Let me preface this by saying that I recently purchased a Moto Droid. After previously having a CLIQ, and using it a lot for gaming, I was a bit disappointed by the D-PAD's being on the wrong side. But not for long. I knew about the game gripper attachment, but I decided that it was too bulky and expensive for what was really quite a simple problem. So I made my own compact, temporary, reusable D-PAD, to use with emulators! It should work on just about any phone with keys that line up (like the Droid's do) And you can make one too!
It consists of three simple parts, and it's very easy to build. You will need:
1. A disc of some sort. Any material. It should be just a bit smaller than the size of a 9-key square on your device's keyboard. This is the base of the D-PAD. Dimes are a pretty good size for it, and I assume they'd work decently, though I haven't tried. You COULD just use this disc alone on the keyboard, but, depending on the material, it would probably slide way too much to use.
2. A balloon. Cut a piece out of it, preferably circular, just a bit larger than the disc. This will be covering one side of the disc so it doesn't slide.
3. Some adhesive thing to hold it all together. I've found that price tag stickers work pretty well. Glue would be tougher to use for it, but might yield pretty good results. Tape will do in a pinch, but it's not preferred.
Construction is VERY simple. All you need to do is stretch the piece of balloon over one side of the disc. Pull the edges of it over to the other side of the disc, and hold them all in place with the sticker/tape/glue/whatever. You should cut off whatever hangs over the sides afterwards, so that the only thing touching the keyboard is the piece of balloon.
To use it, all you have to do is stick it on a group of 9 keys wherever you want to have a D-PAD. The keys should still be able to click, so it will feel like a real D-PAD. Then, just map buttons in the emulator to those keys!
Well, it works pretty well for me anyway. Some people might not like it, and if not, don't use it! Anyway, I hope this helps some people.
EDIT: Please reply, if you have any comments, questions, or advice!
Related
Updates are Bolded. Scroll down to see it.
So looking around, it is obvious that there is no such thing as a dock that fits the G2/Desire Z equipped with an Otterbox. I have heard of a material called Friendly Plastic which is very malleable when prepped but when it hardens, it becomes a very strong plastic. I'm thinking of creating a custom cradle that will fit the Desire Z with the otterbox which will include a charger as well. So I'm going to be buying the material from Amazon and see if I can mold the plastic into a dock that custom fits my phone with the otterbox on.
I'll give updates as I work on this project. It might take a month or two since I am doing my Master's degree, an internship and also working on a film for school (we go into production this week [in fact equipment check out is tommorrow and we shoot thursday]). I'll try to get this thread updated as I work on it so stay tuned.
03/01/11
Ordered parts to create a custom dock. I looked around for Friendly Plastic which is extremely hard to find in California (specifically in the LA area). I found on amazon.com a similar item called Instamorph which I checked their website. It is extremely well planned and pretty much the same item but much cheaper.
http://www.instamorph.com/
Now if you delve into their site, they show you how to do it and towards the bottom of the page, there is also a "techniques" page where you can do some pretty cool stuff with the material at an advanced level:
http://www.instamorph.com/instructions/
They sell specifically via Amazon. If you spend over 25 bucks in on amazon, you might be able to get the super saver shipping, so if you plan any shopping, add this along for free shipping.
another item I bought is a Left Angle Micro USB Extender.
Now this guy is extremely rare and pretty expensive if you get it custom made.
I found a site called www.usbfirewire.com which sells various types of usb and firewire cables for an ok price. I'm saying that it is ok because it is a very unique type of cable that I am looking for therefor it seems to work best for me. This is the one I got:
http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-mcbl-ext-xxg.html
2 things to note here: a custom made cable would cost $50, but the one I got cost me a little under 13 bucks.
Another note is that I got the 5inch length cable because I don't want to spend too much time trying to fit 3 feet of cable inside a dock of malleable plastic. I plan on utilizing as little space as humanly possible to give it the cleanest look.
Currently I have spent: $22.45 + $16.45 = $38.90
This seems like alot but it's because again, it is custom.
Once I get it, I will give more updates.
03/04/11
I just received the stuff, both of them. So I can say that they shipped really fast. I'm going to start making a test trial run of the Instamorph pellets and get used to it before I make the actual dock.
