Lazyboy Hutch... - HTC Rezound

I just sent the images below to my Father-in-law to tends to make stuff out of wood. He makes beautiful hutches, cabinets, hope chests, cribs, and other wood furniture pieces that he gives to family members and does it as a hobby. He makes great stuff.
My wife is always complaining that I clutter up the end table near my lazyboy with stuff... I have a TV tray like thing in front of the chair where I have a notebook most of the time so that I can be out with the family while working on my second job and having a storage area that looks like a piece of furniture would be handy.
The hutch idea would give me a place to put that stuff, and provide a central power station at the same time. I am always needing to temporarily plug something into the wall as well, and this would give me a way of doing that without diving behind the couch to get to the socket. Sometimes I need to program a router or plug in a backup drive etc... and I have a power dock now there for my phone, charge my tablet etc...
While I could work from my home office, it tends to get hot this time of year and I prefer to spend more time out with the family.
I think these things should be in stores...
What do you think??
Click for larger Image

Looks nice, and u seem to have most of it figured out, down to the power outlet. very nice.

Just found out that he is building it! Should have it sometime in late May. Will take pictures when I get it.

That's pretty awesome. They should build that into entertainment systems as well. A central plug at the bottom of it to plug into the wall then two power strips that have like 10-15 plugs. We are such power hogs.

krelvinaz said:
I just sent the images below to my Father-in-law to tends to make stuff out of wood. He makes beautiful hutches, cabinets, hope chests, cribs, and other wood furniture pieces that he gives to family members and does it as a hobby. He makes great stuff.
My wife is always complaining that I clutter up the end table near my lazyboy with stuff... I have a TV tray like thing in front of the chair where I have a notebook most of the time so that I can be out with the family while working on my second job and having a storage area that looks like a piece of furniture would be handy.
The hutch idea would give me a place to put that stuff, and provide a central power station at the same time. I am always needing to temporarily plug something into the wall as well, and this would give me a way of doing that without diving behind the couch to get to the socket. Sometimes I need to program a router or plug in a backup drive etc... and I have a power dock now there for my phone, charge my tablet etc...
While I could work from my home office, it tends to get hot this time of year and I prefer to spend more time out with the family.
I think these things should be in stores...
What do you think??
Click for larger Image
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats awesome I need one lol

I like your idea. Have a few of them made. If you can do it for a decent price, I would buy one without thinking twice.

It has arrived... Already put it to use with all my Raspberry Pi clutter...
More info:
http://rpi.tnet.com/project/hardware/hutch

Related

what we want (to manufactures)

