Where NOT to Mount a GPS Unit

By: Ben Vollmer, Car Audio Nationals

Portable GPS Units have been hot for a couple of years now. It seems like almost every car I pass on road trips now has one mounted to their car somewhere now. And my wife and I have spotted them mounted in all sorts of stupid locations. Most people usually mount them under the rear view mirror. As much as this position makes sense, I have seen some rather unique variations as well.

There was a Mercedes convertible where the owner mounted the GPS unit in the bottom side of the windshield (which makes making changes or accessing other features while driving difficult.)

This past weekend in Reading, PA, I saw a Toyota Camry Solara drive by that I just had to take a shot of. The driver had mounted the GPS unit on the driver's side window! It was about 8 inches back from the steering wheel and right where the driver has to look in his side mirror. Sorry for the lousy picture, it was snapped by my phone while the car was moving, (which almost always leads to lousy pictures).

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What stupid location have you seen a portable GPS unit mounted?

Reasons to Hate Photoshop - Part 2

By: Ben Vollmer, Car Audio Nationals

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The Drive and Play 2 is an interface for in-car connectivity of portable music players and digital devices, including Apple's iPod, Sirius Satellite Radio, USB flash drives, and many other portable music players. It includes a 3-1/2" full color display screen, wireless 2.4GHz controller and a media hub. I have played with this slick little device and have enjoyed it quite a bit.

While flipping though the latest Performance Auto and Sound Magazine, something didn't seem quite right about this ad, but I couldn't figure out why. After staring for a few minutes, the display looked ok, but the mounting location seemed a bit odd.   

Reasons to Hate Photoshop - Part 1

By: Ben Vollmer, Car Audio Nationals

Using Photoshop is like installing car stereos: there are some truly gifted people who install stereos, but you also see some real hacks. With mobile electronics installs a lot of the hacks are hidden, but with Photoshop the hacks are pretty obvious and out in the open. Although most of their print ads look pretty sharp, it seems a particular Big Box retailer that produced this print ad might want to send their graphic artist back to school. Check it out:

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Can you spot the Photoshop errors? Follow the jump to check out the problems I was able to spot in this ad!

View Gate Motorbike Speakers.... Um... Why?

I understand that some of the monster cruiser bikes out there have sound systems. We installed a few systems at the shop I used to manage, but I was never a fan of doing so. For one, the speakers blast into the open air and because a bike is already so loud, this only makes the situation worse. The rider typically turns up the volume to compensate for the bike roar. Not to mention that most of these bikes only have four-inch speakers, and generally the louder they go, the worse they sound.
So when I came across these View Gate VMP-3000 motorbike speakers I just felt the need to comment... no, ask.. no, BEG bike owners to think twice before adding a pair of these to your bike. But not just because of the noise factor... Honestly, they just look silly.

Source: FarEastGizmos

in the forums!

There's No Replacement for Displacement

OK, so this is quite possibly the worst car accessory I've seen in a long time. Maybe not quite as bad as the fake front mount intercooler, but still.... If you are one of the many unfortunate Americans suffering from the dreaded 4-cylinder affliction**, car accessory manufacturer in.pro has a solution for you. This awesome accessory connects to your car's tach wire and your car's speaker system, and will play a selection of four different motor sounds through your car's speakers. You can choose from an "Italo V8", 6-cylinder-Boxer, Rallye, and a Monoposto (an open-wheeled F-1 style car).

Really, in.pro? I mean... Really?!

Press release after the jump.

**Put the flamethrowers down, people. This is purely sarcasm; I drive a four-banger. :)

in the forums!