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High Tech Crap have once again surpassed themselves with the Wizard.
My stylus is held in by sticky tape and the paint flakes off, however even worse my good friend Alex's died a few days ago of its own accord. He thought maybe it had just run out of batteries so he plugged the charger in and within seconds it got so hot that it burned him and melted all the internal stickers off. god knows what would have happened if he'd left it.
Just a warning. Sounds like a lawsuit to me
Your issues seem atypical--I've been reading through this forum for a few months now and haven't come across a single one where somebody said their Wizard blew up/melted/what have you. Sorry you're having problems, but isn't that what a warranty is for?
Doubt the paint and stylus are covered by warranty, certainly not the paint as they know its just an issue full stop and would be replacing each and every unit constantly.
I disagree with your assessment. See here.
Well when your house burns down, don't say I didn't warn you
Doubt the paint and stylus are covered by warranty, certainly not the paint as they know its just an issue full stop and would be replacing each and every unit constantly.
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They should do. You'd think for the price these things would be built to the highest standard. They MUST know these things are issues when they start producing these. Either that or they did NO product testing. I don't understand how it passes EC quality control.
If you bought a car and the paint fell off you'd expect it sorting out. I bet the paint won't flake off the Sony Ericssion p990.
If each of us here wrote to HTC/Trading Standards/our service providers we could get a brand new handset each.
In fact, if I start a petition on here that just requires name and email address, and sent it to HTC, threatening to send it to trading standards, how many people do you think would sign it if it meant a free device for each of us?
Because TBH, I'm pretty sick of spending hundereds of pounds on HTC junk only to have it fall apart after 2 months EVERY TIME, not to mention the software issues. In fact, I'm pretty sure they're required by law to replace things like that.
mike freegan said:
Because TBH, I'm pretty sick of spending hundereds of pounds on HTC junk only to have it fall apart after 2 months EVERY TIME, not to mention the software issues. In fact, I'm pretty sure they're required by law to replace things like that.
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I am really sorry to hear about your issues. However, you must understand that the K-JAM is nowhere near the Casio E-200 as far as quality is concerned. I went through 3 E-200's and the product line was so bad, Casio eventually pulled it off the market and not soon later exited the PPC market altogether.
I am on many forums and have heard relatively few complaint other than the standard stylus-loose issue and maybe just a complaint here and there that the paint on the blue "E" for internet explorer came off. Considering that the Wizard comes from Imate, T-Mobile, 02, DoPod, etc it seems relatively few people have the same issues as you mention. Personally, I beleive either you treat your device harshly or you got one from a bad production batch. I have had my K-JAM for 8 months already, and aside from the stylus being loose nothing else is wrong with the device.
If you are that dissapointed, get on the phone with support and demand that you want a replacement unit. Tell them exactly what you complained about here that you didn't expect such an expensive device to peel and chip. See how that goes.
Please read properly.
My device is fine. I was talking about my friend's device. I assure you, I take excellent care of mine.
My point was that there should be safety mechanisms to prevent things getting so hot to the point that they melt and pose a fire risk, no matter how badly you treat it (which he didn't).
The only faults on mine are the loose stylus and the flaky paint -both known problems. My point is that for £400 you shouldn't have to put up with either. I mean, if you buy a cheap, low quality phone for £20 I bet the paint wouldn't flake off, so why do HTC who charge so extortionally for what should be quality products be forgiven for cutting corners and selling shoddy hardware?
Also, it's only because of the gurus on here like Vijay and Buzz that our devices work at all. We shouldn't have to rely on these guys working volentarily to try and patch up the bugs left in by HTC/Microsoft. It's not even like the odd bug; EVERY SINGLE ROM is full of serious errors that HTC know are there and affect even basic functions. I am grateful to buzz/vijay, but it sholdn't be their job to do it. They don't get paid to do it. For the price we pay, you should expect maybe the odd bug, but not some of the ridiculous and obvious errors that HTC sell these devices knowing about (talking more about the BlueAngel/Universal really, but alot of people report Wizard bugs too)
Also, saying a device by another manufacturer is worse does not justify making a sub-quality product. If the paint flaked off you car, I wouldn't try and defend it by saying that the wheels fell off mine so you should be happy. That's ridiculous. you paid alot of money for a product which you should expect a certain quality from.
I think if just a few hundered of us petitioned, threatening to involve trading standards, it might just give HTC a kick up the arse, show them that we won't just put up with this stuff because they can't be bothered fixing it and get them to put a little more effort into ensuring the hardware and software quality of their next device.
Viva la revolution
Sleuth255 said:
I disagree with your assessment. See here.
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That maybe so but it doesnt change the fact that the paint flakes off.
What would the conversation to support go like ?
Consumer " Hi I bought a device from you and the paint is flaking off. "
Support " Yes but the device will survive should it be dropped in water "
Consumer " Really ? "
Support " Yes. "
Consumer " I didnt realise. Sorry to have troubled you. "
:roll:
right.... I guess I deserved that....
I'm actually wondering if HTC actually makes all the various cases for these devices. Or, do they sell the basic insides as an OEM provider and the end seller provides the rest. This wouldn't apply to Qtek devices of course as these probably would be completely produced by HTC.
Case in point: I'm not aware of paint peeling or loose stylus issues on the 8125. Perhaps somebody can correct me here.
now this is funny!!! I have not had any problems with the phone yet. But i would sign if anyone started it. I will stand by my boys in arms hehehehe
but i do think there is a diffrence between a car and phone, that the phone takes alot from being in a pocket or something ( how about we all put car paint on our phones) and a car is made to withstand rain and so fore. But i do think that it should be abit better for the price.
mike freegan said:
Please read properly.
Also, saying a device by another manufacturer is worse does not justify making a sub-quality product. If the paint flaked off you car, I wouldn't try and defend it by saying that the wheels fell off mine so you should be happy. That's ridiculous. you paid alot of money for a product which you should expect a certain quality from.
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I seem to remember the old Citroen BX's cost a lot of money in their day and the paint flaked off... people still bought them though.... and they still worked... not to mention the fact the wheel could fall off and it would work too :lol:
seriously though. i agree that the paint flaking is a bit of an issue, and the stylus not seating properly is poor design. I do think however that fighting via a petition for them to replace our devices with equally as faulty devices is a waste of time. Example for this is my friend and I both have owend smart roadsters. they both slightly leaked as with nearly all cabriolets, but he moaned and demanded they fix it (i didnt!)... it went in for the supposed leak fix and came back worse than before and he had to reject the car (upsetting himself at the same time because he really loved that car for what it was). I just dont quite see why i would want to cut my own nose to spite my face right now
Cry me a river, this is what is known as the bleeding edge.
Look what you are holding in your hand, its a miniature PC with bluetooth, wifi, a phone with gprs/edge, a PDA with a full keyboard. This is an incredibly elegant device. Yes my stylus falls out but when I took it apart I was totaly impressed by the elegance of the design, flawed maybe but not the china crap I've seen. Also understand how the supply chain works. HTC contracts out with flex or foxcon or whomever which actually manufacture these, most all electronic mfg do this. So as a mfg you are dependent on the quality of your sub, yes you can and do police them but with a mobile workforce you are going to get quality issues. It's just the way the world works and as was said, that's what the warrenty is for unless of course you flashed a new rom or opened the case and voided it, then tough luck.