post any accesories that you want hopefully some manufacturer will read this as as yet there is little avaiable except screen protectors so heres an idea
how about a case that protects the shift but heres the clever partwith a solar panel built in so it will charge and thus extend the battery life of this amazing machine?
any other ideas ?
spzero said:
post any accesories that you want hopefully some manufacturer will read this as as yet there is little avaiable except screen protectors so heres an idea
how about a case that protects the shift but heres the clever partwith a solar panel built in so it will charge and thus extend the battery life of this amazing machine?
any other ideas ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how about also shrinking it to size of athena and when bac in use makes it same size. would make it pocketable though
i dont know if any one is fammiliar with the company called incase...
they have great cases for iphone.. hard rubber silicon. I hope they can come out with something like that for athena....
or most phones.
My family own a plastic manufacturing company in middle east. i might have to check with them to see about manufacturing some accessories....
fatouraee said:
i dont know if any one is fammiliar with the company called incase...
they have great cases for iphone.. hard rubber silicon. I hope they can come out with something like that for athena....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or do what the rest of us Athena Owners have done, get yourself a
"Tuff as Nuts" case.. Much better build quality.
Solor panel bag
spzero said:
how about a case that protects the shift but heres the clever partwith a solar panel built in so it will charge and thus extend the battery life of this amazing machine?
any other ideas ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey about that solor panel, you may want to check out this...
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/09/voltaics-new-generator-solar-bag-can-charge-a-laptop/
WOW
n646464 said:
Hey about that solor panel, you may want to check out this...
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/09/voltaics-new-generator-solar-bag-can-charge-a-laptop/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HOW MUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First, there has got to be a slick docking station similar the one for OQO 2. Lan port, 3 usb, optical drive, vga out, PCMIA slot, and throw in a big ass battery to charge the Shift from when the onboard goes dry. Long trips you can bring the docking/charing station. A shoulder bag for this would be great as well, 7" screen isn;t going to fit in the pocket so nicely, but a minimal stylish shoulder bag could work pretty well.
Of course, accessories won't matter if nonbody buys it cause the GPS and voice are disabled Really, without GPS, voice, and the ability for both OS's to access all the storage resources you are going to have to carry a phone anyway so why would you buy this and not a cheap mini-laptop for half as much?
For in-car use
a car charger
a car cradle
case
how bout a hard case with a flat bottom and holes for vents and ports on sides so its usuable on lap, and solar panel not so much to get it 12volts id have to cover the whole screen and even then id tske hours to chage like 6 or 7 so id basically be usuless in less u sit outside in bright sun all day and dont want to see anything in less it flipped up that might work then i block sun out too to cut black glare,
a bigger internal battery
i would love..
a battery around 4000 ma even with a bigger cover.
...maybe an official upgrade of wm side, by paying the full licence but with a good implementation of qualcom grafic drivers
finaly.. if ppctechs could provide a 256 ram update , plus a micro sd slot . they can do it
I believe HTC Shift will have probably a short life cycle... As this is their first "rather mature" product of this kind. They are surveying the market, know the design flaws and specification mitakes. The next one should be now specified at 80% already.
I'm confident we will see lot of improvements on the device itself (but this is not the topic of this thread). Let's focus on accessories as this is also a weak area when comes to HTC Shift offer. From HTC, I just see the following:
- Extended Battery (for heavy user and because... this is a great margin generator. ).
- Docking Station (more USB ports, VGA output, Ethernet).
Third party manufacturers can take care of the rest (Car Craddle/Charger, Cases, ...) but they will do it only if the next product has good sales or benefits from strong HTC support. Due to short HTC SHift life cycle, I dont think HTC is pushing hard for having partners making accessories.

DIY Gamepad Hack (12.14.2009 Updated Prototype 4)

