Cases / Shells - what're you getting / reviews:

Okay - i'm excited!

Just got home a little bit ago, and though I have to run right back out, I stole some time to play with my new case (at the expense of dinner...) because it finally came in today.

First impressions: Packaging is attractive, and once open it comes with screen protector, screen-cleaning cloth, a 4-pole extension piece for the headphones jack and the case (and some very short paperwork).

The case is 3 parts, as listed above, outer for the top, inner soft rubber for the bottom, and outer not-as-soft rubber for the bottom.

Compared to the hard-shell case I have, it's much more bouncy, definitely can't classify the trident as a hard case compared to that - but it's not very flexible, like a gel-type case would be.

Since I can't bend the outer-case very far (and we're talking small distance here) without being pretty postive it'll break, I suppose it has to be considered a hard case after all. Sorry if this seems like a mixed opinion here, it's definitely not a gel-type case.

The color is nice, darn close to my favorite color of green - and green is my favorite color.

I like the fact that the part that covers the speaker (where you would listen to a phone call from) is a shield, preventing stuff from getting in the speaker. Ditto for the bottom half over the two speakers on the bottom of the phone.

The power port for usb is still uncovered...as is the headphones jack. So we've almost got a winner here, I would have liked for something covering both of those ports. I have a piece that fits in the headphones jack, which you can see in one of my pictures below (came on a stylus - check them out on amazon and you'll find one)...but I still have no solution for covering the open usb jack.

I have no idea why there are two tiny cutouts on the upper piece right above where the volume buttons are...this perplexes me. ( edit again - figured it out. When you hit caps or alt on the keyboard, it leaves space to show the light that lights up when the keyboard is slid out.)

The power button, volume buttons, and camera button are covered with the bottom rubber insert piece, and they all press fine and work well. No issues with the way they are covered.

And of course...it doesn't fit in the old pouch I had for it (was for the flip camcorder) so I got a new one, it's a kodak. Wanted to move to something a little bigger so I didn't have to take a micro-camera case around with me for my cables and memory cards anymore. The kodak case still fits in my pocket, so win all around.

In closing:

I love the trident case, if it had something to cover the usb port i'd love it even more. If by some misfortune the phone gets dropped or banged, it won't take the same amount of jarring abuse, and the shock will be much, much more distributed and absorbed by the case.

I didn't use the screen protector it came with, the one I already have on it is a privacy filter which I much prefer.

ETA:

The first picture shows the trident case next to the old hard-shell case, with the phone above and a pen in-between for size guage.

Also - fits in the t-mobile universal car cradle that I have, and doesn't fall out - as the prior case also allowed the phone to do.

PJASchultz said:

Hmmm, that's unfortunate. For some reason I was thinking it was rubbery-er. Does it at least have some grip to it, or is it more glossy, slippery like?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Both glossy & grippy. Won't slide across my desk when I push it because of the black piece that is exposed from the rubber insert, but if I turn it on it's face it slides easy when it's just the exterior case touching.

Yet another edit:

Just spent the last half hour playing castlevania:symphony of the night on a psx emulator, no overheating issues (on an anker battery too - keep this in mind)

This is and will probably always remain my biggest concern with any case for the phone, and while it's probably too early to tell for sure, so far so good. Just wanted to get a preliminary out there about it, and i'll post up a followup to this in a few days if no issues, or a reply sooner if there are.

Figured i'd edit it in instead of making a new reply, since no one else has said anything since my posting.

Pictures were taken from a digital camera I bought at circuit city - around 2006

They are just washed out, true color is very close to the amazon depiction of color at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Trident-AG-MT...le-apps&ie=UTF8&qid=1319912512&sr=1-1-catcorr

Mine is ballistic green, they only offer a few colors, and that's the green option.

I'll definitely be picking up one of these (in the same color) for my Nook Color now, i'm sold - never had an interest in otterbox, and don't care if they ever make one for our phone or not (sorry to the fans of otterbox).

My next step is to apply a screen protector to the back of the screen half of the phone. I'm thinking i'll cut one out to fit around the slide channels. I've been eyeing it up and I think I can get one to fit without crushing the keys on the keyboard - not too sure yet, but gonna try sometime soon.

Also, something to add, this trident case won't scratch the back of the screen half of the phone, like another person posted up about the HTC hard-shell case. Which is a crap case, but all we had until recently.

As far as i'm concerned, my case search is over, I don't think i'll be able to find something better then this.

I am, however, looking at the hard-shell otterbox waterproof cases as something to put the phone into, not as an actual case to wrap it in.

Link to otter cases i'm talking about:
http://www.otterbox.com/otterbox-2000-cases/otterbox-2000-cases,default,sc.html

After measuring the trident case ( 2" 10/16th wide, 5" 1/16th long, 12/16th thick - in inches) it seems it'll fit in the 2000 case with some room to spare, might be able to fit both usb and rca cables in with it and have it all be waterproof.

Picture of random green stuff: (if this helps? lol)

left is an olive drab duffle bag, it's a forest green cushion it's on, the ruler is a dollar store green ruler...probably find one near you...dunno...just random green.

siani_8 said:

I received my Trident Case today in Balistic Green. It's a nice case and other reviewers before me already did and outstanding job detailing this one. However, one thing I'm noticing is that unlike most other cases out there, this one covers up the little hole to the left side of the camera lens. I think that is a sensor for the camera. They did leave some holes in the case around that area but I'm not sure it's directly above on the one I installed. I may have to research further to find out how important that is to be unobstructed and update this post later.

Edit:

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's the backside Illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensor (a light sensor?) The Trident case has a series of holes above and around the sensor but the holes also have a screen over them. Is this a smart idea? Should we maybe remove that screen at lease from the trident case?

Hey Blue6IX.. You have this case, what do you think?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

To be honest, i'm not sure. I don't use the camera very much, and when I do it's been for shooting pictures of merchandising resets in-store, which have to be taken small enough to email. They're done under good lighting, always plenty of illumination when working in a store.

I played with the camera a bit when I first got it, but it's one of the less-used features of the device for me. If I didn't have to take pictures from time to time for work, it would hardly ever get used.

I suppose now i'll have to get around to taking a whole mess of control pictures, both with the case on and with it off, then dumping them in to photoshop to examine the differences and see how the quality changes, if at all.

There is only one hardware entry for a light sensor on the device, unless that is something buried in the code for the camera itself...so not too sure what to say about it yet.

Definitely bears investigation, since most people seem to be focused on the camera when it comes to this device. I'm intrigued by the question, and am curious to know what the answer is.

Glad you got your case in, hope you like it!

Edit:

If the sensor is affected by the screen, then removing it will probably help reduce the issue - but no matter what you'll lose a bit of ambient light that gets to it - if in fact that is what it is.

Wish we had a serious blow-by-blow teardown somewhere. I'm really, really wanting to get one...almost willing to take my phone completely apart and then just file an insurance claim to get a new one. The kind of taking apart that is would leave the phone in a 'will never work again' state...i've just grown so attached to this specific one I would really miss it.

siani_8 said:

...

I don't know about a case that covers the charger port but I found a port cover for you fairly cheap. I guess you'll just have to be careful you don't lose it while charging.

http://www.topicovers.com/products/micro-usb-port-cover

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

I had thought it was a microphone, but not sure. Didn't want to derail people from exploring your thought of it being a light sensor.

-----------

Thank you!!!!!!

In my review of the case, the fact it didn't cover the usb port was my only gripe, and you saw I had something for the headphones jack.

I really, really appreciate you sharing the link for the usb cover. My phone's protection is now complete, and you are the one who did it.

A million thanks!