93 of 96 people found the following review helpful:
BEST mount for my Garmin, TomTom and Magellan GPS Receivers !
My husband and I absolutely love this Gilsson portable mount !!! We own a Garmin Nuvi 350, Magellan Maestro and a TomTom One and this mount works well with all of them, even with our aggressive driving style in a Lotus Elise sports car ! We have tried both the Garmin Friction Mount as well as the Bracketron Nav-Mat beanbag mounts and found this Gilsson mount to be most...
too high
I bought this based on recommendations here which are mostly accurate. Good quality, heavy enough, grips dashboard well enough, my gps/phone is very stable on it.
My problem with this is that the base sits high (there is just dead space underneath the flat part), so by the time I attached my device, it was already half way to my rear view mirror (and cars...
This review is from: Gilsson UBM Portable Car Non-Skid Friction Beanbag Dashboard Mount for Garmin, TomTom, Magellan and more (Electronics)
My husband and I absolutely love this Gilsson portable mount !!! We own a Garmin Nuvi 350, Magellan Maestro and a TomTom One and this mount works well with all of them, even with our aggressive driving style in a Lotus Elise sports car ! We have tried both the Garmin Friction Mount as well as the Bracketron Nav-Mat beanbag mounts and found this Gilsson mount to be most stable for several reasons: (1) This Gilsson Mount is heavier than Nav-Mat and Garmin Mounts, (2) Gilsson Mount is square-shape, allowing one to point the corners of the mount toward the windshield and the driver, thereby creating a longer "moment arm", effectively making the mount to be more stable and less likely to tilt or fall off the dashboard (3) The non-skid material surface area on the Gilsson mount is larger than Garmin and Nav-Mat mounts, thereby making it even more resistant to skidding and sliding. One of our friends has a Toyota Prius with slanted dashboard and have had no problems with this Gilsson mount staying at the same spot. This mount is made of high quality and durable neoprene / wet-suit material, I am sure you will be very happy with it !
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This review is from: Gilsson UBM Portable Car Non-Skid Friction Beanbag Dashboard Mount for Garmin, TomTom, Magellan and more (Electronics)
This mount is quite large and measures about 7.5" square. It can accomodate suction cups up to 3.25" in diameter. I chose this over the round Bracketron Nav-Mat mount because this has a diamond shape that fits (wedges in) perfectly between the 2 humps on my Toyota Highlander's dash. It also fits very well in my Toyota Prius which has a flat dashboard.
The mount is absolutely stable under all driving conditions. The non-skid material is so good that I think nothing short of a collision will make it slide. I am using it with a Mio C520 which has a 4.3" screen.
Before buying this, you should make sure your dashboard is big enough to take this 7.5" square (or diamond shape) mount. If not, you should consider the smaller Bracketron Nav-Mat.
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This review is from: Gilsson UBM Portable Car Non-Skid Friction Beanbag Dashboard Mount for Garmin, TomTom, Magellan and more (Electronics)
This beanbag offers a stable platform to hold the standard TomTom support's suction cup. However, the standard TomTom mounting arm is pretty short and doesn't leave much room to access the USB connector while on the bag. So, if you want to keep your TomTom plugged in to the car's power outlet while it is attached to the bag, you may want to consider TomTom's alternative mounting kit (approx $30), which has a longer arm, making it easier to attach and detach the USB connector.
The beanbag looks well made - the metal plate is held in place by four set screws, which presumably means you could remove/replace it (though I'm not sure why you'd want to!)
The manufacturer recommends mounting the beanbag diagonally (with a corner facing travel direction) for optimal stability. Presumably that maximizes how much of the bag's friction is available to counteract forward motion. That's worth bearing in mind depending on the depth of your dash.
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This review is from: Gilsson UBM Portable Car Non-Skid Friction Beanbag Dashboard Mount for Garmin, TomTom, Magellan and more (Electronics)
I have been using the Gilsson friction beanbag dashboard mount for one week, and am very pleased with the result.
The non-skid material on the bottom side of the beanbag provides excellent friction on dashboard surface. The beanbag, as well as my Garmin 660, does not slide even in hard acceleration and quick cornering situations. Although the instruction recommends placing the beanbag with one of the corners pointing front (thus making it diamond shape) for maximum stability, I found a regular square placement orientation (with one edge facing front) still provides sufficient stability.
Measured at 7" x 7", it is about 55% in size compared with Garmin model, which is 11" x 8". In addition, its square shape makes it look clean and nice on the dashboard. Originally, I was considering another model by Gilsson, the UBM-2 which measures 8" x 8, for the wide-screen Garmin 660 GPS. After one week's of testing, I concluded that it is not necessary.
Another thing I should mention is that the color in the pictures on Amazon looks burgundy, but the units I received are in black, which matches perfectly with the black interior of my car. A nice bonus to me.
For the price and performance, I think this is the best beanbag mount currently available on the market.
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This review is from: Gilsson UBM Portable Car Non-Skid Friction Beanbag Dashboard Mount for Garmin, TomTom, Magellan and more (Electronics)
This is my second attempt at getting a non-skid beanbag friction dashboard mount (or NoSkiBeFriDashMo as we call them in the GPS scene) that plays nice with my TomTom 920's stubby little suction-cup mount. The Bracketron UFM-100BL Nav-Mat GPS Friction Dash Pad does NOT work with the TomTom 920 (or any of the 700s or 900s, I assume) because the little arm on the TomTom's suction cup is so short, the GPS can't get over the big fat beanbag ring around the Bracketron mat. This means the GPS winds up angled almost straight-up, and you can't see the screen. Bogus!
But the Gilsson NoSkiBeFriDashMo, which I'm reviewing here, is excellent. The mounting surface (where you attach the suction cup) lies more or less flat with the rest of the pad, so I was actually able to see my TomTom's screen.
