Database Info

Aluminum locking case

Ran across this today searching for cases for the Epic. Anyone using one? Its interesting in that it locks the slider during normal use and hinges open if you want to use the keyboard.
http://www.pdair.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=10100000_10000000_11001061&products_id=31414

Now this looks like quite a nice case for functionality.
Now if they just took off the whole part in the back for the clip and form fit the corners a bit more and offered it in more colors that'd be nice.

This may be the best thing I can do for now, I have been scouring for a jelly case to slip over the epic, since I never use the keyboard

Now, if somebody has the ability to cleanly cut aluminum and wants to sell a matched set consisting of this case with a hole cut in the back for the hump on the extended battery the other guy is selling to poke through... (strokes credit card and sighs)
It's hard to tell from the pics... does the case snap onto the lower half, or does the phone just rest inside?
How firmly does it secure the phone when the case is closed? Does the power button still cause the two halves to separate a little, or are both held firmly in place from both sides?

bitbang3r said:
Now, if somebody has the ability to cleanly cut aluminum and wants to sell a matched set consisting of this case with a hole cut in the back for the hump on the extended battery the other guy is selling to poke through... (strokes credit card and sighs)
It's hard to tell from the pics... does the case snap onto the lower half, or does the phone just rest inside?
How firmly does it secure the phone when the case is closed? Does the power button still cause the two halves to separate a little, or are both held firmly in place from both sides?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are videos on you tube. The bottom looks like a very snug press fit. Top must be looser to allow for the hinge to work.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

...
I had a similar case for my old HTC Titan. I LOVED it. Being a pretty serious phone abuser, that case kept my phone together!
-Rob

I used to have a similar case for my Treo and they are extremely well made. I irregularly dropped my phone from about 5 feet in the air onto hard linoleum and it never suffered any indignities. These come in both black and silver so if you want a different color you would want the silver so you could send it out to be powder coated.
I just ordered one.

Mine came last night.
The good: locks the slider firmly closed. No wobble or "play" at all when pressing the power button. Phone easy to remove (for GameGripper purposes).
The bad: Feels terrifyingly slippery compared to the Seidio ActiveX. Obstructs "slide down" gesture for notifications.
The seemingly fatal (a big one): my "back" fake hardkey keeps randomly going berserk... but ONLY that specific one. The foam in the top half seems to be confusing the capacitive sensor.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Update: I've had the 'search' fake hardkey freak out a few times on me, too.
Another problem: it's definitely affecting reception. 4G and GPS barely work with the case in place.
Sigh. So close. So agonizingly close. It's awesome to not have the phone shear and jiggle apart every time I hit the power button, and the fact that it allows the phone to be easily removed for the Game Gripper without really compromising the slide-out keyboard's usability is very cool.
I'm really convinced that this case went straight from plastic prototype to mass production before anyone actually tried to use it in an area with 4G service, high humidity (presumably what's screwing up the foam and touchscreen), and who didn't just assume that the GPS was dysfunctional because Samsung sucks.
Sigh. Too expensive to throw away, and really nice in ways that ultimately don't matter because the touchscreen-button problem makes it totally unusable

The plot thickens: more touchscreen observations:
* Oddly, there's NO FOAM around the lower part of the screen where the phantom-pressed fake hardkeys are.
* Last night, it went completely berserk with phantom button presses on cue when I rubbed the latch a certain way.
This suggests that the problem's root cause might extend to the electrical conductivity of the case itself. It's strange, because I wasn't able to find reports of the same problem for users of Monaco cases for other phones (like the Droid). Lots of complaints about signal attenuation, but no reports of touchscreen problems.
I'm seriously tempted to buy some liquid electrical tape and coat the inside of the lid to see whether it helps. The problem DOES seem to go away when the lid is no longer in contact with the screen. However, if it's happening because the sensor is acting kind of like a Hall Effect sensor and the case is acting like a Faraday cage, nothing short of making the case (or at least the top lid) out of plastic is likely to fix the problem. Still, it's worth a try since I really like the case itself, and my alternative is to basically chuck it.

