Blade Aluminium Bumper (Looks Nice)

[kaikai830]

Ok, so this is my final thought on this :
1. I'll always like a true aluminum case over a half plastic/aluminum case.
2. Vapor looks better than atomic(knockoff)
3. Don't tell me about signal issues because I have none.(not with the vapor anyway)
4. Stop spamming all the aluminum case thread with the atomic hybrid.
5. No hard feelings, just friendly disagreement.
OK , so this is my own opinion. Feel free to disagree.

 

[glen e]

None of this is spam, the minute someone else makes a case that works like the atomic, I will buy it and like both of them.

 

[ufcfighter]

Ok, so this is my final thought on this :
1. I'll always like a true aluminum case over a half plastic/aluminum case.
2. Vapor looks better than atomic(knockoff)
3. Don't tell me about signal issues because I have none.(not with the vapor anyway)
4. Stop spamming all the aluminum case thread with the atomic hybrid.
5. No hard feelings, just friendly disagreement.
OK , so this is my own opinion. Feel free to disagree.

I completely disagree. They have a great looking product, no doubt. BUT, their customer service is non existent, they don't answer emails, phone calls, take returns. You have to file a dispute to get what you payed for over a month before. Yea, great company, keep giving them your money. I will say this about Atomic, they made a shi**y product and now they are rectifying that and GIVING away their new cases to satisfy old customers. Look at the sales they are losing and really their case performed no worse than the Vapor. Element has no integrity, bottom line. There is no rebuttal you can say to change my mind on that because its a fact. What kind of company would in good conscious take your money and make you wait a month or two or even file a dispute to get your case or money back? They don't care about you, never have and never will. So keep feeding them money, I applaud Atomic for doing the right thing. The money they are losing is probably more than we can imagine but it doesn't matter because they are doing the right thing and satisfying their customers. That's business 101. Tell me another company that would do that? Not a single FU***NG one!! So call them what you want, but at least they have integrity and a good ass product which is more than I can say about Element. Its ridiculous all the people who stand up for such a **** ass company! How long did you have to wait to order your Vapor? Two, Three months? Yea, great company.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFiJ2WFxpyY
Disprove that!!!

 

[rapaleeman]

Your still missing the fact that it's not just Delrin and that is exactly why! For every reason you just stated is the reason it has other materials in it also!! Plus how many people actually buy a single color vapor? And if you think this case looks cheap then you must think the ar15 looks cheap because they look identical and I think that's elements best seller!! Go figure!

ufc, the Atomic Hybrid and the AR15 do not look or feel the same at all. I got my Atomic Hybrid in yesterday and while I like it, the product itself feels really cheap.

Look I know a few people have had a terrible experience with Element. I didn't and neither did quite a few others apparently. It really seems those that had bad experiences with Element were those that were buying a lot of cases at one time (who most, but not all, were looking or ended up flipping on eBay). Several people bragged about it. Whatever it's a free country.

As for me, I bought 2 from them directly (a couple for about the same price as direct on eBay) and had zero issue in ordering. Took 12 days total time.

While I agree that Element has some issues in terms of communication and the overall buy some now and we'll produce them with the money you gave us type scheme is poor business practice. I am not defending them in that regard but my experience with them was good.

As for function, I have had zero reception issues in terms of cell signal but yes it has killed GPS. The Vapor feels solid and the AR15 looks amazing. The Black one that I have looks awesome but I prefer matte finish on the AR15. The 007 I gave to my girl was not my cup of metaphorical tea.

The Atomic Hybrid (the first one was complete garbage) is a completely functional product but it feels a little too square in my hands. Also the full aluminum cap doesn't quite fit on the Delrin side. I have tried multiple times but it won't line up correctly and seems smaller where the two pieces actually touch. There is always some overlap creating even more sharp edges.

On-Topic: The Blade looks really nice actually but I have spent too much money on cases already and this one looks really sketchy in terms of overall sales approach.

 

[glen e]

I'll post this here, not in defense of atomic but something I've discovered all the metal cases - it really helps to align everything if you line things up as you are screwing tight - put 'em all in and then tighten to get a good flush fit:

The hybrid fit is fine when you do this:

 

[chris975d]

See what costs more, derin or aluminum and then come back and say what's cheap!! Delrin costs 4x's the price of aluminum. But I'm pretty happy with my cheap piece of "plastic". You can keep using your case that's kills all functions of your phone, it's your phone!! Buy what you please, just don't plan on using gps or 3G!

