Price:	£21.95		Reviewed by:	Mike Featherstone
Supplied:	PDair Shop		Review date:	04/01/2005
Pros:	Looks good Light Strong Good Access to Controls Belt Clip as Std.		Cons:	Slight 'Rattle Room'

Introduction

I've never been much of a fan of aluminium cases for PDAs but in all fairness, I have to qualify that by saying that I've never actually used one. To an extent, that's because I've never seen the point of them. To my mind, to be of any use, a case either needs to offer me some added protection for my PDA (which I've always equated with padding of some sort) or allow me to carry something in it that I need but wouldn't otherwise be able to carry so easily. To date, I've never seen aluminium cases as overly capable of either.

Having spent the last week before Christmas in the company of the PDair aluminium case for the T5 however, I'm starting to change my mind.

The Case

Having said that I equate protection with padding, I also associate it with size and more importantly, bulk. In this respect then, this aluminium case came as a pleasant surprise. Firstly, it isn't padded as I guess should have been obvious - the protection it offers is afforded by the strength of its material of construction. Secondly, it isn't bulky as even unpadded metal cases can tend to be. It's made from a thin aluminium and is moulded quite well to the shape of the T5 though it’s still strong and quite firm - I've sat on it by accident with no ill effect to either the case or its contents (though the case did deform enough that on the opening side, the two mating halves slid over one another instead of meeting neatly as they normally do). This, then, is a case with a rather slim form factor that is easily pocketable for portability round the office (for example) while still offering a very good degree of protection from either the contents of your pocket or from the stresses of being carried about in this manner (e.g. being sat on!).

(The case is padded to a degree of course, but this is simply a thin internal layer of material presumably designed to protect the PDA from impact with, or rubbing against, the case itself rather than being the primary means of protection from external impact.)

As with other aluminium cases I've seen, this one is equipped with cut-outs allowing access to all the plugs and buttons needed for day-to-day use. I've always had mixed feelings about this feature of hard cases and actually using one hasn't completely allayed my fears. To my mind, these holes are a compromise between usability and protection. Without them, to use the PDA you'd have to remove it from the case. With them, if you happen to drop the unit and catch it at the wrong point on 'landing', the potential to damage the PDA exists. If pressed, however, I would have to admit that I've never dropped a PDA, so perhaps believing that 100% protection is required of all cases is a little unreasonable. With the cut-outs, access is good to the power switch, stylus, audio connector and card slot on the top of the unit as well as the interface connector underneath. Given that this is a T5, the ability to use the case with a cradle is a non-issue though it certainly permits good access to the supplied sync cable. (I suspect a cradle would be more of a problem though - if one were ever to be made for the T5 – as there is a reasonable amount of room between the T5 and the rear of the case meaning that mating to the cradle would be next to impossible).

As far as installation goes, the T5 uses a slot on its left side to attach its flip cover and it's this that PDair uses to attach its cases also. In this case (no pun intended) a piece of rigid plastic is used as the attachment mechanism, joined into the hinge of the case. The result is effectively a three leaf book comprising the covers of the case with the PDA as the single 'page'.

The front cover contains a single SD card slot - I only own one card and that lives in my device but I aspire to a second so this slot will be useful one day.

For completeness, I should mention that the case is supplied with a detachable belt clip which I haven't tried yet (there’s an interesting thread on the PDA247 forum on the subject of belt clip equipped PDAs if you’re ever tempted to use one). The clip is a fairly sturdy item of plastic construction designed to remain on the belt with a secure manual spring-release clip mechanism to hold the body of the case to the belt clip. If you don’t want to use the clip, the case attachment can be easily detached from the case and stored.

My one slight disappointment is that there is some room for movement inside the case. Walking along with this assembly in your pocket results in a detectable rattle as the T5 moves about a bit. The extra space isn't enormous, probably just a millimetre or two, but that's enough to allow a rattle when jogged (and to permit a bit of deformation when sat upon). I don't believe the space is actually enough to result in any harm to my PDA, but it is an annoyance and I suspect that if I am to continue using this case, I might just add a small pad of my own to eliminate any extra space.

Conclusions

Space issues aside, overall, I'm rather surprised to have to say that I like the PDair T5 aluminium case and will probably continue to use it, at least at work. It's small enough to pocket and light enough to carry around which is quite important. The room for internal movement is an annoyance and possibly even a bit of a shame, but it’s not an insurmountable problem and certainly not enough to put me off using the case.

I won’t say that I’ve been converted to the idea of metal cases overnight, but my opinion of this one is certainly favourable enough that I will look at them in a new light (i.e. somewhat more seriously) in future.