Update: as an experiment, I wrapped black electrical tape around the bottom lip of the top part. It helped a lot. I think I might have also found a contributing cause: cat fur. I think wisps of cat fur might be bridging the metal case & screen and carrying static electricity to the sensor. Oddly, though, some of its *worst* back-arrow spasams have occurred with the phone laying on the desk, untouched, 3 feet away.
I'm still trying to think of a good way to plastic-coat the case without making it look bad & get a nice, even black rubbery coating on it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

How thin is it compared to the other plastic cases?

Very interested in getting the Monaco Aluminum Case, which is very similar to this one. My last concern, how thin is it compared to Seidio Innocase Surface?

[Q] Loose Battery Cover?

My battery cover is a little loose all of a sudden. at the bottom it now moves a little. When I squeeze (lightly, normal use amount) the phone at the bottom kinda clicks. Anyone else have this issue?

Yes. I called HTC and they're replacing it. But for now what you can do is put paper inside the case
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

Yeah, several other people reported this problem on a Dutch forum. People should not open the backcover unless they really have to. After opening the cover a few times the cover is getting loose and starts to crack when you press it.

okay so I have the same problem, should I be worried or is it just the case with all sensation handsets ?

Take the cover off and press the battery. I think that's what it is...or maybe both.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App

secano said:
Take the cover off and press the battery. I think that's what it is...or maybe both.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that's it, the battery is fitted normally, and I've just tested it with battery removed, it does the same thing, I should mention that it isn't really that obvious, but it's an annoyance nonetheless, such an expensive phone to have a glitch like that.

can anybody confirm that it does loosen after some time of usage, I mean did it came like that out of the box or was it getting loose with time?

I just noticed this on mine this morning , will steal a new cover soon

****ttttt let me check mine lol

...same here, at the right bottom corner!!!!
...and I agree, tooooo expensive phone for such a glitch!

Spekko said:
I just noticed this on mine this morning , will steal a new cover soon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to a tmobile store to see if they'll let me switch. The rep told me thy they can't switch cuz its an htc problem. Then he got curious and pulled out his sensation to see if his had it...
He looked so sad lol I just got off the phone with htc and my replacement cover is shipping soon and if the second one is defective then I have to send in my whole phone so they can check it out. You guys should call htc I'd you already haven't

I fixed mine by adding some paper to the back.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1215096

Hey first post here! Signed up just to have my say on this issue, just as i did with the android central forum.
Also posted this on the android central forums...
Got the creaking here also, definitely a design flaw. Being obsessive with my devices i couldnt live with it!
I do not recommend putting paper in the cover to fill the gap, as this is just expanding the cover further making it even MORE loose when the paper is not in there. Also i wouldn't recommend it because the paper pushes the back cover out a little more, you may loose a connection for the ground. Which is the little metal springy thing, half way up the right hand side. Obviously its not a good idea to 'push' the cover further away from this ground spot. I have heard that people have had issues with screen responsiveness due to a static build up from not grounding properly.
What i did to fix this problem was a bit of a kitbash of sorts.
Mine was creaking on the bottom right area, like most. The problem is there is too much play between the little black catches on the battery cover and the latch on the handset. Instead of filling up the gap between the phone and the cover (Ala paper, card in the cover) I closed it!
What you need to do is get some very thin plastic film. Like that on kids toy packaging etc. Not the thicker stuff though. This stuff would be under 1mm thick. It came as a viewing window in the box my new wallet came in. So you can sorta imagine what im talking about.
I cut a piece about 10mm long and as wide as one of the two little black catches. I applied a VERY thin coat of super glue to one end of the film. Just enough to cover the area under the catch. Then i carefully placed the film with the superglue on it under the catch, and then quickly applied some pressure to it with some tweezers. Then i carefully cut the excess off with a pair of finely tipped nail scissors.
The result is that it now PULLS the screen/phone INTO the cover more by making the little black catch thicker. Not the opposite (paper method), which pushes the cover out, creating a further problem of adding more paper under the cover over time as the cover expands/loosens to compensate. Not to mention a possible grounding loss and resulting damage.
Hope this helps some people that have had multiple replacements or could not be bothered replacing for such a cosmetic issue. (Like me). It definitely works, just got to get your surgeon on and be accurate with your placement of the film.
Apply this to what ever side creaks the most, and bam its gone. Nice. Solid phone... again.
If anyone wants more specific details etc, im all ears.
Regards,
Matt.

