imported_airhead

How many times have I tut-tut'd when others on this site have told of dropping their devices, and I have said to myself, 'Never happen to me!'. Well, it did. Simple lesson, never get out of the car with a mobile phone, PDA, keys, wallet and sundry other bits, held in one arm. As I pulled the keys out of the pile to unlock the front door, the fragile device came out too, and described a perfect arc (all in slo-mo, and me verbalising a kind of nooooooo, along with sharp intake of breath, as if to suck it back up to my waiting embrace), and landed corner first onto the concrete driveway (why is it always the concrete??).
I am only 5'3" but the trajectory added to the height it fell from. I muttered a self derogatory epithet as I gingerly gathered my baby up from its landing point and went inside. The InnPocket ali case had taken the greater part of the impact, and had a dent on the lid bottom corner, and was very slightly creased halfway between there and the hinge, but still closed tightly, and without problems.
Next, came the turn on (no, not that kind of turn on!!), and all fired up without a hitch. Ran through a few apps and all seems ok so far. I can really recommend the InnPocket cases. Hope I never have to drop test it again.
Bill................;-))

rob1303

Lucky....... glad it is all alright

__________________
Regards

Rob

DavesPPC

Yeah, those drops can be killer, especially when they land on their corners.....
Glad that your "baby" is (mostly) alright

swhoutx035

Originally Posted by airhead

I can really recommend the InnPocket cases.

Wish I had had one of these for my first Pocket PC. It went bouncing down two flights of stairs... RIP. Glad your 4700 made it thru!

RICOUK

I dropped mine in my house on the only bit of metal (The door bit splitting the carpet between rooms) around. That sucked, it landed on its corner with not a sctratch. They are stronger than you think. Obviously not hammer proof!!!

lkillen

I have the leather case that holds the unit in place with velcro on the battery. Apparently it has enough shock absorption to protect my unit for I have dropped it on several occassions. I must admit, I always insure my unit is centered on the velcro such that it has padding all away around. I may move onto a hard case but for the last nine months this has worked for me.

I use my unit for GPS display in my car (Seidio) and sometime take it with me on a GeoCache though it is not my primary device. It has gotten rained on but I was quick to wipe off.
So far so good.

My worse problem was the original unit I got from PCMall. They "Illegally" sent me a refurb as a new unit. The entire affair was a mess and I recommend no one do business with them. Once I got that retified, with the threat of court action, I have done okay.

RED SEVEN

Originally Posted by airhead

...never get out of the car with a mobile phone, PDA, keys, wallet and sundry other bits, held in one arm. .... Bill................;-))

It seems getting in and out of a vehicle is a common situation where the infamous "slow motion drop" occurs! It's also where some people have lost their units. I've taken to putting one hand on the unit as I get out of my vehicle partiularly since I drive a Hino cab over chassis truck and it's an especially long drop!
VERY glad to hear your unit survived. I'll bet the price of that case seems cheap now!

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RED SEVEN
7

IPAQ HX 4700

cooldude1015

Well aren't you all lucky lil buggers

I have an innopocket aluminum case also.. But when I dropped mine from about waist height onto carpet (well carpet put over a wood flooring) the screen CRACKED!!! I think I might have had a fragile screen or it landed at the worst pressure point possible. All in all...

Good Night.

True

Do you mean "InnoPocket?"

I haven't dropped mine while in the case, but twice (in the same place, concrete ground) without it. Nothing but a small paint scratch, and the SD card ejecting each time.

Works like new.

Justin Noland

Originally Posted by True

Do you mean "InnoPocket?" I haven't dropped mine while in the case, but twice (in the same place, concrete ground) without it. Nothing but a small paint scratch, and the SD card ejecting each time. Works like new.

Yeah, I have a titanium or alluminum alloy (i cant remember which) Rhino Skin, and I have dropped my ipaq on numerous occassions, more than i can count, and it is still kicking. Most of the drops were from hip height because the damn rhino skin belt clip keeps falling off. One time it got launched when someone hit me from behind and it flew out of my hand. My iPAQ is in wonderful condition, no scratches or anything, but eh Rhino skin on the other hand...3 large dents, four one inch to two inch long gashes, virtually every corner having a sandpaper-like chip/rub-off effect. lol.

Possum Roadkil

I have mixed feelings about hard cases. A hard case isn't necessarily more protective than a soft case. It all depends on whether there is also good padding inside the hard case to absorb the shock. Otherwise, you end up with a perfectly good looking, unscratched PDA with a big crack in the screen.

If you make sure that you get one of the better cases then it will have this padding on the inside.

The other issue has to do with the outside finish of the case. Compared to leather cases, they are more slippery and therefore more prone to being dropped. I've noticed that there are some leather cases coming out now that are reinforced better with metal inserts, but I haven't found anything that I like the looks of better than my Sena Case. Too bad the Sena case leaves the corners (most likely spot your PDA is going to land on if you drop it) unprotected. I understand that this was to make it work in the cradle, but mine doesn't so it's sort of pointless to have the corners showing.

starscream1

Dropped my HX4700 3 times when I wasn't tightening the belt clip screw tight enough the screw was coming loose, no damage tho, even to the aluminium case. But I keep getting it slapped off doors when its on my hip, I'm getting better at wiggling my arse to the left as I walk through thresholds.

The door seems to open when I crack it off a door frame exposing the fragile screen.

So now I have the bloody screw as tight as possible and when I had finished tightening it I had a sudden panic attack that the point of the screw had gone through the rear of the hx4700, it hadn't! phew, but I can feel the point under the soft stuff inside the case, so I now test the tightness of the screw everytime I take it off the belt clip.

True

I chose my case due to aesthetics, not for protection. I never intend to drop my PDA, and I haven't dropped it yet whilst in the case. These units seem to hold up well through abuse, though.

Although we all, or at least most of us hope not to drop them, I think :x