Update 12.23.09
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Link to all pics
Well after two more prototypes and a lot of hard work, I feel that Prototype 4 was the winner. I made a little more adjustment to the top where it wedges in, and of course some coloring for asthetic reasons, and I am through with this project. I have a great final piece, thank you to everyone who helped with advice along the way, and I hope my work helps others save time on their creations.
Project result: a great little gamepad that hides in my wallet until time to play some games! Buttons respond great, have the tactile feel I was looking for, and no longer slides during heavy button mashing! Not easily replicatable but worth the time.
Update 12.9.2009
Hey everyone!
Thanks for all the input! Here is the newest prototype, Prototype 4!
I still think it needs refinement, but i think I made some huge improvements!
After destroying another original housing in trial and error sanding, I have decided against waiting another month for $20 housing.
In this application you will need:
1 CD Case
1 Original Keypad (Some have one, otherwise lets think of some substitutes)
Optional:
Dremel Multitool
Paint
Clear Enamel
Link to the process
Plans for the final prototype 5:
Add quick load and save buttons
Change background to black with grey and red buttons
Try to add a Nintendo logo somewhere
Hope this helps all your efforts out there! People see this and hide their iPhone games!
Edited by wakeupkeo; 18th November 2009 at 08:58 PM:
Link to Prototype 1
OK I have frankensteined a useful gamepad hack for NES, GBA and all the rest. This hack is a DIY craft, and you can customized your version to suit you. This was only my first version after many attempts to crate a workable thumbstick hack for the G1. I actually hope this design will get repeated and improved upon, I have another set of parts on order to do this better the second time.
Hope I can explain what I did well enough to start everyone on improvements...
On to the version one hack. My big problem before was my fingers getting lost on the keyboard during emulators so much that a fast paced game was almost impossible. I tried hacking up nes and xbox controllers to creat a handle that could clip onto the phone and hit the right buttons. No dice after alot of trial and all error. Somewhere along the way after I had already cut up this piece from a white housing, I tried this. I got the idea from old school intellivision, that had interchangable slides over the buttons for each game.
So i figured out which button config I liked, (although now I would do this with eight right hand buttons instead of six) and got to work. Cut out unneeded buttons except some that would stay and get glued for stability of the keypad to the faceplate. On the faceplate, I sanded all the protrusions off, so it was credit card thin and smooth.
Next, I put glue stick glue (the blue stuff) in the underside and pressed my keypad on. this would hold the keypad on for now, and still hardedn to a slick surface and not leave glue on the actual phone.
Then, after it dried, I flipped it over and began the enamel work. I got some nail polish from the drug store, a clear, quick-drying version, and put a coat over the buttons I don't use, to hold the keypad to the faceplate for good. Next, I put thin coats on each game button and let it dry, over and over, until I had a thick bump that was strong, slick, and tactile.
Works great, but the plate as a whole does slide a little on the craziest of games, but now I can play fighting games! So on the next version, I will leave alot more plastic on the top part of the faveplate to make a more secure connection there.
Thoughts? I expect the new parts for my revised faceplate in a few weeks, so I hope to see improvements before then!
Edit: Ok, maybe just hear about some improvement thoughts? Figured this would interest someone, but I guess by the silence that I was wrong... I do plan on moving the directional buttons one over, the select and start one over, and add two more action buttons. And add more to the top part so stay in place a little better. But this version works so well right now, no mis press of buttons, no losing center of direction buttons in a quick game like Tekken and Street Fighter 2 Alpha. I figured I would get some advice for my next and last version, and since the usb host to controller coding seems impossible without technical info from quallcom, this is the best solution to the game controlling buttons I can think of, does anyone have a better idea?
This is actually a really great idea, but not feasible for most people, where do you get an extra G1 keypad?
But, if you could cut a piece of plastic or something to the size of the G1 keyboard (so it would sit snugly) you could just punch holes and/or put buttons on the spots over your selected keys.
Hmmm, I bet even something like a credit card would work.
Just cut the bottom off so it sits perfectly on the keboard, poke holes over the keys you want to press...
The hard part is figuring out how to make buttons.
Thanks for the feedback!
I think you definitely need buttons as opposed to simply holes.