Well, I would agree with thompsd. I mean, HP and others have phones that work much stable, better and the paint doesn't flake off. So, why don't you just go ahead and buy yourself an HP Phone? I'm not sure about your reason, but I just can't affort an HP, and I don't really like the bulky HP (though their recent device looks promising, not sure about the price).
Hey, consider the HTC company is like.. how old? Oh man, give them some slack. I think they are pretty good in putting in so many things into such a small unit and if they aren't that good with their paint job, so be it. However, having said that, I'm still expecting them to be getting much better soon, inside out. Go ahead with your petition thing and good luck.
BTW, how does the 'easily scratched' iPod case ended?
Anyway, as for the fire thing, it is not an HTC issue only. The invincible Apple had laptop camp fire here and the mighty Dell had their contribution on the conference.
My advise is, don't leave any electronic stuff left unattented.
@ JNGold
First of all sorry for deviating from the true subject of this thread.
I am glad that you are happy with the build quality of your wizard. Since you have been using your device for 8 months I would like to know if the keyboard sliding mechanism is showing any signs of wear / looseness. I am interested in this because previously I owned the i-mate pda2k (HTC magician) and over few months of use the keyboard became quite loose to the point that it would slide open by its own weight if held vertically.
I am now considering going for the HTC TyTn once this is out. My only apprehension is the quality of the slide mechanism and your comments would be really helpful.
Thanks and Regards
Why do you repeat buy HTC if you're having such issues with their devices?
My point is, if HTC can do such an excellent job (and it is excellent) of getting so much technology into such a small space, and charge so much for their devices, why not just spend the extra 5 minutes to make sure the paint doesn't flake off? I don't understand why they think they can sell something which is faulty.
It's a device designed to be mobile and carried in a pocket (hence pocket pc/windows mobile). For £400 you are entitled to expect that the paint will be to a reasonable quality like EVERY other phone on the market.
I have just noticed that every HTC device has a whole host of small flaws that could be avoided so easily and at no extra cost, if they just thought about what they were doing. My friend has programmed for Windows Mobile and he tells me that they know its full of bugs and clashing scripts because of a lack of cummunication between departments, but they just release the software anyway, where an extra couple of days resolving the clashes between each application would solve the problem.
I mean, someone's worked really hard making all the hardware fit in the case which is the difficult part, but then not bothered designing or testing the stylus issue, something which is obviously gunna suffer from wear and tear.
I don't want a replacement device, but I just think that if we scare HTC/our service providers a bit with threats of trading standards, and show that alot of us are interested then it might make them spend the extra couple of weeks testing their next device and making sure it works well before they sell it.
I mean, the Sony Ericsson P990 does everything the wizard does, and more, but I bet they made sure the paint doesn't fall off and the stylus stays in. high functionality does not have to mean low quality.
Err... Can't speak for the p990 but the p800 I had suffered from peeling paint and stylus issues as well (cracking styluses, styluses that fell off) as well as a notorious keyboard design that actually worked until you put it in your pocket and broke the two tiny tabs that held the top of the keyboard away from the screen. So Sony-Ericsson isn't the acme of product perfection you hold them to be.
The only peeling paint I have had with my wizard has been the qtek label on the bottom. Which to me was no great loss.
To me the biggest issue with this phone has always been the software. Which honestly has improved dramatically since the 1.x firmware days.
I knew going in that the wizard had the potential to be a disaster of a phone hey lets see, an innovative package and feature set and new software from Microsoft is quite the triple threat for product mayhem but 9 months into it I have little to complain about.
That may all change tomorrow when the phone decides to self-whimilate or some such thing. but for now I'm content.
I originally purchased the Galaxy Note around 1.5 months ago on a £27 GBP per month 24-month contract from 3 (including 500 minutes, 5000 texts and unlimited data) with the purpose of it saving me the costs of two devices. So far, it has proved more than capable as serving as both a tablet and phone, but I want to try and extend that. After spending a few ill days using solely the Note, I've found I'm able to complete almost all my regular PC tasks that I would carry out on my laptop on my Note instead.
Thanks to Polaris Office, which comes pre-installed on the phone, I can even do the majority of my school homework on my device with reminders set on S Memo and S Planner. S Note helps me organise recipes for my passion for cooking, whilst Nova launcher allows me to have several slots on my dock bar coupled with a default ICS look for a tablet-like experience. The sites which I visit frequently, such as YouTube and Facebook, all have adequate enough apps and Thumb Keyboard makes typing on the Note (be it landscape or portrait) a breeze. So, fading out my laptop usage seems like the natural thing to do in my mind.
However, before I am able to do that I have a few things I need to sort out first and I have taken the liberty to write them out below with the hope that someone hear can help me with one or more of these issues I face.
Firstly, the Galaxy Note only delivers around 4/5 hours of screen time, which isn't awful but an improvement is always welcome. So, I am looking for a larger battery, but I still need to fit my phone into a case so I don't want one which increases the size of my device. Any recommendations that aren't ridiculously priced as I don't have an awful lot of money with £27 out of £40 allowance going towards this phone?
Next, I am looking for a case for my Note which both protects the back of the device and the camera, which I have heard to be prone to scratches, plus the screen. So, a flip-case seems most appropriate. I love the styling of the Zenus one found here, but it is rather expensive. So, does anyone know of some cheaper alternatives with a similar styling? I want one with a kickstand so I can view movies from my bedside cabinet or set it up to play some games using a gaming pad.
Unfortunately, as with every device, severely heavy usage does mean you have to charge at least once a day. Unfortunately, the charger which came with my phone does not reach from a mains plug to a chair in my living room or bedroom. So, could anyone recommend a longer wire approximately four metres in length for a decent price?
I also have a few questions regarding the software of the Galaxy Note. My phone suffers from the brick-bug thanks to accepting an upgrade before checking online, which was in hindsight a little foolish, and also the deep sleep bug. The brick bug should, hopefully, receive a fix from Samsung. But, if this comes in the form of an update, will it not wipe data and trigger the bug or shall this update be safe? As for the deep sleep bug, what can I do to try to trigger my phone into deep sleep? I already get around 15 hours of light use on my phone, which is still better than any other smartphone I have (admittedly just an old HTC Desire and Samsung Wave), but as I said all improvements are welcome. Any ideas?
OnLive allows you to pull of full HD gaming with the likes of Homefront available on the service to play on your mobile. I want to know how connecting the "Universal Wireless Controller" works? Is it compatible with ICS?
Finally, I am looking for some app recommendations. Open to all suggestions.
EDIT 1: I am also looking for a 32GB Micro-SD/SD card (whichever one the Galaxy Note takes) for the cheapest price available. I have heard of some 64GB cards working too, but unless they are for a reasonable price I am uninterested. Any suggestions for a cheap card for storing some media on? I am also looking for PC software to rip my DVDs to place them onto my SD card. I have loads of television show box-sets that have 20 minute long episodes just perfect for a bus trip, for example.
