For those of you unfamiliar with Oberon Designs (at http://www.oberondesign.com), they make a range of leather-goods--mostly things like card cases, checkbook covers, and journal covers. Oberon released their Palm handheld cases to retailers in early May, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Oberon Designs leather-goods are beautifully embossed. They're nothing like those cheesy "Western" belts you may be thinking of. They are also sturdily crafted and built to last. I've been using an Oberon checkbook cover for the past three years, and it still looks brand new.

The cherry red case I bought features an abstract, Art Deco floral motif …or is it a tree? Anyway, the design is hard to describe, but it's quite striking, as you can see in Figure A.

FIGURE A

My Oberon case is quite striking. Click picture for a larger image.

Lots of other designs are available in colors such as purple (which is very bright), brown, black, navy, and turquoise. Although Celtic designs seem to prevail throughout the range of Oberon Designs' products, all of the designs I saw were quite handsome and appropriate for just about anyone who uses a Palm handheld.

The beauty and diversity of available designs made it really hard for me to choose just one case. The one I would really like is Oberon's version of Hokusai's "The Great Wave off Kanagawa." A nice reproduction can be found at http://www.cjn.or.jp/ukiyo-e/hokusai-kanagawa.html. I saw this once as a day planner, but I didn't buy it because I was already a loyal Palm handheld user.

This case fits all the Palm handhelds I have currently, including a Palm IIIx, a Palm V, a Visor Deluxe, and a Palm m505. Oberon Designs' cases are made of thick, hand-tooled, hand-dyed leather and come in many different designs. The case snaps closed, but there's enough clearance so that the snap won't hit your handheld's screen, even on a Palm III series device. Do any of you other old-timers remember the black spots created on the PalmPilot screen by the snap on the original Slim Case?

All of the Oberon Designs cases have black interiors with a card pocket on the left side, as shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B

Oberon Designs cases have black interiors with a card pocket. Click picture for a larger image.

The only drawback to the Oberon Designs case is that you have to use the supplied Velcro if you want to keep your handheld in the case while using it. Also, the smaller, thinner models like the Palm m505 tend to slide out the bottom without the Velcro.