MrSoulSOng A video explaining this fix would be appreciated ^_^ cuz I didnt buy my phone from here and I still gotta wait for about a month to send it to the shop to fix or get a replacement

...just an update...after buying new back cover from no1tech (that was month and a half ago...) there's no loose spots, no creacking...!
Very satisfied now I am. Finally phone feels and looks like it should be - beast in compact housing!

I have the very same problem too. VERY annoying

well I had the same problem however what i did was that on the back cover inside of it I put some black electric tape on to the sides that creak (next to the sides and the clips) and when I put the cover back on there was no creaking at all. figured it wont interfere with the single because people put cases on the back all the time plus its electric tape meaning it'll prevent from short circuits and I don't think there should be any overheating issue as its a very small quantity.

Fix your antennas!

After taking apart the GPS antenna module(led flash cover), cleaning the antenna contacts on the cover and spring clips on phone, and SLIGHTLY bending the spring clips out for improved contact with the cover the GPS lock was back to being less than 10 seconds for initial fix and instant refix.
With such an improvement I decided to do the same procedure to the other 2. The antenna under the battery cover(clean and bend spring contacts out alittle), and the one under the sim/sd card cover(clean and bend spring contacts out a little). My WiFi signal is definitely much better at distance! Bluetooth is better as well!
It is not difficult to do at all, and the results are immediate and VERY noticeable.
Search YouTube for desire hd/inspire 4g GPS antenna cover removal so you don't f it up. Hardest thing is getting GPS cover off, and it takes all of 5-10 minutes!
Good luck all.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA

Thanks. This actually increased the speed of my stock inspire and battery life.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA

GPS FIXED!
I wanted to bump this thread, as I ended up finding this solution on another forum. I have almost always had issues getting my GPS to lock. I tried all the software based fixes, but none of them seemed to really work. I opened my antennae, cleaned/bent the pins, and now I get INSTANT GPS lock (without any software fixes installed). I strongly urge anyone with issues to try this.
Another alternative is to solder a new antennae:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1318892

yes it is a good thing to clean the contacts and rebend them for additional contact force. That ghetto wire solder job that the person did in your link is only a hair above trying to get a gps signal while hopping on one foot. There is quite a bit of calculations that have to be done to choose antenna length and thickness in respect to the frequency it operates on. What this user did was just pick a random length of wire and connect it, and poorly soldered at that (they probably have a coat hanger coming out of their tv). This type of modification is a TERRIBLE idea and should be avoided at all costs.
But as I said, what the OP did in this thread with the cleaning, this is a good idea.

what did u clean it with?

Im looking at the silver led cover and im like how the hell you take that off I know like something needle nose pliers.

I basically just scraped the metal until it was shiny. A fine steel wool would work, or even sand paper. You just want to get any gray stuff off.
CYRAXDroid said:
Im looking at the silver led cover and im like how the hell you take that off I know like something needle nose pliers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do it from the inside .
Summary: You are going to remove the battery and then It should reach back to where the plastic cover is. From there you can push (from the inside) the plastic peach and then slide something under it to keep it propped open.
1) Remove your battery
2) You need to prop the plastic piece up from the inside of the case. You could bend the tip of a knife, or whatever.
3) You slide the "prop" inside the battery slot and you want to line it up under the plastic piece around the light.
4) From there you can "push" it up and slide something under the edge to keep it lifted (I used guitar pics). You probably want to use a couple to work your way around.
5) Remove it from the battery facing side first.
Once you have it off it should be obvious where the metal pins are. Bend them upwards, and scrape/clean them off if there is any discoloration.
Putting it back together is a little tricky. Be careful to not break any of the snaps .
Thank me if this helps!