EDIT 2: So, upon some reading, I've heard lots of people saying how a screen protector is a must. I certainly didn't think so, but I trust the people on here to not steer me wrong. The issue I have with many screen protectors is that they add a weird texture for touching and also are absolutely a nightmare to get on. Anyone know of a screen protector which doesn't impair the comfort of touching and using the S-Pen on the screen?
Brad387 said:
I originally purchased the Galaxy Note around 1.5 months ago on a £27 GBP per month 24-month contract from 3 (including 500 minutes, 5000 texts and unlimited data) with the purpose of it saving me the costs of two devices. So far, it has proved more than capable as serving as both a tablet and phone, but I want to try and extend that. After spending a few ill days using solely the Note, I've found I'm able to complete almost all my regular PC tasks that I would carry out on my laptop on my Note instead.
Thanks to Polaris Office, which comes pre-installed on the phone, I can even do the majority of my school homework on my device with reminders set on S Memo and S Planner. S Note helps me organise recipes for my passion for cooking, whilst Nova launcher allows me to have several slots on my dock bar coupled with a default ICS look for a tablet-like experience. The sites which I visit frequently, such as YouTube and Facebook, all have adequate enough apps and Thumb Keyboard makes typing on the Note (be it landscape or portrait) a breeze. So, fading out my laptop usage seems like the natural thing to do in my mind.
However, before I am able to do that I have a few things I need to sort out first and I have taken the liberty to write them out below with the hope that someone hear can help me with one or more of these issues I face.
Firstly, the Galaxy Note only delivers around 4/5 hours of screen time, which isn't awful but an improvement is always welcome. So, I am looking for a larger battery, but I still need to fit my phone into a case so I don't want one which increases the size of my device. Any recommendations that aren't ridiculously priced as I don't have an awful lot of money with £27 out of £40 allowance going towards this phone?
Next, I am looking for a case for my Note which both protects the back of the device and the camera, which I have heard to be prone to scratches, plus the screen. So, a flip-case seems most appropriate. I love the styling of the Zenus one found here, but it is rather expensive. So, does anyone know of some cheaper alternatives with a similar styling? I want one with a kickstand so I can view movies from my bedside cabinet or set it up to play some games using a gaming pad.
Unfortunately, as with every device, severely heavy usage does mean you have to charge at least once a day. Unfortunately, the charger which came with my phone does not reach from a mains plug to a chair in my living room or bedroom. So, could anyone recommend a longer wire approximately four metres in length for a decent price?
I also have a few questions regarding the software of the Galaxy Note. My phone suffers from the brick-bug thanks to accepting an upgrade before checking online, which was in hindsight a little foolish, and also the deep sleep bug. The brick bug should, hopefully, receive a fix from Samsung. But, if this comes in the form of an update, will it not wipe data and trigger the bug or shall this update be safe? As for the deep sleep bug, what can I do to try to trigger my phone into deep sleep? I already get around 15 hours of light use on my phone, which is still better than any other smartphone I have (admittedly just an old HTC Desire and Samsung Wave), but as I said all improvements are welcome. Any ideas?
OnLive allows you to pull of full HD gaming with the likes of Homefront available on the service to play on your mobile. I want to know how connecting the "Universal Wireless Controller" works? Is it compatible with ICS?
Finally, I am looking for some app recommendations. Open to all suggestions.
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Click to collapse
Brad, you put a lot into this post. I'm not able to comment on all of it, but good luck in your pursuit of a single device.
I cannot offer an alternative to Zenus, but can attest to the quality of their cases. If you go their route, you won't be disappointed.
As far as cables, I'd suggest checking out Cables-To-Go. They have tons available online.
And lastly, there are a lot of app recommendation threads out there... but for your purpose I might suggest "Papyrus". It is a very slick note taking application with some nice features.
Good luck!
The On live universal controller works. Used it on stock gingebread. Never tried on ice cream sandwich.
I find the blackberry charger works well. Its pretty long.
I suggest you head to the market and get the longest (branded) charger you can find.
Does anyone know whether the Note requires more power to charge the Note like the iPad needs a more powerful charger and cannot use the iPhone 4's charger.
Thanks.
I have a charging doc with slot to charge an extra battery. Bought the dock with two batteries for less than $20 on Ebay. The batteries are not the quality of the original but still are serviceable. I have since ordered two OEM batteries still in the blister packs (also on Ebay cellphone dealer for $7.00 ea.) just because the price was good.
I'm never without my Note anytime I'm awake.
I am also looking for a 32GB Micro-SD/SD card (whichever one the Galaxy Note takes) for the cheapest price available. I have heard of some 64GB cards working too, but unless they are for a reasonable price I am uninterested. Any suggestions for a cheap card for storing some media on? I am also looking for PC software to rip my DVDs to place them onto my SD card. I have loads of television show box-sets that have 20 minute long episodes just perfect for a bus trip, for example.
CorruptedSanity said:
I find the blackberry charger works well. Its pretty long.
I suggest you head to the market and get the longest (branded) charger you can find.
Does anyone know whether the Note requires more power to charge the Note like the iPad needs a more powerful charger and cannot use the iPhone 4's charger.
Thanks.
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Click to collapse
Well, thanks, but I don't own a Blackberry charger as Blackberry devices have never ever appealed to me.
stiffi2011 said:
The On live universal controller works. Used it on stock gingebread. Never tried on ice cream sandwich.
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Well, I am using the stock ICS. But, still...thanks. I am sure someone here might found that information useful.
CGI_Ram said:
Brad, you put a lot into this post. I'm not able to comment on all of it, but good luck in your pursuit of a single device.
I cannot offer an alternative to Zenus, but can attest to the quality of their cases. If you go their route, you won't be disappointed.
As far as cables, I'd suggest checking out Cables-To-Go. They have tons available online.
And lastly, there are a lot of app recommendation threads out there... but for your purpose I might suggest "Papyrus". It is a very slick note taking application with some nice features.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure the Zenus cases are of a sufficient quality, but they are around £40 GBP which is just ridiculous for a case in my opinion. I am looking for a similar styled one, but cheaper.
So, upon some reading, I've heard lots of people saying how a screen protector is a must. I certainly didn't think so, but I trust the people on here to not steer me wrong. The issue I have with many screen protectors is that they add a weird texture for touching and also are absolutely a nightmare to get on. Anyone know of a screen protector which doesn't impair the comfort of touching and using the S-Pen on the screen?
All i can say is dont go for the really cheap screen protectors, as you get what you pay for, But on the other hand, dont get ripped off and pay a fortune either !
Have a read through this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1332004&page=27
People have reviewed their protectors so you might find one thats just right for you.
Good ones wont affect the S-Pen, But if they do, there are a few screen tuner apps on the market to adjust the sensitivity.
a protector is a must for me ! No matter how tough the gorilla glass is, Its not un-scratch able, just scratch resistant.
azzledazzle said:
All i can say is dont go for the really cheap screen protectors, as you get what you pay for, But on the other hand, dont get ripped off and pay a fortune either !
Have a read through this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1332004&page=27
People have reviewed their protectors so you might find one thats just right for you.