This "delrin is 4 times the cost of aluminum" keeps coming up, but as I've said in other threads, I'm not sure where you guys are pricing your delrin. Here's an example using a place that even the average person can buy from:

Using grainger.com, let's price a 5/8in x 3in x 6in block (should be enough to make one of any of these cases) in delrin and aluminum.

Delrin:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DELRIN-Sheet-Stock-2XMF2?Pid=search

This is a 5/8in thick piece of white delrin (Atomic offers this color) that's 24in by 48in. By my math, that should make 64 3in x 6in blocks at 5/8in thickness. The cost of that sheet is $382.75, so per 5/8 x 3 x 6in block it comes to $5.99/block.

Aluminum:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/Flat-Stock-2EZT4?Pid=search

This is a 5/8in thick bar of aluminum (same thickness as above) that's 3in wide (same width we cut the above delrin to) and 6ft long (72 inches) long. That should give us 12 6in x 3in pieces when cut. The cost of that bar is $93.40, so the cost per 6 x 3 x 5/8 inch bar is $7.78/block.

So using the same sized block (5/8 x 3 x 6 inch), which material costs more? And again, this is a place anyone can buy from, and larger purchasers can get it at a bulk rate from other much cheaper places. This example is using white delrin, but black delrin is only a few dollars per sheet higher (Grainger isn't listing black delrin or I'd have used that). And white delrin is "Delrin 150", whereas black delrin is typically sold as "Delrin 100", which is a little lower in impact resistance than natural (white) delrin.

The point being, that I also expressed in another thread, is that delrin isn't "3-4 times more expensive" than aluminum.

* and to those machinists out there, yes, I know that you can't get these exact numbers of 3in x 6in blocks out of the material sizes I listed above, as you'll lose about 0.030 -0.060" per cut, but the idea is the same nonetheless.

 

[ufcfighter]

This "delrin is 4 times the cost of aluminum" keeps coming up, but as I've said in other threads, I'm not sure where you guys are pricing your delrin. Here's an example using a place that even the average person can buy from:

Using grainger.com, let's price a 5/8in x 3in x 6in block (should be enough to make one of any of these cases) in delrin and aluminum.

Delrin:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DELRIN-Sheet-Stock-2XMF2?Pid=search

This is a 5/8in thick piece of white delrin (Atomic offers this color) that's 24in by 48in. By my math, that should make 64 3in x 6in blocks at 5/8in thickness. The cost of that sheet is $382.75, so per 5/8 x 3 x 6in block it comes to $5.99/block.

Aluminum:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/Flat-Stock-2EZT4?Pid=search

This is a 5/8in thick bar of aluminum (same thickness as above) that's 3in wide (same width we cut the above delrin to) and 6ft long (72 inches) long. That should give us 12 6in x 3in pieces when cut. The cost of that bar is $93.40, so the cost per 6 x 3 x 5/8 inch bar is $7.78/block.

So using the same sized block (5/8 x 3 x 6 inch), which material costs more? And again, this is a place anyone can buy from, and larger purchasers can get it at a bulk rate from other much cheaper places. This example is using white delrin, but black delrin is only a few dollars per sheet higher (Grainger isn't listing black delrin or I'd have used that). And white delrin is "Delrin 150", whereas black delrin is typically sold as "Delrin 100", which is a little lower in impact resistance than natural (white) delrin.

The point being, that I also expressed in another thread, is that delrin isn't "3-4 times more expensive" than aluminum.

* and to those machinists out there, yes, I know that you can't get these exact numbers of 3in x 6in blocks out of the material sizes I listed above, as you'll lose about 0.030 -0.060" per cut, but the idea is the same nonetheless.

They buy in sheets and a 12x12 sheet that is 1 inch thick is over 160 bucks. The material has to be that thick to even make the case. Here is a good webste that only deals in materials like this.
http://www.professionalplastics.com/DELRINSHEET-ROD

 

[chris975d]

They buy in sheets and a 12x12 sheet that is 1 inch thick is over 160 bucks. The material has to be that thick to even make the case. Here is a good webste that only deals in materials like this.
http://www.professionalplastics.com/DELRINSHEET-ROD

Professional plastics are known to be one of the highest priced places to purchase anything...here is the same size material stock you are referring to at Grainger: http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DELRIN-Sheet-Stock-2VER2?Pid=search

$85.55 for that same 1" x 12" x 12" sheet that professional plastics charges $160 for.

