Database Users

DIY scratch protection

I noticed the first scratch on the corner of my Jam today. Since electronics always take the most abuse on the corners, I devised a quick and easy way to protect the corners of my Jam while I'm in Europe for the next 3 weeks. Take electrical tape or clear satin tape and place a piece over the corners. Works best if you cut a slit in the tape so you can fold it around the corner without wrinkles. In all probability the device will land on its corners if dropped or take the most abuse on the corners if scraped against something. Thus, problem solved; I did it to my digital camera too. It doesn't look half bad on either device, and if you can't stand the black corners, just use clear tape. Any tape works as long as the adhesive won't stick to the advice after you remove the tape.

damn that's dead sexy :lol:

Damn! Why didn't I think of that????
Why don't you run the tape all the way round? I think it will look somewhat better!... :wink:

I'm sorry, but that has to be the stupidest looking thing I've seen in a long time. Why don't you just get a silicon case for about $10 off of EBAY? I mean, if you REALLY need electrical tape and that's all you can find...great. But just get a cheap latex or silicon case such as the ones from JavoEdge.com.
Do you put electrical tape on the front and rear bumper of your car too?

GHETTOOOOOOO

Just curious, what specifically do you expect to happen in Europe over the next three weeks that would necessitate such a precaution when you don't prepare against similar risks at home :wink: ?

hehehehe... Good point JPreston!!! :lol:

I don't get it! People seem to get very upset when they discover they scratched the ball mirror on the back of their JAM. Now we have a JAM covered in electrical tape. Should we all carry our devices in the original box? Or better yet never use them to keep them in pristine condition? I am not saying I didn't get a little ticked off when I found a nice big scratch in the corner after a small drop but come on! I think we're all getting a bit too precious. Anyway, to each their own.
Of far more concern is the gunk that gets on the screen from my face every time I hold the JAM to my head! I mean yuck! What the heck is up with that? Is there that much oil on my face??? I just washed it! I gave my phone to my friend the other day to make a call and his face left some sort of super oil on the screen that wouldn't scrub off for several minutes! Its gross and embarassing! I think we need some sort of face oil protector!

Does anybody have any idea for cheap screen protection? I think the prices are outrageous for the slices of film sold as protectors.

I use the cheapest of them all...
They are made for Palm devices and are sold on flea markets or "One Dollar" stores... :lol:
They cost $1 dollar the 12 Pack!
Just cut them to size and go!

scratch? i've droped my mini 2 times and got 3 dent edges. damn sad. The stupid casing they gave me is getting pretty loose. I put it on my belt.... so everytime i knock it seems that pouch just flings out. The screw and the plastic seems to have worn off.
I think i'm gonna go to a skinning shop to hide the dent edges.

try to buy a leather case for Nokia 7610. it fits.
You dont use that in the box lether case. It will easily fall of that tiny hook.
Wit the lether case of Nokia, it is mounted sideway into the belt by a leather that is sewed.
mine has never fallen. Even if it falls off the belt when you undress, the leather case is so stiff that it will not dent the mini.

@Emil...
Can you post a picture of your JAM in the Nokia case for us to see?

vmirage said:
scratch? i've droped my mini 2 times and got 3 dent edges. damn sad. The stupid casing they gave me is getting pretty loose. I put it on my belt.... so everytime i knock it seems that pouch just flings out. The screw and the plastic seems to have worn off.
I think i'm gonna go to a skinning shop to hide the dent edges.
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Dropped mine on a concrete floor from about 1.5 meters and got a really ugly dent on one of the corners of the battery cover. The cover wouldn't even go back on!
Easy fixed though. Just took a plastic pen and pushed the dent out from the inside. It still shows a slight dent and small scratches if you look closely, but what the heck...

Anyone know of any metallic paint (model, SKU, UPC code) that I could use on my JAM? I rarely put on my seatbelt, and the one time that I decide to play safe, I scratch up the corner of my JAM. I'd never go "ghetto" as one person put it in the thread, but I'm sure there's something out there to match it up. Any ideas?

