Anyone thought about making your own "Vapor"?

[yezza]

Has anyone thought about taking things into your own hands and manufacturing your own (ideal) va por? Anyone have the skills/resources/enthusiasm to do this? I'm close to attempting it.

Still waiting for delivery of my phone - wanted the EC to throw on it, but I don't think there's a hope in hell of receiving one anytime soon, especially when living outside of the US or Canada.

If the case was readily available, I would probably just purchase it and be content. But the idea of ending up with something better is quite appealing...

 

[h1r0ll3r]

Don't think you'll have to wait too long. Seeing as how the demand for the Vapor far exceeded the supply, I'm pretty sure other companies will be manufacturing their own knock off of this case. I know there's already one company (can't remember the name) that's beginning to make their own "vapor" case which is due out in September I think. Be patient, there'll be tons of vapor knock off's and clones by the end of the year.

 

[lorenwade]

Honestly... even though Element's customer service might be lacking, I like the fact that they're updating the design for better reception. If you could make one on your own, you'd probably have to do the same just because of reception issues. Good luck though!

 

[asleep]

There's company out there that has already ripped off the Vapor design.

Taking the dreaded preorders now.

 

[yezzimbakk]

There's company out there that has already ripped off the Vapor design.

Taking the dreaded preorders now.

http://www.fusionwerkz.com/Home.php

Yup there it is. But hey, at least they responded to my questions within 24 hours which is more than I can say for Element. Plus, I am considering them because of the fact that you will never lose those screws. For some reason that just sits a little better in my mind knowing no piece is actually "seperate" from the case.

Oh yeah, Also both sides are the same shape. The element vapor may be slick, but I'm not sure I like the design of one side having corners sticking out.

 

[lorenwade]

http://www.fusionwerkz.com/Home.php

Yup there it is. But hey, at least they responded to my questions within 24 hours which is more than I can say for Element. Plus, I am considering them because of the fact that you will never lose those screws. For some reason that just sits a little better in my mind knowing no piece is actually "seperate" from the case.

Oh yeah, Also both sides are the same shape. The element vapor may be slick, but I'm not sure I like the design of one side having corners sticking out.

Yep. I saw that design, but element is updating their design for reception... I wonder what this company will do?

 

[yezzimbakk]

Yep. I saw that design, but element is updating their design for reception... I wonder what this company will do?

Your saying element is still changing designs? I haven't heard that yet but thats intresting.

 

[lorenwade]

Your saying element is still changing designs? I haven't heard that yet but thats intresting.

Huhwhat? Have you read any of the threads? There's two versions. One with an elongated headphone port and sim cutout, apparently also with minor changes to add to signal strength. They're there, just gotta wade through the posts.

 

[xraytech]

http://www.fusionwerkz.com/Home.php

Yup there it is. But hey, at least they responded to my questions within 24 hours which is more than I can say for Element. Plus, I am considering them because of the fact that you will never lose those screws. For some reason that just sits a little better in my mind knowing no piece is actually "seperate" from the case.

Oh yeah, Also both sides are the same shape. The element vapor may be slick, but I'm not sure I like the design of one side having corners sticking out.

Going to these guys a try.


Interesting...

Look at the product photos. It looks like the case is housing a Chinese iPhone? Look at the icon labels on the screen.

 

[yezzimbakk]

Going to these guys a try.


Interesting...

Look at the product photos. It looks like the case is housing a Chinese iPhone? Look at the icon labels on the screen.

yeah same here, although the quality is obviously not going to be element quality, I would say for someone like me that always looks for new cases its a good alternative for the same style but half the price. They are also going to make 3g cases in the near future. I could be wrong, but I think I read onthe site they are making an aluminum back? This could be way better than the elements adhesive carbon fiber (even tho they said you can remove it and put it back on... its still a sticky).

 

[yezzimbakk]

Huhwhat? Have you read any of the threads? There's two versions. One with an elongated headphone port and sim cutout, apparently also with minor changes to add to signal strength. They're there, just gotta wade through the posts.

Yeah I knew they were tweaking with it, just thought you meant they might change the base design of it completely (with regards to the side with the bumps).

 

[cambookpro]

yeah same here, although the quality is obviously not going to be element quality, I would say for someone like me that always looks for new cases its a good alternative for the same style but half the price. They are also going to make 3g cases in the near future. I could be wrong, but I think I read onthe site they are making an aluminum back?

These are for the rumoured CDMA Verizon iPhones in January.

 

[yezza]

Concept

Just my own rendition of improvements over the Vapor...

One idea is to have the aluminium case insulated from the phone via silicone o-rings. I've only chosen these due to cost/ease of manufacture/standard part, otherwise I would custom mould a silicone insulator.

The sides of the case would have a slot machined 1mm deep, and 1mm thick silicone rubber would be glued into them for grip, rather than the asymmetrical shape of the Vapor.

To get the thing together:

1. Place the case on a table face down.
2. Fit 1st o-ring so that it sits in the very bottom corner of the case, evenly around the whole perimeter.
3. Place the phone face down into case.
4. Start pushing 2nd o-ring into the gap between the phone and the case. This gap will be slightly smaller than the o-ring, and will require quite firm pressure on the phone and o-ring to fit.

It would be quite difficult to remove the case using this design, and would likely require damage to the o-ring to remove. However, the advantage is that there are no joins or screws. The tolerances of the case in this area would be rather critical, depending on the hardness of the o-rings. Softer o-ring material may provide easier installation and better shock absorption.

 

[yezza]

More pics..