[daveriesz]

Way back in 2000 I acquired an RM5200 O2 which I used as my main desktop for a few years before moving on.  Since then, it has been in storage, moving only occasionally.  Yesterday I decided to repair the cracked plastic CD drive cover and volume buttons, but it seemed that every time I touched it part of the case cracked.

It it even worth it to try to repair the case?  Trying to open it up is going to snap off all the brittle little plastic tabs.  Replacement bits look pretty pricey and I suspect they're just as birttle.  I'm tempted to just bust the case into little bits and revive the O2 au naturel.

What would you all do?

Thanks for any feedback!

[gmcenroe]

If it works well otherwise, I would hide it under the desk and just use it without having to look at it. LOL

[Raion]

Cases aren't worth that much especially if UV affected and thus brittle

[daveriesz]

I like these responses. I think I'll make an attempt at repairing it and not shed any tears when the whole thing falls apart.

Thanks for the input.

[weblacky]

If you can, please see if you can experiment with 303 aerospace protectant, I'm curious whether it'll work on an O2 skin and whether it might soak in and help prevent more tabs from breaking. It's sold almost everywhere, if you can't get it get the marine variety it's pretty much the same formula from what I'm told. It has a little bit of rejuvenation ability on rubber. I was hoping that potentially if you rub a thick layer into where some of your plastic tabs are that in a week or so you might find that you can gently pry them a bit and get them open without them breaking. It would also be nice to know what it does to the finish aftre application and wiping off any excess.

[hamei]

I thought of making a paper-mache replacement at one point. Wouldn't be that hard to do and you'd end up with a superior case that looked just the same.