Get the jam off of your belt and put it in a proper car holder and you will not only protect it from getting scratches from your seatbelt, you will also get it charged while driving. And also one less reason not to wear a seatbelt that could save your life in the case of an accident.

Incidentally, can anyone recommend a decent car kit for the JAM? I want one I can mount with some amount of ease somewhere on the console... I don't like those ones that stick on the windscreen.

elyl said:
Incidentally, can anyone recommend a decent car kit for the JAM? I want one I can mount with some amount of ease somewhere on the console... I don't like those ones that stick on the windscreen.
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www.brodit.com

Just don't order it from Expansys as all their product descriptions for Brodit are messed up. Does anyone know where else to buy Brodit because I still need the mounting clip for my car (Expansys kept sending the wrong one). Can you buy from them (Brodit) directly?
Thanks.

Perfect case or not?

I finally did it. I canged the default Ameo case and made it perfect. Somewhere i the forum I saw somebody make a mount for the car. I did not like that very much. To much hassle. So I wanted a mount with which the case could still be on my Ameo. The Ameo ad the case would be place on the mount and a power cable would complete it.
What do you need!
1) Buy a Brodit Pro Clip for your car so you won't damage your car.
2) Buy a HR Richter Swivel mount. This makes it possible to turn the pda towards yur face. Mount it on the ProClip.
3) Buy a HR Richter Magnet Mount. Connect this on the swivel mount.
Now you have a magnetic mount that looks like te picture with name magnet.jpg.
4) Buy a mini usb cable. I bought a Veripart Car Charger mini-USB.
5) Now comes the tricky part. Cut te leather and the top plastic layer from the inside of the case (the pda is infront of it so you won't see it).
6) Put some textile tape at te borders of the thin metal plate and put some construction kit on it. Choose a glue that will glue metal to plastic.
7) Slide the metal plate inside the opening with the facing to you. Slide it to the bottom part and now slide it infront of the hard plastic at the front.
8) Close the opening you made needly with some glue. (use a simple universal glue)
9) Now put some pressure on the case so the metal will be glued to te case. After 24 hours it will be finished.
The result is picture case.jpg which shows the metal plate behind te leather.
The Ameo in my car is shown on picture pda.jpg

Now I have seen a better case. The Pielframe X7500 case.
http://www.pielframa.net/pielframa_productos.asp?id=1795
This case is the best so far, and yes it has a window so you can use the phone plugin finally. I have contacted Pielframe with a request to add a metal plate in it on request. We will see what the say.

Belt clip?
Hi.
It seems to have no belt clip. Possibly we could ask to have it as an option.
Mauro

hahahahahahha. I would love to see that. An Athena attached to someones hip. Personally I thought that the Universal was too big to put on your hip, but I guess everyone has their preference.l

I would love a belt clip for the PielFrama case. I hope they do provide it as an option.
The phone would look great hanging on my Armani (LOL) pants. ;-)

neptune said:
hahahahahahha. I would love to see that. An Athena attached to someones hip. Personally I thought that the Universal was too big to put on your hip, but I guess everyone has their preference.l
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At the rate of increasing obesity around the world I wouldn't be suprised if the hip sizes catch up with the PDA sizes very soon.

2 minute lanyard tape hack - drop protection

Something I always liked about my Kaiser was having a lanyard attached to it. I did this after dropping it a couple of times due to it slipping out of my hand.
As the HD2 is even more slippery in my fingers and probably more likely to shatter or break on dropping, I was disappointed that there was no lanyard hole.
I contemplated drilling a hole in battery cover but didn't have a drill. So I've duct taped a lanyard onto the back, a la the attached pic.
First I lay the lanyard ring on the back and threaded duct tape through it, locking the lanyard ring to the phone. Then I layered a bit more duct tape on top to give it some strength.
It may look a bit messy and I could have done it neater. At the end of the day it will (hopefully) stop me dropping and breaking a £500 phone which I'm happy about. It's also surprisingly strong and will give an indication before it eventually gives way. Takes about 2 minutes.
Edit: Ugly duct tape method replaced by neater black tape version.
Edit2: Video howto added: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL3owsWT3E4
Disclaimer: If you try this and end up dropping your HD2 anyway, I accept no responsibility!

