Tablet mount - see the controller or not ?

[Storyline]

I have been researching the forum for recommended mounts for my new 8" tablet. From what I have seen on Amazon there are two main styles.

Those that fit into the arms you would normally use for your phone and which then have the tablet sitting between you and the controller screen. It seems the one recommended on here is the Mavmount which is machined from aluminium. There are now also clones which may be nearly as good or possibly even better. They look good quality but they do mean you can't see the screen on the controller.

The second type clamps to the bottom of the controller and the part that holds the tablet sticks out the top by the antenna and so you are able to see the controller screen. These also tend to come with a lanyard mount point.

The questions I don't know the answers to are:

Which style is better balanced ?
If I can't see the controller screen, will I miss it ?
If I get the second style where the tablet sits over the antenna will it hinder the signal quality (I am already in CE mode) ?
How many people use a lanyard ?

Many thanks for any advice

 

[Karl D]

My 8" tablet is on a bracket locked in the phone holder and so covers the controller display which I only look at when charging and its nicely balanced

 

[Oconnb910]

Mavmount.com has probably the best mount for the mavic and the air. You have an option of either way using their mount.

 

[Storyline]

Mavmount.com has probably the best mount for the mavic and the air. You have an option of either way using their mount.

Oh, I did not know that. So to be totally clear, you can use it and still see the controller screen ? I have been on their site and it says it has "Dual Screen Mode" but I can't see any image of it like that.

I do not know why but I like to be able to see the Height info on the Controller - just seems more dependable than info on the app !!

 

[Paul2660]

Yes, you can flip the mount to allow viewing of the screen. I prefer to see both, as if and when you get a glitch in DJIGo4, (black screen, video freeze, App connect etc), it's great to see you still have actual control of the aircraft, and can at least see mode, distance and speed. I have wished that the P4 series had a similar style, not the P+ with built in screen as I don't like the way that screen handles in the field. BTW you can also use the CS with the Mavmount, but it will slightly block the small controller display.

Paul C

 

[Drone_guy]

I have this one. I use it with a 10 inch Tab 4.

You can adjust it to where the remote is hidden under it or to where you can see the remote, it has a small compartment to hold filters too. I also like that it folds down to fit nicely in a small space in my case.

Comes with a lanyard too.

Here's a video review of it.

 

[sparkorc]

I use the Skyreat foldable monitor mount with the iPad mini 4 with the mounting plate turned around, you can still see the transmitter screen if required, which leaves plenty of space for any for handling any of the controls and the antennas can still be set for the optimum angle, being foldable it does not take up much room in your bag or case, it has a lanyard hole on the mounting plate although personally I do not use a lanyard, I find with my setup its balanced very well I can still see the transmitter screen if required, and as said some monitor mounts do interfere with the antennas and restrict somewhat of your controls, Note the Skreat monitor mount I refer to is also made under PGYTEC brand but they are all identical apart from the name, you may also want to concider will the mount you purchase fit in your bag or case, I know this one fits into my Smartee mavic pro case perfectly which makes it easy for any long distance hikes with your drone.

 

[DanMan32]

Anyone have a picture of these NOT blocking the remote display?

 

[Storyline]

Thanks guys

@Paul2660 - I love the look of the Mavmount and you can tell from their website that it will just ooze quality. The problem is that by the time I add in the rubbish exchange rate (blame Brexit) then add carriage and finally it is bound to be grabbed by customs so VAT and maybe duty that it becomes so expensive that it is hard to justify. I don't blame the guy making them - if I designed and made a product that I could be so proud of I would want people to pay a decent price. If I lived in the US I would have no hesitation to get one.

