I just got my 5500 from ebay and am having a great time with it. However, it has some "minor" cosmetic damage to the outside of the case that is really bugging me. I've been trying to come up with some ways to fix this. So far I've come up with two things:

1. Get a new body for the Zaurus somehow... do companys sell these? All I need is the cover outside the screen.

2. Sand the stupid grey gloss off the front somehow. But is it possible to sand plastic (perhaps with a really fine sandpaper)?

The screen is still in great condition... the owner always kept a protective cover on it, so no worries there!

Thank you.

See this thread.
Black zaurus

Wow, that looks great! Do you have to disassemble the Z to start working on it? I only plan on doing the area around the screen and the arrow area.

So, what is this wet'n'dry sandpaper? I read you use it so dust isn't prominent, so you must actually have to wet the surface you're sanding, right?

Yep you have to take it to bits otherwise you wll damage the parts you don't want to sand, eg the screen and the water from the wet n dry sandpaper will kill your z.

wet n dry sandpaer is as it implies, is sandpaper that can be used either wet or dry.

When it is wet, it isn't as abrasive and doesn't produce dust.

Use the fine stuff, as the coarse stuff will put deep scratches in it and give you more work to do in the long run. It will take several hours to do it right, if you rush it it will look like crap.

If you only want to do a small area, than stick some tape over the bits you don't want to do or you will end up having to do the whole lot.

The hard bits are where there are grooves as it is difficult to remove the silver paint from them with sandpaper. I used a scalpel for those bits.

Peter

Thank you, I think I'm going to give it a try.

Just writing to say I just started the mod job on my Zaurus and it's working out great. I have started with the battery cover for practice. I started with this because if I mess it up I could always get another, and it gives me a feel for what to do. By sanding the cover I get a feel for how I should sand, and how to work the corners without worrying about screwing something up.

I'm loving it.

Oh, and I must say I was very surprised at how easy the paint comes off. I'm using a fine 600 grit wet 'n' dry sandpaper and am sanding very gently. I hope the components in the Zaurus aren't as cheap as the paint it's colored in.

hehe,

The main temptation is to rush it, but doing so will actually take longer or look crap.

What do you think to the smooth matt finish? I was going to paint mine, but loved the matt finish so much it's still like that now.

The main advantage is that no more paint can rub off.

Peter

I'm done. Check it out!

I love the finish. I may have rushed the corners on the front a bit, but it still looks a billion times better.

I love the final look. Check out what I done with the battery cover.

great,
Glad you like the result.

Peter

Wow such a neat effect for so little effort/cost, very cool, I might consider that...
I have had another idea though, how about sending 3D models of Zaurus body or the body itself to one of those moulding places... I can't remember the name of the technique, but they can make any shape out of plastic/metal powder, so you could have a zaurus case made out of REAL steel? It'd probably end up costing a fortune but would be so awesome

EDIT: This is what I was thinking of: http://www.zcorp.com/products/zcast.asp, and it'd prolly end up costing over $700