That could be the worst monstrosity to a HD2 Ive ever seen.

Haha, you may be right. But I don't have a mobile phone to look pretty, I have it to use it and rely on it to be working when I need it, not broken into 100 pieces on the floor.

Here's a neater black tape version. Not sure it will be as strong as the first though.

Biffy said:
Here's a neater black tape version. Not sure it will be as strong as the first though.
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looks sooo fragile , also u should try take it to a gravire-er if u dont have a drill and make a hole suitable

Job done no messing!
I can't understand why HC didnt add a lanyard bar and at the end of the day your solution will work and probably save your phone one day.
Nice graduated background on your photo and good image quality, what camera did you use?

It's the Panasonic FT1. A little waterproof compact.
Combining duct tape as the first layer and then black tape over for neatness is the best solution so far.
I've also considered super gluing the lanyard into the 3.5mm jack, but know I'd regret doing it straight after!

well, you guys aint the first to do this.
i invented a similar design a few weeks ago, mine used a 1" belt, meaning it can be strapped to your waist any time you like, safe as houses and pretty cool aesthetically

Final version
After a bit of testing, this is the final method I will use.
Some folded black tape under the battery cover. The battery cover adds extra strength to the tape and it looks so much neater than the Duct tape.

to be honest, that is just ugly. sorry.

I also missed such a whole for it, as I also did that with my Kaiser.
Now I sticked to a Silicon/Plastic Combi Case

why dont you get a jelly case or something like that and you can make hole in it. tape will hold fora few days only

I'm going to get a case as well I think. But the tape solution outlined which is partly under the battery case will last a lot longer than a few days.
The tape should only be under any pressure if you're about to drop your HD2, which won't be that often and then the weight isn't that great.

I think it's a great idea, and the 'under battery cover' mod (V 1.3? ) looks fine. I'm going to try copying it so I can clip it to my handbag, but with fishing line for the loop.

Mariad said:
I think it's a great idea, and the 'under battery cover' mod (V 1.3? ) looks fine. I'm going to try copying it so I can clip it to my handbag, but with fishing line for the loop.
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Yeah, I agree. The third version looks nice and clean! The only question is: What did you attach the tape to? To the cover itself? Because I wonder how much strength it requires to pull off the cover and if that wouldn't happen if the device falls...
EDIT: I love how you labeled this a "hack"!

I attached the tape to the plastic under the cover, where the sim card is. I'll put a quick video together to illustrate.
I left it hanging by the lanyard last night, for about 7 hours, 7 feet in the air, no probs. It's not intended to be pulled as hard as a regular lanyard loop may be, but for a precaution if the phone slips from your hands. And then it will be fine.

And here's the not very good howto video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL3owsWT3E4

I dont mean to jinx you or anything, but the piece of string from the lanyard could easily split the single layer of duct tape where it's folded.. that's going to be where the weak point is....especially considering the weight of the HD2. It's not going to matter how many pieces of tape you've got under the batter cover.
Now if you were to have your HD2 on a desk or in your pocket, the temptation of grabbing it by the lanyard will be there... or if someone else decided to yank the lanyard.....
I'd suggest trying that method of attachment on something of a similar weight and shaking it around for a bit to see how the duct tape handles.
Remember... the HD2 screen is thin glass... One drop on a hard surface or if it lands at the wrong angle, it'll be time to order a new one!

I've tested it by pulling far more strongly on the lanyard than it ever would be subjected to in real use. I was able to pull it hard about 20 times before the tape started to give way. By then it was visibly starting to tear away, so you should have a good warning before it breaks. It will perfectly suit my needs anyway and I might try doubling the tape up for more strength next. Also, I think this could be improved by using even stronger tape.

