I bought one of these for my dad: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KK9C7C
Terrible case. It was nearly 40 dollars, and it's just about the worst way to spend that much money. I wrote a review (only review) on amazon:
I ordered this case a week ago. It just came in today due to some difficulty with USPS, not Amazon's fault. I opened the packaging, and it was clear that it was a cheap product. It comes in a simple small box, something you would expect from a Chinese ripoff. The leather material is of ok quality. It doesn't scratch, and it is a nice color. However, the actual plastic which holds the phone is cheap, and mine came with a few chips on the edges. It feels like the phone could fall out any minute. The hold is not secure at all. The design of the case is overall terrible. The credit card slots won't expand, so putting more than one card in each slot is nearly impossible. The extendable flap is too loose, and often extends while in my pocket, allowing my pocket contents to come in contact with the phone's screen. Finally, the worst draw back is charging. I have to open the case entirely (flip it open) to charge the phone. The charging slot is at the bottom of the phone, and the case is made so the credit card holding section flips from the bottom to the top. This means there is a strip of leather blocking the charging port. Un-doing the button flap won't fix it, you have to completely expose the screen the charge the phone.
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So if anyone was thinking of buying this case: don't.
My dad still needs a new case. He insists on one of these types of cases. I've never used one, and I've looked at the normal companies, haven't found anything good. Does anyone know of one?
I got myself a prime last week, promptly ordered a keyboard because nobody had one in stock and I didn't feel like paying a $70 dollar premium on amazon to get it in the future anyway, and received the dock yesterday.
Electrically, the dock seems fine - all of the keys work, it charged normally, it's discharging normally, etc. - but it appears to have a physical deformity at the front of the unit. I took a picture of the unit to demonstrate... unfortunately, as some of you are no doubt aware, taking close-focus pictures of smallish things with an android camera is a little tough. Still, see attached image for the illustration. Note the gap between the rubber stopper and the fact that you can see the palm rest surface despite looking at the tray head on.
The question is, of course, "is this normal?" Does anyone else have a warped dock? It seems like the trackpad buttons don't quite click as easily as I think they should, but I don't have anything to compare it to. None of the local Best Buy stores have a dock on display, either.
[edit]I started this thread in the wrong forum and moved it here, then forgot to attach the file. Here's a link to an imgur-hosted copy:
http://i.imgur.com/Bn0la.jpg
nurrwick said:
I got myself a prime last week, promptly ordered a keyboard because nobody had one in stock and I didn't feel like paying a $70 dollar premium on amazon to get it in the future anyway, and received the dock yesterday.
Electrically, the dock seems fine - all of the keys work, it charged normally, it's discharging normally, etc. - but it appears to have a physical deformity at the front of the unit. I took a picture of the unit to demonstrate... unfortunately, as some of you are no doubt aware, taking close-focus pictures of smallish things with an android camera is a little tough. Still, see attached image for the illustration. Note the gap between the rubber stopper and the fact that you can see the palm rest surface despite looking at the tray head on.
The question is, of course, "is this normal?" Does anyone else have a warped dock? It seems like the trackpad buttons don't quite click as easily as I think they should, but I don't have anything to compare it to. None of the local Best Buy stores have a dock on display, either.
[edit]I started this thread in the wrong forum and moved it here, then forgot to attach the file. Here's a link to an imgur-hosted copy:
http://i.imgur.com/Bn0la.jpg
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When mine is closed, the lid touches the rubber bumper on the keyboard which is what I would expect. Yours doesn't seem to close properly.
Thanks - that's what I suspected. It contacts the two rubber pads on the sides, so this poor thing is the victim of a god-knows-what. The box was completely undamaged so I guess someone sat on it at the factory.
Obviously anyone else that wants to weigh in is welcome to do so - on this topic, anyway, I don't recommend actually weighing in on the keyboard dock because I guess it will bend.
Yep, looks bent, as if it was laying on a soft rocking chair, couch or something undocked and someone sat on it. You could take your knee to the back of it with a hand on each side and try to bend it back You may end up with a creased unit afterward though... I'd send it back as a return and try to find one somewhere else.
My keyboard dock also came with a slight bend to it (from a UK Grey BC0KAS batch). I didn't notice it at first, but when I put the keyboard on a flat surface when closed, it wobbled. Towards the back the centre of the metal was coming into contact with the table, so the rubber feet were slightly raised.