 

[ufcfighter]

Professional plastics are known to be one of the highest priced places to purchase anything...here is the same size material stock you are referring to at Grainger: http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DELRIN-Sheet-Stock-2VER2?Pid=search

$85.55 for that same 1" x 12" x 12" sheet that professional plastics charges $160 for.

Yea but now your assuming that they are using the cheapest materials they can find. Aluminum is the same way, there are several different grades, they may say its a certain grade but how do you really know? So I am still saying that delrin is more expensive then aluminum. Atomic said that is what they pay for delrin and they told me what the pay for their aluminum and I promise you that they are making alot less on these cases than the aluminum cases.

 

[chris975d]

Yea but now your assuming that they are using the cheapest materials they can find. Aluminum is the same way, there are several different grades, they may say its a certain grade but how do you really know? So I am still saying that delrin is more expensive then aluminum. Atomic said that is what they pay for delrin and they told me what the pay for their aluminum and I promise you that they are making alot less on these cases than the aluminum cases.

There are many different types of delrin (Delrin 150, Delrin 100, Delrin AF) and some other companies products (Delrin is a DuPont product) that are chemically similar. The most expensive that I know of is Delrin AF, and I know they aren't using it, as it comes only in a dark brown. Or at least that's all that I've ever seen it in. And Atomic is using only black and white (called natural), and the only formulations of Delrin that I know of coming in those 2 colors are 150 and 100, and those are the prices I listed above. And I'm not saying that Atomic isn't paying what they say they are for Delrin, I'm saying if they are, they are paying way more for it than they should. They could be making a sh** load more if they change materials sources. Like I said in the other thread, my father's shop would buy and use Delrin for prototyping/mock-ups of parts because it was CHEAPER than aluminum, not the other way around. I doubt a company like Cisco would let them throw away delrin if it was so expensive.
And correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't Atomic originally advertising their all aluminum case as "6061" aluminum? That's the same formula that I linked to at Grainger.

 

[ufcfighter]

You could be correct on them making more money. But I don't know what it takes to make a case when you say a block. But I don't think if they would use that high grade of aluminum they would use such a cheap piece of delrin because you know the quality is not the same. And maybe its all the other materials that is driving the case up as well. Like the composite's in the case. I honestly don't know but I wouldn't see why they would lie about it to me, they told me what it costs them to make their aluminum case and the delrin case which I will not say but they are not making as much profit on the new case be far, I will say that.

There are many different types of delrin (Delrin 150, Delrin 100, Delrin AF) and some other companies products (Delrin is a DuPont product) that are chemically similar. The most expensive that I know of is Delrin AF, and I know they aren't using it, as it comes only in a dark brown. Or at least that's all that I've ever seen it in. And Atomic is using only black and white (called natural), and the only formulations of Delrin that I know of coming in those 2 colors are 150 and 100, and those are the prices I listed above. And I'm not saying that Atomic isn't paying what they say they are for Delrin, I'm saying if they are, they are paying way more for it than they should. They could be making a sh** load more if they change materials sources. Like I said in the other thread, my father's shop would buy and use Delrin for prototyping/mock-ups of parts because it was CHEAPER than aluminum, not the other way around. I doubt a company like Cisco would let them throw away delrin if it was so expensive.
And correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't Atomic originally advertising their all aluminum case as "6061" aluminum? That's the same formula that I linked to at Grainger.

 

[POWZa]

Edited

tell me please, how do you related to atomic? ui see that you get a lot of info on new products, materials, costs, etc.

 

[chris975d]

From running my own business, I think the reason they are charging more is what has been said in the Atomic thread...Atomic factored in the cost of all the "all aluminum' case returns in the manufacturing costs of these new hybrid cases, which is what any smart business owner does. Hell, even companies like Apple do this as well. They knew going into this hybrid manufacturing that they were going to have to eat most of the "all aluminum" cases on returns, so they have to factor that back into their business model somewhere. You HAVE to, in order to sustain a viable business. You have to estimate that and build it back into your overall cost And I don't fault them for doing it at all, but I really don't like someone saying "delrin is more expensive than aluminum", when it's clearly not. Again, unless you go with Delrin AF, but that is honestly stupidly expensive, and the cost of the Atomic hybrid wouldn't even make up for the cost of that Delrin (plus machine time, advertising, labor, packaging, etc).