Very good on the last release.
Great idea, man.
I'm going to try, but I've only two left hands....
Pink strap should be nice too ;-)

Fuze owners: Recommendations for car mount?

I'm shopping for a new car mount. I want something with a suction cup that sticks to the windshield or dash - not looking for a vent or cup mount.
I've been looking around at several models, but most of them seem to fit poorly for a Fuze - sides covering volume/PTT buttons & back covering the rear speaker.
I use my Fuze as a GPS device in landscape mode. I'd like a holder that doesn't cover any hardware buttons or the rear speaker. I also use a case once in awhile but not always - so the width should be adjustable.

I have the suction cup mounted type and did not like it.. they seem to wobble/vibrate more than the vent mount ones.. also car theifs will break into you car if they see thesuction mount thing on your dash, as they assume whatever goes on it is still in the car... jsut a warning.. you locat people to not use that type in the Milwaukee area... if you do decide to get the vent mount... Target sells one at the stores for $15 that works well... quick release button and all that... decent quality too (not cheap feeling like some are)

Thank you for your response, you bring up some important things to consider.
I have tried vent clips, but in my vehicle the weight of the phone causes the screen to point downwards.
My wife bought me a universal holder, which the vendor said is compatible with the Fuze. It mounts to the windshield, has a long gooseneck and the holder barely fits the fuze w/o a case. It blocks the rear speaker and the sides cover the volume/PTT buttons.
One nice thing it came with was a disc the size of the suction cup, with some very thick sticky tape on the bottom. While the disc isn't really pretty, it allows me to mount on the dash or even the console - avoiding the conspicuous windshield attention grabber.
I would just like a good, adjustable holder that doesn't cover buttons or the rear speaker.

ProClipUSA
Try http://www.proclipusa.com/
You buy the clip in two parts: vehicle mount and device holder.
I have one and because it fits so well, I never used the double-sided tape that comes with it. Whenever I change devices, I purchase a new device holder.
These are far more secure than a suction cup and all the years I've used these, they never fell off.
I don't have a need for it, but they also have an extension mount so you can mount 2 devices. Really great concept if you have the need.
Although these may cost a little more, they are definitely worth the price.

pischk said:
Try http://www.proclipusa.com/
I have one and because it fits so well, I never used the double-sided tape that comes with it. Whenever I change devices, I purchase a new device holder.
These are far more secure than a suction cup and all the years I've used these, they never fell off.
Although these may cost a little more, they are definitely worth the price.
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Seconded! I've used the Brodit Proclip for over a year now and had no issues at all.

Thanks for the suggestion!
Thanks, you guys made me take a second look at this vendor.
Would you guys trust the holder to hold the phone if it was mounted for landscape viewing?

eudaemonic said:
TWould you guys trust the holder to hold the phone if it was mounted for landscape viewing?
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Yes, no problem.

Simple way to make phone bracket in car

Just thought i would run this by everyone, if you like great, if not thats okay too.
I have a ford F-150, what i did was purchase one of the flexible clear black cases that wraps around the back of the fascinate, there is no face to this type of case. I think it was about 12 or 14 dollars in the verizon store.Iam sure you can order them online for less money. This type of flexible case has a lip that runs around the perimeter of the case which keeps it nice and snug around the phone. Take the case and cut the top portion off using scissores or and exacto knife just below the volume rocker and power button. Then go to your local hardware store, craft store, and buy the rubbery adhesive strips that can be used over and over to adhere items together. They are sort of softer rubbery,flexible strips about the size of chewing gum, they cost about 2 dollars. Take a portion of one of the adhesive , ball it up and place the balled up rubber strip on the back of the case and press it anywhere on your dash that works. You dont have to worry about permanent brackets,mounting on window,screws,vacuum, etc and if you want to remove it you just pull it off, no residue, no fuss , no muss. very clean, inexpensive and easy.

Cool Idea, some pictures of it in your truck along with links to the products used would be nice

Thats cool man, but amazon sells the docks for less than ~30.00. Unless your into making you own stuff I personally would get the pre-fab oem sammy dock.