Sony Clie TH55 JAVO Leather Case review by Shaun McGill

So far for PDA247 I have reviewed 14 PDA cases from the likes of Vaja, Covertec, Proporta and Piel Frama and they have ranged in price from $25 to over $100. After a while it can get a bit repetitive as they tend to share a lot of the same features and thus it was a treat to receive JAVOedge's Clie TH55 case today which surpised me for a lot of reasons.

First Impressions

The first impressions of this case and it's packaging were the biggest surprise- you get a very stylish white and orange plastic box which is similar in style to the Zire packaging. The case itself is well protected with foam and card inserts but crucially the packaging is not made of espensive material which would add to the overall price. The catch line on the front "Carry your device in style!" is an apt description for this product as well and here's why-

Design

The design of this case is nothing short of brilliant. It's the only case I have ever reviewed which manages to looks incredibly stylish and understated at the same time. The outer casing is made of a very smooth black leather with consistent white stitching around the edges of the case itself, the outside loop, the interior pen holder and the credit card and memory stick slots. The clincher is the vented look leather on the loop and spine of the case which give it a slight sporty look. The leather covers a hard interior which means it keeps it shape well even when the case is not in situ.

JAVOedge has also done a good job with the curved camera recess managing to make the small piece of leather to the right of this section strong enough to act as one of the catch points for the Clie. It is also nice to see a 'full' spine as some of the other TH55 cases make do with a small spine which can cause problems when taking pictures with the camera (i.e. the other half of the case flapping in front of the lens).

Practicality

Inside the case are 3 credit cards slots, 2 memory stick slots and a holder along the spine for a spare stylus. There is also a space behind the credit card slots for money, business cards etc. Each of these slots is firm but take the cards well and should not cause damage to any cards inserted.

The dimensions of the case mean that there is no need for a protective layer between and the cards as extra space has been added to ensure they do not touch together. Having said that the only feature I would personally add is a protective layer for peace of mind and the ability to carry notes, money etc. There's ample room for one and I managed to use the sleeve from my Proporta case with this one and it works fine. Will be interesting to see if JAVOedge take that suggestion on board:)

All in all this case has as much storage as I have seen in a case so far so it passes my obsessive storage test!

Protection

When you buy a case it's primarily because you want to protect your investment and a strong case is vital in doing that. The JAVO case has some distinct advantages which I have not seen before in this area-

As I mentioned before the outer lining beneath the leather is very strong and I suspect it is metal in substance (I may be wrong though) so that's a good indicator of the thought that has gone into the design.

As you can see in the picture on the left the edges of the case protude beyond the ends of the Clie and this is crucial for protecting the PDA if you drop it. Yes it adds slightly to the overall dimensions but that is unavoidable.

I have never seen a securing mechanism like the one employed in this case. The Clie is held in place by 4 outer hard plastic clips which click in place 'above' the top, right hand side and bottom of the Clie as well as a small Clip for the centre hole at the back of the Clie. It is so easy to install and remove the Clie that I can't work out how they did it and it still manages to hold the PDA very securely- a fantastic feature.

Conclusions

When you own a PDA as stylish as the Clie TH55 it deserves to be housed in a stylish case. JAVOedge have pulled off a design classic (in my opinion) and managed to incorporate a brilliant securing mechanism alongside excellent storage and protection.

It's impossible to use too many superlatives to describe this case as it is easily the best PDA case I have ever reviewed and for $34.95 is a steal!

There's no point doing pros and cons as there are no cons, just pros all the way through and I'm almost embarrased by how much I like this product- it's just a PDA case after all but one you will be proud to own...

For full details of this case and to order visit JAVOedge.