Good ones wont affect the S-Pen, But if they do, there are a few screen tuner apps on the market to adjust the sensitivity.
a protector is a must for me ! No matter how tough the gorilla glass is, Its not un-scratch able, just scratch resistant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for such a quick reply and I am reading through that thread right now. I am looking for a screen protector which does not effect the S-Pen nor ruin the quality of the image of the screen. Anti-glare for greater outdoor visibility would also be nice. I've heard of anti-fingerprint too, which again would be nice. What screen protector are using might I ask?
theres a whole range of cases available for the Note, I personally like the wallet cases, as it saves me some room in my pocket
theres a case thread in the accessory section too, Have a look through there, It all depends what you are looking for !
TPU, Leather, Plastic, Carbon faker * I mean fibre*
Wallet, flip, hard shell......... you can see where im going with this right ?
azzledazzle said:
theres a whole range of cases available for the Note, I personally like the wallet cases, as it saves me some room in my pocket
theres a case thread in the accessory section too, Have a look through there, It all depends what you are looking for !
TPU, Leather, Plastic, Carbon faker * I mean fibre*
Wallet, flip, hard shell......... you can see where im going with this right ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also looking for an SD card, big as possible for as cheap as possible, and also a solution to the sleep bug I have where my phone won't deep sleep.
Im gonna let you in to a little secret here Not many people know about it but if you go here, Magic Place Full of Info
you can find out a whole array of things.
azzledazzle said:
Im gonna let you in to a little secret here Not many people know about it but if you go here, Magic Place Full of Info
you can find out a whole array of things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.play.com/Mobiles/Mobile/...urce=0&searchtype=allproducts&urlrefer=search
What do you think about this SD card? Think it'd do the job okay?
yeah I only use a class 4 SD card also, Ive had it for ages and it does the job so i kept it.
However, the higher the class, the faster the read/write speeds are, If that isnt an issue then go for that one as its reasonably priced.
I'd avoid ebay unless you find a well known ebayer as there are a lot of scams about, People selling 32gb class 10 cards that turn out to be 8gb class 2 or something lol
keep your wits about ya
Good post Brad....I've always searched for the single 'converged' device and the Note has pretty much done the trick.
Apps like Evernote especially and Springpad are great catch all apps allowing cloud storage, organization, and easy access of ALL of your data and documents...checked Em out.
Some big (work) sites tho, so just aren't displayed well on the note compared to my lap top so have to use it sometimes, and that's about the only downside.
rockky said:
Good post Brad....I've always searched for the single 'converged' device and the Note has pretty much done the trick.
Apps like Evernote especially and Springpad are great catch all apps allowing cloud storage, organization, and easy access of ALL of your data and documents...checked Em out.
Some big (work) sites tho, so just aren't displayed well on the note compared to my lap top so have to use it sometimes, and that's about the only downside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, frankly, I spend most of my internet time on a small selection of sites. Facebook, YouTube and many more all have mobile apps/versions of their site.
I am looking for...
a good screen protector which doesn't ruin the screen or S-Pen
a charging cable around 4 metres in length
a case which offers protection to the camera, back and front/screen
Hi all,
Been a while since I posted in these forums! I think my last check in was around the time of the HTC Titan.
Anyhow, I recently I have been designing cases for high end tablets. I just finished work on the Samsung Ativ700t. Check it out.
Demo and making of.
http://youtu.be/-QlsQIz71KU
Now that I'm finished with the Ativ I'm looking for the next best high end tablet to work on. I was thinking that the Helix may be a good fit.
The Surface Pro seems like it would be fun but MS seems to have things pretty well covered already with their kickstand and keyboard cover.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Isaiah Coberly
Routb3d said:
Hi all,
Been a while since I posted in these forums! I think my last check in was around the time of the HTC Titan.
Anyhow, I recently I have been designing cases for high end tablets. I just finished work on the Samsung Ativ700t. Check it out.
Demo and making of.
http://youtu.be/-QlsQIz71KU
Now that I'm finished with the Ativ I'm looking for the next best high end tablet to work on. I was thinking that the Helix may be a good fit.
The Surface Pro seems like it would be fun but MS seems to have things pretty well covered already with their kickstand and keyboard cover.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Isaiah Coberly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, what about a 500t one? There is a lot more demand for the 500t tablet than the 700t.
Appreciate the video for the fabrication process.
Looks like Batman armor. You should stick in a bat insignia (and hope DC Comics won't sue). Suggest Batman-style "musculature" styling accents. Glow accents? (http://thatscoolwire.com) Right now it looks...utilitarian. No sizzle. For high-end toys, you want some panache. A little je ne sais quoi.
The handstrap in the back looks useful and you should use it as the leading pitch, since most cases don't have the feature. As a logical progression, suggest enhancing strap with a 360 pivot--although it would be wasted on Windows tabs, since Win8 Metro is still functionally limited to landscape. Which segues to another question: Why Windows tablets, which has about zero market share? Why not popular Android tablets? Adjustable retention tabs?
Frankly, the origami folds look way too complicated to use, and can't be locked in place for optimal touch use, ie if you press on the screen, the whole thing bounces up and down like a bad shock absorber. Apple's tri-fold is the simplest and best. That allows two incline angles (for viewing & typing), which is all you need. You can allow said tri-fold in both landscape & portrait orientations, ie a tic-tac-toe pattern.
>Yes, what about a 500t one?
With a $129 price, OP is right in sticking to high-end toys. I think he can simplify the design and reduce a substantial part of the labor. But for higher volume (for lower margin), he'd need to go to a mass production process anyway.
e.mote said:
Appreciate the video for the fabrication process.
Looks like Batman armor. You should stick in a bat insignia (and hope DC Comics won't sue). Suggest Batman-style "musculature" styling accents. Glow accents? (http://thatscoolwire.com) Right now it looks...utilitarian. No sizzle. For high-end toys, you want some panache. A little je ne sais quoi.
The handstrap in the back looks useful and you should use it as the leading pitch, since most cases don't have the feature. As a logical progression, suggest enhancing strap with a 360 pivot--although it would be wasted on Windows tabs, since Win8 Metro is still functionally limited to landscape. Which segues to another question: Why Windows tablets, which has about zero market share? Why not popular Android tablets? Adjustable retention tabs?
Frankly, the origami folds look way too complicated to use, and can't be locked in place for optimal touch use, ie if you press on the screen, the whole thing bounces up and down like a bad shock absorber. Apple's tri-fold is the simplest and best. That allows two incline angles (for viewing & typing), which is all you need. You can allow said tri-fold in both landscape & portrait orientations, ie a tic-tac-toe pattern.
>Yes, what about a 500t one?
With a $129 price, OP is right in sticking to high-end toys. I think he can simplify the design and reduce a substantial part of the labor. But for higher volume (for lower margin), he'd need to go to a mass production process anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yours is the best reaction I think I've ever gotten from one of my videos! I woke up, Read your review and subsequently woke my girlfriend up Giggling at the thought of the Batcase. Seriously though, "Batman, if you're really out there, I want to make your case!". You know he wouldn't be caught dead with an iPad!
As for the rest of the suggestions and comments.
Hand Strap
There are other cases that have the hand strap. You are the third to suggest a swiveling hand strap. I'll look into it and see if I can find a way to Swivel the hand strap without increasing the thickness of the case too much. Too much is any more than .07".
