Locking the tablet?
We're putting the finishing touches on a new Android tablet stand for the Decent, and I'd like your feedback about something. This tablet stand will start to appear in October 2021.
The current stand has 3 screws to lock it on, and the stands sits on top of the DE1. It's a simple, secure setup, but it does require a screwdriver to assemble, and is thus not as fast to disassemble. For people who move their Decent a lot, the 3 screws are a bit of a hassle.
The new tablet stand slides into a slot directly under the top cover, which has been cut into the chassis. We've designed a spring that guides the stand into the right centered location. A slot in the stand allows the spring to click into the final position.
The locking spring has four mount mounts, which prevents the stand from bouncing as the tablet is tapped.
To remove the tablet, you slide it out, toward you.
FEEDBACK WANTED: in the current tablet stand design, the tablet can be removed at any time. It cannot be locked. In a cafe, or other public situation, would this be a worry? It's not obvious that the tablet can be removed. We're thinking about designing a variation on the locking spring, which makes tablet removal impossible, without taking the main cover off (it's held in place with 8x Torx T10 screws).
Here is the locking mechanism we're contemplating.
What do you think? Is having a tablet “walk away” a real concern for you, if it's not obviously stealable? I'm trying to gauge whether we're “going overboard” here and overthinking things.
About backward compatibility: unfortunately, this stand design cannot be retrofit onto earlier DE1 model, as the earlier metal chassis lack the cuts needed to allow the stand to slide in.
Updated 2021/04/07