Pixelbook mCover Hard Shell Case Mod

Since I got my Pixelbook a while back, I've wanted a case that would work for both the laptop and tablet mode. Unfortunately, they really don't seem to exist. The closest I found was the mCover Hard Shell Case for 12.3" Google Pixelbook Chromebook, but even this wouldn't let you fold it all the way closed for a table mode. At best, you could take the bottom panel off, which required some juggling, and still didn't close right because of the top cover.

Buried within the comments, though, was a gracious 5-star review along with his instructions on how to modify the case to use in tablet mode. Brilliant! But for a person like me, I wanted more than a couple photos; I was hoping for some detailed directions on how to do it so I didn't ruin my case.

So today, over a month after getting the case, I broke out my dremels (yes, I have more than one) and started getting to work. First step was to measure, align, and make marks for the modifications.

Tools Used: * Dremel Oscillating MultiMax MM30 * Oscillating blade * Sanding Pad attachment

The cuts need to happen in three places: the top cover's back and the two openings required for the bottom cover's buttons. I took some quick photos of the measurement points for reference, too.

Location	Measurement	Purpose	Photo
Top cover	1.4cm from back	Allows tablet fold to close more completely
Bottom cover left side, aligned with volume rocker	1.2cm - 3.7cm from second clip to back	Creates opening for volume rocker
Bottom cover left side, aligned with power button	14.2cm-15.6cm from second clip to back	Creates opening for power button

Once you're really totally sure that the measurements are right (remember, measure twice, cut once), go ahead and get started cutting those pieces off and out. This was the truly terrifying piece, and I'm not sure I had the perfect tools for this. Plus, I don't have surgeon hands; there's a reason I write software, after all.

The top cover was an easy cut, straight across. I struggled a bit to do a truly straight line, so once the cut was made, I went back with the sanding attachment at the roughest grit and leveled things out. The finer grits were used to soften the plastic and mitigate any chance of scratching the laptop itself. That was a real concern, especially because the clips to keep it from sliding were gone now.

The button notches really had me nervous, and i'm certain this was the wrong tool for this part. Fortunately, I'm stubborn. I cut into the side on each marked point, carving a roughly .3cm line with each pass. Once the main lines were cut, I went back in between them and carved out some of the center plastic, which would eventually be removed. Since there wasn't a good way to cut into the side, instead I ended up cutting lots of individual cuts upward, which then gave me smaller slivers of plastic that could be more easily removed. Eventually I was able to come in from the side and cut each of these little pieces off very carefully without doing much damage to the remaining case. These, too, were sanded down to mitigate any sort of scratch-risk to the laptop, however I was unable to buff out the damage I had done from my upward cuts. From above, you can easily see the lines from where the blade went too far in and left permanent grooves on the underside. It almost looks like a shatter-impact from this angle. Fortunately, this will always be underneath or behind what I'm looking at, so it's probably the best place this could've gone wrong.

Here's a quick view of the minor gap when folded in tablet mode; while it's annoying, it's worlds better than before the modification.

Taking a look at the result as a whole, even with my shortcomings aside, it's definitely not perfect; the bottom cover doesn't fit quite right over the keyboard, causing some unpleasant bulging where the cover should lock in more cleanly. In addition, the top panel no longer has clips on all four sides, which means it can just slide off with a relatively minimal amount of force. I accidentally discovered this the first time I picked it up - only slightly terrifying.

| The power button opening sits lifted up, not cleanly aligning the clip.|| | The volume rocker opening seems flush, but as it moves towards the back, the cover raises up again.|| |Seen when flipped upside down, in the process of moving to tablet mode.||

Frankly, I had a clue about all of these going in. But this is a $20 case, and I feel like I've gotten some serious added value with less than an hour of work, including the photos I took.

Now I just have to resist the urge to buy a couple more in complementing colors and swapping them constantly.