Zero Halliburton Metal Case Review

Product Requirements:
Device:
Palm V Series

I’m sure you’ve seen them before, people carrying those cool looking brushed
silver attaches cases. One such manufacturer of these cases is ZERO Halliburton,
a company that has been in existence for over 30yrs. They are known for their
high quality aircraft-grade aluminum travel cases. Now they’ve created a PDA
case for the Palm V series that is being sold by Franklin Covey.

The ZERO has a great look to it. The finish on the aluminum is brushed and
appears to wear very well. I carried this case inside my gear bag in the same
compartment as lots of other items for over a week, and the case doesn’t have a
scratch on it.

This hard case has several features that other Palm hard cases do not have.
The main one being a unique closure mechanism. The case snaps closed with an
audible click. It is opened by sliding a spring loaded latch. As long as you
make sure that the case is indeed latched shut, it will not come open on its
own.

The interior of the case has a Neoprene lining on both sides that helps
absorb shock in the event of a drop. This lining is a nice thick rubber-like
insert. Both sides have indentations for the scroll and application buttons.
Since the indentations are on both sides of the case, the case is quite usable
for left handed people (like myself). The Palm V can be attached by the right
rail instead of the left rail.

Each half of the case also has a metal clip that can hold several business
cards in the provided cutout area. The problem is that my business cards didn’t
quite fit in the cutout. I tried a handful of other business cards that I had,
and found some that did fit; but most were just a bit too long. They need to
make the cutout just a bit longer.

The case itself is actually made of plastic with two aluminum shells glued to
each side. Normally this wouldn’t bother me, but I found that the glue used to
hold the shells to the plastic case didn’t appear to be that strong. The case
that I had for review exhibited cracking noises if I squeezed the top and bottom
shells while the case was closed. I think the glue was sticking and unsticking,
causing this noise. I also noticed some glue goop and quite a bit of play in the
shells when squeezing them.

If you look at the picture above on the left, you can make out some of the
glue goop. The picture on the right shows the gap in the aluminum shell and the
edges of the case. I could squeeze the end of the case and close this gap. Doing
this also caused the cracking noises that I mentioned above. I’m pretty sure
that I could pry the shells away from the plastic case if I wanted to without
much force. I really think the metal shells should be attached to the plastic
case by a different more reliable method other than glue.

The case hinge is also made of plastic, as is the rail that the Palm attaches
to. The Franklin Covey description of the case says that the rail is metal, but
it isn’t. The Palm V attaches to the rail easily and although you can remove it
just as easily, I didn’t feel that the Palm V would fall off the rail on its
own.

The top part of the case has an opening for the IR port and the unique
stylus. The IR port opening has a small plastic window over it. So when the ZERO
is shut, the PDA is completely enclosed and protected.

The stylus that is included with this case looks like a little hatchet or a
flag. It is all metal except for the tip which is plastic. The tip can screw
off, but unfortunately there isn’t a reset pin included.

The stylus when inserted, sticks out in such a way that it makes it easier to
remove than the stock stylus. However, if you don’t like this stylus, you can
use your original one or another 3rd party one such as the PDA Panache Deluxe Palm V stylus.

You can also sync with the cradle without removing the Palm from this case.
It’s a little awkward to get the PDA into the cradle, but it can be
done.

The ZERO Halliburton is an attractive and protective case. But, it is also
HUGE and heavy. At 4.0 x  5.0 x 0.9in (102 x  126 x 23mm),
.545lb. (247g) it is a real
handful. It still fits in most back jean pockets, but it definitely won’t fit in
a typical shirt pocket. It pretty much takes your sleek Palm V and turns it into
a brick. That said, I could see myself using this case to protect my Palm V
while it was in another case… such as my gear bag or luggage. But as is, the
ZERO is too big and unwieldy for me to personally want to lug around as my
‘everyday’ case.

Price: $79.95

Pros:
Attractive
Protective

Cons:
Aluminum shells not affixed to plastic
case properly
Price
Size/Weight