This is the Instamorph and what the pellets look like:
The 5 Inch Micro USB Extender:
2 hours later:
Lessons Learned:
1) 150 degrees Fahrenheit is a very low heat level. On my electric stove, it was around a 3 or 3.5 out of 10.
2) Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT have any of the Instamorph beads touch ANYTHING PLASTIC (this includes the otterbox, plastic cutting sheets, saran wrap, anything that you even think might be plastic). Instamorph can and will stick itself to any plastic material especially when it's closer to the 140-150 degree temperature. It is much safer when it's much much cooler. (you can find this out by touch. if it starts to resist molding, then it is probably safe to attempt an imprint, but you should test it with the smooth side of your otterbox. It will take several tries)
This is what happens when you get impatient:
3) Find a surface that is smooth (glazed surface is good).
4) Use metal equipment. Instamorph will NOT stick to metals, so using any material such as a metal spatula or a metal ruler to get hard edges. if you have a good non plastic cutting surface, you can use a knife or blade to cut it for corners and use your fingers to give it an edge.
5) find a curved edge (again non plastic) that you can mold the initial part of the plastic to get a rough shape.
6) You will constantly place the plastic back into the pot to make it soft again if you're doing alot of changes and shaping. You get on average 2 minutes of molding until it gets too hard to mess with.
1 hour later (dinner):
Ok, now that I am back from dinner:
Today I focused on creating the rough shape of the dock. I'm starting from the part that cradles the phone.
First of all, I set my stove on low. I am at 140 degrees Fahrenheit. When you boil the pellets, this is when you pull it out:
Use tongs or something to take out the mass. If you think you're a badass and want to do it with your bare hands, you are most certainly welcome to do so. Here's another look of it when it's pulled out:
I then use the backing piece as a reference. I treated this mass like play-do. I rolled it and then spread it out on the counter surface. Here I force it into a larger mass that is about 3/4 cm thick.
I waited for the mass to cool down to a semiwhite color before I take a spatula to press down on the edges to get a flat boundary. This is what it looks like when it cools down completely:
Note that you see a notch on the bottom right. This is because when you open up the silicone port for the micro USB, it is a small flap. I use this as a reference piece so that I can create a gap for the flap to slide in so it goes straight into the slot without damaging anything.
The next part is to create the side guides to help you glide the phone in when you lock it down.The first part that I worked on is the right side of the cradle which is the bottom part of the phone. Here i created a long rectangle piece. I then use the edge of my kitchen counter (which is rounded, almost circular) to create a preliminary curve. I then measured the general area of it to how high it would guide the phone.
Originally I was planning to have it go all the way up to the end of the phone but I decided it was a bad idea and cut the side down to about halfway to allow me to grab it from the top half.
Now I worked on the left side (top of the phone). Here I noticed that there is a silicone cover for the headphones, so I decided to have the guide as tall as where the silicone port is at.
Now that I have done all that, This is all extremely rough work. Once I assemble the pieces that does not have the Micro USB port, I'll be sanding them down and smoothing it out so it looks better. Here's the general look of how it will be fitted in for now.
First of all this is only the part that the back of the phone will be sliding down. I am planning to create the bottom part that will house the Micro USB cable and the back piece that will hold the backing upright as the back base.
END OF DAY 1.
I will update on a later time. I am on set from 5:30am to 5:30pm so I might have time to work on the next step, but right now I might update this thread next week depending on how much time I have. I am currently juggling an internship, class, film production, post production, and moving to a new apartment (has to be done by the end of this month) so I might not update for a while. Hopefully I can work on it soon.
Small Update: 04/05/11:
After having an extremely hard time molding the material with a spatula and the kitchen counter, I finally caved in and bought a set of clay sculpting tool. (Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SVRSRY ). I'm waiting for it to come in the mail.
Another update to this is that I switched my method for creating the dock. I decided to start from the bottom first. I created the base for the dock by creating the first layer, this is where the general layout of where the microUSB cable will be laying on. Then I worked on creating smaller pieces that fit around the first base that sculpts itself around the cable. I'll be posting some pictures sometime later when I have more time.
April 26 2011:
I should've updated this a long time ago, but my internship has finally come to an end so I had enough time to give an update.