You could be correct on them making more money. But I don't know what it takes to make a case when you say a block. But I don't think if they would use that high grade of aluminum they would use such a cheap piece of delrin because you know the quality is not the same. And maybe its all the other materials that is driving the case up as well. Like the composite's in the case. I honestly don't know but I wouldn't see why they would lie about it to me, they told me what it costs them to make their aluminum case and the delrin case which I will not say but they are not making as much profit on the new case be far, I will say that.

 

[ufcfighter]

tell me please, how do you related to atomic? ui see that you get a lot of info on new products, materials, costs, etc.

No, chris and I had a private conversation through PM's on a matter so I contacted Atomic and flat out addressed it because I was kind of angered by what I was told by chris. So atomic sent me a video along with some information to back up their story. That is all I am going by, chris know's about it, he has seen the video they sent me. I really know nothing else than anyone else does except the price of the delrin. I have no idea about new products except for caps which several others did as well so I am not sure what you mean.

 

[chris975d]

No, chris and I had a private conversation through PM's on a matter so I contacted Atomic and flat out addressed it because I was kind of angered by what I was told by chris. So atomic sent me a video along with some information to back up their story. That is all I am going by, chris know's about it, he has seen the video they sent me. I really know nothing else than anyone else does except the price of the delrin. I have no idea about new products except for caps which several others did as well so I am not sure what you mean.

I do find it odd that you know about a convo that I had privately with Unni (real name Ryan) at Atomic, and what videos he sent me, however. I've never mentioned it here nor in mine and your PM's....

 

[SophiaLee]

These all look very masculine. Pass.

 

[glen e]

No, chris and I had a private conversation through PM's on a matter so I contacted Atomic and flat out addressed it because I was kind of angered by what I was told by chris. So atomic sent me a video along with some information to back up their story. That is all I am going by, chris know's about it, he has seen the video they sent me. I really know nothing else than anyone else does except the price of the delrin. I have no idea about new products except for caps which several others did as well so I am not sure what you mean.

agreed - they guys at Atomic are just open and return messages...They are right down the road from me (20 mi- I did not know that) - and they shipped me the original case without bolts - on a friday night at 830 I got an email offering for them to drive me up the bolts on Saturday to my house. Unni (cust realtions) also answers his iphone email almost instantaneously....

so are we cheerleaders? So far they are the most responsive. I will say returning the Alumacase was very hassle free too.

 

[ufcfighter]

I do find it odd that you know about a convo that I had privately with Unni (real name Ryan) at Atomic, and what videos he sent me, however. I've never mentioned it here nor in mine and your PM's....

I am the one who sent it to you. Look at you pm's!

 

[ufcfighter]

I do find it odd that you know about a convo that I had privately with Unni (real name Ryan) at Atomic, and what videos he sent me, however. I've never mentioned it here nor in mine and your PM's....

November 11th. 6 pm. Look at your messages!

 

[chris975d]

I am the one who sent it to you. Look at you pm's!

I thought you were referring to the messages Ryan sent me. My mistake.

 

[rapaleeman]

I'll post this here, not in defense of atomic but something I've discovered all the metal cases - it really helps to align everything if you line things up as you are screwing tight - put 'em all in and then tighten to get a good flush fit:

The hybrid fit is fine when you do this:

That's a good tip and it worked for the old Atomic I had and that is also how I get my Vapors on. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries, especially with my AR15.

On my hybrid one though, the delrin side is physically bigger at the connection point than the aluminum cap. Probably since they are reusing some of the pieces from the first version of case. Not a problem just an observation.

I can get the two pieces to where they are even on both the top and bottom but there is overlap in the front and back causing some sharp edges if that makes any sense. Essentially the aluminum cap isn't wide enough or the delrin side is too wide.

I also still stand by my comment of it feeling slightly cheap. It doesn't feel as solid as the other metal cases I have and it flexes a lot when not connected to the cap or on the phone.