I was able to gently apply pressure, using a soft cloth, to the metal around this area and correct this so it's not really noticeable now.
Also, when the tablet is docked, and closed, there is a slightly larger gap on the right side between the screen and keyboard than the left. It makes contact with all 3 rubber pads, but it's definitely there.
I'm still contemplating returning the whole lot to Comet, as I have 3 stuck pixels, and have been experiencing poor WiFi and some crashes.
Quality control definitely could have been better here.
SO! I went to another Best Buy that actually had docks in stock, did an exchange, and the second dock is bent as well. That said, the buttons on the trackpad actually click easily on this unit, so I think I'm going to keep it especially given how difficult it is to find anything with a TF-201 in its model number in stock.
It'd be interesting to see how many docks have warping or if it's supposed to be there. I guess it could be Asus' way of giving us space to fit our fingers in to open the unit...
Turns out mine was slightly bent too. I never would have noticed had it not been for this thread... Lol, anyway...mine was bent slightly in the middle. The middle rubber stopper didn't touch when cosed. It is really, really easy to bend this though...i just put pressure in the middle from behind and pushed slightly and the gap has disappeared.
I don't have the dock yet but this will be on my new dock QC checklist when I do get one. I'm not planning on getting one for a while so hopefully stuff like this will be ironed out by Asus and stocking levels are better. I'm thinking August (my birthday).
Hey guys,
I got an official S-view cover from ATT store (Black) for my new note 3. I love it except for one major problem. When I fold the cover open around the back and set it down on something like a desk or table. Eventually the phone will sit completely flat against the cover and I am noticing that the cover will engage S-view mode on the phone while it it folded around the back of the phone. This is super annoying, because when its in S-View mode the phone is essentially locked and I can't do anything with it unless I un-fold the cover from around the back. I thought maybe I had a bad cover with super strong magnets or something so I returned it to ATT and bought another one from T-Mobile (This was the advice I got from Samsung support). I having the exact same problem with this one. Now I think its my phone. I can replicate this problem anytime by simply putting pressure on phone the and cover while it is folded around the back. When I hold the phone in my hand with the cover around the back it is not as prevalent because phone usually is not sitting completely flat to the cover (because the cover is still new). Once it breaks in and gets flimsy this will happen all the time completely limiting phone functional while the cover is around the back. I had the an S-View cover on a S4 and it never had this problem. Can any of you guys replicate this issue or do I have a bad phone. Please help, I need to know if I need to exchange my phone. Thanks in advance.
davparks said:
Hey guys,
I got an official S-view cover from ATT store (Black) for my new note 3. I love it except for one major problem. When I fold the cover open around the back and set it down on something like a desk or table. Eventually the phone will sit completely flat against the cover and I am noticing that the cover will engage S-view mode on the phone while it it folded around the back of the phone. This is super annoying, because when its in S-View mode the phone is essentially locked and I can't do anything with it unless I un-fold the cover from around the back. I thought maybe I had a bad cover with super strong magnets or something so I returned it to ATT and bought another one from T-Mobile (This was the advice I got from Samsung support). I having the exact same problem with this one. Now I think its my phone. I can replicate this problem anytime by simply putting pressure on phone the and cover while it is folded around the back. When I hold the phone in my hand with the cover around the back it is not as prevalent because phone usually is not sitting completely flat to the cover (because the cover is still new). Once it breaks in and gets flimsy this will happen all the time completely limiting phone functional while the cover is around the back. I had the an S-View cover on a S4 and it never had this problem. Can any of you guys replicate this issue or do I have a bad phone. Please help, I need to know if I need to exchange my phone. Thanks in advance.
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I've got the same problem here. It seems to be an issue of either the little magnet on the bottom of the cover being too strong or the sensor on the phone being too sensitive. Definitely annoying and poorly designed. I don't know of any solution. I just wedge my finger behind the cover to prevent it from tripping, but that's hardly a solution.
Can't help you with this issue.. but I got bought two knock-offs on the web and never experience anything like that. Probably the way it's built with the OEM case.
I have the same problem with my sview case for note 3.
Interesting issue. I have the wireless charging s-view case and I can confirm that this dos not happen with it. I guess that is due to the thicker back cover portion.