First thing I did was make use of the tool set that I received via Amazon from the above mentioned link:
Now with the use of these tools, I start to put the dock in parts and layers.
The first thing I did was create parts of the first layer, combined them into one piece, then finally heat them in the water pot just long enough to get a small amount of the whole surface moldable without damaging the core structure.
From that I create the next layer which is the top layer:
note here that the top piece (with the weird looking hole in it is made to accommodate the silicone flap that covers the port that comes with the otterbox case.
the last piece hasn't been change too much because I'm still trying to decide if I should have a backing piece for the phone or have a "well" that holds the phone just from the bottom.
the layers will be secured through 4 small metal bolts (the ones that you get from Ikea furniture that feature adjustable shelves [the small metal bolt thingies that you can remove and adjust.])
Another thing to note with this is that when using the pottery tools, you can easily dip the tips in the hot water for 5-10 seconds to heat it up and allow custom targeted molding at parts you specifically want.
Here are some more pics of the parts as I molded them.
5/27/11
So for the past few days I've been tweaking with the design and finding methods to give it a more defined look. While I was at Ikea, I came across these handle pieces that were meant for a particular furniture. They had 90degree angles, metal, straight. So I bought that and use it as a partial mold when I shaped the edges. After working about 6 hours over the course of 2 days, I have come pretty close to what I want before I finish it with sanding and a way to put it together.
Here are the pics of what I have ended up with so far. I still need to sand it, and also figure out a way to combine the pieces without encasing the cable permanently.
Here are the two pieces separated:
This is the bottom piece on where the connector pointed upwards
This is the bottom with the cable in it
This is what the pieces will look when put together (assuming that I can find out a way to combine them together [non permanently])
This is the dock with my phone in it (notice the rubber bands. It's only a temporary measure to keep it together). And It's charging! that means the connection is secure!
This is the side view from the right side
This is the side view from the left side
top view of the dock
From this point, I'd like to ask your help and suggestions as to how I can put the two pieces together to so that if anything happens, I can open it up and replace the cable again. I'm also considering the opportunity if in the far future when I happen to replace my Desire Z I can always remold the piece without doing extensive damage to the cable if it happens to survive.
My next steps are as follows:
Add a piece in the back to support the weight of the phone.
Sand and prep the surface to make it smooth.
Create a method to hold the 2 pieces together
potentially spray paint it to a specific color
Any suggestions would be great since this is my first ever project that is building a custom material.
Thanks!
5/29/11 - 99.90% completed!!!!!
After spending roughly 6 hours on it, I have managed to finish the dock!!!
The first thing I did was to drill 5 holes into the dock to place the metal pin. I started by drilling with a 1/16 drill bit as a guide. and finally followed up with a 3/16 drill bit. I drilled from the bottom piece with the 2 pieces together but stopped part of the way through the top piece because it was unnecessary to drill all the way through. This is for the metal pins to place in between the pieces.
After that I worked on just the top piece and drilled just deep enough for the pin to fit in flush.
Went back to the bottom piece to cover up the holes by using the plastic pieces that got pulled up as I drill to fill in the bottom hole and using the rounded end of one of the clay sculpting tools to jam pack it back down to the bottom to ensure a strong fit.
I then combine the 2 pieces together to see the fit. I noticed that I failed to account for the notch between the pin so I went back to the hot pot and heated up the inside surface of the bottom piece and placed the metal pins in and pushed it in so the notch sinks below the surface (with the help of a hammer [and no, don't go "HULK SMASH" on it, just tap it lightly]).
From that point, I tweaked the fit with the cable inside of it and by looking through the gap, I either added or removed plastic parts so that it finally closes completely.
After that is all done, I started with a 60 grit sand paper (with a hand sanding tool) and worked on ALL the surfaces and sanded until I got 99% of the surfaces rough
I then go back and refit the metal pins to make sure that the pieces still fit and see if I need to make tweaks (which I did since at 60grit, it takes away quite abit of plastic).
I did a little more tweaking with the plastic. Adding and removing as necessary to make it fit flush.
After all that is done, I go back and worked on all the surfaces again with a 150grit sandpaper to give it a smoother finish. and finally finished it off with a 220 grit sand paper.
A good hour and a half later of hand sanding it and sore back and arms the surface is as smooth as a 220grit sand paper can offer.
