PilotGear Executive Leather Case Review

The Executive case by PilotGear H.Q. is a very nice black leather wallet style case. This case will hold either a PalmPilot or a Palm III. The PDA is held in place by a leather yoke. The Executive measures 13 5/8″ Wide by 5 1/2″ Tall (open) and 4 1/4″ Wide by 5 1/2″ Tall by 1 1/4″ Thick (closed).

Some nice features of this case are the five credit card slots and 3 large paper/money slots. These paper/money slots are located under the credit card, yoke and right side of the case. The right side of the case also has a slot for a pad of paper. Unfortunately, there isn’t a slot for a pen or pencil though.

Both a PalmPilot and a Palm III are able to fit in this case. The yoke has cutouts for the main buttons and the contrast wheel. The main button cutout works better with a PalmPilot, but isn’t too bad with a Palm III.

There are a couple of bad things about the yoke that holds the PDA in place. One bad thing is that there isn’t anything to hold the Pilot in the yoke besides friction. This is more noticable with the Palm III. I had this case at work with me and handed it to a friend of mine to get is opinion on it. He looked it over and then the first thing he did without even opening it was to hold it by the edges with one hand and tap the the top of the case on the palm of his other hand (like tapping a cigarette out of a pack). Guess what happened? My Palm III came falling out right into his hand. Yikes! He didn’t even tap it hard either. We then took his PalmPilot and put it into the case and tried the same test. He didn’t come out easily like the Palm III. But, it did slip out of the yoke about a half inch. They really need to add a velcroed tab at the top of this case to hold the the PDA in position. The yoke was also smashed when I got the case. This made the sides of the yoke bow out slightly instead of lay flat. PilotGear H.Q. needs to put in a piece of foam so that the yoke doesn’t loose its shape in shipping.

The other little thing about this case that makes it less usable for a Palm III owner is that it’s a bit difficult to remove the stylus. This isn’t a major problem, but it is a little annoying.

The actual construction of the Executive case is fine. The quality of the leather and stitching are first rate. The brass snap that holds the case closed strong and easy to use. This is a nice wallet style case. Because of its size it isn’t for someone looking for a shirt pocket case. It’s more for carrying in a briefcase or purse. I can only recommend this case for the PalmPilot owner because of the problem with a Palm III easily falling out.