Oh ya, forgot about the forum rules.

Where can you buy this? What's the cost?

Huh? Fedex imposed tax on handphone covers? From which country you ordered from?

I just received from Fedex one cover, but did not face any tax. They just delivered it Msia from Shenzen, China, thru guangzhow.

How if we order from spigen? Perhaps this is from Korea also no tax.

Good to know. thanks!

so we should not order too expensive items, otherwise, customs will want to tax you.

but do you know what is the tax rate for handphone accessories? just in case...

Interested to get some Spigen Neo Hybrid frames.

If anyone wants anything from Spigen online store that you can't get here locally, you can PM me or neverknowgirl to join in for a bulk order to save shipping costs.

view the products at:-
www.spigen.com

Received my Otterbox preserver for ip5s. Perhaps I shld have ordered the ip5 version....

did you buy the lifeproof fre or nuud yet?

I received the otterbox preserver last week by Fedex, but still not used it yet. very pristine condition! . I just closed the cover sealed it and tried the underwater test for an hour .. just follow their instructions.

if the water leaks in, then got to get a replacement oh...

but I like it so far, better than the defender, which is much thicker !

but one thing about the Otterbox Defender is that since the day I put the iphone in the casing until now, when I take the iphone out and check it, the phone looks no different from the time it went into the Defender's protective casing. There is absolutely no scratches, no marks or dents on the phone. It's like just opening the brand new phone from that weirdly or weakly designed Apple logo box. ( I heard how someone bought his new iphone, opened the box by the road side, and since the phone is just lightly supported on that crazy shallow white supporting cardboard, it just slipped out of the support with a slight tilt and dropped onto the road tarmac!! It then had a bad dent on the edge!! Brand new, just open and now dented! Ouch !! )

So its better to warn all new iphone owners to watch out when you open the box! Open your new phone on the bed or sofa !


Preserving the pristine condition of the phone is what I can say about this Defender.
Drawbacks? - 1. the case is bulky, but can still fit into my pants pockets, 2. the screen protector gets some getting used but once you get the hang of it, its like a normal screen protector, 3. the plastic sides along the screen rises up quite high so if you need to touch the screen near the sides either left or right, it may be a bit difficult - but it just needs some getting used to, that's all. I am fine with it after using it since last November. 4. hard to take out the phone from the cover but after a while it gets easier, as the casing is VERY tight 5. my casing is grey in color on the rubber portion with white plastic but the grey rubber gets blackened if it rubs onto newspaper, the black ink gets onto the rubber side of the casing and you will need to clean it or it'll look dirty.


Pluspoints? - 1. great protection all round. 2. Hip holster is great for me on my belt. 3. Excellent call quality as the openings are just where the speakers and mikes are. 4. the buttons are accurately positioned, does its work well, sleep button, volume up down. 5. the power and earphones protective rubber pads after multiple taking out to charge plug in earphones and then closing back is still not showing any signs of wear. at first, i thought it won't last long and will just tear apart but nope, still ok.


But now since Otterbox came out with Preserver which is waterproof and the defender is not, I thought I would just buy it and use it when I go swimming, cycling in the rain or go on holiday tours where there are water areas, think boat rides, water sports, like sunway lagoon ... And use the Defender on dry land

Let me spend more time with the preserver and find out more ... it comes with a lanyard or loop to tie it around your hands. so the small hole on the casing can be tied to a longer string and hang it around your neck if you were to go swimming or go holiday touring to prevent theft or pick pockets.

This post has been edited by REST3: Feb 25 2014, 03:57 PM

i have bought the Siege and the USG Impossible Tempered Glass (ITG) Pro +.

But there are many others who bough the Armorz, which I have yet to try.... so there will be the others who can give you their opinion.

for me, I like the smoothness of the glass over plastic SP.. looks so nice and shiny, once you give it a clean cloth wipe.. just like a nude iphone !

but perhaps may want to wait for the sapphire glass even better... but more $$ ..

Ok, perhaps I offer you another viewpoint? When I buy a phone, I try to budget for it as well as some sort of protective cover.

To me, the phone cover is like the insurance that you would normally buy for medical insurance or car insurance. This works for you in case something bad happens. If you car has an accident, the insurance company covers the repairs so you don't have to pay the thousands and thousands of RM to repair the damage.

So it goes with Apple's iPhone 5s.
I look at the iPhone as a thing of advanced engineering and design. Out of the brand new box, it comes out glittering and shiny. Its brand new! Like a new car! So how much did it cost?

2k, 2.6k or 3.1k depending on the phone memory ( I got the 64 Gb version, ya, ouch !)

So the investment for me is 3K, brand new.

Next I try to figure out what can happen to my new phone in the course of daily usage:
1. It could fall out of my hands or table, and crack the screen on the floor (this happens all the time to a lot of people around the world)
2. It could fall into the toilet bowl while I am putting on my pants (happened before too I think to someone in forum)
3. It could get wet from coffee cup spilling over the table (normal for busy people with a lot of things cluttered on the work table)

So after this, I will want to estimate how much it would cost me to replace the glass screen if it broke. Or to fix the phone if it got wet.

Warranty by Apple or Telco does not cover screen breakage so I need to spend some money to get it repaired. My iphone 4 screen did break before after a fall, even with a cover on, but it was a basic cover only. Repair was about RM300 for a compatible screen, which then resulted with a purplish tint. not the same quality as the original ...

