Alternative Back Cover - HD2 Accessories

The polished cover mod didn't really appeal to me or the device as far as finger prints went and the original looks well, too matte. So I tried something a little different. It's basically the standard appearance with the matte coating sanded off as well as some of the grey removed. The result is a satin (not glossy) light grey which complements the rubber backing very nicely (think Mac OS X v10.4's Brushed metal window appearance).

I'm curious - what exactly is it made of? I would be concerned that it might rust with the finish being off of it.

JWhipple said:
I'm curious - what exactly is it made of? I would be concerned that it might rust with the finish being off of it.
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I think that as long as he keeps his phone away from water then rust would never even be a consideration.
Do you get your phone wet often?

Hey guys,
dont know what kind of backcover you have but mine is defintly made of stainless steel or some other kind of alloy. Its no alluminium and its no "normal" steel cause its not going to rust
so dont worry

John: I think he just means from general moisture contact. i.e a slightly moist benchtop, or general moisture in the air. Especially if your palm sweats as it contains small traces of sodium which without a doubt speed up corrosion.
Everyone else: Its definitely steel or a mild alloy of steel as RayDog said. The coating has been scratching off for some time especially at the edges. If it was going to rust it would have started after 1 year of having the device. It cannot be aluminium as it is far too difficult to scratch and Al. is a soft metal. I was etching at the back with a blunt stanley knife and only the coating scratched off.

Had mine rubbed down for about 4 months now and I have no signs of oxidation.

I think a rusted battery cover would look sweet and fit in with my rusting vw golf hood.

fastwanabe said:
I think a rusted battery cover would look sweet and fit in with my rusting vw golf hood.
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hahaha we really need to ask xda for a like button

I like this! How did you do it?
The enamel on my cover is starting to come off. I thought it was just metal, but that was until it started peeling. I also prefer the brushed look instead of the chrome.
Is your cover basically just with all the enamel sanded off or something? What about the HTC logo etc?

Related

Beautiful but too fragile?

