Anyone know what a Sidekick II is???? It's one of the most eagerly awaited sequels to the Color Sidekick portable communication tool. About the size of a bar of soap, it integrates a Triband Phone, wireless email, instant messaging with AIM or Yahoo IM, a 640x480 color camera, speakerphone, and PDA, and games, and controlled by an actual QWERTY keyboard you type with your thumbs!

The latest version known as the Sidekick II is a bit longer than the original Sidekick, although it is flatter. While I normally just holster my Sidekick, I decided it was time to find a solution that would enable me to take full advantage of the new speakerphone.

Call me the Suction Cup man! Thanks to my VacuCams, and my need to buy all kinds of materials, I have lots of suction cups to play with! I started with an universal cell phone holder that I no longer used. The Sidekick just barely fits. The Sidekick II has a number of requirements.

1.) Because of it's top and bottom buttons, the holder couldn't grip it from the ends.

2.) Because the screen swivels out, the holder couldn't protrude past the front of the unit.

3.) The Sidekick II now has integrated rubber bumpers along the top and bottom which provide lots of nice friction.

4.) The display had to be angled appropriately so I could see it without having to crane my neck.

5.) The screen is bright but I didn't want it anywhere that might distract me.

So the perfect location was just behind the steering wheel right here


Here is the final mount. It needs some cleanup work, but fortunately it's not visible when the Sidekick is in use.

I attached to the universal holder these suction cups. I tried 1 at first, but it wasn't sturdy enough. Then I tried 2 in a row, but it wasn't tilted at the right angle. So a 3rd was added which created a very solid platform.

Here it is with the screen open

And here it's closed


I'm very happy with it. No sticky tape or holes to drill. It's very secure and completely removeable. Functionally, I'm able to answer calls as they come in just by pressing 2 buttons. The Answer button and the speakerphone. No need to grab the phone and put to my ear, or grab an earphone, or wear a klunky headset. It's not distracting, and when I'm waiting at that long stop light, I can browse my email.

Just a bit of trivia. I answer about 85% of my emails from my Sidekick, so if you ever wonder how I responded so quickly, or how come it looks like I have some typos, now you know!!

You can read more about my Sidekick II at my site:
http://www.littlemini.us/technical/csk/index.asp

 

Didn't know what a Sidekick was till I read your post, but nice installation!

 

Thanks! It's also known as the Danger Hiptop. The company Danger (danger.com) produces really cool stuff, a lot like MINI, and they've got a devoted following. When the product was released as an upgrade last week, we had to call an 800 number to upgrade. The phone number had leaked to the public the night before, though the offer was only good for existing users/customers. In 3 days, they were sold out for a promotion that was expected to last last 3 weeks.

There were so many calls per second the lines were in a perpetual Operator Message. At one point, the lines were shut down because of the overload. They were getting millions of calls per second because people were using multiple phones on speed dial. It was like the ultimate radio dial in contest!

IMO, it's the best wireless communication tool on the market. More compact and better keyboard than the Blackberry's. In fact, it's replaced my laptop for most of my working and travelling needs.

As you can tell, I'm crazy about my SidekickII the way I love my MINI.

 

OctaneGuy,

As a long time T-Mobile customer I thought about the "Sidekick," but decided to hold off for the new Blackberry 7100. At the moment I'm using a Sony-Ericsson P900 and while I like the functionality, long battery life and the convenience of bluetooth (earpiece, and sync to my PC at work and Powerbook at home), it tends to lock up quite a bit. So, I was hoping you could share your thoughts of the recently released Hiptop vs the upcoming Blackberry. Would appreciate any input you or any other NAM members could provide.

Thanks,
Ampr

 

I unfortunately don't have much experience with the Blackberry, but I do know that the latest Sidekick aka hiptop was designed to be more easily transitioned to for Blackberry users, which sadly for me as a longtime Sidekick user, has presented some of my own transition problems.

But now that I've had my SKII for a week, and have been using it everyday, my general feeling is that it's definitely better than the previous CSK. The biggest disadvantage of the SKII over the Blackberry is using secure communications. For people who need to get their email through a secure server, such as from corporate intranets, the SKII unfortunately isn't for you.

I capture 3 email accounts on my SKII along with the 4th TMail.com account, so for me it isn't an issue.

For mobile use, I've found that the speakerphone rocks. I don't miss a headset, nor having to make any connections to the SKII to my car. I just get in my car, put it in the mount and go. When a call comes in, I hit Answer, and push the Speakerphone button and I hear the caller as loud as if it were coming from my car speakers or were right next to me.

For those that need Outlook sync, the SKII now offers it, but I don't use it. I find the Calendar/PDA functions suitable enough for me.

From what I've heard from other Blackberry turned Sidekick users, the SKII still has a better keypad for typing, and I've also heard it doesn't multitask like I can with the SKII. That is, I could have my AIM or Yahoo IM open with a number of chats, be checking my email, and browsing the web at the same time.

Richard

 

no bluetooth !!! waaaaaaah