Usually what I've seen is that the port is lined up right where the top and bottom of the case join. Then you just have to make a dip in the wall of one side and the joint between the two cases makes it a fully closed hole.looking at a few devices sitting around on my desk, all but one does that. The other uses a top plate, bottom plate, and a plastic surround for the middle which has holes in it which you just pull away once you've gotten the top or bottom off (like a blackberry 8300 series). The thing I'm noting about it though is that they *all* have connectors mounted with the metal bit flush with the outside of the case, presumably for support or maybe just so it doesn't look weird and cheap.