i-Cover Review

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Product Requirements:
Device:
iPAQ

One of the best attributes of the iPAQ is its
small size. And because of that, sometimes adding a case makes the iPAQ way more
bulky that some people would like it to be. Enter the i-Cover.
This easy to install screen cover comes in three versions. Leather, Carbon Fibre
Look and Textured Black. I was presented with the Carbon Fibre version which
looks like a very tight black and gray checkerboard. 

icover1icover2

The i-Cover is pretty simple in appearance. The screen cover portion is made
of .065in (1.7mm) thick plastic that is shiny on the outside and lightly
textured on the inside. The left side has a black foam rubber hinge and the
right side has a thin magnetic strip. 

To install, you first remove the top magnetic strip, and peel off the
adhesive backing. You then stick that to the right edge of the sleeve that you
want to use this cover with. It will work with the Basic Style Pack, Compact
Flash Sleeve
, PC Card Sleeve etc. I did my review with the Basic Style
Pack. 

You then remove the adhesive backing from the i-Cover hinge, place the cover
on top of the iPAQ matching up the magnets, and stick the hinge to the other
side of the sleeve. 

icover3

The adhesive on the hinge appears to be quite strong. I don’t believe that it
will come unstuck anytime soon. I tried pulling on it with some pretty good
force and it didn’t budge at all.

The magnetic strip blends right in with the sleeve color. It’s very hard to
see and you won’t notice it is there. The actual holding strength of this
closure method is pretty weak, but it seems adequate enough for normal use. Just
don’t expect it to stay closed if something snags the top or bottom of the
cover. I wouldn’t trust this cover to stay closed in a backpack or other bag
where the iPAQ was floating around freely.

icover4icover7

Opening and closing the cover, I feel that it will wear well. The only bad
thing is that you can’t fold the cover complete back around the PDA.

The biggest complaint that I have read about this product is the fact that it
can’t be used with more than one sleeve. I guess you could attach some Velcro
(shudder) to the hinge so that you could shuffle it back and forth between
different sleeves. But for the price of the i-Cover, I think I would just buy
one for each sleeve. I personally would rather be able to use the i-Cover on a
naked iPAQ since I use the Whitney
CF mod
.

Even though the i-Cover is homebrew… Norman Lai cuts and shapes them all by
hand, it still has a surprising professional look to it. The edges are all
smooth and well shaped. I’ve seen some pretty ‘rough’ accessories in my day, and
I really wouldn’t guess that the i-Cover was made by hand without being specific
told so. 

That said, there is a little nit that I can pick…

icover5
icover6

The foam hinge is thicker than the magnets which causes the gap between the
cover and the face of the iPAQ to be a little bit kaddywhumpus. This isn’t a big
deal, it’s just something I wanted to point out. Because of this gap, you’ll
realize that you’re not going to protect the display from dust and dirt. The i-Cover
is mainly to protect the display from direct contact with another object. And in
that respect, the i-Cover does its job well.

Price: $19.95 Leather, $15.95 Graphite, $13.95 Textured Black 
Special Options:
Leather hinge $2.95
Foam padding $1.95

Pros:
Easy to install

Cons:

Can’t use with multiple sleeves
Can’t fold all the way around the PDA

 

Product Information

Price:19.95
Manufacturer:i Cover
Pros:
  • Easy to install
Cons:
  • Can't use with multiple sleeves
  • Can't fold all the way around the PDA

4 thoughts on “i-Cover Review”




  1. Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
  2. Hey Jules,

    I am dying to know: did all go well?
    I find it horrifying when the human eye is involved in a sort of surgery <shiver>.
    I don’t have problems with pain: toothaches were common with me, backaches – too much motorcycle riding – too, migrane headaches are a twice monthly thing with me….but just touching my eye would provoke a fast reflex, in the form of a knock down fist blow 😉

    How are you doing? Did it go off well??!!!???:wow:

  3. Everything went / and is going great so far. I had a few hours friday after the surgery that were pretty painful, but after that the main annoyance was that my eye would just ‘cry’ every few minutes.

    The doctor took the contact lens ‘bandage’ off yesterday and said that there is now no sign of the corneal dystrophy in the left eye. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will never come back, but there’s no guarantee. Right now, my left eye is still really blurry and pretty scratchy feeling. It’s too blurry for me to go back to work and sit for 8hrs in front my PC.

    I will have the same surgery on my right eye this coming friday and then I’ll be done (I hope).

    Here’s hoping that my insurance comes through and pays for it. If not, it’s $2,000 per eye… EEP! :confused:

    Anyway, I’m getting along fine. Mostly watching TV as that doesn’t give me a headache like spending more than 20mins or so in front of the PC. This weekend I watched The Last Castle, Ice Age and About a Boy. All pretty good flicks. I taped Black Hawk Down, Sum of All Fears and The Fast and the Furious for today. 🙂

    Wish me luck for Friday, and thanks to those of you that have sent me get well wishes via email. I really appreciate them!!! 🙂

  4. How long will you be off of work? Maybe a good excuse to try NetFlix. Some good movies to rent:
    Amelie
    Chocolat
    both Harry Potter’s
    My Big Fat Greek Wedding

  5. I’ll probably be off at least another week as I have my right eye worked on tomorrow…

    Thanks for the movie list. I haven’t seen Amelie or Chocolat yet 🙂

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