@ Drone_guy Yes, that looks nice but unfortunately they do not ship to the UK

@ sparkorc I have just spent most of the afternoon on Amazon looking at various mounts. There seems to be 4 broad groups. The cheapest (£10-15) use all plastic and they are light and some get quite good reviews. Then come the metal/plastic type (£20ish) where the part that goes into the phone holder is aluminium and the clamp parts are ABS plastic. I reckon there are about 3 factories or so making the metal bits and then a whole load badge engineering them and putting various plastic bits on. The one you show above comes from this type. Then there is the third group (£25ish) which has a higher grade CNC milled phone plate which is then sand blasted - they boast how nice and smooth they are to the touch. I was just about to get one of these third types when I just lucked into a review where the guy said that they had sand blasted his so smooth that it was now too thin for the two arms and dropped out ! Then there is a fourth group (£25-30) which contains one off design ideas that have either failed or are new. I was just to take a punt on one from China that looked good with honeycomb type lightweight aluminium plate and all metal mount and holder. The only plastic was some EVA sponge on the tablet clamp. Delivery was 3-4 weeks and it was a major gamble as there were no reviews. I was in the Amazon checkout ready to press Pay Now when I suddenly thought that if I was prepared to wait, maybe there were other non Prime ones. Five minutes later and I had found another risky one off design that was different (why do I do these things !) Anyway, this looked interesting - it has a couple of arms instead of a plate but what attracted me to it was that it uses an all metal tripod style ball head to hold the mount.

Anyway, fortune favours the brave so I took a chance and one is being delivered tomorrow. I will report back on here and the good thing about Amazon is that as we use it a lot, any feeling that it is not fit for purpose and it goes back. Amazon are so good - if you say you have just changed your mind then you get charged return carriage but that is never necessary because invariably the Amazon merchants always big up their products and make exaggerated claims about them that it always possible to find a reason to return it which is then free. I play fair though and only order if I genuinely think I will keep it.

 

[Oconnb910]

You do get what you pay for. I went through 2 plastic ones and Destroyed one iPad and messed up a second. The problem I have found is that they all lose friction and/or tension and become loose. The MavMount is solid as can be. This has not come loose on me once yet in over a year. The lanyard setup works well with this also. I feel confident when I am hanging my equipment free-handed as I am moving around.

 

[Storyline]

That is what worries me also and I do not want to drop my new tablet. This is the reason I went for the tripod style ball head. It has the disadvantage of not being as fold-able but should in theory be safer. Should it be no good I will get the all metal fold-able version from China which hopefully should not have the slippage problem the plastic ones will eventually suffer from.

 

[Storyline]

The one I described above arrived last night and I was very pleased and took some photos to show you. It has a lot less metal in the part that mounts in the controller arms so the weight is low despite having a reasonable quality ball head - not Gitzo standard but OK

I was therefore very disappointed when I found my new tablet was just a bit too short for it My tablet is 12.5cm high and the jaws on this are 13cm when closed.

Have now gone for the conventional folding type with the small ball split in two. If Ninjagaiden is a forum member here may I say to you - I hope your review on Amazon is accurate as it is the main reason I chose it ! Sometimes I just cannot understand how Amazon works - maybe sometimes the merchants substitute the items with inferior quality ones when stock runs out. How else can you explain these comments from reviews of the same item - brilliant product, very very cheap plastic that feels like its a few openings away from breaking, Second only to a MavMount! Look like a two year old had assembled it Couldn’t recommend it more... great product.too heavy, Really useful, not too heavy let down by the quality, Nicely made and balances well
It's arriving tomorrow.

Here are photos of the first one. If anyone has a larger device it is worth considering imo
Click for larger





https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freewell-A...UTF8&qid=1539792767&sr=8-15&keywords=freewell

 

[Duke56]

This is what your looking for:
LifThor V4 XXL Sif Tablet Mount
https://www.thorsdroneworld.com/
I use it with my Mavic 2 Zoom using an Ipad Mini 4. It can accomadate an Ipad Pro no problem. It does break down to a small enough size for transport, you have to remove 4 thumb screws.

 

[Storyline]

This is what your looking for:
LifThor V4 XXL Sif Tablet Mount
https://www.thorsdroneworld.com/
I use it with my Mavic 2 Zoom using an Ipad Mini 4. It can accomadate an Ipad Pro no problem. It does break down toa small enough size for transport, you have to remove 4 thumb screws.