The last thing I did was reheated the hot pot to around 145 degrees Fahrenheit. I took apart the dock again and this time placed it in the hotpot for around 10 seconds. Just enough for the malleable plastic to "shrink" back into the plastic and give it a smooth finish.
After it's done, I ran the pieces through cold water to set the plastic and put the whole thing together.
Below are the pics of what I have done (again, these are thumbnails. Click on it for full size):
All the pieces completely disassembled. 5 metal pins. 2 plastic parts. Left Angle micro usb extender
Metal pins inserted into the bottom piece
Dock completely assembled
My phone on it
Plugged in!!!!
Landscape mode! (and notice that it's charging! So the cables work!)
More angles
Finally, I have one thing to ask of you guys. Should I leave the dock to look as it is or should I do something about it?
I am thinking about either spray painting it or buy a "skin" (think DecalGirl skins) and cut out the pieces to fit around it.
Tell me what you guys think and what you can think of to make it better! Thanks!
oh yeah, and I finally did something about the back piece of my otterbox when it got screwed up. I did the sandpaper treatment on it and here's what it looks like now:
Sounds interesting, looking forward to seeing your progress/results.
I'm currently in the process of ordering parts. So here's a question for everyone:
Which would be the best extension port for the dock. Standard USB, Mini USB, or Micro USB.
My plan is to mold a Micro USB male head to another adapter to give it the most commonly used female port. The idea is to plug in a cable into the dock to minimize the chance of the inner cord being damaged and moved unncessarily. (think of the docks you get off ebay that just have a male port to plug in the phone and a female port out the back end so you can plug in a cable of your choice (length, brand, etc)
Here's a poll of what your preference:
http://www.polljunkie.com/bA7AA5/Poll10601.aspx
Updated: 3/4/11
Any progress/updates?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Unfortunetly, not yet. I have to get through this month first. I need to have a first cut of my film out very soon, internship, finish moving to a new apartment and deal with classes. I will be promptly resuming this project when this month is over.
Sent from my Desire Z via XDA App
small Update. Check bolded txt in OP
Updated April 26. Bolded text in OP
Updated May 27. Bolded txt in OP
mputtr said:
From this point, I'd like to ask your help and suggestions as to how I can put the two pieces together to so that if anything happens, I can open it up and replace the cable again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not try Moulding little tabs onto one side & then a hole on the other so it kinda snaps/slides together. That way you can always reopen it at a later date
KarlosTheJackal said:
Why not try Moulding little tabs onto one side & then a hole on the other so it kinda snaps/slides together. That way you can always reopen it at a later date
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so you're saying to have one of the pieces have tabs that extends to the other piece and add a hole to kind of screw it in? Sounds like a good idea as well!
I'm a little fuzzy on the visual of it, is it possible for you to provide a visual example so I might be able to replicate it? Thanks!
Updated! 99.90% done!
does anyone have suggestions or comments on how I can improve on the dock?
The finished project looks awesome man! I think, like you said, if you added some type of black texture or skin to it that it would look fantastic and even store purchased. Great craftmanship.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App
PatrickHuey said:
The finished project looks awesome man! I think, like you said, if you added some type of black texture or skin to it that it would look fantastic and even store purchased. Great craftmanship.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah, so you think a black coloring to the dock would work? I'll test that out!
I'm also thinking of maybe taking the top piece back into work and take out more of the recess/well for the phone and maybe fashion a silicone or softer piece for the phone to rest in and might look better. (that or get a sanding head bit and sand it down till it's smooth)
Would you suggest using a skin (like a sticker type material) or just spray paint the darn thing?
as usual for those who have read any of this, I would like to get suggestions on what I can do to improve upon it.
Currently I'm also researching a method on how to activate the phone's "dock" mode. As far as my research goes, some android phones have a special magnet inside of it that reacts to polarity (one polarity for car mode and the other for home dock). I also read that potentially, HTC made a special micro usb cable that has 1 additional pit that "activates" the feature. I do not really know much of this so I'm trying to figure out how to make this happen. If someone here happens to know, and it can be something I can physically manipulate, I'll modify the dock to include the manipulation.
and again, Thanks for the praise and your suggestions!
nice work and detailed instructions are always nice. I would definitely spraypaint it black. Did you form the top and bottom parts by hand? they look a litte bumpy to me.I thought about doing this for mine and integrate it into my desk.