Well I didn't do it but still thank you for posting that info
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using xda premium

Whats the best car vent holder for vertical vents?- Nexus 4 overheating

So i have signed up for Googles new music service "All Access". I love it, however, I have noticed one thing about it. It puts one hell of a strain on my Nexus 4s modem when streaming in high quality.
I found out that if I run a GPS app such as ingress or Waze while streaming hi quality audio from All Access that eventually my phone will get so hot that my internet connection pretty much stops working all together. I like to run Waze every morning for my commute because the police alerts are sweet and i also like to stream music.
I have tried every software tweak i can think of to help with this issue including underclocking, unvolting, underclock GPU, screen brightness ECT....but it doesn't prevent it. My only idea left if to have the phone held by a vent mounted clip and expose the area around the camera (where it is very very hot) to the flow of cool air while i drive. Hopefully the phones back doesn't get that hot if the phone is exposed to the air from the start.
Does anyone have experience with a vent clip that works well with vertical vents?

I have horizontal vents but I was able to use this mount I got on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380541142201&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123
The vent clip is rotatable so it can be use on either horizontal or vertical vents. It technically didn't fit my N4 but after some bic lighter manipulations my phone fits pretty snug with it's Ringke Fusion case. I heated up the 2 corner clips and used a pair of pliers to bend out the hooks at the ends. I also stretched out the center holding clip so it would fit my phone better. The whole thing is not super locked into place since it can still wiggle but I am sure that is isn't going to fall off since the hooking mechanism is pretty well done.

You can use a binder clip car dock.
http://lifehacker.com/5747897/how-to-build-a-car-mount-for-your-cellphone-from-office-supplies

Just had this happen to me today. I'm streaming all access while charging and my phone got so hot that it stopped charging. My fix is the mount that goes in the CD tray. I just aim one of my vents toward the phone and it can't possibly overheat.

I just shove it into one of the vents and crank up the ac Lol two mins its cool Lol. Short term solution
Sent from my blazing fast nexus 4 o yeah baby this phone is awesome

You can also block the vent in behind the holder. That's what I did. By totally fluke the dark grey plastic that DVD movie cases are made of match the color of my dash.
So I cut up an old DVD cass the right size and stuck it in between the vent grills and the vent housing. Then made holes for the arms of the phone holder.
Here's a pic.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

[Q] used an ice pack to cool my note pro 12.2 condensation on outside maybe inside..

I wish I read these forums before i attempted to put an ice pack under my tablet.
what i did was under my note pro 12.2 i wrapped an ice pack in 2 plastic bags and put it under my tablet, it immediately kept the temperature to only 21C i was really happy but i noticed on the back of the tablet (it has a faux leather back that might be porous) there was condensation building up where the ice pack rested (water vapour in the air drawn to that spot) i immediately wiped it off and then put the icepack back on the back of the tablet, again after couple mins there was condensation so i wiped it off.
only after speakign to a friend did i realise that might be a bad move because the water condensation could potentially go to the underside of where the tablet had the ice pack (which is more plastic i saw a video of my tablet being taken apart so i know what the insides look like)
what are the chances that water vapour has gotten inside into the important components? there's no vents the tablet is almost air tight bar the micro usb charging slot on the right and the 3.55mm headphone jack on the left, the micro sd card slot is sealed, those are the only entry points i imagine water vapour could get in.
i did this inside my bedroom, not sure how humid it is relatively it was cold today around 8C but with southerly wind so felt more like 13C.. is it possible for condensation to get inside the tablet given what i've described?
there's no breeze, im indoors however i did see condensation on the OUTSIDE where the ice pack rested so i just assumed the bit inside it behind the back cover also was cooled down and naturally air moisture woudl be drawn to it.. that leads to the question how much air moisture is inside the tablet in the first place and is there any viable way for it to enter via either the 3.55mm jack or the micro usb port 3.0 on the right?
you said that condensation goes down not up but is it possible i may have condensation inside the tablet? surely naturally if there is any it would go to the metal parts of the device inside IF there is any, as a precaution i put it in a box of rice but read that silica is better so got a few of those and some instant noodles which apparently is better than rice to get moisture out.
my thinking is if it's sealed up as in like most tablets are.. how is the moisture going to get out via the micro usb or 3.55mm jack ports? surely the silica and instant noodles dont have enough sucktion power to draw all the moisture that's inside a sealed tablet?? or maybe i'm underestimating the power of it.
surely people with iphones or ipads can relate, the device is completely sealed just a headphone jack and a charging port.. people have dunked theirs in water and put it in rice and voila it's fine.. howerver if it was sealed to begin with only a small amoutn of water realistically is going to get in via the charging port or the headphone jack right>? unless it's submersed.
what i cant figure out is if there is condensation inside for whatever reason.. how is it going to get out?? there's only a micro usb port and headphone jack .. which might indicate that not much woudl get in way of condensation in the first place? i dont really udnestand the physics of it but i know cold surfaces attract condensation.. that proved it by the outside of the tablet but what about the inside??
i put it in rice as a precaution adn i really dont want to take it apart as im still under my 28 day return thing (ideally i'd return it but the colour i want has been discontinued) so i cant guarantee if there's moisture inside.. but let's assume there is.. how is it going to get out? this isn't normal water in cracks and in a phone which i can open up take the battery out and dunk in rice so the rice can be close to the areas of water.. this is just water vapour which may be attached to the underside of the back cover.. so obviously it'll heat up again because the insides get hot and evaporate.. but how does it get out??