I was thinking of getting this phone but i'm a bit worried about the durability.
Or maybe it's too easy to damage. I don't like using cases for phones.
Are phones getting damaged easily?
Phones made of aluminium are more prone to chipping and serious damage than phones made of plastic, yeah, but that's the price we all One users have agreed to pay for the more premium-feel of it.
To be fair, phones aren't really made with being dropped in mind. A sleek, beautiful and premium-feeling like the One means more to me than a durable, ugly, glossy polycarbonate phone that the GS4 is.
Theshawty said:
Phones made of aluminium are more prone to chipping and serious damage than phones made of plastic, yeah, but that's the price we all One users have agreed to pay for the more premium-feel of it.
To be fair, phones aren't really made with being dropped in mind. A sleek, beautiful and premium-feeling like the One means more to me than a durable, ugly, glossy polycarbonate phone that the GS4 is.
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Thanks. True, I never intend to drop my phones, but unfortunately it can happen. My GSII does feel plasticy, but when I've dropped it, it's survived unmarked. I'm a bit worried about that glass - it shouldn't scratch so easily like in that video.
Scratched? He probably had some sand wherever he was at. Gorilla Glass is rated about 5-6H in hardness. Knifes and regular metal will not scratch it. Copper coins won't as well. Anything harder than those will. A single grain of sand can contain Quartz, which is 7H.
That's what cases, covers and most importantly protective, clear coats like ZAGG's Invisible Shield are made for. It's true that aluminum is more prone to getting chipped or scratched than other materials, but as mentioned above, that's the price you pay for choosing the best quality over the most durable. To be honest with you, I'd rather buy the HTC One and install an invisible shield or nice looking case to protect it than invest in a device with cheap plastic any day. And if you're too paranoid about scratches, grab yourself an Otterbox Defender or such and you'll never have to worry about your device again.
Mine's been naked for a little over a month now and it still looks perfect. It is silver which seems more durable than the black but I've kept in it the same pocket as my keys, coins, zippo, plus whatever weird junk I'm carrying and there isn't a single scratch, dent, hole, or anything.
That said, I am Irish...
BableMan said:
Mine's been naked for a little over a month now and it still looks perfect. It is silver which seems more durable than the black but I've kept in it the same pocket as my keys, coins, zippo, plus whatever weird junk I'm carrying and there isn't a single scratch, dent, hole, or anything.
That said, I am Irish...
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Is the sliver one bare aluminum? Or does it have a coating of some kind?
SimboXXX said:
Is the sliver one bare aluminum? Or does it have a coating of some kind?
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Feels like bare anodized aluminum, although I shouldn't have said it was perfect. The white stripes going across the back can get pretty dirty, but that's true of almost all white plastic pieces on phones and is easily fixed with a old toothbrush.
Check this out though if you're worried about scrapes.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/ht...-body-scratch-test-updated-black-version.html
SimboXXX said:
Is the sliver one bare aluminum? Or does it have a coating of some kind?
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The silver one is purely anodized aluminium, however the black one does have a coating and therefore scratches waaaay more easily.
Oh wow I had no idea the black one has a coating; I sure am glad I made the choice to go with silver!
Guys,any way to clear the white rubber(ornplastic??) stripes around the phone?
Toothbrush and a tiny bit of toothpaste. Make sure it's not wet though.
ArmedandDangerous said:
Toothbrush and a tiny bit of toothpaste. Make sure it's not wet though.
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Ook :good:
I was asking because, so far my is perfect, but my cover do not cover top and bottom ( side are well covered) because is the semi-rigid crystal clear
Any tip to protect these 2 parts without changing cover?
TarekElsakka said:
Oh wow I had no idea the black one has a coating; I sure am glad I made the choice to go with silver!
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I think the silver is also anodized aluminum, just with a different color. The difference is that a silver color won't contrast with the aluminum construction if scratched.
i dropped my phone on my concrete driveway while i was cleaning the rims of my car..i was wearing basketball shorts..i was so pissed but it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be
hello00 said:
i dropped my phone on my concrete driveway while i was cleaning the rims of my car..i was wearing basketball shorts..i was so pissed but it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be
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So you expected it to be 'terrible' or just 'bad'? Photo?
SimboXXX said:
So you expected it to be 'terrible' or just 'bad'? Photo?
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ehh
http://i42.tinypic.com/35klell.jpg
I'd expect it to be much worse than that. I dropped my Galaxy S3 with flip cover installed on the floor from a very short distance on its side and the LCD broke from the inside and I had to replace the whole digitiser, lcd and of course the frame, not to mention that was inside the house and it fell on ceramic and I am sure asphalt is worse.
Yeah, I think that was pretty lucky.
I just saw this vid of how they test Samsung phones by this machine doing repeated drop tests, impact, and water tests etc. but I think it all depends on the angle and place where the phone hits the surface.
I read that we could use iKlear, the solution as well as the micro-fiber towel in order to clean not only the sides but the whole device (including the screen). I have an unopened iKlear package which I got for my iPad a couple of months ago, so I am going to give it a shot when the sides get a bit dirty and report back.

Dying a white incipio case.

So,
I had a white Incipio case for my G2. I work in a machine shop and constantly have oily hands. My white case looked like crap, with brown staining from oily hands and oily pants pockets.
I went to the grocery store and bought a package of black, RIT fabric dye for $2.49. This dye is designed for dying fabric, including synthetic (plastic) fibers. I figured why wouldn't it dye my synthetic phone case?
I put the black dye powder in a disposable pan and poured in 2 cups of almost boiling water. This is a much stronger mix than the package recommends. I degreased and cleaned my case with isopropyl alcohol. Stirred it with a plastic spoon and dropped the back of the case in. In about 20 seconds the case was jet black. Took it out and rinsed it with cold water while wiping it with a clean sponge to get any dye off the surface. It worked great. RIT also comes in many other colors. If you want to try a different color than black I'd recommend a weaker mix, so you can control the color intensity better. I think most colors dyed at this strength would be so saturated they would look almost black if left in the dye for too long. Do a quick dip and rinse, if you want it bolder, dip and rinse again You can always add more color but cant take it off.
I think the soft touch coating absorbs color very easily, whether it's from your pocket or a pan of dye. I would think any phone with a soft touch surface would dye easily. A non soft surface would probably also take the dye, but would take longer to deepen in color, hotter water works better for plastic. The clear plastic spoon I used is now tinted, but not jet black. Good luck, Too bad I already decided on black. Now I want to try a fade. I think the black back with the gray silicone looks pretty stealthy. An olive drab green would look cool with the gray too. The case looks and feels the same as it did before. It's just black now. It worked amazingly well.
Niceee
Sent from my LG-D801 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Great job!
Thanks for the idea! I've been wanting a nice red case for my Verizon G2 and couldn't find anything.
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Gonna try this. I got the exact same case and after a whole it just begins to look ugly.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless LG G2
Durability report OP?
back in the 80's and 90's when radio control cars (competitive kits, not Tyco stuff) where made of white nylon we used to dye the parts with this same dye. there's was absolutely no adverse effects.
Wonder if this eventually will start to dye my pockets after a while?
I have a royal blue incipio case. Not sure how color blending would do.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
demonr6 said:
Durability report OP?
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Still looks great. No fading, wear, or bleeding onto pockets.
bsheedy said:
Thanks for the idea! I've been wanting a nice red case for my Verizon G2 and couldn't find anything.
[/ATTACH]
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Nice results. What strength did you mix the dye, and how long did you let the case soak?
30br said:
Nice results. What strength did you mix the dye, and how long did you let the case soak?
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If you go to Rit Dye's website they have a section with different formulas depending on the color you want. I started out using Cool Red #146 and made adjustments till I got color I liked, so I don't have an exact formula. As for amount of soak time I just kept checking every 20 seconds or so.
Cool! I shall try this.

