Tablet Car Headrest Case

Tuesday 04 June 2013 at 8:40 pm

Regular viewers may remember my tablet case made out of a book, and you'll know I like to make stuff out of things I already have laying around.

I wanted a holder for my cheapy 7" tablet so that my daughter could watch her cartoons in the back of the car on long journeys.  Yeah I know you can buy a portable DVD player for not much, but we don't do long trips that often, and why spend when you can bodge?

So what we have here is a standard DVD case, I cut away a screen-sized aperture in the back (where the DVD would normally sit), and generally cleaned it up and made it fit.  I added velcro closures on the sides, a small bit of foam inside one edge for a snug fit, and a fabric mat (the stuff you get in between keyboard & screen in the packaging of a new laptop) to prevent the back from getting scratched.  I used velcro ties from an old server, threaded through grooves melted into the case with a soldering iron.

Also added are a couple of cutouts for charger and headphones, and (not shown) a small finger hole so the power button can be pressed in the case.

It's not perfect, but still very much functional and cost nothing.

Update - made a few changes:  gaffer tape to neaten up the top & bottom and cover up gaps, a small hole to access the power button (circled), and more sturdy fixings for the velcro closures (also circled).  As the hot-glue doesn't stick to smooth plastic very well it started to come away, I basically made plastic rivets.  I melted a hole through velcro and case, then found a straw from an air duster (you could also use a WD40 straw.  Using the soldering iron, I melted the straw into a mushroom-shaped end, passed it through the hole, trimmed it off and melted the other end flat inside.