it will be good as new again.

See this topic for cleaning the beanbag:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/11546

ive had mine for over 3 yrs no problem. just got a 2d one for my new 760

No question about it, the beanbag is the only way to go. I move it as necessary to keep the screen out of direct sunlight.

Hard to believe a major city like Vancouver doesn't have equivalent of a Best Buy or Circuit City that would stock them, but in any event, for those in a similar situation I'd recommend Amazon, TigerDirect, etc.
No way you'd have to wait 3 weeks for delivery. Not to mention much cheaper, too.

I've seen them in BB and FS since May 2008 when I bought my nuvi 760. But the Canadian price is almost double that offered by Amazon.com ($50 CAD vs $26 USD). Amazon offers free shipping within the USA on this item, so I ordered from Amazon and had it shipped to my US mailbox. I saved over $30 compared to going local.

I bought the accessory kit from Costco.com. $49 included bean bag mount, leather cover, AC Adapter, and USB cable.

Mine works, but still looking for the "ideal" one. Just me.

My friend was so impressed with my 760, she bought herself a nuvi. The good news: at Costco the 5000 does come with the beanbag. The bad news: when I was trying to teach her how to use it, I couldn't understand why it had to be plugged in to work. Thought it just needed to be charged. So I downloaded her manual and lo and behold, the 5000 does NOT have an internal battery. She immediately got a 760 like mine and is sending the 5000 back.

Wish I knew about it sooner. Went to Costco.com to buy it but when I looked at everything it had, I have most of it already. Still, the charger would be nice when not at home, but then it's always connected to the FM cable or the computer. When I got nuvi at Costco, it came with the FM and the USB. I did buy a zippered carrying case but never use it. But I did put a Zagg cover (clear film that goes over the screen) on it.
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I have ordered 3 of these through amazon..and very happy. I let my Brother borrow mine and he just handed me the money and said get me one...

We did talk about the 5000 in an earlier thread, about it being battery less. It's basically made for truckers and RV's.

Bob
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It really comes in handy....

Can easily move it to one car to the other. Can place it under your seat, whereas the suction, thieves can tell you have one....

I saw some at Target the other day. I don't know the quality.

We got our Garmin beanbag mount as part of a Costco bundle, works great and really comes in handy in rental cars.

The reason is when you brake hard or involve in an accident it fly off and could kill you.

I really like my beanbag mount. It is way better than the windshield mount and stays put!

I suppose if you braked really hard. But from my experiences (dad bought one recently after all the news of people breaking into cars to steal GPS units when they see the marks from a windshield mount) nothing like that has happened. And I drive on some pretty curvy back roads as well as 495. And I have had to brake really hard on 495 before (ack some people can't merge correctly).

I still need to get one of those. I just find them unsightly. I guess it's the best alternative to the suction mount which are illegal to use in CA.

I've had mine for about 8 months, and it stays on fine..no problem so far..

Bean bag is the only way to go.....

Remember that Armor All is the enemy of GPS units! Armor All will cause the bean bag to slide like a kitten on ice. Too often my friends use this "grease" to make their dashes shiney, but it will RUIN the bean bag (if you over spray) and can really "hork" up the screen if you get it on it.

Just a reminder for all you clean freaks.

My bean bag worked very well on the back roads and county roads of Central Virginia. The only time we had issue with it was going up the mountain to teh Rock Mountain Winery. The road was extremely steep, we're talking dang near almost needing a 4x4 or AWD to get up it.... that and the fact that the dash was a little dusty.

Other than that one road it was rick solid on my dash and had no problems taking it on/off my dash about 15-20 times a day as we traveled and stopped a all kinds of places every day.

I need to clean it and my dash, and will take note about the AA stuff when cleaning the dash.

I've braked hard a couple times with my C340 in the bean bag, and most often the bean bag doesn't even budge. The one time it did, it was so heavy it just fell onto the floor and wasn't a projectile.

When you are braking hard, don't most things travel forward? How would it slide back and land on the floor?