Polished chamfered edge

Nice to see Samsung going with a premium metal finish and it does look stunning when new but 2 weeks down the line and it is covered in tiny scratches etc...
I look after my phones, tbh I'm a little bit OCD but even still the edge is looking tatty.
I then got a TPU case to try and protect it... 2 days later, it is scratched to hell! Just the case alone touching the chamfered edge is enough to scuff it...
what did Samsung make it out of? Cheese? A soft cheese at that!
I love my note 4 but...
I have the same experience. Maybe if it gets too bad I'll try the method used in this video.
http://youtu.be/EZuYzQrIHjA
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
MadfishGTB said:
Nice to see Samsung going with a premium metal finish and it does look stunning when new but 2 weeks down the line and it is covered in tiny scratches etc...
I look after my phones, tbh I'm a little bit OCD but even still the edge is looking tatty.
I then got a TPU case to try and protect it... 2 days later, it is scratched to hell! Just the case alone touching the chamfered edge is enough to scuff it...
what did Samsung make it out of? Cheese? A soft cheese at that!
I love my note 4 but...
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Is this the white or black version you are talking about?
I've got the Ringke Slim on mine and it covers the edges. No scratches on mine.
It's the black one I have...
the coloured part is immaculate still but the polished section looks a mess
My note 2 seemed to fair much better in terms of durability.
Also, the camera lens cover is very exposed on these, I hope it can be replaced somehow in the future (although no scratches yet)
Same here with the white one. Got scratches on the chamfered edge from being in a pants pocket for gods sake. Anybody know to go about buffing them out?
Sorry to hear that you are having those problems. I am not trying to burst your bubble but the "metal" finish around the Note 4 is NOT metal. I have have read a post on this forum of another person saying the same thing and so I went down to my nearest BB to check it out. I am now convinced that he was right.
Here is the test I carried out to prove the point. I found a Galaxy Alpha and examined the similar finish and that is truly metal. With the AC in Best Buy I was able to put the Alpha to my cheek and you can feel the coldness of the metal. I then walked over to the Samsung store in BB and did the same with ALL the Note 4s on display and they were all just at reasonable temp. Also on the Alpha it will be noticed that the headphone jack and the charging port is covered in plastic or rubber inside of the metal cutout. Take a look at he N4 slot for the pen or the headphone jack and you will see that the white plastic is just covered by the " metal" finish.
That my friend is why you are having scuff marks already on your new device. It is JUST a "METAL" finish on the outside. Now if there is a metal frame it is on the inside, not on the outside like the Alpha. Can't wait to see a teardown from folks like IFIXIT to confirm. I could be wrong but until proven wrong I will stand by my cheek test.
No, it is metal (aluminium I believe ) but it is very thin. When you look at the headphone jack port like you say there is plastic but there is still a thin metal part of the frame...
Samsung wouldn't have needed to add the spacers in the frame (small white blocks top and bottom) if it was metal effect. These are there for the antennas to work properly in the metal.
Aluminium is a very soft metal, perhaps if they chose a more sturdy, harder metal like titanium for example then we wouldn't be having this problem but then we would have paid more for the already expensive phone.
For me I'll just end up keeping the TPU case on, it feels better in the hand and against the ear (metal frame has quite sharp edges) and offers some protection without adding much bulk to the device. Maybe once the phone has been used a while I'll look into customising the frame with either plastidip or hydroprint.
Yeah it would be made of aluminium. People wanting that "premium" look and feel. Just like the iPhone and any other phone made of an alloy, looks awesome out of the box but after a while scratches will appear. Plastic resists much much better, that's just the way it is.
Also it would have been hilarious watching you going around touching the bezels with your face
remove the back cover and look at the frame closely: you can see that the whole frame is definitely NOT metal. it is plastic with metal coating or layer and some metal inlays.
I highly doubt that the frame only has a metal coating. If you check the YouTube video of the guy bending the ip6p, note 3 and 4 you will see the note 3 bend and bounce back because it's plastic. Alloy on the other hand bends and stays bent. Looking at you note 4.
Of course I could be wrong.
It does seem to be a thin metal covering over a plastic frame...
gives the look of a premium device but the protection and flexibility of a plastic device
The frame is made of metals collected from the moon and the back cover leather is made from the skin of puppies.
Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk
Whether its a thin metal strip on the top or solid metal, the nature of being aluminium is that it will scratch easily. It is the same with the HTC One that also has a chamfered edge. I have read many reports of it getting scratched too easily. If you look closely at the edge you will see that at the very least it is a metal strip. Thickness has nothing to do with scratch resistance. So we can argue whether it's solid or not, but the relevance to the initial poster's issue that it scratches easily is zero!
Everyone complained about Samsung's cheap looking plastic bezel. Now we are complaining about the upmarket stylish metal one! I guess a finish like the edges of an iPhone 6 are the only option that will satisfy everyone's needs. Incidentally I do remember reports of people with the bumper case on an iphone 4...took it off, to find that the little imperfection nodules of plastic on the inside of the bumper were enough to rub and wear the metal surround of the phone!
And if they had anodized it, it would have prevented scratches (like Nokia n8),but would have caused the frame to crack more easily, unless they used more surface, or thicker pieces of aluminum, which in turn would affect other things. So pointless.
Sent from my SM-N910W8
Even if it was made of adamantium people would still complain.
eddhard said:
Even if it was made of adamantium people would still complain.
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Couldn't agree more!
Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk
you do know that aluminium and metal phones get scratched up this easy i dont know why ya'll are surprised
hello00 said:
you do know that aluminium and metal phones get scratched up this easy i dont know why ya'll are surprised
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Even in manufacturing these metals are impossible to keep pristine. I had an iPhone 4 with a small nick in the metal band out of the box. I had an HTC One with a couple of little nicks and microscratches in the band out of the box. And my note 4 also has a few imperfections. But then it's best not to study these phones under a spotlight because you will just find things you don't want to see!
I think/hope the issue lies with TPU cases simply because they, as all cases trap dirt under them but because they are TPU they have more movement.... the dirt gets ground against the polished edges. Hard cases like the Ringke do not have this movement...
Would be helpful to others if people who are experiencing this issue state which cases they have used.
Thanks.

