HTC HD2 official car kit gets less cool, more practical

January 19, 2010 | By Surur

HTC’s HD2 car kit has just become a lot less cool. Devicewire has given tracyandmatt.co.uk notice that the cradle will no longer have the old design that used a custom backplate, but a new but simpler design that attaches to the bottom microUSB port.

While the new design is now much less sexy, it is much more practical than the earlier version, as the backplate was quite thick. The price is still a high £61 however, which is no longer justified by the innovation and design in the old version, so I suspect this will no longer be a big seller.

The cradle is available for pre-order at DeviceWire here.

Via Pocketnow.com

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged car kit, htc hd2, htc leo

Jos Dewey

Gee, what a letdown. So those charging leads on the back of the Leo (behind the plate) are useless now?

Perhaps they did this becuase the plate is stupidly hard to remove, even once you've learned the proper way to do it.

admin

Looks like it
http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

I think removing the plate actually separates the HD2's screen from the rubber frame around it, near the place you force the lid. mine has moved about half a milimeter to the right :O

AS147

The original one was plainly impractical. It made a svelte device a pain to use and bulky. Whilst the more practical unit may look less sexy I prefer form over function. If the thing charges and works in car mode once connected I will be buying one and I won't need some clunky backplate to my HD2 either !
http://intensedebate.com/people/l3v5y l3v5y

I really liked the old design Would happily have used one as a desktop cradle!

http://intensedebate.com/people/Strangerx Strangerx

Same here, I don't have a car and the old design would be awesome as a desktop cradle. I hope they sell both, would make more sense to me.

Sven

Here is a better photo…
http://i.expansys.com/i/b/b188277.jpg
Ross

Hi Guys some help please… have ordered my HTC HD2. But I currently have a old SE P910i and great car kit that does voice calling /answering etc. Will I need a bluetooth or the can the HTC be connected to the radio? Best way please. Thanks
Allun

i'm shocked by this news, the design was amazing, I was going to buy a cradle to leave in my car, my van, and office. but the new design cradle has nothing a £7 cradle on ebay has and no way can i justify the price difference now, if it was £30 tops i would think about getting one, but to be honest I might just stick to using my ameo as sat nav! I've been waiting for months for its release as well!
Jason

I was plainly shocked by this, waited months for it's release then at the last minute they go and bolt a tacky bit of plastic to it and still want £60. I know the old design had issues but this new is a lot less practical. I would be interested to see if the little usb connector will last more than twelve months of regular useage before either breaking the phone or the cradle. Also, you now HAVE to buy a bluetooth kit for it as you can no longer plug in the supplied handsfree, of use it as an mp3 player through your steroes aux port. I wrote to HTC and complained and got the usual fobbed off answer about nothing to do with anything, so I was not best pleased. Mobilefun.co.uk do a handset for £18 that looks pretty much the same but gives you the ability to use what ever handsfree you like – think I'll go with that one.
Anonymous

The old model was better then the new practical model.
Anonymous

The old model was better then the new practical model.

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