whenever i try to boolean the holes you were talking about, the whole shape disappears no matter which kind of boolean i use
Welcome to booleans 
You're better off cutting the holes around the buttons manually, and creating a kind of 'housing' for them . Looking better though. Keep at it. Study mobiles and other PDA's for some extra detailing.
Oh and for more realism, remember that pretty much nothing in real life is an exact 90 degree hard edge. You'll probably want to smooth/bevel most of the corners.
Last edited by petrol; 20-01-2007 at 08:44 PM.