As for the docking mode (deskclock) i use Alarm Clock Plus. It switches into dockmode when you plug it in. I think they getting the info if its docked either from the orientation of the phone and its usb connection or the poweradapter - maybe both. Maybe its the dock im using but i did't notice some special wiring oder plug.
dieterxy said:
nice work and detailed instructions are always nice. I would definitely spraypaint it black. Did you form the top and bottom parts by hand? they look a litte bumpy to me.I thought about doing this for mine and integrate it into my desk.
As for the docking mode (deskclock) i use Alarm Clock Plus. It switches into dockmode when you plug it in. I think they getting the info if its docked either from the orientation of the phone and its usb connection or the poweradapter - maybe both. Maybe its the dock im using but i did't notice some special wiring oder plug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
everything is formed by hand mostly. the curved parts had to be done by hand, but I did take down alot of the uneven by sanding it down for a good hour and half.
I'm currently using Alarm Clock Extreme and it does not have the dock mode, which bums me out, but I'm supplementing it with Night Clock which is a really neat app. I also paired it up with Automate It by adding a kill app on unplug action so it's sorta kinda like dock mode.
do you have any suggestions as how I can make the surfaces smoother? Is there something that I can do or get to remove the bumps more effectively?
i would use some kind of metalblocks and put the dock between them but that only works before putting it all together. Or maybe just wrap the plastic around the metalblock so that its hollow.
I probably wont be doing anything like messing with metal material since I do not have the necessary equipment nor do I have the time and money to afford that.
But I'm thinking of potentially using a skin type material and spraypaint it + my own design for it.
I had some fun with the dremel tool at my schools workshop room so I was able to get the right depth and well for the phone to slid in.
I wonder if there is anything like silicone material that can be injected on top of the material so I can make an impression (safely) and so when it sets it actually is cushioned rather than placed on the hard plastic.
I'll see if I can post more pics if I deem that the extra sanding I did made any difference.
Any updates to this?
At work, I often have to sign or annotate documents. Adobe Reader will do this, but the signature is not very accurate with fat fingers. (Signnow is much better, but doesn’t work for a different reason!). I thought I’d try using a stylus, so I bought a couple of low-cost ones experimentally but they weren’t great.
1. CAPACITIVE Stylus Pen Samsung i5500 Galaxy Europa
Pretty rubbish, with flappy bit of rubber on end. Wasn’t able to press hard enough to draw, so I cut it off and afterwards it didn’t work at all! £1.98
Can't insert link (too few posts) so you'll have to cut-and-paste. Sorry!
ebay.co.uk/itm/370477728169?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
2. Black Aluminium Capacitive Drawing Stylus Pen for Draw Something Game App
Works better, though ball on end is very soft so can’t do anything accurately £3.99
ebay.co.uk/itm/120889993694?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
There are others, but many are a lot more expensive. Does anybody have any recommendations of what works well with the MT4GS?
I tried a capacitive stylus on my DesireZ aka Vision, it was basically like a pen with with a firm black rounded rubbery tip like an eraser ball
it worked but it obscured enough of the screen to make it somewhat pointless as you didn't gain any accuracy.
you might be better off trying a bluetooth mouse.
Yes, the ball on the end rather got in the way, something with a shape a bit closer to a pencil or a tapering chisel tip would be better. I'll look at a mouse too, thanks for the suggestion.
Sent from my myTouch 4G Slide using xda premium
speculatrix said:
I tried a capacitive stylus on my DesireZ aka Vision, it was basically like a pen with with a firm black rounded rubbery tip like an eraser ball
it worked but it obscured enough of the screen to make it somewhat pointless as you didn't gain any accuracy.
you might be better off trying a bluetooth mouse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As if using your finger doesn't normally obscure the screen...
There are times I'd really like a stylus, say if I'm reading an ebook. But I've tried several different brands of stylii and I'm not really impressed. All of them seemed to work worse than my finger. Often a cheap stylus' touch will cause the screen to zoom instead of scroll. I fear pressing too hard, as my wife scratched her Tab trying to avoid the trend to zoom. If I try another stylus, I'll spend the extra for a quality pen that I can demo before I buy.