I used ice packs to cool old phones when using as hot spots and they lasted many years. I doubt much if any moisture is inside but you can pop the back off relatively easy with a pry tool(pick basically) if you want to check.
If you left it there for many hours I might be concerned. Now I use a usb fan designed to cool tablets or small laptops I picked up for under ten bucks.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-P907A using XDA Free mobile app

There was definite moisture on the back of the tablet I wiped it of. Which makes me think that inside the cover there must be too however is that moisture from the hote air already inside the tablet that just exists? Or is it new air which is drawn to the cold surface, the question is if I'm inside my room with just the normal air surrounding me maybe humid slightly can it get in via the headphone jack or the micro usb port?
Remember basic physics moisture and water vapour is drawn to cold surfaces and if there was definite moisture on the outside of the tablet where the ice pack was surely the inside behind the cover will have some too, how much I do not know however I cannot ptry the back open as I'm still under warranty and it'll invalidate it so I can't check
If thee is much air actually inside the tablet that definitelytinto water vapour condensation and stuck to the surface temporarily however when it heats up again it'll evaporate back into the air I presume but first as a liquid. Then. Back as a gas floating in the air inside, I doubt there was much if inside.
My worry is simple physics would state that even if the air from otside didn't get into tthe device the air inside already contains some moisture, the ice pack on outside would make the condensation occur and thus go to the back of the inside back cove rand surrounding metal parts which are colder, when I remove the ice pack ats up turning that replaced condensation into liquid (on the back of the inside of the cover) which when heated up enough should go back into the air as normal assuming 100% transder, it seems that all the moisture inside the tablet that's floating inside the hot air will be drawn to the ice pack spot inswhere the battery is. The danger part is when u remove the pack and the condensation then then turns back into liquid that's when it can get into important parts and corrode I won't know this for at least a year without opening itplus it may rust. When it turns b ack into a gas and stays in the air inside the tablet is that sufficient for it not to do any damage or is the damage done already?
I have to assume that when the condensation turns into liquid before it then is reabsorbed by the gas in the air inside the tablet it'll have done some damage. I'm not really sure how. Long that will be.
Does anyone know physics better and able to give me a better understanding ould have occurred inside the tablet?

You basically have the answer right. As the device is used the heating and cooling of the components will expand and contract the air molecules inside the device causing air to be drawn in/out of it. This allows a relative equilibrium between inside and outside air in terms of humidity so that's how moist air is in there to begin with.
Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

I don't seem to have a problem with the temperature. Mine has the Samsung cover on it, so there is an air gap between the back of the tablet and the table.
I've had the P900 since September and use it 4 to 5 hours a day. OK the temperature here in Bahrain / Saudi is not in the 40°C yet, but it doesn't feel hot to the touch with use.