Hands One With The Nexus One Car Dock

When I heard the news that Google was going to shut down their online Nexus One store, I decided to get the Nexus One Car Dock before the store shut down.  I was thinking that it may not be possible to buy the car dock once the online store shut down, plus, I always wanted to get it.  Ordering was very easy.  I went online and ordered it.  I chose regular Federal Express shipping which is free of charge.  I ordered it on Saturday, July 17 and I received it today, July 22.  It actually should have been delivered yesterday but nobody was home to sign for it.  The total cost was $58.44.  

My initial impression of the car dock is that it is very well made and a high quality product.  You have the ability to mount the car dock on your dashboard or your windshield.  I chose to mount it on the windshield.  To mount it on the windshield you hold it against the windshield and then twist it to the right until you hear a "click."  My impression is that it is attached very firmly to my windshield.  You attach a standard charger from your cigarette lighter to the base of the unit on the windshield and you are ready to go.  Putting your Nexus One into the car dock gets a little getting used to but is fairly simple.  Simple enough to put it in the car dock every time you get into the vehicle.  Within a few seconds you are shown a screen giving you the option of routing all your voice calls and music through the speaker on the car dock.  You are then given the option to make the choice the default choice.  I have not decided whether to make it my default choice.  After you make your selection you are taken to the "Car Home" screen.  On the screen you are given icons to navigate, view your contacts, listen to music and make calls.  You can listen to music through the speaker on the car dock.  I tried this and while it's not great, it's not bad either.  I was especially impressed with the navigate function.  What was particularly impressive was the ability to verbally speak the address of the destination.   I tried a couple of addresses and the Nexus One got it right.  Very impressive.  I think I will use the navigation function quite a bit.  Making a call was also easy.  The car dock connects your voice to the phone through a bluetooth connection.  My impression was that I was on a speakerphone.  I spoke to more than a few people and all of them indicated that the call quality was good.  They could hear me well and had no idea that I was talking through this bluetooth speakerphone.

Overall, I am very impressed with the car dock.  It was very well engineered and makes my Nexus One much more useful.  I highly recommend that Nexus One owners get one for themselves.