Or if you can't stand any of the commercially available ones, you can always make your own!
http://lifehacker.com/5550029/diy-touch+screen-stylus-new-and-improved
I found one by accident at Big Lots one day. They had a 2 pack of Duracell screen protectors for IPads with a free stylus for $8. I wasn't expecting much from the stylus, but it's worked really well, and the pen works great on it too. It has the soft rubber tip but I haven't had any issues with it. The diameter is about the same or smaller than a pencil and it obscures a lot less than my finger. There are no markings on it, inside or out.
http://www.biglots.com/browseItem/as-advertised/8735
I might give one a go
Sent from my myTouch 4G Slide using xda premium
Any calibration available on the touch cover keyboard?
I want to use even lighter pressure to type. I am often missing the "spacebar".
Me too. As far as I know only the touchpad is configurable. (search the store for 'touch cover' if you haven't seen this app)
I feel like I am pounding on the keys for it to recognize them.
It actually requires extremely low pressure, less than most real keyboards. It feels different because nothing moves under your finger to let you know you've reached the required amount of pressure, but after typing on the touch cover for a while, going back to a physical keyboard feels like going from a keyboard back to a mechanical typewriter...
If you feel like you're having to press really hard for your typing to be recognized, either you're doing something wrong or the cover is defective. Make sure you can hear the Surface when typing (headphones help here in a noisy room); the audio feedback when you hit a key makes it clear how little is actually required for the Surface to recognize a keypress.
That said, the common problem is that the keys have to be hit somewhat precisely. No amount of pressure when your finger is just on the edge of a key will produce the result you want. Also, I find the positioning of the spacebar (more to the left than I'm used to on a laptop keyboard) to be annoying, although I'm getting used to it.
I also have noticed it being on hard surface is a much better typing experience than it being on your lap or similar.
I want ability to increase sensitivity to space bar. That's the only thin that doesn't work well when typing from lap.
I just splurged and went and purchased the type cover from Best Buy since they are now in stock and I love it! Wish I would have never gotten the touch cover. Loved it's thinness and its other purpose of being a cover but I just couldn't type fast like I thought I would be able to. I can type sooo much faster on the touch screen itself over the touch cover. On that note I have a black touch cover for sale. Lol
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
je2345 said:
I just splurged and went and purchased the type cover from Best Buy since they are now in stock and I love it! Wish I would have never gotten the touch cover. Loved it's thinness and its other purpose of being a cover but I just couldn't type fast like I thought I would be able to. I can type sooo much faster on the touch screen itself over the touch cover. On that note I have a black touch cover for sale. Lol
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the only downside on the Type Cover is when you fold it back and hold the surface the keyboard button gives you a weird feeling.
The Touch Cover is also spill-proof (Type Cover is not), easy to clean (Type Cover, like all keyboards, will probably get a bit gross over time), and 3mm thick (Type Cover is 5mm). That said, yes, if you need serious typing power, the Type Cover is the way to go... but be prepared to trade some of the advantages for it.
I'm at a little over 30 WPM on the Touch Cover. That's better than half of what I get on my desktop, but I'd still much rather write a long mail or a program on a real keyboard (although muscle memory with the meta keys works surprisingly well on the Touch Cover).
I received this case from Roocase for evaluation and wanted to share here. As you'll see, the review is not entirely positive. I asked the Roocase people if I could post in a public forum and they said "yes" without even seeing the review. To me this is a good sign of a company that cares what its customers think, and isn't afraid of negative feedback. I haven't changed the review, and while I still think that this case is probably a "don't buy" I will certainly consider Roocase the next time I'm in the market for a tablet case.
I tried to give as critical a review as possible. To me, when a product is titled “executive” it receives an additional layer of scrutiny, especially for an image-conscious businessperson whom might be a target consumer. Thus this review considers of particular importance the looks and usefulness as a business tool.
Here is an Amazon link to the case: http://amzn.to/1Vy5AGv
I received the portfolio in a nondescript cardboard box that was adequately sized to protect the case. The packaging was simple, which is a positive in my mind. I’m not a fan of big unrecyclable plastic boxes. That said, a product called “executive” should probably have a slightly more premium-looking packaging. I suggest reviewing the images, fonts, and content of the current packaging to something matching other, more modern designs.
