iPhone 3G and external HDD mount?

OK, I've been running iPhone OS 3.0 beta 5 and using it to tether with my AAO when I'm out & about and need Internet access. Even when I was previously using PdaNet, I ALWAYS have trouble finding a good place to set the phone where it will be safe and not get scratched, dragged along by its USB cable, and have a good signal. It seems to me that attaching it to the back of the netbook's display would raise it up for getting a good signal and let me manage the cord.

Furthermore, I am planning on adding eSATA and I'd like to put a detachable 2.5" drive externally. I need both to be quickly removable and I don't want to have their cradles left on the laptop screen because I think it will interfere with getting it into the case and into my magnetic tank bag (I carry it around on my motorcycle and need any magnetic HDD to be removable). I also have an LG slim USB powered DVD burner, but that alone would use up almost all of the room on the back.

Now, any ideas for how I can do this? I'm sure I can find iPhone cradles with stick-on buttons for attaching/detaching, but I hesitate to deface my Acer Aspire One with ugly buttons even when I'm not hanging anything. If I can find something that clips like a webcam and hangs behind, it would be ideal. I just Google Image Searched for "Hanging Laptop Display" and got this little gem:
http://gizmodo.com/5058540/hanging-encl ... laptop-lid
It's for an HDD, but the blogger says that his 3G modem hangs the same way, which is exactly what I want for my 3G phone that I'm using as a modem. If I can find something generic that I can slap a button or velcro onto or slip gadgets into a lower lip, I'd be happy. Heck, I'd like one of those that I could mod for eSATA too, but it's just a "design concept."

 

Guys... I didn't even THINK of suction cups. Any way to get double-sided suction cups?

 

I found double-sided suction cups on eBay (shipped out of the UK) and used them to stick on USB-powered optical drives, HDDs, and my iPhone. The only problem is that even the phone alone can tip the laptop backwards without a larger, heavier, protruding battery (like the 9-cell). If you attach it at the right place you can used the attached accessory as a kind of "kick stand" that will keep it from tipping backwards.

 

Absolutely awesome idea!

Until I've completed my 3G mod, I've got to find some way of keeping either a USB 3G dongle, or my tethered mobile phone with the laptop as one. (Pardon the pun)

I did have my USB dongle hot-glued to the back of the monitor which made it much less of a pain, but the cable was still there, a big chunky USB cable.

I do have the 9cell battery so I probably won't have the tipping problem that you described, however the old mobile phone I'm tethering probably weighs twice as much as an iPhone or my Touch HD.

Sucky cups are an awesome idea, as much as I won't need it when I finish my 3G mod, I think you've got a great thing going there. Thanks for sharing the info. Perhaps a weblink to the double sided sucky cups you found on eBay?

 

I got a bunch from this seller:
http://myworld.ebay.com/be.so.cute/
"be.so.cute"

They threw in a few extra too (I think they do this if you buy more than one pack). I ordered a bunch of their smallest ones so I could get a little fancy. For example, I make a diamond-shape out of four of them for my iPhone and then I route the cord through it as a form of cable-management (be sure to leave enough slack to open/close the lid!). An eBay search for "Double Sided Suction" shows a few other things... like a panel of them colored shaped like a heart (good for a girl's netbook?).

Anyway, I haven't used it nearly as often as I'd hoped because the animals (Pom-Chi and cat) keep finding them and pulling them off my netbook. XD I just had to hide 'em. Also, my 3-cell has been completey ruined for the last few months so I haven't taken the netbook anywhere. My 9-cell just came in the mail today and I'm charging it up now.

 

Here's a video showing a couple uses:

 

I've done a similar mod to mine now.

I used self-adhesive velcro (hook & loop) tape on my D250. Two 1meter rolls were just enough to cover the lid, and now I can attach whatever I want to the device

 

Ha! Very nice, and it would work with more laptops too. It really gives it that "custom upholstery low-rider" look, though I'm not too keen on leaving strips attached to my phone (it's always possible to attach them to a holster instead).

Suction cups only work well for smooth-backed LCDs and not matte or textured surfaces.

 

You wouldn't believe just how useful this "mod" has already been.

I only attached the velcro tape the day before yesterday. The first accessory I attached was my external hard drive and f**k me dead it's been a godsend. Because it usually means carting around an extra device and cable I'd rarely take it with me anywhere. But yesterday I was at a mates place, his GTA IV disk was scratched and he needed to reinstall, but luckily I had copied the installation media to my external hard drive. Thanks to the velcro attachment, I had it with me. Not 10 minutes later my aunt needed an installation source for Office 2007, once again on my external drive.

As for the phone, that's the phone I use primarily, and only, for tethering and accessing 3g internet, it doesn't serve any purpose as a phone anymore. I was just getting sick of carting an ultra-portable netbook around and having to carry an extra device and cable with me. Now it's out of sight out of mind on the back of my monitor.

I plan to alter this mod further, the velcro tape is available in white as well, so i'll be adding the "Aspire One" logo