The Price
The Ativ family of tablets taught me something about price. I initially offered the case for both the 500T and the 700T at $99. I had way more interest for the 500T but way more orders for the 700T. I Think of it like this, If someone were to offer me one of the two tablets for free, I would certainly take the 700t. That said, the people who bought the 500T most likely settled. It's that same decision making that prevents the majority of them from justifying a case that is X11 more expensive than the cheapest case they can get. Not every tablet has a bigger brother to separate out the price conscious shoppers so I'm greatful for having accidentally stumbled into the Ativ family. Though my product has the potential to be much more widely adopted, I am fine with the idea that I can continue making small quantities of hand made cases For a fair and sustainable price. With limited time and resources, it's imperative that I find tablet users that recognize the value in what I do. The very tablet that my potential customers buy tells me something about their decision making. I will never hand make a case for a product that someone has most likely settled for.
Origami Folds
The cover automatically folds into the stand. A child can do this. There's a removably attached Teather that activates this folding mechanism. The auto fold is one of the surprising features of the case. When people see the case in action for the first time They experience some rare form of the Bewilderment that is particularly stronger when they see it in person.. Because it delights people, The case is a lot of fun for show and tell. It is really commonly stated from users that they are giving demos in public places to perfect strangers and loving Or loathing the attention.
The stand has a very minimal amount of spring even before the live hinges are broken-in and is a sturdy enough stand that you would literally destroy the case before it would collapse/bend into an unusable viewing angle.
I couldn't agree less about the trifold being the best or better solution. The trifold is a design that fails to adapt and requires way more energy and attention to actually set up. If you can open a book cover and set something down you can use my case. The structure of the case will naturally adapt whether you're setting it down on a table, a knee, a pile of laundry or an un-even surface of any kind. I have literally had Amputees writing me and telling me that they love my case because they don't need a second hand to use it.
Thanks! And great reply!
Isaiah Coberly
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
I've dropped mine from waist height twice now and had it fall in the crevices of my car seats. No screen protector, phone is still mint.
Sent from my D5803
HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjDE8z-_bHU&noredirect=1
http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/193035-galaxy-s3-cracked-screen-defective-not-dropped.html
http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-ii/132590-galaxy-s2-cracked-screen-normal.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1257090
http://bobmckay.com/life/case-samsung-galaxy-s4-screen-crack
http://support.t-mobile.com/thread/38170?tstart=0
Never buy another smartphone then since they all "have screens break for no reason".
Statistically the chance that yours will crack spontaneously is still very very small. These communities are really very misleading in trying to get a global image of how common a problem is. As I mentioned in another topic, if you were to walk into a hosptal, and make your conclusion about the human species purely based on what you saw in the hospital, you would conclude humans are very sick and crippled species. But once you leave the hospital, you see only healthy people everywhere you look.
My suggestion (also what I am planning on doing)... Wait until after November 3rd, for everyone to get their American Z3 Compact. check this forum a week after to see if the topics about the screen sporadically cracking jump substantially in activity.
If not, I will order by 11.10.14.
HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true and do not believe everything you hear and read about this subject. The handling of these machines have to be prudent. If you drop a laptop on the floor for sure nonitor breaks.right.
dropped mine once
been a month approx. no crack nothing. im pretty careful tho..most of the time.
also, no case.
Just a suggestion, can everyone with such issues (or worry, like here) post in one of the dozen threads that already exist on that topic?
Guess that would help to keep the forum somewhat cleaner, thus more readable...
Our forum is a bit "undermoderated"
I'd say the chance of getting a spontaneous crack is about 1:1000 or even less. That would assume 0.1% of phones have the issue. That a far less chance than you going to prison this year (1:200) so I'd say don't worry about it.
HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@HellzHere
Hi Hellz
Sorry but I've got a z3 compact and simply can't recommend it. That's a lot to like about it on paper but after mine experienced a modest fall onto carpet, which resulted in the back of the case cracking, I don't want others to suffer the upset that I have. The design is flawed IMO. The choice of materials are inappropriate for typical everyday usage.
Most of the high end xperias seem to use glass front and back . To me, this is insane. It creates a nice aesthetic but is significantly at the cost of practicality. The z3 compact doesn't use dragontail or gorilla glass... or at least Sony do not specify the materials used on their website beyond "tempered glass".
My previous phone was an HTC desire (yes the original one) and this has been dropped on occasion, onto pavements, etc, and one occasion in a carpark (for no other reason than it slipped out of my hand during use). I did not use a case with it and the worst that happened was a crack across one corner of the screen.
There is no way that the z3 compact could tolerate similar drops or falls. I do not consider myself to be careless with stuff but this new phone is a pain in the butt. For example, It WILL slip off surfaces, due to the low friction / high gloss nature of the handset.
If you are determined to get one, you MUST get a case for it.
I waited two years before a handset came on the market with the specifications that I was looking for. I am utterly gutted that mine is now broken, after only having it for a fortnight and it only being subjected to a very modest level of external stress. I did not even drop the phone - it slipped off a surface.
Then there is the issue of self-cracking. This is reasonably well documented and doesn't just apply to the z3 and z3 compact. Sony would have us believe that this only occurs in a small number of cases. I don't think it's common-place but it's happened to enough people for Sony to quietly repair stuff for free, under certain circumstances. Admittedly, Sony only really started doing this after two high profile UK consumer rights organisations / programmes got involved in the matter (watchdog and Which). The impression I get (from anecdotal evidence) is Sony does it grudgingly.
All I'll say is have a look at this xda-dev survey thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/sony-xperia-z3-z3-compact-glass-survey-t2900149
What I found interesting is that out of the 439 surveys, 26% reported back of case cracks, compared to 18% of the front screen.
However, of that 26%, over two thirds reported NO impact cracking i.e. there seems to be vastly more people who've experienced self-cracking than drop or fall damage.
Reviews also comment on the phone heating up A LOT during some forms of usage i.e. a possible reason for self-cracking.
Finally, from my personal experience, the camera sounds good on paper but underperforms. Some images look great yet I got pixellation on 20mb images in high light level conditions. I wasn't impressed. I also struggled to get the flash to illuminate a short distance, low light situation properly as well. More annoyingly, my friend had a galaxy S4 and her flash was virtually blindingly bright in the same situation. Then there's the issue about losing camera performance if you decide to root (apparently some of the low light level camera algorithms are DRM protected and the DRM keys get wiped when you root).
I just wouldn't go for a sony handset again - the phone design simply can't handle real-world stresses.
Just to be fair though, the screen's pretty good (in terms of brightness - you really can use it at minimal levels inside, which I'm sure helps massively with battery drain - I'm not commenting on resolution / PPI). I've found the battery performance to be simply great (probably the best feature for me). However, I'm realistic about usage (i.e. I don't have GPS, wireless and data on unless I need it, I typically pop phone into airplane mode overnight, etc - for me the biggest drains on batteries come from the display and the cellular radio). I got 4 days out of it, with approximately 40 mins worth of charging (because of wired syncing with my desktop). Admittedly for the last 30% of battery I put it onto stamina mode. Note this wasn't high level usage, just phonecalls, texts, some browsing, twitter, some facebook / youtube... but definitely not constant, screen-active usage.
