Dashboard

Bargain spoken maps

Garmin Nuvi

The Nuvi is a superbly designed car navigation device that mounts on your dash.

Nav systems are so superior to driving with maps, that I find it hard to drive somewhere new without one. Spoken turn-by-turn directions are one of the great inventions of all time.

The only question today is whether to use a dedicated device, or your phone. While map updates, and added info such as traffic are better on the phone, the Nuvi has a better interface for driving. It shows lane changes in multilane roads better for instance. For the moment.

Of the GPS makers (Tom Tom, Magellan) Garmin makes the best models. Their high-end Nuvi50LM has lots of competitive features, while maintaining its highly-evolved interface. — KK

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Rock-steady arms

RAM Mounts

Heavy-duty devices to mount anything in or on any vehicle — car, truck, tank, motorcycle, airplane or boat. What you get while in motion: computers in cars, GPS units on motorcycles, fishing rods on boats, TVs in trucks. You name it, they got a ball and socket expanding-arm rack to mount it. Assemble your own from a modular part system. Says reader Les Hall, who recommends these especially for motorbike or cycle handlebars, “They are easy to adjust and when tightened are rock solid.” — KK

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Gadget car mount

Mountek MK 5000 CD Slot Mount

After I bought my smart phone, I wanted to find the best way to play mp3 and navigate with the built-in GPS when I am driving. Since then I have been searching for the best car mount. There are two common types of phone mount on the market, suction cup that sticks to the wind shield or flimsy clips that clip on to the air ventilation. I have tried both and found them to be inadequate and imperfect solutions.

I did some research and came across a mount that uses the CD slot. This is especially useful as I no longer use the CD player, but it is possible to play CDs at the same time. I have found that it is the perfect place to mount my smart phone. The MK5000 phone mount is very sturdy, and it has an adjustable blade than I can slide inside the CD slot and lock it tight. The mount supports vertical and horizontal rotation for easy screen rotation. It is adjustable and fits devices of different size.

I have been using the mount for a couple of months and it works very well. Every day when I hop into my car, I place my smart phone onto the mount and it holds really well. The only downside I have found is that it is more expensive than some of the other mounts, but it is definitely worth it. — Horace Chan

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Stabilizes items in cars

Sticky Pad

By some material genius, this pad holds stuff on your dashboard so it doesn’t fly off as you drive. Non-adheasive, non-magnetic, it grips cell phones, PDAs, sunglasses, GPS, binoculars, CDs, anything that you want to grab quickly and easily. I have no idea why it holds things so firmly, but it does without adhering to the object or your dash, keeping all in place on curves, hills, and sudden stops. After a year or two in the sun it will accumulate dust and grime, diminishing its effectiveness. The pad can be restored to most of its grippiness by washing it off with detergent and water. If you can keep out of direct sunlight, it will last longer. — KK

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A movable light for tasks in the car

Hella Car Reading Lamp

This is one of my all-time favorite and most-used vehicular tools: a hard-mounted interior reading light on a flexible stalk. This one is manufactured by Hella. I installed one in my first car, and used it for 12 incident-free years. The one in the Jeep is now 13 years old, and is still going strong. Both were/are mounted on the center of my dashboard, right above the radio.

Very handy in an infinite number of situations. Reading, obviously, but the directional nature of the light means a passenger can read in such that a drivers eyes are not blinded by glare. There’s even a version available with red and white lighting, for night-vision preservation. The new versions are LED. Havent used the new one, but Hella makes amazing stuff, so I’m very confident about a recommendation. — Todd Lappin

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Premium radar detector

Valentine One Radar Detector

I carry a Valentine One radar detector in my day bag. I drive multiple cars, so I can I transfer it from one car to the other, and I use it for rental cars as well. A radar detector may seem a wholly unnecessary item for a law-abiding citizen, but as police departments see their budgets threatened, they have become more active in pulling people over for small infractions such as failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign, or even driving just a few miles in excess of the limit. Modern police radar is designed to be kept in standby mode, activated only when the officer points-and-shoots, but in my experience, many police are lazy and leave their radar guns active all the time.

Since I like to know where they are, the Valentine One is the only detector that shows me the direction of a radar source (whether ahead, behind, or either side). It’s very expensive at $495, but can easily pay for itself, depending on your driving habits. The after-sale service is remarkable; when my detector’s frequency setting drifted after about 8 years, I sent it in and they fixed it and sent it back without charge. They will also upgrade older models for a small fee. — Charles Platt