In order to test the Gilsson's NoSkiBeFriDashMo, I did some donuts in old man Cruthers's front yard, and I wasn't able to get it to budge. Glisson really puts the "Non-Skid Friction Beanbag" in Non-Skid Friction Beanbag Dashboard Mount!
It is a little big - about 7" by 7", so if you're driving an embarrassing car like a Miata you're going to be even more embarrassed when you can't put the pad in your microscopic glovebox. I suggest hiding it under the seat.
Finally, the bottom of the Gilsson, where the friction lives, feels really weird. I highly recommend touching it.
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This review is from: Gilsson UBM Portable Car Non-Skid Friction Beanbag Dashboard Mount for Garmin, TomTom, Magellan and more (Electronics)
I selected this over the round Nav-Mat unit due to some concerns that the TomTom GPS might sit rather deep inside the Nav-Mat, impeding access to the USB/power connector on the bottom of the TomTom. This device positions the mounting plate high enough so that I did not have a problem using the mount that came with my TomTom One 3rd edition. It appears to be a high quality product, and the non-skid material does a nice job holding the unit in place. Be aware of the shipping cost, which is higher than the cost of the unit itself. The total, though, is competitive with other choices, and you might pay nearly twice as much for the Nav-Mat in a local store.
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This review is from: Gilsson UBM Portable Car Non-Skid Friction Beanbag Dashboard Mount for Garmin, TomTom, Magellan and more (Electronics)
This is a well designed mount that is quite stable on the dashboard when used as directed. It allows for easy transfer between vehicles and avoids leaving the tell tale circular mark on the windscreen which encourages thieves looking for GPS units.
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This review is from: Gilsson UBM Portable Car Non-Skid Friction Beanbag Dashboard Mount for Garmin, TomTom, Magellan and more (Electronics)
This is a great little gadget. I bought it to use with a Garmin 255W. The bean bag works perfectly with the Garmin suction mount. The bean bag does not have a huge footprint, and I find that it fits perfectly in the side pocket of the driver-side door of my car. It appears to be well made. The fabric feels sturdy, and the plate on the top attached securely.
This bean bag has not so much as moved a millimeter, even on sharp corners. I also like the design of this model better than the Garmin brand, which has a permanently attached bracket sticking out of it. (I would think the bracket would get in the way of stashing it in the glove box or under the seat, or where ever you want to put it away.)
Great product - it does exactly what it is supposed to do, at a reasonable price. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a stable mounting device for their GPS unit.
PS: for anyone wondering about the color - mine is black, not brown.
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This review is from: Gilsson UBM Portable Car Non-Skid Friction Beanbag Dashboard Mount for Garmin, TomTom, Magellan and more (Electronics)
There's no question that this product works exactly as advertised. The price is reasonable (though, I was quite surprised at the amount of S&H charges). I have a Magellan Maestro 5310 that I use in my SUV and was looking for something that I wouldn't have to continually attach and remove from my windshield. The non-skid material works great. It's simple to place on the dashboard and just as easy to store away when not needed. When not in use, I simply sit the mount on the floor behind the front passenger seat. And no suction cup marks left on the windshield!
The only problem I had - and this is more personal preference than a problem with the product - is that when the Magellan GPS (w/swivel mount/suction cup) is attached to the bean-bag dashboard mount, the GPS sits up very, very, high. It more than clears the upper edge of the bean-bag portion of the dashboard mount (and, since the power cord plugs into the side of the GPS, too little clearance was never a concern). However, with the way the Magellan swivel mount adjusts, it's not possible to angle the arm down and then angle the GPS back up so that it's both viewable and flush with the beanbag at the same time. Again, that's no complaint with this product - just the combination of this product with the Magellan swivel mount is not practical. (You get the feeling that every car you pass - or that passes you - can see your GPS just as well as you can.) Not wanting to spend more money on a suitable swivel mount, I decided to try an alternative.
With an SUV that has so many ledges and angles on the dashboard, I decided to use velcro strips instead - color-matched to the dark gray dashboard, of course. I simply (cut them to form and) attach one velcro strip to the underside of the GPS and another to the backside of the unit. Then attach the opposite velcro strips to the corresponding desired portions of the dashboard. Ouila!! A semi-permanent attachment, at the same level as all the other dashboard gauges, and not within eyeshot of any other vehicles. Easy to remove, easy to replace, and surprisingly simple. It works.
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This review is from: Gilsson UBM Portable Car Non-Skid Friction Beanbag Dashboard Mount for Garmin, TomTom, Magellan and more (Electronics)
I ordered this bean bag mount and the Arkon GN047 Removable Vent Mount for Nuvi & StreetPilot at the same time, for use with my new Garmin Nuvi 255W. First, regarding the bean bag mount. It works well. It sits solidly on the dash, and did not move at all during the week or so that I used it. Couldn't be more simple to use. However, I did not like my GPS situated up on the dash. It looked tacky, and I did not like the bright windshield as the background, and the cord was unsightly hanging down and seemed in the way. This might not bother some people, and if this was my only alternative to sticking the GPS directly on my windshield, then I would be satisfied. However, the Arkon Vent Mount solves the problems that I had with the bean bag mount. It sits lower; no bright background; GPS sits at a more comfortable level and seems closer to me and easier to access; and the cord seems more out of the way with the GPS mounted on the A/C vent. If my rating was simply a comparison between these two products, then I would have given this bean bag mount one or two stars. However, I gave it four stars because it does what it says it does, doesn't slip easily, and for many people, that is what they are concerned about when ordering this product. I mention the vent mount to let people know that there is another alternative which I think is a better alternative.
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