There are two bolts the screen swings to. When I get my next keypad, I am planning on turning that part of the plastic piece into hooks that secure the gamepad. Should be here soon, $20 from hong Kong on ebay. I had the first spare keypad from my Stormtrooper Mod. Others might have one lying around for one reason or another, these are hackers after all.
Credit card idea is perfect, I initially carried the gamepad in the stock g1 padded case but nowadays I keep it in my wallet. Its not bigger than a credit card, and even with the securing improvements still should be smaller than than my id. Iths thin and flexible to handle the wallet no problem.
Once I finish the final version, I will diagram the exact measurements for you all to build your own out of whatever with assurance the buttons will line up!
Edit:
I found the top part that was originally cut off. Its separate but shows layout above the keypad. This is the cut I'm thinking to allow the gamepad to slide into a stationary position. Here is where I'm hoping for more advice on how to cut this just right.
kinda jumping in here. i tried doing it with a credit card, and it works amazing.
i did this for gameboid. it works amazing, actually. better than i expected. i tried it with mariokart (gba), a game where u constantly are moving your thumbs, and so far it was great... ill upload a video when im done with my lab :/
anyways. my tools were: Sharpie, swiss army knife, multiple scissors, tape, and a subway eat fresh rewards card >:]
first i fit the card onto the g1. it slides in pretty nice already, just had to cut off excess...card. marked it with a sharpie, fit to size. try not to make a mess of what you cut off, it comes back. i figured out the buttons i wanted to use. i started with the "dpad." i took the needle thing on the back of the swiss army knife and stabbed it through the card. made it big enough to start cutting. cut out to size. did this for the rest of the buttons as well. i then took the excess card stuff and started cutting out buttons that would fit. started with everything around the same size as the keyboard buttons. i put them in the wholes of the card that was cut out previous, made sure they werent touching the wall, and put a single piece of tape over the top. did that to the bottom too. then, since the dpad felt awkward, i cut one out that imitated the regular gba keyboard, and doubled it on top of the current dpad. i doubled therest of the buttons as well, to have them pop out a bit. put a single piece of tape over the top, none on the bottom. just used some tape to help it stay on the g1, not much is needed, its pretty snug.
as you can see, it isnt great looking, but it works really well
I've always been curious about making use of the mini usb drive the g1 has.
Imagine a shell casing around the phone that mounts into the port and has buttons that can be key mapped into apps for dpads and abxy buttons.
Icebergxx said:
I've always been curious about making use of the mini usb drive the g1 has.
Imagine a shell casing around the phone that mounts into the port and has buttons that can be key mapped into apps for dpads and abxy buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i wouldnt get your hopes up. ive tried stuff like that...didnt work out so well. the drivers in the phone only allow the usb driver to do certain things... same goes for the export...it just wouldnt work that...for the normal person. if u have alot of time on your hands and phones you can risk breaking (like HTC, but they have no reason to do this), then go ahead
Nice Credit Card Hack- I think we're onto something here. Easily a way to match the two and offer people diagrams with exact measurements to make their own. Personally I would have kept the L button to the right, so you don't need to leave the directional pad to press it, but whatever your preference.
As for the USB hack, I have done extensive research into this area, and it seems without some code from HTC directly, no one has been able to break into this or a bluetooth hack. Seems easy, usb or bluetooth 12-15 keyboard buttons and we'd be set. But no one has been able to break it, so I have gone to this hardware hack. Any breakthrough news would be greatly appreciated on this thread, but up until now it seems we are at a wall software-wise.
On another note, in doing GBA game research, I noticed a big part of the games were ported from SNES to GBA, so I bought the SNES emulator and gave it a chance. Wow, what a difference. Honestly, the gameplay is so much faster and responsive, the library of games is so much more diverse, I hardly play GBA games anymore until I finish the SNES library. I'm currently working my way through Super Punch Out, and love using Prototype One. When people see me playing the SNES library, they hide their iPhone. Everyone I have encountered admits a separate gamepad is preffered over touching the screen and losing some visibility, and are amazed at the dexterity the Gamepad Prototype One offers. Please keep experimenting people!
Still waiting on my parts from hong kong to make the final design, its taking forever!
wakeupkeo said:
Nice Credit Card Hack- I think we're onto something here. Easily a way to match the two and offer people diagrams with exact measurements to make their own. Personally I would have kept the L button to the right, so you don't need to leave the directional pad to press it, but whatever your preference.
As for the USB hack, I have done extensive research into this area, and it seems without some code from HTC directly, no one has been able to break into this or a bluetooth hack. Seems easy, usb or bluetooth 12-15 keyboard buttons and we'd be set. But no one has been able to break it, so I have gone to this hardware hack. Any breakthrough news would be greatly appreciated on this thread, but up until now it seems we are at a wall software-wise.
On another note, in doing GBA game research, I noticed a big part of the games were ported from SNES to GBA, so I bought the SNES emulator and gave it a chance. Wow, what a difference. Honestly, the gameplay is so much faster and responsive, the library of games is so much more diverse, I hardly play GBA games anymore until I finish the SNES library. I'm currently working my way through Super Punch Out, and love using Prototype One. When people see me playing the SNES library, they hide their iPhone. Everyone I have encountered admits a separate gamepad is preffered over touching the screen and losing some visibility, and are amazed at the dexterity the Gamepad Prototype One offers. Please keep experimenting people!
Still waiting on my parts from hong kong to make the final design, its taking forever!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
looking forward to it.
my hack is ok, but it looks like it would break over time. kinda a cheap hack i guess, cost nothing. urs shows promise. engaget worthy
alexjzim said:
i wouldnt get your hopes up. ive tried stuff like that...didnt work out so well. the drivers in the phone only allow the usb driver to do certain things... same goes for the export...it just wouldnt work that...for the normal person. if u have alot of time on your hands and phones you can risk breaking (like HTC, but they have no reason to do this), then go ahead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reminds me when I had iPod Linux on my iPod video 5.5g. We would solder the cables of a nes controller to the board and run it out a hole in the side where there was room -.-) and mounted it in a rough mount on top of the controller.
Worked decent :3 but we couldn't do it through usb as stated because we didn't know how to 'awaken' the usb for such use.
alexjzim said:
i wouldnt get your hopes up. ive tried stuff like that...didnt work out so well. the drivers in the phone only allow the usb driver to do certain things... same goes for the export...it just wouldnt work that...for the normal person. if u have alot of time on your hands and phones you can risk breaking (like HTC, but they have no reason to do this), then go ahead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I forget, driver installers? The softwear that makes plugging something into the computer readable and usable?
Anywho I feel as if we devoloped an app to read the modded usb port for it it might work?
Especially with root user.
But I really am more of a concept sort of guy
Hmm, I'm kinda diggin the credit-card thing... I might use an old expired library card or something xD
Can you go a little bit more in-depth on how you made it though? How did you get it to pop up and not hit other buttons when you push down on it?
amgupt01 said:
Hmm, I'm kinda diggin the credit-card thing... I might use an old expired library card or something xD
Can you go a little bit more in-depth on how you made it though? How did you get it to pop up and not hit other buttons when you push down on it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol. ive been slacking off posting everything. what i did was cut a whole in teh credit card where i wanted the buttons. make it bigger, doesnt have to be perfect. i then cut tiny peaces to the size of the button, so it would only press one. put a single piece of tape over the top and bottom.
then i cut out more of the remaining card to make the buttons bigger, and to make the "dpad" easier to use . put them over the original buttons, so it pops out.
if u dont get it, ill post a video using paper to show what i did. while im at it, if u need that, ill just make a video on usage
AWESOME!
alexjzim said:
kinda jumping in here. i tried doing it with a credit card, and it works amazing.
i did this for gameboid. it works amazing, actually. better than i expected. i tried it with mariokart (gba), a game where u constantly are moving your thumbs, and so far it was great... ill upload a video when im done with my lab :/
anyways. my tools were: Sharpie, swiss army knife, multiple scissors, tape, and a subway eat fresh rewards card >:]