The exterior leather is adequately solid and the stitching is tight enough to give a premium feel. The only error in the stitching is where the binding strip overlaps itself on the bottom corner at the fold. The error here is small and will probably not be a point of failure, so I’m not overly concerned. The interior stitching left something to be desired. On the inside left, the card slots and pockets have a little too much give, leaving a “pouch” look. Probably useful if one plans to keep a lot of papers in there, but it doesn’t look great when empty. The stitching around the inner tablet was not perfect, but that’s just being nitpicky.
The zipper is tight but the zipper handles are annoyingly large and there is absolutely no reason to use a double-ended zipper since they both need to be completely retracted to open the case. The handles have a small point on both sides of the base that causes the zipper to catch; every second or third time I used them they got momentarily stuck. That said, they feel solid; I’m not concerned that they will break any time soon. Another annoyance is that the zippers hang out even when completely retracted; holding the case against your stomach you end up with the zipper sticking into you (this would be solved by using a single-ended zipper, BTW). Finally, when completely closed the zippers sort of clatter together, not a big deal, but annoying. Besides these points, the zipper looks and feels good and did not have any problem closing the case, even when filled with materials.
The Roocase logo is attractive and nicely embossed in a good place on the cover. I appreciate that you understated the logo and hope you (and everyone else!) will continue to do so. I would not have had a problem with a second logo in the same place on the back, or an embossed logo on the interior.
The pockets on the inside left are adequate, though I personally do not think I’d use them much. They are too small to fit a standard sheet of paper (though this is the size of the tablet, not the case). The credit card/business card holders are of an appropriate depth and held tight to even a single card. The windowed pocket is similarly good, though I don’t see myself using it for anything. It might make sense to have more specific pockets, such as for a particular size of notebook. For me, I’d probably forgo the pockets altogether, or make a single pocket in which a (smaller) notepad could be hung horizontally.
The sides and spine are a perfect combination of rigid and thick and work well for both protecting the device and preventing objects held in the case from impacting on the screen. The overall feel in the hand is satisfying, though, considering the weight of the tablet is so low, it might be nicer to have a little less weight in the case.
The interior tablet holder is, unfortunately, where this case fails. There are several problems. First, the enclosure looks and feels cheap, both with and without the tablet. I personally hate tablet cases that cover the bezel; on the tab s 10.5, one of the more important gestures (swipe in from the right) is actually hindered by the case, which is unacceptable. The interior case should have used the hard plastic/metal corner compression style. As it is, the interior case looks and feels like strapping a bit of cardboard with some loose plastic on the front to an expensive tablet. The Velcro slipped under the bottom of the tablet causes a slight lift, bulging the bottom end of the tablet out. This means that when placed flat on a surface the bottom middle pushed up just enough that the whole thing wobbles when touched, even when using the small integrated lifting mechanism.
The faux leather hangs loosely around the screen no matter how tightly I pushed the Velcro attachment. The exterior case may be leather, but the inner case is clearly not. Pressing buttons on the tablet on the top and side is hindered, though this is a relatively minor nuisance. The port for the charger cable is accessible, but the 3.5mm headset jack is close; my best headphones have a square-ish connector that can’t be turned while the case is on. Both front and back cameras are fine, as is the light sensor. The fingerprint sensor, home button, and two capacitive buttons are fine, but the bezel-covering looks the worst here, sticking up from the screen. The case I received is slightly different than the one pictured on Amazon; they've (smartly) removed the strip of leather above the home/capacitive buttons.
The hand strap is tight and nicely recessed; the material touching the back of my hand was OK but should have been better; if I’m going to hold this thing with a hand strap for any amount of time the material should be a bit less abrasive. The small lifting mechanism on the back is also a nice touch, it worked well and gave the tablet a small lift when placed flat on a table. That said, I’d never use this case alone, and the rest of the case is intended to prop the tablet up already, so I don’t see when I’d be using this. The small lift also is placed just behind the button attachment (discussed below) so that it cannot be comfortably extended or replaced while buttoned in the case. This might actually have been a useful mode for the case; I briefly used it like this and found that it held the top of the case open fine, and provided some top-down privacy on the screen. I think certain business users might have actually liked such a feature.