Ever since I bought this watch I wished there was a stand/display/dock for it, something that I could just lay it on at night to charge and would look good on my night stand, well last week my cradle broke, the ol' standard - top clip broke off problem (Still not sure why they changed the cradle from the Gear 1, but that's a whole other rant thread ...) needless to say I was pretty pissed, especially since I've read Samsung refuses to warranty the problem, plus are out of stock when forced to cough up another $30 bucks for an obvious manufacturer flaw, and the icing ... dealing with extortion from Amazon asking $50 for the cradle because the seller knows it can ask whatever they want ... supply and demand, I luckily got the hook on a new charger from a buddy I made here on XDA and I'm just waiting for it to arrive in the mail, in the meantime the frustration of clamping my watch against the cradle and hoping it'll be at 100% in the morning was pissing me off so I decided to try something, something I thought about long before a broken cradle.
Again I wanted a display or docking station for this that also charged it, like the retail display except I wouldn't need the security device in order for it to work lol, so I searched online for simple retail watch displays and found some, got em ordered, decided to skip over the cheap flimsy looking felt ones and get some nice acrylic ones, waiting for them to arrive ... but today I was out shopping with the wife and came across one of those cheap felt ones and decided to pick it up and fiddle until my acrylic ones showed up, basically a proof of concept or prototype before I make the final, came home and got to work.
Stuff needed:
Samsung Gear S Cradle (Broken or not)
Wrist watch display (Buy online or at a place like Michaels)
Hot Glue Gun
Velcro (The kind with double sided tape on the back)
Tiny ClamShell looking hair clips (Thanks Babe! Lol)
* This can be done with or without a broken cradle, if done like I have the cradle is simply velcroed to the watch display, allowing you to take it in or off anytime, the male side velcro attached to the cradle had double sided tape on the back, the female side of the velcro did not, so I hot glued it to the display, which i would recommend to keep it attached to the display.)
I First: Applied the sticky back side of the Male velcro to the back of the charging cradle.
Then Second: formed the arm of the display to cradle the curve of the Gear S cradle back.
Third: In that curve I hot glued the female side of the velcro to the watch display.
Fourth: attached the Gear S cradle centered up and put my Gear S watch onto the Cradle.
Fifth: Adjust and formed the watch displays metal according to my watch band size but keep it tight and firm with the clasp of my watch band was tucked under the watch display. This is actually how the display fixes the problem caused by the broken clip, the watch display holds the watch snug onto it while pushing the charging cradle against the back of the watch thus pushing the pins into the watch, making the clips useless.
Sixth: Hot glued 2 of my Wife's tiny ClamShell looking spring loaded pinch clasp hair clip things (sorry don't know what they are called lol) on the inside of the displays watch band holder and one on the base, allowing me to run the charging cable under and behind the docking station, especially since the side I HAVE to slide my watch onto the display is the side where the charger plugs into the cradle (watch stand has a place where the watches clasps or band slides under to sit between the base and band holder)
Overall this was a concept in my head and that tonight I aimed to prove could work, came out actually amazingly better then I would have thought, even with the crude McGuyver type stuff that I did to it to make it work, which I'll perfect on the final model, but I Def underestimated the felt watch displays, I honestly might even just keep using this one, the pic attached makes it look more crude than it is, not to mention there were still hot glue hairs on it lol, but I normal lighting this thing is beautiful looking with or without the watch attached and functional, the pics I took I added flash and brightened them so you could see what I did.
Overall im happy, this Worked like a charm!
CHECK OUT THE ATTACHED PICTURE FOR ALL THE ANGLES OF THIS DOCKING STATION AND ALSO HERE'S A VIDEO OF ME ATTACHING THE WATCH TO SHOW IT WORKS.
Samsung Gear S Broken Cradle Fix/Mod:
http://youtu.be/Iu89HW3ezPk
HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE ONE, LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED ANY HELP!
Sorry for any typing errors or mispelling, I wrote this thread all from my Note 4, talk about hand cramps!
Dmac1984 said:
... so I decided to try something, something I thought about long before a broken cradle.
...
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It's a lot of work but I certainly admire your inventiveness!!
apprentice said:
It's a lot of work but I certainly admire your inventiveness!!
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Thanks!
Honestly once I saw where I wanted to go with it, only took about 10 mins to put it together, granted I had pre planned this and had all the materials and tools I needed, but it was worth the work, took no time and all, went together smooth like a premade kit and looks pretty good on my night stand and keeps me from throwing out or throwing the broken cradle in a drawer.
poor lock of cradle
The tutorial above is great..i found out another solution,practical but ugly of course..
excer said:
The tutorial above is great..i found out another solution,practical but ugly of course..
