The most important area, the belt clip that comes with the case, was also one of the weakest. I had many problems with the latch that's supposed to hold the case to the belt clip. In many instances, the latch wouldn't be fully engaged after I removed the case for use. This had the effect of causing the case to fall off the belt clip with alarming regularity. I spent almost as much time pushing the spring up so the latch would reseat itself as I did using my Visor. If the case had not been as good and protective as it was, I'm sure my Visor would be long dead.

On the plus side
A plastic frame around the front of the unit has a small extension that interferes with the power button on the Visor. If this had been the only problem, I could have filed it down and been fine. The lid is held closed by a couple of strips of Velcro. They work well in keeping the lid closed. I would have liked to see a bit more stiffness in the lid and back of the ShockSuit, but they worked fine and offered plenty of protection. Since it can be a problem to get the stylus out of the ShockSuit, there's a stylus clip on the outside of the case that you can use to hold the stylus. I had my PalmGear HQ titanium stylus, which was for my original PalmPilot, clipped in there.

I liked the idea of the ShockSuit. It offers great protection and is fairly lightweight. However the size, Visor incompatibilities, and belt clip problems make this a case with which you may not be entirely happy.

Covertec's Cobra Case
Covertec's Cobra Case at http://www.covertec.com/us/xvisor/index.html takes another path to protect your Visor. Instead of the whole unit covering offered by the rest of the cases reviewed in this article, the Cobra Case is more of a wraparound, as you can see in Figure B.

FIGURE B

The Cobra Case wraps around the Visor. Click picture for a larger image.

The Visor's plastic cover is inserted under an elastic band on the case's bottom. The Visor is then snapped into the cover as in normal use. There's a matching band on the inside of the top part of the cover that can be used to hold some business cards. The cover has a snap on the bottom side and a bit of Velcro around the snap for extra security. When closed, the Visor's sides and bottom are exposed, but they're surrounded by about an extra quarter inch of cover, so it offers a slight amount of protection. The case is made of a leather-like material with some ballistic nylon-like material thrown in as well.

Due to the use of the Visor's cover, you can't perform a HotSync operation while the Visor is in the case. You're also unable to use many Springboard modules. Take this into consideration before you purchase this case.

The top section is moderately padded, but I would've liked to see a bit more stiffness in it. There's one really neat feature about the case that, if used, helps add some extra protection to it. There's a small slot in the front of the case that can be used to hold an extra stylus. I have an extra Visor Deluxe metal stylus in there, and it really helps increase the protection the case provides.