How much to repair screen? Perhaps the replacement screen is about RM400 to RM800 to even RM1000 for the original screen which will give the same crisp color and retina display quality?

OK, next is the amount of downtime, that I will not have my phone to use, maybe a day, maybe a week while waiting for the spare parts to come, remember screen totally crack and can't be used.... ok so maybe I ask around and get to rent a handphone for RM10 a day. (just for costing purposes) A week of rental will come to RM70.

So now the cost of a screen breakage is :
- screen display = RM600
- rental of phone for 7 days = RM70

TOTAL COST OF SCREEN BREAKAGE = RM670.
( I will add in another RM100 for peace of mind to know that my phone will continue to work no matter what happens if it falls. )


So for me, spending on anything that costs RM700 or less to protect my phone from screen breakage makes sense to me.


Well looking at Otterbox Preserver (waterproof) - costs RM309 in Machines.
The Otterbox Defender (not waterproof ) - costs RM189 in machines too.
( But if you use Otterbox, you cannot use a Glass screen protector as its too thick.)

Total cost of waterproof Phone cover = RM309


So looking at my viewpoint, I can say that spending another RM309 to the iPhone cost of RM3,150 makes sense as its only 9.80% of the cost of the phone only. So RM670 - RM309 is RM361 and this is the amount of money I will save compared to what happens if the screen broke.


The other option is to use Glass SP - Armorz - RM140 or so
with Spigen Tough Armor casing (not waterproof) - RM98

Total Cost of protection (not waterproof) = RM238 ( still will protect against screen breakage )

So far, does my justification for spending money make any sense?

neo hybrid.

Red or gold - your choice.





The gold frame seems to be a shade darker and richer type of gold than the actual iPhone gold...



looks like gold is a good choice




on the other hand, the red is so shiny while the gold is matt and not shiny, looks like real metal..




my daughter just bought the gold neo hybrid, while the red one is mine. The red is really very shiny and glittering, while the gold shows off the metal-like champagne gold at its best.

( all photos taken with a super cheap lens costing RM350, the Nikon AF 50mm f1.8.
Photos are shot at F7.1, ISO 320, 1 to 2 secs exposure, using manual settings.)

oic, which machines is this? I went to pyramid machines, red is sold out. By the way my red is really deep red. these set of photos do not actually show the red very well. my previous set of photos is better, which was using a better lens, the red is more accurate.

ya agree, the SGP plastic can be scratched by sharp objects unfortunately.
so I take more care of it than normal when placing the phone around. Good looking like some strong metal frame but is plastic in disguise ! heh heh.

gold is like brushed metal, red is like a beautifully waxed polished red car paintworks.

just take more care should keep it looking great !

now my daughter hijack my red frame! she now got the gold and red, I am left with just the black rubber casing ..

Yup, the siege can be removed and put back on quite a few times. But you have to be very sure you know what you are doing as the glass is quite thin. Also got to be done in a dust free environment.

Perhaps in the bathroom. .

I also use a table lamp which will shine brightly onto the phone's screen and you can easily see if there is any dust or not on the screen. Best to be done at night, without any moving air or wind blowing..

get the nuud... preserver is also good....

choices, choices...

This post has been edited by REST3: Feb 26 2014, 10:02 PM

The otterbox preserver, a water proof case,

with a lanyard to tie around your hands





Thin flexible Membrane allows Touch ID, better make sure don't puncture this, with your finger nails ..



bottom ports that can be opened, with the O-ring seals..



To put the phone into the casing and closing it will take some getting used to. almost need to bend the bottom half to get it in.

One part of the case has a rubber gasket inside that will seal out water, so the two parts must be tightly pressed together at all times.
The other ports at the bottom has the O-rings to seal the earphone and power ports, also very tight.

All seems to be working well.

will use it more everyday to see if call quality is good or not.

so far, have used Siri and it recognises words without problem, so the mike works through the waterproof membrane quite well

Ok. Got the following from another thread, so it's about 600 and more for labour..

So I will just spend another 200 to 300 to save me the trouble and heartbreak....

there is some vibration at some times, at other times there is none and the sound is clear.

But certainly the sound will be a little muffled as compared to the sound without the casing.

Can you do any testing first before buy the lifeproof nuud or otterbox preserver? then can see if the vibration is bad or not.

But one thing is sure, if I had to use this cover on a daily basis, it is still ok to make and receive calls. One thing is the sound that comes out can be quite loud (actually its an iPhone thing, where sound is quite loud if put to maximum). So i was just testing it and put the volume down a little bit, and the vibration was reduced and the sound is clearer. makes sense as the loud sound coming out will cause the vibration of the membrane, so reduce the volume, then the sound becomes clearer..

For a lot of people the Internet, sms, whatsapp, facebook,... Allows them to generate income..

So its a business tool for them. To others who like the latest gadgets, its a fun pastime hobby.. Lots of games on smartphones.
and if they have the money to afford it, its their choice ..
You ask do we need or not, i say its necessary as it gives you the competitive edge in life.
Lets say you attend college and need to get some urgent answers.. One got smartphone, one dont have.. So who will get ahead?

So for hobbyists, I know of some who dont mind spending lots of money on car audio systems, expensive branded handbags,..

So each have their own poison..