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Thanks, and hey if a bottle works for the person then that's all that matters!
Excellent thread and creative solution. Might just give this a try... Thanks for sharing!
sefrcoko said:
Excellent thread and creative solution. Might just give this a try... Thanks for sharing!
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No problem, glad you enjoyed!
Great write-up! I'll order a display thingie for when (not if) my cradle breaks!
I say this everywhere, but if people posted their solutions on Samsung's FB page, they may change their tune.
Maybe not the elegant ones, but pictures of the plastic bottle to hold a $300-400 watch together, 2 months after release, right before MWC where they will release yet another watch, would surely embarrass them into doing the right thing.
Dmac1984 said:
Thanks!
Honestly once I saw where I wanted to go with it, only took about 10 mins to put it together, granted I had pre planned this and had all the materials and tools I needed, but it was worth the work, took no time and all, went together smooth like a premade kit and looks pretty good on my night stand and keeps me from throwing out or throwing the broken cradle in a drawer.
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that looks freakin awesome....
cipherswitch said:
that looks freakin awesome....
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Thanks, every night when I dock my watch I love it more and more, no more snapping the clips to the back and forcing the watch on and of fthe cradle, simply sets right right on and it's good, and looks awesome on my night stand, honestly couldn't ask for it to be better. Originally I was gonna do a acrylic one and clean it up, but you can see the clips it really looks retail unless you really look close at it.
Took ten minutes to make, went together like a Lego set ... and cost less than $10 to make.
For me, $4 because we already had the got glue gun and the wife had the clips.
Can't beat it. I'm happy, don't even care about replacing the cradle now.
LoL...it may fit around a beer bottle, then we can blame Samsung for our drinking problem...or even better, can the watch call my GF, when it senses the beer is almost empty....I'd pay for that ap! If it worked!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using XDA Free mobile app
Lol
Dmac1984 said:
Lol
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FRIK!! I guess i have the privilege of joining this exclusive club of broken cradles. This seems to be a design flaw on Samsung part. It took me 4 months, but over time, it seems almost inevitable for it to break.
Anyway,,,my solution. a rolled up sock seems to work for me, keeping the cradle in place.
le10017 said:
FRIK!! I guess i have the privilege of joining this exclusive club of broken cradles. This seems to be a design flaw on Samsung part. It took me 4 months, but over time, it seems almost inevitable for it to break.
Anyway,,,my solution. a rolled up sock seems to work for me, keeping the cradle in place.
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Classy
Maybe if everybody posted their high-end solutions (bottles, socks, toys), Sammy would recognize it as bad publicity and do something about those darn cradles.
xendula said:
Classy
Maybe if everybody posted their high-end solutions (bottles, socks, toys), Sammy would recognize it as bad publicity and do something about those darn cradles.
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I am sure Samsung doesn't really care
Mine broke yesterday I was putting something with a bit of weight on top of the watch and it was charging I was going to call Samsung on Monday but guess I won't bother if they won't do anything to replace it for free will probably just buy another charging cradle
Sent from my Xperia Z Ultra using XDA Free mobile app
Nice! Going to do this when my dock breaks (since it seems inevitable) +1!
Might be worth noting that you can get a charge-only dock off ebay very cheap. Might do that and use it regularly and keep the OEM one with the battery for emergencies so when the clip breaks on my nightly charger I wont lose my backup battery.
Started a thread about mine being broken just wanted to share my new fix.
First buy another $350 watch and get one of these
Then hold the cradle and connect the watch.
Works rather well but unfortunate that I need to do this.
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/inflewence2
Ashton_Durkhun said:
Might be worth noting that you can get a charge-only dock off ebay very cheap. Might do that and use it regularly and keep the OEM one with the battery for emergencies so when the clip breaks on my nightly charger I wont lose my backup battery.
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I got one of those, and the design is better than on the OEM cradle. It snaps on and off much smoother.
xendula said:
I got one of those, and the design is better than on the OEM cradle. It snaps on and off much smoother.
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Yup! I'm glad I ordered a two pack of the non-battery types and already had one... when MY cradle broke. Same problem as the rest of you.
Unbelievable that they break like this. I'm nothing less than a Samsung FanBoy and this has put a damper on my enthusiasm for sure.