The CPU's pretty strong too. Transitions between homescreens is super slick. I've not had slow down at any point. I haven't tried playing games with it though, beyond low-graphically taxing apps. Not too much bloatware and you can disable certainly some of it. Charging is good on it. I've got copilot as my satnav on it and a 1A car charger still produced a net positive charge rate (even though the sony charger is 1.5A). Charging from empty to full, with phone switched off is around 2.5 hours.
I hope this helps you a bit.
Cheers,
Gary
gazzawazza said:
@HellzHere
Hi Hellz
Sorry but I've got a z3 compact and simply can't recommend it. That's a lot to like about it on paper but after mine experienced a modest fall onto carpet, which resulted in the back of the case cracking, I don't want others to suffer the upset that I have. The design is flawed IMO. The choice of materials are inappropriate for typical everyday usage.
Most of the high end xperias seem to use glass front and back . To me, this is insane. It creates a nice aesthetic but is significantly at the cost of practicality. The z3 compact doesn't use dragontail or gorilla glass... or at least Sony do not specify the materials used on their website beyond "tempered glass".
My previous phone was an HTC desire (yes the original one) and this has been dropped on occasion, onto pavements, etc, and one occasion in a carpark (for no other reason than it slipped out of my hand during use). I did not use a case with it and the worst that happened was a crack across one corner of the screen.
There is no way that the z3 compact could tolerate similar drops or falls. I do not consider myself to be careless with stuff but this new phone is a pain in the butt. For example, It WILL slip off surfaces, due to the low friction / high gloss nature of the handset.
If you are determined to get one, you MUST get a case for it.
I waited two years before a handset came on the market with the specifications that I was looking for. I am utterly gutted that mine is now broken, after only having it for a fortnight and it only being subjected to a very modest level of external stress. I did not even drop the phone - it slipped off a surface.
Then there is the issue of self-cracking. This is reasonably well documented and doesn't just apply to the z3 and z3 compact. Sony would have us believe that this only occurs in a small number of cases. I don't think it's common-place but it's happened to enough people for Sony to quietly repair stuff for free, under certain circumstances. Admittedly, Sony only really started doing this after two high profile UK consumer rights organisations / programmes got involved in the matter (watchdog and Which). The impression I get (from anecdotal evidence) is Sony does it grudgingly.
All I'll say is have a look at this xda-dev survey thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/sony-xperia-z3-z3-compact-glass-survey-t2900149
What I found interesting is that out of the 439 surveys, 26% reported back of case cracks, compared to 18% of the front screen.
However, of that 26%, over two thirds reported NO impact cracking i.e. there seems to be vastly more people who've experienced self-cracking than drop or fall damage.
Reviews also comment on the phone heating up A LOT during some forms of usage i.e. a possible reason for self-cracking.
Finally, from my personal experience, the camera sounds good on paper but underperforms. Some images look great yet I got pixellation on 20mb images in high light level conditions. I wasn't impressed. I also struggled to get the flash to illuminate a short distance, low light situation properly as well. More annoyingly, my friend had a galaxy S4 and her flash was virtually blindingly bright in the same situation. Then there's the issue about losing camera performance if you decide to root (apparently some of the low light level camera algorithms are DRM protected and the DRM keys get wiped when you root).
I just wouldn't go for a sony handset again - the phone design simply can't handle real-world stresses.
Just to be fair though, the screen's pretty good (in terms of brightness - you really can use it at minimal levels inside, which I'm sure helps massively with battery drain - I'm not commenting on resolution / PPI). I've found the battery performance to be simply great (probably the best feature for me). However, I'm realistic about usage (i.e. I don't have GPS, wireless and data on unless I need it, I typically pop phone into airplane mode overnight, etc - for me the biggest drains on batteries come from the display and the cellular radio). I got 4 days out of it, with approximately 40 mins worth of charging (because of wired syncing with my desktop). Admittedly for the last 30% of battery I put it onto stamina mode. Note this wasn't high level usage, just phonecalls, texts, some browsing, twitter, some facebook / youtube... but definitely not constant, screen-active usage.
The CPU's pretty strong too. Transitions between homescreens is super slick. I've not had slow down at any point. I haven't tried playing games with it though, beyond low-graphically taxing apps. Not too much bloatware and you can disable certainly some of it. Charging is good on it. I've got copilot as my satnav on it and a 1A car charger still produced a net positive charge rate (even though the sony charger is 1.5A). Charging from empty to full, with phone switched off is around 2.5 hours.
I hope this helps you a bit.
Cheers,
Gary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When drawing conclusions from that survey, you should not ignore that fact that people are far more likely to post about their dissatisfaction than about their satisfaction, meaning that people who are having issues with their device are far more widely respresented on the internet than people who are not having any issues. So if, in that survey, only 17 % of participants had their front glass crack, and 27% had their back glass crack, then the real-world percentages are likely FAR lower than those in the survey and it's all because people with faulty devices are FAR more likely to find the survey than people with devices that don't have any faults.
I've had this phone for a month now and still nothing has cracked. The phone hasn't overheated either. It does feel warm at times, maybe even more than most other phones but that is because glass conducts heat to your skin much faster than plastic does.
I doubt that the design is bad; a faulty batch of glass is a much more likely explanation.
degraaff said:
When drawing conclusions from that survey, you should not ignore that fact that people are far more likely to post about their dissatisfaction than about their satisfaction, meaning that people who are having issues with their device are far more widely respresented on the internet than people who are not having any issues. So if, in that survey, only 17 % of participants had their front glass crack, and 27% had their back glass crack, then the real-world percentages are likely FAR lower than those in the survey and it's all because people with faulty devices are FAR more likely to find the survey than people with devices that don't have any faults.
I've had this phone for a month now and still nothing has cracked. The phone hasn't overheated either. It does feel warm at times, maybe even more than most other phones but that is because glass conducts heat to your skin much faster than plastic does.
I doubt that the design is bad; a faulty batch of glass is a much more likely explanation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response @degraaff
Regarding the survey - I get your point but the survey responses did surprise me with the number of users NOT reporting problems. I felt that made the survey far more realistic that, say, typical forum posts, where complaints and problems are more likely to be documented than positive experiences .
My personal experience regarding heat is that the phone has been pretty cool for the vast majority of the time but did experience some noticeable localised heat last night, for no apparent reason - phone had powered up but I had no additional elements active (i.e. wireless, GPS, data, etc, weren't active). I'd expect a relationship between component activity and heat generated. Also, it was noticeable because I'd not noticed it previously.
Regarding the design, I'm sorry but using thin glass on something that is likely to experience impact damage is bad or at very least highly unrealistic design. There's no need to use glass on the rear of a phone, certainly not for visual requirements (i.e. it's not a display). It's an aesthetics and presumably weight decision. I guess it would help radio performance (although I don't know where the antenna is). I believe metal typically attenuates radio signals, so glass would be a good alternative. I guess it comes down to how much priority one gives to the durability of a phone though.