first i fit the card onto the g1. it slides in pretty nice already, just had to cut off excess...card. marked it with a sharpie, fit to size. try not to make a mess of what you cut off, it comes back. i figured out the buttons i wanted to use. i started with the "dpad." i took the needle thing on the back of the swiss army knife and stabbed it through the card. made it big enough to start cutting. cut out to size. did this for the rest of the buttons as well. i then took the excess card stuff and started cutting out buttons that would fit. started with everything around the same size as the keyboard buttons. i put them in the wholes of the card that was cut out previous, made sure they werent touching the wall, and put a single piece of tape over the top. did that to the bottom too. then, since the dpad felt awkward, i cut one out that imitated the regular gba keyboard, and doubled it on top of the current dpad. i doubled therest of the buttons as well, to have them pop out a bit. put a single piece of tape over the top, none on the bottom. just used some tape to help it stay on the g1, not much is needed, its pretty snug.
as you can see, it isnt great looking, but it works really well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I had in mind but was too lazy to actually try. Now you've inspired me to actually try it though!
One of the coolest thing about this is you could do whatever button layout you wanted! You could even carry a few with different layouts for different games.
Heres a question for you all:
I finally received a new body to make a final gamepad, but I have a question for all you gamers- is a simple four-way directional button layout better than eight different directional buttons? Experience in games so far don't seem to show much need for diagonal buttons if pressing the the two buttons it combines is just as good. The credit card hack has only the four directions, so in designing my final, what you you think is better in terms of gameplay? SNES is my favorite emulator, so answers partial to that are preferred!
Bump. Is that allowed? Just posted new prototype...
Here's my super low-rent, quick and dirty (literally) version so far. This is the prototype before i make the better one.
I've only done the d-pad, I'm playing around to see which buttons I want to use for a b x y or whatever.
It actually works REALLY well.
Once I finish this one, I'm gonna cut up another card, but this time cut a section out of the right side of the card (if you've holding it horizontally) so it wraps around the "chin" of the phone to stay in place better.
Nice!
Yes, these designs work REALLY well...
Think I will try to do a credit card one, the plastic is more flexible that the CD case plastic. I want to keep the piece in my wallet, and I know a credit card can take the pressure and flex. Not sure about the cd case plastic yet...
cheap source of plastic for these mods....
Grocery stores.
Alot of them have the area for phone cards and prepaid cards.
None of those cards have any value until they are activated.
They have some that are thinner plastic and some that are thicker. Most are paper with a plastic coating.
I grabbed a bunch when I did my phone stand prototypes.
(Which reminds me...I never posted that.)
your #4 seems to be really nice. i like the color and design. it seems to hook around the g1, which im pretty sure you were aiming for. how exactly does it work in terms of force for the keys?
and if ur gunna go for a credit card, if u put a thin layer of take over both sides, and leave the button in a "hole," it works pretty nice.
im gunna try some new ideas in my #2, thought ide share them in case you want to take them
for the buttons, ill take apart my old gameboy, or SP ( i remember those days ) and use them, if they fit. for force in the actual keyboard, i was thinking of actually using springs, not sure exactly how it would work ... maybe cut a small one from a pen up. for stability, it just popped into my mind.. idk about you but i can easily slide a piece of paper through my g1s screen. not a credit card, but deff. at least movie stud thickness. what im getting at is, you could probably make a "hook" thats straight, and once it pops under the screen, you can bend it, or maybe its meant to pop (i like this word) to hook onto something, like a hairclip. a spring might work here too. hell, when you open the screen and it moves out, theres definitely room to slip a thin wire through. just tie a "knot" on the end of the wire, slip it through, and when its closed, the wire cant come out. just have to make sure its a tight fit. then, if the plastic can curl around on the other side, you'd be good to go.
just giving my 2 cents. ill prob try this stuff sometime over the weekend, maybe sooner.
also, you can set the camera button to something, not really sure if thats helpful, but you could prob make it start, and have room for other stuff.
also, on my dpad thing, i noticed that lets say if i set an UP+LEFT key, it only goes up, if i have two different keys for up and left, and press them at teh same time, it still only goes up. anyone else having this problem? gets annoying after a while
EDIT: improvising on myself, i came up with how it could work. might need more plastic than there is on a credit card :/. anyone know that type of material, but in a bigger...card? doesnt need to be exactly the same, just close enough.
Has anyone attempted this?
I saw this thread and was wondering if anyone has tried installing wminput or lswm to get a wii remote working with bluetooth under Debian or Ubuntu? I just started playing with it myself.

