Carrying your phone
There's no doubt about it: if this case takes a dive or you slip and fall, your cell phone will be the sacrificial lamb. If you and your business depend on your cell phone, this may not be the case for you.

Also, if you have a stylishly small cell phone, it might be difficult to reach in and grab it out of this particular case, as you can see in Figure D.

FIGURE D


This is a Nokia 8290 in the PDA Pro Phone case. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Can you find the phone in that picture? Unfortunately, it's extremely hard to get small phones out of this case. There really is a phone in there!

The PDA Pro Phone case is better suited to the larger models cellular providers give customers "free" when they start service. I found it hard to retrieve either a Nokia 8290 or Samsung N105 out of this case and answer it before the call went into voice mail.

Carrying your Palm handheld
The PDA Pro Phone case relies on Velcro to affix your Palm handheld to the case. This will also allow you to take advantage of the "hands-free" operation, which also relies on an adjustable Velcro "hinge" to create a flat working surface, no matter whether the case is clipped to your belt or on the shoulder strap. The hands-free position is shown in Figure E.

FIGURE E


The PDA Pro Phone case creates an instant flat surface. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The PDA Pro Phone case is a convenient way to have your Palm handheld at the ready for all kinds of operations in the field, especially if you know you're not going to have a flat surface and need both hands free. You can see how it works in Figure F.

FIGURE F

You can use your Palm handheld hands-free with the PDA Pro Phone case.

However, I would be very hesitant about using the manufacturer-supplied shoulder strap unless I had one of those rugged Palm OS handhelds from Symbol Technologies or a Palm handheld with a plastic screen!

I would also like to see a little more protection for the PDA. Even though the PDA gets some protection from the cell phone, it's bound to get bumped around a bit as the day goes on, no matter whether you wear the PDA Pro Phone case on your belt or over your shoulder.

Conclusion
I do like the PDA Pro Phone case, but there are two things that PDA Skins could do to make a good case even better.

First of all, the shoulder strap needs drastic improvement. If someone is going to put several hundred dollars' worth of equipment plus cash, ID, and credit cards into this case, then provide a shoulder strap and hardware that look-and act-like they will hold up their end of the deal. Even low-end point-and-shoot cameras come with better straps than this one. If you're going for the "mini man bag" market, you've got to come up with something more macho than this!

Second, a thin piece of aluminum or extremely sturdy plastic (such as Lexan, a polycarbonate plastic product made by GE Plastics, or Kevlar) as reinforcement in the outer wall of the case between the phone compartment and the PDA compartment would really increase my comfort level with this case. I usually carry a Coach bag and put my HandEra 330 http://www.handera.com in my trusty JetPac (at http://www.jpsolutions.com) when I'm not testing other cases. I like the security of a hard case, but it would be nice to have the luxury of leather, too.

Calvin O. Parker is the maintainer of a PalmPilot FAQ site on the Internet. He has been actively involved with the PalmPilot online community for over a year, and has recently written a book on the PalmPilot: The Complete PalmPilot Guide. Find out more information at http://www.pilotfaq.com.