I rang Sony about an hour ago and they gave me a ballpark figure of £40 for repairing the back. This was based on the rep's experience with the cost of replacing a Z2 rear panel. Still a very costly lesson and I think Sony or resellers need to warn customers about the benefits of case protection, given the materials used in construction. I know I'll get flak for saying this (ridiculously unrealistic) but I'd like to think that a retailer (or Sony, if they had the balls to do this) saying "for god's sake, get a protective case for this phone as it's literally made of glass" would lead to more customers respecting them. After all, Sony chose to use glass in the main panel construction. They could even charge a wee bit more and just bundle a case in with the phone. That would potentially cover them and give end-users a choice about protecting their phone from first use.
Cheers,
Gary
gazzawazza said:
It's an aesthetics and presumably weight decision. I guess it would help radio performance (although I don't know where the antenna is). I believe metal typically attenuates radio signals, so glass would be a good alternative. I guess it comes down to how much priority one gives to the durability of a phone though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sony puts an Apple-esqe priority on industrial design, so one shouldn't be surprised to see them trading ruggedness for aesthetics. Without moving the antennas to the phone body (which is encumbered by several patents), you need a non-metallic back for good RF performance. In addition to looks/feel, glass is vastly superior to plastic for it's thermal properties. It conducts heat 5 - 10 times better than most structural plastics. In a design as compact as the Z3C that is actually a significant technical advantage. That also means that users will notice short duration heat spikes (typically due to the radios having to drive RF power way up to cut through temporary interference) much more than with a plastic housed phone.
The reports of rear glass breakage do appear to be statistically significant, even after you factor in the self-selecting aspect of the survey. But this seems more like an issue with material or production quality, or perhaps insufficient design margin for CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) mismatches. My Nexus 4 with a glass back has survived two years of use and a half dozen drops with nothing more than the standard Google bumper for protection. So glass can be used effectively. It will be interesting to see if later production Z3Cs (Sony US is expected to start shipping phones next week) fare better than early production.
kopsis said:
Sony puts an Apple-esqe priority on industrial design, so one shouldn't be surprised to see them trading ruggedness for aesthetics. Without moving the antennas to the phone body (which is encumbered by several patents), you need a non-metallic back for good RF performance. In addition to looks/feel, glass is vastly superior to plastic for it's thermal properties. It conducts heat 5 - 10 times better than most structural plastics. In a design as compact as the Z3C that is actually a significant technical advantage. That also means that users will notice short duration heat spikes (typically due to the radios having to drive RF power way up to cut through temporary interference) much more than with a plastic housed phone.
The reports of rear glass breakage do appear to be statistically significant, even after you factor in the self-selecting aspect of the survey. But this seems more like an issue with material or production quality, or perhaps insufficient design margin for CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) mismatches. My Nexus 4 with a glass back has survived two years of use and a half dozen drops with nothing more than the standard Google bumper for protection. So glass can be used effectively. It will be interesting to see if later production Z3Cs (Sony US is expected to start shipping phones next week) fare better than early production.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey @kopsis
thanks for the input mate.
Just for assistance to others, my manufacture was 14w37 (might have mentioned that earlier) but just for reference.
Not sure that early production comment makes me feel better #labrat :crying: Obviously understand what you mean though.
Have to say z3 compact does feel good in the hand. Really like the way Sony have somehow made the edges (not sides) grippy without being sharp. Pretty easy to hold phone and I reckon the size is just right for one-handed use, although I do have to re-grip with hand to reach farthest corner (top left, as I'm right handed) of screen.
Out of curiosity, when you say bumper, is that just side protection or back too?
Cheers,
Gary
gazzawazza said:
the survey responses did surprise me with the number of users NOT reporting problems. I felt that made the survey far more realistic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a flawed argumentum a contrario.
gazzawazza said:
Out of curiosity, when you say bumper, is that just side protection or back too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The original N4 bumper was sides only, though the lip extended a millimeter or two beyond the glass in front and back so the glass wouldn't make contact in a low drop to a smooth flat surface. https://play.google.com/store/devices/details/Nexus_4_Bumper_Black?id=nexus_4_bumper_black&hl=en
It does beg the question, if you're going to sell a phone with glass on both sides, why not have something like this available at launch for the cautious buyers? Even the design purists at Apple made a bumper available upon release of their first front/back glass design (iPhone 4). It doesn't even have to be a great design (leave the aftermarket room to innovate) as long as it gives buyer's a usable option while waiting for something better. Hey, Sony -- PM me if you'd like me to come lead your mobile products division
Iruwen said:
That's a flawed argumentum a contrario.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is this really relevant?
I simply felt that rather than having a survey chock full of negativity, the fact that we had a strong majority of responses which DIDN'T cite problems was indicative that perhaps the survey was more rounded than one might have anticipated.
I would accept on reflection that we don't know whether the distribution of answers is a true reflection of total owners' experiences. Obviously a bigger sample would make the stats more credible.
---------- Post added at 11:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:42 PM ----------
kopsis said:
The original N4 bumper was sides only, though the lip extended a millimeter or two beyond the glass in front and back so the glass wouldn't make contact in a low drop to a smooth flat surface. https://play.google.com/store/devices/details/Nexus_4_Bumper_Black?id=nexus_4_bumper_black&hl=en
It does beg the question, if you're going to sell a phone with glass on both sides, why not have something like this available at launch for the cautious buyers? Even the design purists at Apple made a bumper available upon release of their first front/back glass design (iPhone 4). It doesn't even have to be a great design (leave the aftermarket room to innovate) as long as it gives buyer's a usable option while waiting for something better. Hey, Sony -- PM me if you'd like me to come lead your mobile products division
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed. Btw Mr VP Sony Mobile division, perhaps encourage your designers to NOT use glass too Ty very much
HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have same question... and still investigate from many Forum Post... I hope I got better answer to pick this phone or not...
worry not dear friends, apparently the guys at another thread has managed to get the people at evolutive labs to make the rhino shield crash guard bumper for the xperia z3 compact!
evolutive labs did one for iphone previously and it got so many backers/pledgers for it....hopefully we can do the same for this one..so come and join in the fun peeps! they need to get 1400 pre-orders before they can start production of this wonderful thing
(sorry you have to edit the link as i could not post url)
Rhino Shield Crash Guard Bumper for iPhone: https www kickstarter.com/projects/1081571316/rhinosheild-crash-guard-slim-impact-bumper-for-iph
PRE-ORDER HERE:
Rhino Shield Crash Guard Bumper for Z3 Compact: http www evolutivelabs.com/pages/crashguard-sony-z3-compact
Hi everyone,
As said on tittle, I'm looking for a smart watch with the following requisites:
- Android complete 4.2 or higher
- Cell phone itself (gsm/wcdma)
- IP68?
I need it for swimming/surfing/similar, due to my work, I need to be contactable (calls/email) everytime, and sometimes I go swimming/surfing.
I bought an Imacwear M7, but the people said it's not ip67 and that it will die if I use it on the sea.
Does anyone tried this? Any other smartwatch? Any other options?
