Rhinoskin Palm V Molded Hardcase Review

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The same folks that have brought you the famous indestructible Titanium
Slider cases have a new hardcase for the Palm V series of PDAs. The Palm V
Molded Hardcase by Rhinoskin is a case
made of 100% Aircraft-Grade brushed Aluminum.

I was anxious to get this case and review it as I have been wanting a small
form factor hard shell case to use with my Palm V.  I like Rhinoskin’s
Titanium Slider cases, but they are just too heavy and bulky for my personal
tastes. When I first took the new Molded case out of the box, I was surprised
because it wasn’t the color that I was expecting. The pictures on Rhinoskin’s
website made the case look the same color as a Palm V… kind of goldish.
The case I was sent, is a bright silver color. I’m not disappointed in the
color, I was just surprised.

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The Aluminum is brushed which helps it to not show fingerprints or smudges.
When I first got the case, all I wanted to do was run my fingers over it. It’s a
great smooth, cool feeling case. After doing this a few minutes though, I
noticed that my fingers tips were turning black. I guess Aluminum can tarnish.
After using this case for a week I’ve not noticed this happening again though.
One thing I did notice is that the case scratches very easily. I was very
careful with this case and only put it in my empty jeans pocket and empty coat
pocket. Somehow after only 5 days I have quite a few scratches, scuffs and tiny
pock marks. The instructions that came with the case say that you can use a
Scotch Brite scrub pad to buff out the scratches, but I haven’t tried this yet.

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The Palm V is held in the case with a rail that fits in the left stylus silo.
This rail has a nice tight fit so you won’t have to worry about the Palm V
sliding off it. The rail is also attached to the case hinge so that the PDA can
swivel to the left or right side of the case. When the PDA is in the case, all
buttons are easily accessible. The IR port and right stylus silo are both
accessible as well. The case also works fine with the PDA Panache Deluxe Stylus
for the Palm V. You can even sync in the cradle while the PDA is in this case,
but it isn’t really easy. You have to pull the front and back of the case away
from the PDA so that you can put it in the cradle.

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The case is molded and has smooth sides unlike their Slider cases which are
bent and have square edges. The case I was sent had a great fit. All the edges
lined up perfectly giving the case a very smooth feeling when closed.

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The case is very light weight and doesn’t had much at all to the form factor
of the Palm V. Here are the specs:

Size:        4.7″ x 3.3″ x
0.6″
Weight:    approx. 2.5 oz empty, 6.8 oz with Palm V

The inside of the case has a thin layer of black knit-like material that is
glued to the inside of each half of the case. This material looks exactly like
the material that Rhinoskin uses as the covering for their ShockSuit case… but
I could be mistaken. I don’t see any real benefit to this lining as there
doesn’t appear to be any real padding protection. If you drop this case there
isn’t going to be anything to dampen the impact. During my review I accidentally
dropped the case about 1ft onto a hard tile floor. The impact caused the case to
pop open. Luckily the case and PDA weren’t damaged by this short fall.

The case is designed to be a play through case in that you just open the case
and start using the PDA. You don’t remove it to use it. This works pretty well
although it took me a little while to get used to opening the case. The case is
held closed by a dimpled tab on the top shell of the case. The bottom shell has
a matching “bump”  that this dimple snaps over. This holds the
case closed, but I would MUCH rather see some type of sliding latch-type closure
mechanism. I say this because it’s not real easy to get the case opened. You’d
think you would just press up on the tab to slide it up and open… Well, on the
review case that I had, doing this might slice your thumb open. The edge of the
tab has almost a razor sharp edge. See below.

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This tab wasn’t the only sharp edge on the case. Almost every edge of the
case is very sharp. I’ve actually cut myself twice on it. Rhinoskin really needs
to sand the edges better.

To open the case I would open it by exerting opposite pressure with my thumbs
on the latch end of the case. Unfortunately, this takes two hands. I would like
to see a sliding latch that only takes one hand to operate and maybe even pops
the cover open.

Overall, I like this case because I can put my Palm V in my back jeans pocket
and not worry about sitting down and flexing the PDA. I like the looks of the
case and the fact that it doesn’t add much to the overall size of my Palm V. But
for almost $80, I would like to see the sharp edges fixed, and a better closure
mechanism.

Price: $79.95

Pros:
Lightweight.
Hardcase.
Play through.

Cons:
Very sharp edges.
Scratches easily.
not easy to sync while in the case.
Expensive.

 

Product Information

Price:$79.95
Manufacturer:Rhinoskin
Pros:
  • Lightweight.
  • Hardcase.
  • Play through.
Cons:
  • Very sharp edges.
  • Scratches easily.
  • not easy to sync while in the case.
  • Expensive.

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