March 2008 News Posts
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Bellagio Design
NX73/80 case- updated review by Jeffrey Gerber |
Date:
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17/10/2003
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Bellagio Design NX73/80 case
Shaun, I wanted to update you on a review of the
Bellagio Design NX73/80 case that I did last week.
Over the weekend, I received a message from the
president of the Colemax Group, which owns Bellagio Designs. He told me that
that he took my comments seriously, launched an investigation into the quality
issues I rasied, and asked his designers to resolve the design issues.
They sent me a new case today, less than a week
later. The new case does, in fact, resolve most of the issues I rasied,
particularly with respect to quality.
Issue: The old case was glued and the glue was
coming undone. Resolution: The glued area is no longer visible. The area below
the CF slot is covered covered in material is is much stronger. Excellent fix.
Issue: WiFi card doesn't easily fit into slot on
case cover. Resolution: The WiFi slot is now deeper and it's much easier to get
the card in and out of the slot. It still feels very secure.
Issue: WiFi slot on case cover isn't deep enough.
Resoluton: The slot appears to be slightly deeper. This helps. Also, there is
now a flap (which was on the NX70 case) which covers the WiFi and MS slots on
the case cover. This flap does a good job of protecting the Clie and also
allows the little bit of the WiFi card which is thick to fit better than the
old case.
Issue: Clie won't close all of the way.
Resolution: This issue still exists, but it isn't as bad (tablet mode is now
quite usable). Given the placement of the upper strap, I don't see a way to do
any better. So, although perfect, I'm quite satisfied.
Issue: Gap between case cover the Clie.
Resolution: This was caused by the WiFi card thickness issue. Since that's
resolved and since there is now a flap to cover the WiFi holder, the gap isn't
noticeable any more.
Issue: Plastic strip takes away from case's good
looks. Resolution: This is a matter of opinion. With the fact that my issues
about the strip being at the wrong angle are fixed, it's not so bad. In terms
of functionality, it actually works well. I guess I was just surprised that
there was plastic, since it's not visible in the pictures on the Bellagio
Designs web site.
Issue: Plastic strip at wrong angle. Resolution:
It's now straight. Looks like we had a quality issue that's resolved.
Issue: Plastic strip sits on Clie's rubber nubs.
Resolution: Still true. Given the other fixes to the strip, however, it's
really not a problem any more. The buttons are now easier to push.
Issue: Cut-outs on right side (audio remote and
voice record) are not correct. Resolution: They are now. The plastic strip can
sit straight.
Issue: Doesn't fit it cradle. Pops-out.
Resolution: This was a major problem before, but is fixed now.
Issue: The cut-out below the keyboard is too big.
Resolution: This was a nitpicky issue that didn't have anything to do with
design or quality. However, it is now smaller which gives a (in my opinion)
more professional look. Before, it looked like a mistake.
Issue: Can't close case with something in CF slot
on Clie. Resolution: Once the case softened, this actually didn't turn out to
be an issue. Not an issue on the new case, either.
Issue: No speaker hole. Resolution: There is now
a speaker hole.
Issue: Upper MS slot is too tight. Resolution: MS
goes in easily, stays in. Horizontal design is such that it's hard to get out.
But it's OK. The lower slot is now a vertical slot (due to addition of speaker
hole), which works very well.
Issue: IR light is hidden. Resolution: The light
is now fully exposed on the side, as it should be.
Issue: It's really thick. Resolution: That was an
observation, not a complaint. It seems to offer nice padding because of this,
so I'm actually happy with that. The addition of the flap between the WiFi
holder and the Clie doesn't add noticeable thickness, which is good.
Issue: Camera isn't covered. Resolution: This is
a matter of opinion. There are pro/cons to this. It allows the WiFi card to be
in the slot (on the Clue) with the case closed, which is good.
Issue: Price Resolution: Now that the quality
issues are resolved, I think it's worth the money.
Issue: Weight imbalance, which makes one handed
use hard. Resolution: This is still an issue, although I think I'm just going
to need to get used to it. The problem is the weight on the top flap. Since it
doesn't fully bend back (although the removal of the "glue" issue
makes this less of a problem), it sticks out. This is really a design decision.
The only solutions I can think of would be the allow the top flap to fully fold
back, which the new case actually does better than the old one. The other
solution would be to have a way to attach the opened screen to the case's top.
But that's a difficult design and such an attachment would likely be harder to
use than it would be worth. Therefore, I've concluded that the case works as
well as it can, given the improved (sort of ribbed) straps at the sides of the
camera opening.
Issue: When sitting on the desk in clamshell
mode, it rocks. Resolution: With a CF in the slot, this doesn't happen. I can't
evaluate the new case since it has a clip on the back (unlike my old one) which
doesn't allow the case to sit flap on my desk anyway. Visually, it appears that
this issue still exists. Not a major thing...
So, all in all, I'm very pleased with the new
case and will keep it and use it. I'm very impressed by the way that Colemax
and Bellagio handled this. I've never seen better customer service. They
certainly deserve to be in your hall of fame!
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