Yes, the black paint on the bezel will scratch :(

Just in case you were hoping that the body of this watch was a solid piece of black metal, it's not. If you bang the edge of bezel it will expose shiny silver metal. I know this because my desk at work is glass and I banged the bezel against it's edge when standing up. Nothing I couldn't improve with a little black magic marker. Sigh, oh well, nothing stays brand new forever.
P.S., Apparently no metal is black through and through. That being said, whatever they have used to "paint" this black is not very good and comes off easily.
mitchellvii said:
Just in case you were hoping that the body of this watch was a solid piece of black metal, it's not.
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There is no such thing as "black metal" on this planet, yet. That material does not exist and has not been invented yet. Everything that is made out of metal is PAINTED (with different methodologies, but still, painted). No matter how you will create that paint (melted powder, dissolved material, laser) it will only be a thin layer at the surface of the metal. If you will scratch the coloured layer, the METAL under it will be revealed .
So, the hardness of a color on a metal surface it's given by the paint type and the method of applying it.
Yea.. I went to a shop and the promoter showed me a pretty banged up device.. with liver linings all over.
Does anyone know if the silver version is every gonna come out?
Huh gotta say I find this somewhat discouraging. Barely brushed the metal on the bezel of this watch against another hard surface and the paint came right off. Whatever method they used on this didn't work very well. The Zenwatch is suddenly looking more appealing.
Looked around and this seems to be the best repair item I've seen for fixing scratches on black anodized aluminum.
http://www.amazon.com/Birchwood-Casey-Super-Black-Touch/dp/B00BGH0Y0W/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Of course not everyone loves it but most who know what they were doing seem to. Seems to work better than the old Sharpie solution because that dries very flat and you can see it.
This is why I bought a whole case plus screen protector for it.
You might want to consider doing the same.
wtf.now? said:
This is why I bought a whole case plus screen protector for it.
You might want to consider doing the same.
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Yes but none of those kits protect the edge of the bezel which is the most likely place to get scratched.
mitchellvii said:
Yes but none of those kits protect the edge of the bezel which is the most likely place to get scratched.
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Nothing will.
Until they make full case covers and that for sure will look like ****.
wtf.now? said:
Nothing will.
Until they make full case covers and that for sure will look like ****.
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Actually a little adhesive black rubber ring to go right on that bezel edge would to the trick. Sort of a bump guard. That's really the only place you need to protect.
may be that the bezel can be easily changed
I thought that for the price it has to be DLC coated. The ZenWatch should be better, or at least cheaper to replace.
Hi
Do you know if it is possible to change the bezel ?
I banged my watch bezel against a painted wooden door frame today. It took paint off the door frame. But I wiped off the bezel and it was unphased by the event. You'd have to bang the bezel pretty good against something pretty hard to mess it up.
I rubbed mine on a metal surface, at first I saw a nice streak, rubbed it and my watch was fine.
Beware the edge of glass tables. As glass is very hard it will scratch the paint off your bezel with ease. I have a glass top on my office desk. Since I wear the watch on my left wrist, I've put a piece of black rubber electrical tape above where I tend to rest my hand on my leg. Now if I bang the watch on the glass table edge it is protected.
Darnell_Chat_TN said:
I banged my watch bezel against a painted wooden door frame today. It took paint off the door frame. But I wiped off the bezel and it was unphased by the event. You'd have to bang the bezel pretty good against something pretty hard to mess it up.
Click to expand...
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A dumbel during fitness
i was wondering if it could be replaced...
daigoro76 said:
may be that the bezel can be easily changed
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Click to collapse
Can it be replaced? I want to throw a diamond bezel on it.
klyles said:
Can it be replaced? I want to throw a diamond bezel on it.
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It can't be replaced. But there's a thread in one of these "R" forums. Where someone shows in detail, how to file down the top part and looks nice.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
Darnell_Chat_TN said:
It can't be replaced. But there's a thread in one of these "R" forums. Where someone shows in detail, how to file down the top part and looks nice.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
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What's so hard about taking a file to it? I just took my wife's nail file and filed the entire top ring off. Some dude, filed the entire thing. too.
Darnell_Chat_TN said:
I banged my watch bezel against a painted wooden door frame today. It took paint off the door frame. But I wiped off the bezel and it was unphased by the event. You'd have to bang the bezel pretty good against something pretty hard to mess it up.
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I too have had some pretty big brushes with objects and the bezel has faired well in every case.

How to make wood back have more grip?

I bought a pure edition with the ebony wood back and find it very slippery. I dont want to cover it with a case, but i need to make it more grippy. Is there a wood wax or stain i could use to make it have more grip? Any ideas?
Thanks
Nick
Bed liner
Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk
Moto bumpers, just covers the edges but gives some protection for the whole phone.?
Nick,
Be careful with your ebony back as it's not real ebony; more of an ebony like paint scheme over bamboo.
Other than a case or bumper, the only thing that comes to mind is wax; just like surfers wax their boards for more traction.
I know some types of bee's wax can be quite tacky.
Solutions Etcetera said:
Nick,
Be careful with your ebony back as it's not real ebony; more of an ebony like paint scheme over bamboo.
Other than a case or bumper, the only thing that comes to mind is wax; just like surfers wax their boards for more traction.
I know some types of bee's wax can be quite tacky.
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Click to collapse
That's more along the lines of what I was thinking about. I would prefer no case. I will check into some sort of wax.
Thanks
Nick
Sand paper? ?
You could also try some clear, rubberized epoxy spray such as this http://www.rustoleum.com/about-rust...m-news/introducing-rustoleum-anti-slip-spray/
I would make a point of making sure whatever kind you use is non-toxic after it dries, though, being that it will be touching your hands so often.
Also, I would pry the back cover off to spray it, and test a small area to see how it reacts with the veneer before spraying the whole back.
Your problem was exactly why I chose to go with the traditional rubberized back, rather than wood. That ebony looks nice, though.
agriff said:
I would pry the back cover off to spray it
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Click to collapse
If you try to do this you will most likely crack the wood; it is very well glued down (despite some folks seeing some lift in the corners).
Another thing that comes to mind is that 3M makes these little adhesive, clear, convex silicone bumpers. I remember using 4 of these; one in each corner of my Nexus 4 to keep it from sliding off counters. They are available in a pleathora of diameters and thicknesses.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...roducts?N=6824709+4294538640+4294555595&rt=c3

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