First I would like to clarify that I do not work for, and am not associated in any way with
itrimming.comThis is just my little review of a company I stumbled across while shopping on ebay. I have placed multiple orders with them, as have several of my friends (I have purchased accessories for a few different phones from them) and have had good luck with their service and the quality of their products. Their main appeal is low prices, and no extra shipping cost (their low prices INCLUDE shipping)!
I have only received one defective product, and when I emailed them they immediately sent a replacement, at no charge, and did not even require me to return the defective item. However, I did attach a photo to my email that detailed the defect, so that may have had an impact. Regardless, it was still excellent customer service.
Of particular interest to my fellow "Tubers" I have purchased and am using the following items from itrimming.com.
I have the
Silicone Skin Case for Nokia XpressMusic 5800, Black, that I am pretty happy with. It's tight enough that it stays in place, but I can still easily remove it when needed.
There is a bit of flex or "gap" on the long side when operating the screen lock switch, but the skin always seems to return to its proper position. It gives a nice grippy feel to the phone that makes it far less likely to slip out of hand and have a nasty fall. Like most Silicone skins, it does seem to attract lint when carried in a pocket, but I use a belt case so it's less of a problem for me.
The skin looks okay. It's about as attractive as a Silicone skin can be. It's a non-reflective flat black color with some visible seems, but overall appears to be a well made product. The sides are smooth and the back has a pattern of raised ridges to add a bit more grip. It's also very thin and adds no appreciable bulk to the phone. It wraps over the "lip" of the phone, but does not cover the screen area at all.
There are holes for the lanyard, speakers, microphone, camera/flash, stylus and screen lock switch. The top also has a large opening for access to the USB, headphone & charge ports, and the power button. All of the holes are located properly and do not affect the phone's operation. The camera and volume rocker are covered, but there are "virtual buttons" molded into the case over those locations. The "virtual buttons" work fine, but they do cause a loss of tactile feel for the real buttons.
All in all I am happy with the skin, and for less than 6 bucks (including shipping) I feel it was a good buy.
I also have the
Premium Universal Rugged Leather Case w/ Magnetic Flap, Large that the phone fits in with the skin. It's a bit tight with the skin, but I can still slide the phone in and out of the case without much trouble, and the tight fit feels more secure to me (note, it has gotten a bit easier to insert and remove the phone over time as the case has broken in).
It is a nice looking case in dark brown leather with light brown stitching. It has a magnetic flap and a tight spring belt clip, with a safety snap belt loop for extra security (you slide the clip on, then if you want more security you can wrap the loop up around your belt and snap it to the top of the case). It has a smooth felt like lining inside the leather.
As I mentioned above, I use this case with the Silicone skin on my phone. I carry it screen out, because that's the way it fits best with the skin on the phone. Without the skin there is a bit of play, so I would recommend looking for a tighter fitting case if you like your phone au'natural.
I have been using the skin and case for around a month and both have performed well. Oh, and did I mention the leather case was also less than 6 bucks, including shipping!
I'd like to point out that I'm usually not a fan of screen protectors. In the past I have found them to be difficult to apply, and they usually result in a loss of screen clarity and/or responsiveness. I have also found the screens on devices I have used in the past to be quite durable and scratch resistant. I have used devices from several different companies for many years with no screen protectors and have not had a problem with scratches. Sadly this is not the case with the Nokia 5800. My screen is showing some fine (and even a few not so fine) scratches after only a month of gentle use.
So I decided to give the
Reusable Screen Protector for Nokia XpressMusic 5800 from itrimming a try. It was easy enough to apply, and pretty much disappears afterwords. I'm happy to say I've not noticed any loss in screen clarity or responsiveness. Wish I had put that on
before I scratched my screen (although the protector helps to hide the fine scratches). The protector covers the screen almost completely. There is a cutout near the bottom for the buttons, and the top, right corner is cut away so that the ear speaker, sensors and front camera are not covered. It's quite a tight fit (no gap around the edges), so align it very carefully when applying. Other than the tight alignment, there were no other issues when applying. The protector "stuck" to the original screen easily, and the few air bubbles I had near the edges were easily worked out with the edge of a credit card and my fingernail.
The "trick" to applying a screen protector properly is all in the preparation. Clean the screen very carefully, and Clean your "work" area thoroughly as well to remove as much dust as possible. Screen protectors come with a peel-off protective sheet, and when you peel it off it creates static electricity that will suck up every piece of dust in the area. Some people recommend working in your bathroom soon after someone has taken a shower, because the increased humidity reduces dust and static. I didn't go quite that far, but I did wipe my work area down with a damp, lint free cloth before opening the protector and that seemed to help.
As I said, the main issue with this protector is alignment. It's quite a tight fit and must be aligned very carefully. Like most screen protectors this one has a peel off protective sheet that is removed from the top down. They recommend peeling only a little of the sheet, then you start applying the protector and peel as you go. The problem with this is that the cutout for the lower buttons almost never lines up when you do it this way. They really should have the cover sheet start at the bottom. So I just peeled the entire cover off and then started applying the protector from the bottom up.
I have only been using the screen protector for a few days, but I'm impressed with it so far. I'll update this post if I encounter any problems as time goes by.
I also ordered a
Nokia DC-4 OEM car charger. Not much to say about that. It works as expected, and was much cheaper than ordering it from Nokia or buying it locally. I have seen it cheaper elsewhere, but the shipping to Hawaii usually makes it more expensive (itrimming does not charge me any additional shipping to Hawaii).
The following are the items I had issues with.
Since the Micro SDHC card included with the 5800 did not include the
standard SD adapter, I ordered one from itrimming. When I received it I noticed that one of the pins was badly bent, and it did not work when I tried it. I took a picture of the defect and shot an email off to itrimming, and the next day I received a reply that a replacement would be mailed out shortly. I received the replacement less than a week later, and it works fine.
I also ordered the
All-in-One Memory Card Reader, White since I discovered my current card reader would not read SDHC cards. This is a neat little adapter that reads standard SD as well as Micro SD, without the need for an adapter (it has a Micro SD card slot). It also has a SIM slot to read phone SIM cards, but I have not tried this feature yet.
When I originally ordered the card reader, the description said it could read/write Sony Memory Stick as well, but the one I received did not have a Memory Stick slot. I emailed itrimming about that, and when they checked their inventory they found that their supplier had changed the reader without warning them. They have since updated their web site to remove Memory Stick from the product photos and description. I decided to keep the reader since I bought it for SDHC & Micro SDHC and it works for that.
The reader is about the size of a large USB flash drive, and it has a swing out cover for the USB port, as well as a hinged cover for the SD & Micro slots. Micro SD cards fit the reader with the hinged cover closed, and the swing cover can then be rotated all the way around the back. SD cards, however, do not allow the cover to close, so the hinged & swing covers will stick out to the side which could cause space issues if you are trying to plug in multiple devices next to each other. Other than that, the reader performs well. Read/write speeds are fast (about as fast as other readers I have used) and it was recognized under both Windows and Linux immediately. No drivers are needed for the flash card reader, but it does require a driver for reading SIM cards, and that is available for Windows only.
Itrimming ships my orders quickly and the orders arrive quickly (usually less than a week from order to delivery). The orders usually arrive in padded envelopes, but other than the bent pin on that SD adapter (which I suspect was a factory defect) I have not have any problems with the packing or items received.
So that's my not so little review on
itrimming.com and a few of their accessories. Turns out I had more to say that I thought I did. I hope this info is useful to someone.
Aloha, Tim