Holding the touchpad

Hello there. I was just wondering how you all hold the touchpad. It seems too heavy to hold in one had for a long period of time and its hard to lay down and use it on your back. I want to know what your experiences with it are.
It is heavy to hold i just one hand, but i hold it with one hand and use other hand to use the touchscreen. So i dont feel it very heavy. I never had problem in using it while laying on my back, i like to rest it on my body..I also have cover for it which can be used a s a stand so...when i watch something on it...i just keep on a table or something
I only can use it because of the original case with its two stand positions. Had a tegra2 tablet before without something like this. Now its a new experience. You should get one and try it.
I usually don't hold it with one hand for long periods of time, I would recommend the Acase for the touchpad, it has great build quality and allows various positions for standing it up, very nice for putting it on a tv tray while sitting on the couch and whatnot.

How well does the Prime balance in your lap while using the keyboard?

I had a Vipertek--same as the RooCase, Blurex, Poetic slim fit cases--for my old Samsung GT10.1, and I really liked the way I could balance it on one of my thighs.
How well does the laptop combo work when balancing on one thigh? And in your lap?
Extremely well. One of the things I like about it is that it can be used in the lap, in bed, on top of covers, without worrying about heat or blocking air vents.
I do quite a bit of writing on mine this way and it works great. Oh, and I'll add: it's not so much "balancing," as it is "just setting it there." It's not as if I have to consciously manage it as I do my Prime when it's just in its cover.
Battery life with the dock was amazing.
Hate rain on the parade, but overall I did not like the dock in use.
I found the keys small,
and in Canada we are forced to take a unusual bilingual layout
that resulted in a number of typing errors.
My biggest issue was when in use,
the screen/dock connector extends below the bottom of the dock,
putting the weight all in one small area instead of distributing it across the base.
I found it more uncomfortable to use in my lap
than my 14" HP laptop that weights much more.
I decided to stick with the HP laptop for when a KB is needed,
and use the Prime only as tablet.
SonicTab said:
I found it more uncomfortable to use in my lap
than my 14" HP laptop that weights much more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thus demonstrating how such things are HIGHLY subjective. I have an Envy 14, and I have to say, I'd much rather type on the Prime+dock on my lap than the Envy. The notebook gets hotter and despite any weight distribution considerations is just heavier. I also feel like I'm actively managing the HP more than the Prime+dock. The keyboard is smaller, sure, but I adjust pretty quickly.
Not to say it's possible to be "wrong" here, but rather to say perhaps it's not best to ask others for their opinions on this but rather get the dock from somewhere you can return it and give it a try yourself.
wynand32 said:
Extremely well. One of the things I like about it is that it can be used in the lap, in bed, on top of covers, without worrying about heat or blocking air vents.
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Click to collapse
This is probably the single biggest bother I have with using my laptop. I can under no circumstances impede air flow, or my laptop goes nuclear. One of the things I love about a tablet.
SonicTab said:
My biggest issue was when in use,
the screen/dock connector extends below the bottom of the dock,
putting the weight all in one small area instead of distributing it across the base.
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This is what was going through my mind when I asked the question. Thank you for your reply.
I would still like to hear others' opinions as well. Thanks in advance.
I'll add that the Prime+dock hasn't replaced my Envy. I still pull out the damn laptop tray (which I hate) on occasion depending on what kind of work I have to do. But for straight draft writing, especially any impromptu writing, I like being able to slap the Prime on the dock, stick it on my lap, and start writing, without worrying about pulling out the tray, arranging it, sitting in the right position, etc.
And it's the little things that matter sometimes, right?
I love my HP and it's just a AMD A6 as well,
it runs cool and completely silent most of the time,
only down size is the shorter battery life but plugs are near by if needed.
No doubt, the ASUS transformer design of a removable tablet screen is the future for many portable devices.
Forget ultrabooks, Win8 dockable tablets will be the next big thing IMO
Just this early Android iteration with the extending screen base
and smaller keyboard didn't quite fit right here.
The Prime as a tablet is great.

Une Bobine (Kickstarter Project)