Beside the bezel-covering faux leather, the single worst feature of this case is the button clasp that attaches the inner case to the outer. When the inner case is placed flat on a surface, the button always touches first, though not excessively. When attaching to the outer case, the button must be pressed very hard; this required placing pressure on the middle of the screen. I did not enjoy doing this. I assume the tablet can handle it, but I won’t be doing it again for fear of damaging the screen or the electronics.
When attached in the full case, the case works well in both landscape and portrait. While more options for angles are always nice, I think the angle you get is pretty good. I found it odd that, when used, the logo is on the table; I don’t like logos, but I’d think Roocase might!
The pen/stylus was a nice though unnecessary addition. It works about as well as most styli, and feels acceptable in the hand, if a little small. The tip feels very cheap. I did notice that it has both black and blue ink pens, but unfortunately you can’t tell which until you start writing. A perfectly good free add-on; nobody is buying this case for the pen/stylus.
The outer case is solid and I’d be confident that my tablet would survive a significant fall so long as the zippers were closed. However, if the zippers were open or if only using the inner case I’m sure that even a small fall would result in disaster. The bezel-covering inner case doesn’t even cover the lower corners of the tablet, which hangs out just enough to be the first thing that would impact in a fall. It becomes difficult, with this description, to even call the inner case a “case.”
In summary, the case looks nice from the outside, though the zippers are a bit annoying. The outer case is sturdy, tough, and would provide exceptional protection from both falls and pressure applied to the exterior. The interior pockets are fine, but I don’t see them being particularly useful given the application and size. Using the tablet propped up was stable in both tablet and portrait orientation, and the angle of the screen was good. The inner case feels cheap, particularly the loosely-fitting bezel-covering faux leather, which made an expensive tablet look cheap and negatively affected both my ability to use swipe gestures on the screen and the 3.5mm audio connector, and caused the tablet to wobble when placed without the outer case on a flat surface. The button clasp is also unacceptable, as connecting it required putting pressure in the middle of the screen. Both of these things would need to be corrected for me to be able to recommend this case to anyone. As it is, I am unlikely to use this case, which is a shame, considering that from the outside it is very nice looking and clearly would provide a lot of protection.
Nice Review, I too got the same Case and haven't done a review yet, as I wanted to get to know it a little and use it as much as possible. I have to say I like the product a lil more than you describe. Somethings I totally agree on. Such as the inner case covering the bezel. A little less would be adequate, But I do notice its soo tight on the tablet, it pulls it one direction causing the left side of the screen to become covered up. I remove it from the outer shell a lot to utilize the hand grip while I'm at work, which I use it to pull up blueprints and what not, so I love that feature.
Gotta say you put more detail in a review than most people. Good job.
Ordering: Expensive. For something so expensive, the procedure was an incredible PITA. On the PC, my logo wouldn't go through because of copyright violation. I looked at forums, rotate the image, changed formats, you name it. I even called store support, but it was a no go. I somehow managed to slide an order through using a phone browser, but I was unable to do it again because, you guessed it, it violated copyrights. A little google search showed me that this issue wasn't just me
Shipping: this took about 5 days to get to Miami.
Review: This case comes in the nicest box I ever had for a case. I had phones that came in a less impressive box. The case came in exactly as I ordered it. It looks super impressive from all sides. The feel is of premium plastic and it feels elastic enough to survive a fall without cracking.
After applying it on the phone, the cuts are, as you'd expect from a Google case, perfect. The headphone jack and USB are partially covered and it gives enough space to insert all sorta eBay irregular shaped ugly accessories. Power, volume and fingerprint are easily accessible and the front edges are a hair over the screen, so the screen is safe on a flat surface. It adds almost no bulk at all.
The case added feature, the extra button at the back, is a big disappointment. You have to apply some serious pressure in order to make it work. Like really holding the sides and pressing. There are forums with some DIY solutions, but I don't feel that a $40 case should need any DIY.
Overall, this is a super slim, unique looking case. I'm not sure how well this will survive a fall, nor am I happy with its added functionality that feels rushed out. Recommended for unique slim case. Not recommended for any other reason