Despite that and the fact that case itself is a little more box-y and physically sharp on the sides it looks pretty good, (I got the black/red). Using it for the past 2 days it is significantly lighter than the Vapor which is good while on the phone but not so good when I'm looking for grip when texting or playing a game. The headphone jack is deep but fine and I do like the bigger port at the bottom for the dock connector. My 4 aftermarket chargers all work.

Oh, and GPS works fine unlike the Element and no cell problems either. Then again, I'm lucky enough not to have had any cell issues with the Vapor either (my GPS with the Element didn;t work though).

 

[Benguitar]

Awesome..

I wish they made an Otterbox/Defender style case, Metal back protection as well as the sides.

 

[Big Ben]

I completely disagree. They have a great looking product, no doubt. BUT, their customer service is non existent, they don't answer emails, phone calls, take returns. You have to file a dispute to get what you payed for over a month before. Yea, great company, keep giving them your money. I will say this about Atomic, they made a shi**y product and now they are rectifying that and GIVING away their new cases to satisfy old customers. Look at the sales they are losing and really their case performed no worse than the Vapor. Element has no integrity, bottom line. There is no rebuttal you can say to change my mind on that because its a fact. What kind of company would in good conscious take your money and make you wait a month or two or even file a dispute to get your case or money back? They don't care about you, never have and never will. So keep feeding them money, I applaud Atomic for doing the right thing. The money they are losing is probably more than we can imagine but it doesn't matter because they are doing the right thing and satisfying their customers. That's business 101. Tell me another company that would do that? Not a single FU***NG one!! So call them what you want, but at least they have integrity and a good ass product which is more than I can say about Element. Its ridiculous all the people who stand up for such a **** ass company! How long did you have to wait to order your Vapor? Two, Three months? Yea, great company.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFiJ2WFxpyY
Disprove that!!!

I felt pretty stupid after seeing all these bad reviews after spending $100 and waiting 10 weeks to get a case that KILLED my signal. I normally have 3-5 bars and it went to searching almost ALL the time.
I just ordred a Kinetic Case. I sent en email to ask them a couple questions and get a couple pics and had a responce within 20-30 minutes. They said then spent the last 3-4 months to develop the case to not have any signal problems. The guy I exchanged an email with said they will be posting a signal test on ebay really soon. He also said to return the case if I was not happy. I'll post something up when I get something. I wish I found this forum before waiting 10 weeks for an element.
http://www.kineticcase.com/index.html

As far as this Blade case thing goes... I'm not super excited about getting any more stuff for Asia. I'll try a US company first. Kinetic says they are made in Northern California.

 

[kaikai830]

I felt pretty stupid after seeing all these bad reviews after spending $100 and waiting 10 weeks to get a case that KILLED my signal. I normally have 3-5 bars and it went to searching almost ALL the time.
I just ordred a Kinetic Case. I sent en email to ask them a couple questions and get a couple pics and had a responce within 20-30 minutes. They said then spent the last 3-4 months to develop the case to not have any signal problems. The guy I exchanged an email with said they will be posting a signal test on ebay really soon. He also said to return the case if I was not happy. I'll post something up when I get something. I wish I found this forum before waiting 10 weeks for an element.
http://www.kineticcase.com/index.html

As far as this Blade case thing goes... I'm not super excited about getting any more stuff for Asia. I'll try a US company first. Kinetic says they are made in Northern California.

I bet that you work for this company because every of your posts advertise this company. About the case, it's not my style. Both the style and finish looks exactly like the plastic incase slider case but without the back that I have on my old 3gs.
By the way, how do you post a signal test on ebay?

 

[Big Ben]

I bet that you work for this company because every of your posts advertise this company. About the case, it's not my style. Both the style and finish looks exactly like the plastic incase slider case that I have on my old 3gs.
By the way, how do you post a signal test on ebay?

Kaikai,
No I don't work for them, but I would love to, I've always wanted to learn more about making stuff. I just get excited about cases. I'm kind of a case whore. I had the incase on my 3GS, I also had the BelchCo carbon fiber case, a element case, a otter box, and some other cheapo stuff. When I had my 3GS I loved the element case, and I was excited to support an american company. When the 4 came out I was PUMPED that the element was going to make a case for it. Now, I'm just excited that a handfull of companies are making nice billet stuff. It seems like a couple of the companies are making knock offish stuff to what element case up with. At least Kinetic did something that was a little different.
So I'm a dumb ass and typed ebay instead of YouTube.