Wouldn't other things in the car (i.e. groceries, books, toys, laptops etc.) become just as much of a problem in an accident as a GPS is? As an aircraft loadmaster, I know what happens when things are not tieds down, but who ties down everything inside a car?

Alan

I have the beanbag, and keep the dash cleaned with armoral and have never had a problem. But again i dont amorall it with the gps on it,Never had it slide or slip any way.

Have the bean bag and it works just fine, transferring to another vehicle is snap.

Virgo

I think im going to have to look into maybe getting one of these bean bag mounts. My Garmin window mount falls off every now and then when its really hot out.

I too, am one of those people who votes for the bean bag mount.

I've used it in at least four different cars, and it's worked flawlessly.

Anyone who is thinking about buying one should stop thinking about it and go out and buy it. You'll wish you bought it sooner.

I went on Amazon.com and found it for over $10 cheaper than the Garmin site. I received it in a few days and just love how mobile it is and the fact it doesn't fall off the windshield any more.

Alan

ur going to like it even more in yrs to come. ive had one for 3 yrs and just bought another one.

I tried the window mount on my car, but it wouldn't stay put. The suction mount just wouldn't hold well on the curved side window or the steep slope of the front window. I purchased the bean bag and it works great! Although it is somewhat bulky and ugly on the dash, it stays in place even on the gravel backroads I travel. It also sits very nicely on the floor, and even slides in under the front seat so I can "hide it away" while parked. That's a bonus feature!

I had mine come off the dash and landed in the passenger seat when I was at a stop sign and making a U-turn. When the sign changed and I was accelerating at the same time as I made the hard U-turn it came right off the dash and flew into the passenger seat. Startled the heck out of me when it happened.

I packed it up and returned it to Wal-mart.

I have had my bean bag for 2 years. I love it. It has never moved on my dash and we have a carpeted dash.

You're probably right, but I was in an accident where a guy ran a red light, hit me in the right-rear quarter-panel, spun my Explorer around about 270 degrees, and all the beanbag did was shift over to the other side of the windshield. In my completely unscientific opinion, if you get hit hard enough for the beanbag to become a projectile of sufficient velocity to kill you, you have a lot more problems than the beanbag.

I didn't have too much trouble with the windshield mount that came with the unit, but it was a real pain to move the nuvi to my other car, so I ordered the beanbag from Garmin thinking that the second mount would solve the problem. However, the beanbag did not include the little cradle that snaps on the ball mount so I had to unsnap the windshield cradle and then attach it to the beanbag. A most unsatisfactory system of doing things. so I sent an e-mail to Garman support asking if I could purchase the little cradle without buying another windshield mount. About a week later I received a street pilot windshield mount. (no charge). I wrote back that this was the wrong item and described the little cradle that comes with the windshield mount and said I would send back the pilot unit and gladly pay for the extra cradle but that I was unable to find a part number. About a week later I received the whole nuvi windshield mount (again no charge) How's that for customer support? Better than saving $5 as Sam's or Costco. They now have a customer for life, BTW I have a GPS system built into the Jaguar and one built into the Mercedes. The Garmin works better than either one. The most fun is to turn both of them on and listen to them argue (along with the wife)
I should never get lost again.

I just wish Garmin wasn't so proud of the bean bag mount. $45 at Best Buy. Are you kidding me? Talk about a markup....

Almost half that at Amazon.com

I bought the beanbag mount the same time I bought my Nuvi 750 & yes it is rock solid. What a pleasure to use it, just remember to hide it somewhere out of sight when you leave your vehicle unattended.

Len

and even less on ebay

That's not Garmin, that's Best Buy's markup. Like others said, it's cheaper online. I got mine at Amazon at $25 with free shipping and no taxes!!

The order was delivered quickly and the price was quite reasonable.

On a related note, what are you folks using to carry around your devices? I have a small cloth black bag with drawstrings, originally from a thermal mug giveaway at a conference, and place the beanbag mount with GPSr in the bag when transporting to/from the vehicle. Are there better solutions?

Mine came with a semi-soft Garmin case that it slips into, then it slips into my shirt pocket.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=1463