PanaVise PortaGrip review by Salle Hayden
The PortaGrips at the PanaVise booth in CES last January intrigued us that this tool-designing company had made a logical inroad to electronic device holding as well. We received three of their long line of products for review, two cell phone holders and a camera mount. We wanted to make a thorough investigation as to how the phone holders actually worked, on several long road trips that were planned, before submitting a review.
Panavise Portagrip 15508
PanaVise has been in the business of creating, patenting and delivering tool bench gripping and holding tools since 1959. It just makes sense that this company, nearly 20 years ago, could come up with adaptive gripping devices for new, in-car no-hands use of telephones and external GPS units. Even an HTC phone, in a case that increases its size by what was thought of as a lot, made us wonder if the 15504 window-mounted cell phone holder would be able to accommodate the telephone. It did. And the 15508 has been working well in a step van (greater distance between the windshield and driver’s seat) for an iPhone5. Both versions of window-mounting suction cups have worked just as well in snow-cold and high dessert daytime heat.
All the PortaGrip holders come in a standard deep charcoal gray that can pass for black. The moving parts, such as the button-released side grips for the phone, are easy to understand and use immediately. There is a pad of soft, gripping material that is designed to hold the back of the phone securely, and it does, whether the phone is in a protective case or not. The side-grips will not scratch an unprotected phone, but will hold it securely enough to be able to use an older Blackberry button system keyboard, or an on-screen data input system. The base holders swivel to be able to plug in the charger on any manufacturer’s phone. On the 15508 system, there are two adjustable elbow joints between the window-mount and the ball-jointed phone holder, making the phone adjustable to any position. The 809 camera mount has the same system of elbow joints and ball joint that will securely hold any camera in place in any position desired.
If renting a car that without a built-in GPS system, this can be easily carried by traveling employees so that they would be safe and legal in most states. These window-mounted cell phone/GPS holders could be invaluable for international travel. And the price-point is reasonable enough to be able to supply a fleet of company cars or a rent-a-car fleet.
