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PRODUCT REVIEW
RhinoSkin cases for the new millennium
By Jason Perlow
A whole slew of new Palm devices came out in the final days of 1999, namely the Handspring Visor, the TRGPro and the Palm IIIe. If you bought or are considering buying one of these devices, one of the first questions you probably asked yourself was, "What do I carry it in?" There are certainly a lot of cases out on the market for Palm devices, and not all of them do a good job of protecting your device or are customized to fit these new models.
Fortunately, premium handheld case manufacturer RhinoSkin has got the whole case issue covered. We took a look at three of their new cases for the new Palm units, and we really liked what we saw.
The Titanium Slider Hardcase for Handspring Visor and Visor Deluxe
RhinoSkin made its reputation for uncompromising quality on their Titanium Cockpit case for the PalmPilot, which I reviewed here almost two years ago in the April 1998 issue of PalmPower. Visit "The RhinoSkin Titanium Cockpit, Klutz Proof!" at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199804/rhinoskin001.html.
It was the only case I would use until very recently, when I sold off my trusty PalmPilot Professional (which had since been upgraded to 8MB using a TRG SuperPilot XL Pro board) on eBay and upgraded to a blue Handspring Visor Deluxe. The case served me extremely well. It saved my PalmPilot from destruction on the many times it slipped out of my coat when getting into my Chevy Blazer and crashing on the asphalt, or the times when I left it on the computer chair at my desk and accidentally sat on it when I came back to do some writing or Web surfing.
I kept the Titanium case, hoping that my new Visor would fit. To my extreme horror, it didn't, and I ended up selling the battle-scarred veteran to NY Palm Pilot User Group member George Ianaccone, a Long Island landscaping contractor who had managed to kill two Pilots in the field already and couldn't afford to destroy another one. From what I've hear, so far, so good. It's serving him well. George is so dangerous with his PDAs, RhinoSkin should use him as their poster child. I hear he does great shrubbery, though.
Fortunately, I found out that RhinoSkin was releasing a new Titanium case for the Visor, shown in Figure A, based on their new "slider" design for Palm V and Palm III. The new design enables the user to flip the undercarriage of the case over the cover using a sliding mechanism and to grip the case one-handed when using the PDA. This is a really nice enhancement over the original case, which needed be held on the flat of your palm and gripped with the other hand when opened.
FIGURE A
 
The Titanium Slider Hardcase for Handspring Visor and Visor Deluxe can easily be gripped with one hand when opened. Roll over picture for a larger image.
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