This Kickstarter project is about to ship:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fusechicken/une-bobine-for-people-who-love-iphone
One of the devices that was tested was a Note, and it performed flawlessly. I backed the project, and will give my review once I get it. Really looking forward to it - works on both desk/countertops as well as in your car.
Be careful when adjusting it, could really bend or break your ports. Otherwise it looks like a cool product. Could see it being great in the car.
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welchertc said:
Be careful when adjusting it, could really bend or break your ports. Otherwise it looks like a cool product. Could see it being great in the car.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2
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For sure. It looks like they made a nice, fat base for the mini USB connector to rest on. Hopefully it will support a good deal of weight. Supposedly it will even hold it in landscape, which I am cautiously optimistic about.
That does look pretty cool. As the others have said, the microusb port is such a shallow port, it may not provide a lot of support if any when adjusting, or if set at an angle of any sorts. Be curious to hear your review when you get it!
Im not impressed. Micro USB ports arent designed to hold weight.
jimmer411 said:
Im not impressed. Micro USB ports arent designed to hold weight.
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The port doesn't hold the weight. The base does. Same concept as a dock.
meatlocker said:
The port doesn't hold the weight. The base does. Same concept as a dock.
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I watched the videos, I dont see where your getting the idea that the base holds the weight. They only show a glimpse of the iphone connector in one of the videos and it doesn't look any different from my ipad2 cable.
I would love to see a Note held horizontally via USB. Its one thing to position an iphone in every position since the port is 100x more secure and locks to an extent.
This has no base. Your USB port will support the entire wieght of the phone. Won't be long before USB port is loose and ceases to function.
By 'base', I mean 'connector plug'. The USB port is on a large plug which distributes the weight across a larger area than if your phone sat on just the cable end. Still, small port, certainly not made to be jostled around on. I bought mine for my desk, so should be fine. Again, more details when I get the thing.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
meatlocker said:
By 'base', I mean 'connector plug'. The USB port is on a large plug which distributes the weight across a larger area than if your phone sat on just the cable end. Still, small port, certainly not made to be jostled around on. I bought mine for my desk, so should be fine. Again, more details when I get the thing.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
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From what I'm seeing that would only be true if the phone were completely balanced at a 90 degree angle otherwise much of the weight is actually distributed as shear stress against the inside of the micro USB plug which is not good.it needs some kind of backplate to cradle with.
cityhunterxyz said:
From what I'm seeing that would only be true if the phone were completely balanced at a 90 degree angle otherwise much of the weight is actually distributed as shear stress against the inside of the micro USB plug which is not good.it needs some kind of backplate to cradle with.
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I've asked Jon Fawcett, creator of Une Bobine, to drop by this thread and comment on concerns. I think they are all valid.
Hey all. Meatlocker sent me an email to address your concerns. I'll give some info here, but please feel free to ask more questions of me.
We made 2 substantial changes to the standard details around the micro connector that are intended to resolve the issues with all of the weight on the connector. First, our connector housing for the micro is about the same width as a standard iphone cable. The extra width spreads the weight of the phone to a greater area, which places less weight on the connector itself. Also, if the phone is tilted slightly, the phone body will hit the connector housing and stop the phone from putting additional sideways strain on the connector.
The second thing we did was to make replaceable caps on the housing end. These caps adjust the space between the connector body and the tip of the connector. This essentially adjusts how far out the connector comes. These allow us to reduce or remove the gap between our housing and the body of the phone so that the 2 items listed above are as good as possible. We have 3 caps designed to adjust this spacing to keep the phone tight in position. We also have one cap with a right angle bracket to assist with some side-port phones. And we have another cap that leaves a small portion of the traditional micro end sticking out that will let it fit into cases. Each device comes with all 5 caps.
Of course, these won't solve every phone and every usage. But we have tested with 30 different androids, windows, bb's, and feature phones and these have made the difference for most of them. Also, we don't recommend adjusting the position of the phone while it is connected to the cable except for small amounts to get it to the exact right position.
jonfawcett said:
Hey all. Meatlocker sent me an email to address your concerns. I'll give some info here, but please feel free to ask more questions of me.
We made 2 substantial changes to the standard details around the micro connector that are intended to resolve the issues with all of the weight on the connector. First, our connector housing for the micro is about the same width as a standard iphone cable. The extra width spreads the weight of the phone to a greater area, which places less weight on the connector itself. Also, if the phone is tilted slightly, the phone body will hit the connector housing and stop the phone from putting additional sideways strain on the connector.
The second thing we did was to make replaceable caps on the housing end. These caps adjust the space between the connector body and the tip of the connector. This essentially adjusts how far out the connector comes. These allow us to reduce or remove the gap between our housing and the body of the phone so that the 2 items listed above are as good as possible. We have 3 caps designed to adjust this spacing to keep the phone tight in position. We also have one cap with a right angle bracket to assist with some side-port phones. And we have another cap that leaves a small portion of the traditional micro end sticking out that will let it fit into cases. Each device comes with all 5 caps.
Of course, these won't solve every phone and every usage. But we have tested with 30 different androids, windows, bb's, and feature phones and these have made the difference for most of them. Also, we don't recommend adjusting the position of the phone while it is connected to the cable except for small amounts to get it to the exact right position.
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Do you guys have any pictures?
Looks cool...but I don't trust it.
I know the Note doesn't weight a ton, but it seems a little top heavy/big to be comfortably used with this thing.
Hmmm...maybe they could come out with something that'll attach to the USB port and allow the phone to be rested on or something to prevent all the weight from being on the phones port?
jimmer411 said:
Do you guys have any pictures?
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http://www.kickstarter.com/projects...or-people-who-love-iphone/posts/238347?page=2
Lots of good pics there (Note included), along with a video of both the micro usb and iPhone connector in action with a phone.
This is a cool idea, and I like that the maker takes time to come and talk. I understand what he means that the weight is on the plug and the base and it seems like it would work fine under ideal use, but my concern is that I would smack it, hit it, knock it over, something that would cause far more then normal amount of weight on the plug. Im glad to see some innovation though, I may give it a whirl, we'll see.
Managed to get my hands on 2 of these and they are great - if you have a smaller phone. I have no problems with HTC wildfire s or Sony Xperia Ray. When it comes to the rather large Samsung gs3 it is a different story. I have to lean the phone forward to get it to charge and this defeats the purpose of the bobine. Also in portrait mode it doesn't charge just rest against the connector casing.
Great idea for small phones! Just hope they can get a solution for larger devices as the concept is great!
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