Convertible Review

The Convertible by RoadMate is a one piece protective screen cover with an integrated stand. It is compatible with both the PalmPilot (including 2meg upgrade with IR), and Palm III. It is made of a flexible injection molded plastic and comes in several solid colors including red, yellow, teal, blue, black. It also comes in translucent iMac colors like strawberry, blueberry, tangerine and clear. There is even a leather Convertible cover for the Palm V, PalmPilot, and Palm III.The PDA is attached to the cover via the hotsync port. A plastic plug slides into the port with a snug fit holding the cover in place. You have to remove the cover in order to hotsync though. If you buy something from a link in this article, we may earn a commission. Learn more Two clips snap into slots to hold the cover in the closed position. Opening and closing the cover is a two handed operation.

When the cover is closed, it protects the entire screen except for two narrow slots that the stand uses. When the cover is open, you can flip it back flat behind the PalmPilot or just let it hang down.  When I was using the Convertible, I preferred to just let the cover hang down because it wasn’t as comfortable to hold when it was folded behind the Pilot. A great thing about this cover is that it leaves the hardware buttons totally unobstructed when it is open. The main feature of the Convertible is that it can double as a stand for your PalmPilot. To do this, you just open the cover, pull out the stand and snap the feet into the slots. When the stand is in this position, it’s at just the right angle for viewing and screen tapping.

Another feature of the Convertible is that it has an opening for the IR port
on a Palm III or upgraded Palm Pilot. This will allow you to use the IR port
without needing to remove the cover.

The Convertible is a nice protective screen cover and stand.

Price: $19.95

Pros:
Built-in easy to use stand.
Available in a variety of colors.

Cons:
Have to remove to hotsync.

Leather Convertible

The Leather Convertible is a leather version of the plastic Convertible
stand/screen covers. They have a version for the Palm V as well as the
PalmPilot, Palm III and Visor.  The Leather Convertible is a stand/beltcase/cover
that you can play through. Unlike the plastic Convertibles, you can leave the
PDA in this cover while you hotsync.

The cover is made of black leather and the PDA is attached to it with Velcro.
The cover is held closed with a snap strap. Unfortunately this snap is on the
screen side of the cover which requires you to press down on the glass part of
your PDA in order to secure the strap. I don’t like this at all because there is
a high risk factor for either scratching or breaking the screen. It doesn’t
require a lot of pressure to close the snap, but any pressure on the screen is
not something I personally recommend. The cover has one business card slot. It
is only somewhat stiff and doesn’t have any type of hard insert that I could
discern.

There are actually two straps on this case. One is shorter than the strap that
holds the cover closed. This shorter strap also has a snap. The idea is that you
can snap the short strap to the longer one and create a stand out of the back of
the leather cover. The back of the cover can fold into a stand-like shape
because it is really 3 pieces of leather that are held together by elastic
bands. This is an interesting feature but I didn’t find myself using it this way
much if at all.

The cover has an elastic stylus holder on the right side. I really don’t find
this useful at all. The stock stylus falls out of this holder and a larger
stylus is too thick for it and would flop around against the side of the PDA.

The back of the case has a slot for an included metal belt clip. This is the
exact same skinny belt clip that the Rhodiana case uses. I don’t mind this clip
on the Rhodiana case because it is attached better and feels more secure. On the
Leather Convertible, the case feels very unsecure on my belt.

Although the leather is good quality as is the stitching, I really don’t like
this cover much at all for my Palm V. I don’t think it really protects enough.
When the cover is snapped closed, it seems like the case is one size too large
because it gaps quite a bit around the PDA. Dust, dirt etc can easily get on the
screen even while the cover is closed. The price is also way too expensive for
what you get.

Price: $49.95

Pros:
Play through.
Can Hotsync while cover is attached.
Access to all buttons.

Cons:
Does not fit snuggly around PDA.
Too expensive.
To close the snap, you have to press on the screen.