View attachment 50547View attachment 50548

Looks good. At first I assumed it would not be realistic as I assumed it came from the US and I would have the import charges problem but they are made in Norway - just round the corner from here Will have to investigate further.

 

[sparkorc]

Looking at the design of the Lithor V4 XXL Sif Tablet Mount, my concern would be its certainly going to be effected by more sun glare with the mount to the front of the controller, with some of the other designs your tablet is closer to your body which helps shield the tablet from sun glare, at least that was my own findings when choosing a mount for my ipad mini 4.

 

[Duke56]

I use a sun shade for the iPad mini. Used it with the Mav Mount I used before the Lifthor mount. Does the trick.
HeiyRC 7.9inch Tablet Monitor...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0771MR2Y7?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

 

[Storyline]

Mount #2 has just arrived and I have been lucky. After ordering it I read a review yesterday where a guy who had the same tablet as I am going to use - (Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus) had the exact same problem as I had with the first mount - the tablet was too small. However I have a thin plastic bumper back around mine and it makes it fit perfectly

The mount does not look as nice as the first one but it will work I reckon. It is also lighter at 227g vs 237g for the first one. I have read a review where a guy drilled extra holes to save even more weight. There is loads of metal so I have that option. The finish is quite good but not as smooth and nice to the touch as #1. The 'free' lanyard is really nice quality imo. It also has the big advantage of folding down so small that it will fit in my Mavic case. Mount #1 would no way fit because of the tripod ball head.

The Lithor V4 XXL Sif Tablet Mount is designed so cleverly that they have been able to keep the weight to 300g. It looks much more robust and I think if I had a bigger/heavier tablet I would definitely go for it despite it being 3x the price but my Lenovo is so light I think my new mount will cope easily.

Mount #2
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B071XP2MJ1/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hope this helps someone. There are various clones of Mount#2 but it is worth studying the photos on Amazon carefully and you can see which ones have the same CNC metal plate as mine which has good reviews and others that are a bit cheaper but do not have as nice a finish.

 

[Storyline]

Final update to this thread !

Just had my first flight with tablet and mount and it really was much better than I expected. I had been concerned as to whether I should have bought the 10" version of the tablet. It is a matter of personal preference but for me, 8" was the right choice. The Lenovo is so light that even with the mount it felt no different than using my phone. The phone weighed 165g and the combined extra weight of tablet and mount is only another 360g (12.5oz).

The extra real estate on the tablet meant the camera image was great to watch, it really transforms the experience imo. So much so that to answer the question posed in the title of this thread, I did not think of the controller screen once during the whole flight ! As someone said earlier, all the information is on the tablet anyway. I was using Litchi and the screen is so uncluttered that I could see all the telemetry really clearly.

£20 & free delivery is a bargain for the mount imo
A couple of unintended benefits are that because the tablet uses USB-C I had to connect to the bottom USB socket on the controller which takes wear & tear away from the fragile micro USB on the top left of controller and also the mount itself makes a nice stable desk stand - my old one used to slide around a bit but this stays where it is as you type

 

[Storyline]

A new unforseen update to this thread. A couple of weeks ago my wife said she wanted a new tablet to replace her Nexus 9 which was running out of memory (she meant storage space and would not go for my suggestion of cleaning all her old stuff out). I am a big fan of vanilla Android so I looked at Lenovo first as a lot of the old Google/Nexus/Motorola hardware guys have ended up there. I think they may have got it wrong with their new tablet range which seeks to integrate with smart speakers and other devices. They also seem to be clearing their old Tab tablets and I got my wife a ridulously cheap Tab4 10plus 4G with a smart speaker/entertainment device thrown in.

Within a day of its arrival I could not resist getting one also ! This means that the tablet mount with the great ball head that was too large for my Tab 4 8plus now fits it like a glove. It has been sitting in our hall tormenting me as i missed the deadline to return it. I had been regularly thinking to myself that I must auction it - one day