Hinge cracks

[jornada720]

I have now gone through several Geminis that all eventually start getting cracks in the plastic that covers the hinges.

The latest Gemini has a flaw that the keyboard and the display do not turn on when I open my phone. Has anyone else had to wait several seconds before the display turns on after opening? The Gemini does not even respond to the Esc/Power key

[gidds]

I have now gone through several Geminis that all eventually start getting cracks in the plastic that covers the hinges.

Strange; I use mine countless times every day, and it's survived a year without any apparent deterioration of the hinges.  How are you treating yours??

The hinges (and associated cables &c) are always the weak point of any clamshell device.  But the scale of your problem does make me wonder whether you're doing anything to exacerbate it.

(BTW, I think they said Cosmo Communicator will have a stronger hinge.)

As for waking-up time; mine has always taken a perceptible time for the screen to turn on after opening it, but it's usually around half a second; I don't think it's ever been more than a second or so.  I don't know what causes the delay, so I can't suggest anythijng there.

[Dixit]

I have now gone through several Geminis that all eventually start getting cracks in the plastic that covers the hinges.

Strange; I use mine countless times every day, and it's survived a year without any apparent deterioration of the hinges.  How are you treating yours??

The hinges (and associated cables &c) are always the weak point of any clamshell device.  But the scale of your problem does make me wonder whether you're doing anything to exacerbate it.

(BTW, I think they said Cosmo Communicator will have a stronger hinge.)

As for waking-up time; mine has always taken a perceptible time for the screen to turn on after opening it, but it's usually around half a second; I don't think it's ever been more than a second or so.  I don't know what causes the delay, so I can't suggest anythijng there.

Ditto here. But since Android 8 I also note sometimes, that it takes up to 5s. I press On, but 'nothing happens' (well... it still switches on, but after the 5s wait). Given my battery trouble I still have the idea that something is running in the background.

[Eldkatten]

I have now gone through several Geminis that all eventually start getting cracks in the plastic that covers the hinges.

Strange; I use mine countless times every day, and it's survived a year without any apparent deterioration of the hinges.  How are you treating yours??

The hinges (and associated cables &c) are always the weak point of any clamshell device.  But the scale of your problem does make me wonder whether you're doing anything to exacerbate it.

(BTW, I think they said Cosmo Communicator will have a stronger hinge.)

As for waking-up time; mine has always taken a perceptible time for the screen to turn on after opening it, but it's usually around half a second; I don't think it's ever been more than a second or so.  I don't know what causes the delay, so I can't suggest anythijng there.

Same here: apart from the tiny hairline cracks in the lid where the magnets sit I don't see any damage, not at the hinges nor anywhere else. I do open and close the device carefully, not letting it "snap" open or close. Allways.
Yes, it would be helpful to have a thorough description of how the jornada720 uses and stores the device.

Kind regards

[jornada720]

I have now gone through several Geminis that all eventually start getting cracks in the plastic that covers the hinges.

Strange; I use mine countless times every day, and it's survived a year without any apparent deterioration of the hinges.  How are you treating yours??

The hinges (and associated cables &c) are always the weak point of any clamshell device.  But the scale of your problem does make me wonder whether you're doing anything to exacerbate it.

(BTW, I think they said Cosmo Communicator will have a stronger hinge.)

As for waking-up time; mine has always taken a perceptible time for the screen to turn on after opening it, but it's usually around half a second; I don't think it's ever been more than a second or so.  I don't know what causes the delay, so I can't suggest anythijng there.

Same here: apart from the tiny hairline cracks in the lid where the magnets sit I don't see any damage, not at the hinges nor anywhere else. I do open and close the device carefully, not letting it "snap" open or close. Allways.
Yes, it would be helpful to have a thorough description of how the jornada720 uses and stores the device.

Kind regards

I think the problem may be related to the fact that I often use capacitative styluses on my screen. Unfortunately, the screen does not register the touches all the time so sometimes I have to press a little harder. Perhaps this is putting stress on the hinge plastics.

I store my Gemini on a nightstand at the end of the day and have never dropped it on a hard surface. I dropped it once while closed on some carpet.

Honestly, it is pretty awful that Planet used plastic in the hinges. This is not a good for long-term use and is not necesssary given advances in metals design.

[mithrandir]

I think the problem may be related to the fact that I often use capacitative styluses on my screen. Unfortunately, the screen does not register the touches all the time so sometimes I have to press a little harder. Perhaps this is putting stress on the hinge plastics.

I store my Gemini on a nightstand at the end of the day and have never dropped it on a hard surface. I dropped it once while closed on some carpet.

Honestly, it is pretty awful that Planet used plastic in the hinges. This is not a good for long-term use and is not necesssary given advances in metals design.

You might try out some active stylus. Using the Adonit Dash2 here. Never have to press hard and it is much more precise (though not as precise as a Samsung S-Pen) than a normal capacitive stylus.

[Kisuke-CZE]

Hi,

mine plastic hinge broke after 4 or 5 months of using device. No drops or anything, just opening and closing. I had to sent it back to UK for repair: https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?topic=35533.msg290410#msg290410
Since the repair, it seems to be OK for now.

[Dixit]

Interesting. Did it solve your "random power off"  issue as well ?
How much time did it take to get a working Gemini back again from Planet ?

[Kisuke-CZE]

Repair took about 3 weeks including shipping from central Europe to Britain and back. Which is faster that avarage warranty repair in our country (which is kind a sad I would say). So no complaints about that. Buy I believe opening mechanism is still a weakness - since hinges are made of plastic (with metal stick inside).

Since that I did not used Gemini as hard as before, cause I got a Pocophone at work. No unexpected shutdowns so far, but usage is much lower. But now after update to 8.1 I am going back to use it as daily driver.


UPDATE:
I found some old image of that cracked hinge. Posting here for reference. When that happened, right side of display was loose and there was danger that display could fall away from gemini keyboard (if the other hinge will crack too).

[David H]

I have had two issues with the Gemini, the first was easy to fix, the rubber strip on the spring support kept coming away from the support and eventually the bobbles broke off . I have spuerglued it back on. The second is now the spring support will fall off at the slightest touch. I have reported these issue to Planet Computers.

[gymbo]

I have had two issues with the Gemini, the first was easy to fix, the rubber strip on the spring support kept coming away from the support and eventually the bobbles broke off . I have spuerglued it back on. The second is now the spring support will fall off at the slightest touch. I have reported these issue to Planet Computers.

Regarding the spring support (="support hinge"?), it will get "weaker" in time, probably partially due to metal fatigue, and there are some posts/threads around here about "tightening" it again. (Which should fix it, until the metal fatigue really sets in, then you would need a new part...) Mine started "dropping off" recently as well, but it is more or less just a 30 seconds fix... (To do, the fix holds for a little more than 30 seconds  )