I'm a little bit lost, need your opinion and/or experience
Thanks a lot
none of the standalone (phone) watches will be fully water proof, because of microphone/speaker, if ever there will be one
some of them might claim water resistance but i wouldn't wear them not in shallow water, let alone the sea
the Sony Smartwatch 2 for example, claims to be ip57, but can't survive a shower. that watch doesn't even have a microphone or speaker
might be build quality related though
Swimming and surfing plus speaker and mic? That's 1 ATM (10m/30ft) rating at a minimum. No such creature exists, yet. It is possible to do, but companies would rather sell fashion smartwatches with laughable IP ratings instead.
Send it away and have it Liquipelled. http://www.liquipel.com/
SerialKilla said:
Send it away and have it Liquipelled. http://www.liquipel.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't waste your money. Tried that on three smartwatches, as well as a fourth project smartwatch of my own. It doesn't work. The treatment wears off when it comes in contact with pretty much anything. Oil deposits in the air from cooking, your skin, cloth, sand, dirt.
airtemisa said:
Hi everyone,
As said on tittle, I'm looking for a smart watch with the following requisites:
- Android complete 4.2 or higher
- Cell phone itself (gsm/wcdma)
- IP68?
I need it for swimming/surfing/similar, due to my work, I need to be contactable (calls/email) everytime, and sometimes I go swimming/surfing.
I bought an Imacwear M7, but the people said it's not ip67 and that it will die if I use it on the sea.
Does anyone tried this? Any other smartwatch? Any other options?
I'm a little bit lost, need your opinion and/or experience
Thanks a lot
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I use Tempo Trainer Pro watch. U can find it here http://www.proswimwear.co.uk/ . It's includes a clip for dry land exercise. I am sure you will find it better then apple watch or Garmin.
I still havent found what im looking for...
Like I said before, no such creature exists. The best you can hope for is a regular smartwatch and then have somebody like me mod it to get it to a 1ATM (33ft) WR rating.
Hi lokifish Marz.... I´ve been thinking about doing that in my M7 smartwatch, but finally never tried it.
If finally doesnt appear that desired model, i will try to mod it for submersing
The M7 is like the Omate and is a serious pain to get IP67, much less anything better than that. About the only sort of easy way to get past a useless IP rating is fill the entire case with RTV silicone sealant, otherwise you are looking at a complete teardown and machine work.
I've been trying with liquid neoprene. It seals perfectly, very fluid, very good handling and also cheap!
Now I need to identify all the holes of the watch and work then properly.... It should work!
List of ingress points that need to be addressed to reach a minimum of 1 ATM water resistance needed for swimming/surfing;
Case back (requires complete redesign of seals or permanent sealing of back to case)
Case back screws and screw holes (requires complete redesign of seals or permanent sealing of screws into the case)
Buttons (requires complete redesign of button seals)
Camera (requires removal and filling of camera housing of replacement of housing glass)
Speaker (requires secondary sealing layer between speaker and outside)
Mic (requires secondary sealing layer between MIC and outside)
SIM Slot Door (requires sealing of screw holes and better gasket)
Charging contacts (requires the contact assembly in the case back be remounted and sealed using marine epoxy)
Display (requires the case be redesigned or pressure injecting sealant or marine epoxy from the backside)
Antenna ports (requires the bands be removed, the ports cleaned out. The bands then need remounting and a stiff silicone sealant be injected into the ports)
MIC and speaker secondary seal will negatively affect audio performance. This is however required as MIC and speaker damage will occur otherwise.
Display sealing issues are due to the lack of a large enough lip for the display to be mounted on to provide a proper seal
*Alternative approach (Untested)
Completely seal the display,PCB, SD Card, SIM Card, and battery in one solid block of silicone or some other water resistant material. Drawback is this seriously affects usability of the buttons, camera, MIC, and speaker. This also makes SIM, SDCard and battery swapping impossible.
(I've had over two years to think about this as well as attempt to get the TS and it's clones to pass a proper 24hr immersion test at 10m/33ft/1ATM. To date, I have not succeeded.)
Uffff.... so... you need to do a master.... its a marathon!
Thanks Lokifish... i think maybe i wont try...
i95,android 4.3,ip65,dial/answer phone call,you can know more from tinydeal.but i think Lokifish is right,no smartwatch can survive after a long time in the sea.
jack5847 said:
i think Lokifish is right,no smartwatch can survive after a long time in the sea.
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Not exactly true. If he wanted a companion smartwatch it's not the hard at all. The issue is with him wanting to be able to do that with a standalone, or otherwise known as a watchphone. That requires far more engineering. The closest he could get to any out of the box solution would be the massive Timex Ironman ONE GPS+ and all that would give him is something similar to SMS texts and that's it. The other option is a decently made standalone then seal it completely with a SIM inside. He would lose the mic and speaker function but would at least be able to send/receive texts and know who's trying to call him. Not a pretty solution but it would work.
I think i´ve got it!
Doodgee S1.
I dont link to any shop, but you can find it very easy. I´m waiting for some reviews...
airtemisa said:
I think i´ve got it!
Doodgee S1.
I dont link to any shop, but you can find it very easy. I´m waiting for some reviews...
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Again, ignore any IP67 rated. IP67 is 1m/3ft immersion with absolutely no moving allowed.
I agree with Lokifish - I don't think that animal exists. I just bought the No 1 A10 to evaluate it for workouts, including swimming...
http://www.gearbest.com/smart-watches/pp_286212.html
...and am looking at the D5 for "office wear". I have to admit that I'm more attracted to the idea of "one watch to rule them all" - but - I'm also looking at $56 for the A10 (I bought it when it was on sale) and $130 or so for the D5 (or similar) so for the total outlay it's a pretty compelling use case. I was an original Omate TrueSmart backer and was profoundly disappointed. After spending $360++ for a watch that *wasn't* waterproof I went the "dedicated exercise computer as a watch" route - in the form of the Polar V800. I had to wait another year or so for smart notifications to show up (for Android) and Polar *still* hasn't done some basic data integration with 3rd parties like MyFitnessPal and the like. That was another $500+ and it *still* doesn't collect accurate heart rate data in the water. So - there's that... and of course there's no *real* smartwatch functionality to speak of.
I had considered the Garmin fenix 3 - and the recent addition of on-device HRM is interesting - but I'm mostly a swimmer so I'm going to be using a chest-worn device if I go that route. But *if* I did that it would be another $600-800 plus the cost of their data-recording HRM strap. As it stands now - I'm done with dropping multiple C-notes onto one-off projects and half baked tech from "the big companies". I'm going to nickel-and-dime my way through and figure out a way to make it work with multiple devices (with a LOT of help from my friends at XDA). I have the Bragi Dash coming in (sometime in February at last count) which I'm hoping will give me accurate HRM/oximetry data while swimming - and I'll be working to merge that data with the stroke/SWOLF data I gather from the wrist-worn device.
Side note: One of the advantages of the dual-device theory just occurred to me - in that I *can* carry a portable battery-pack charger and have one on charge when the other is on my wrist. So there's some element of continuity/back-up, should something go sideways with one device or another. When my TrueSmart would go dead I felt pretty naked, when it worked and was relatively performant from a battery perspective.
Anyway, I think this class of device will take some time to sort out as the companies figure out what the market(s) will bear in terms of durability and cost.