The first thought that came to my mind as I was opening the Noreve BlackBerry 8800 Tradition leather case was that of a finely crafted European wallet. The case is well made and very stylish. Definitely something you could slide into the breast pocket of your business suit.
The Blackberry 8800 slides into the case easily with all the cutouts and openings aligning as they should. The case does make the very slim and sleek 8800 gain a bit of bulk. But considering how slick (and potentially very dropable) the device is, it’s nice having the protection and added grip.
The front cutouts include the screen and keyboard, ear speaker, and indicator light. The flip cover has two business card and two microSD card slots.
The right side cutout includes the volume control buttons.
The left side cutouts include the earjack, usb connector, and smartkey. Magnets in the flip cover hold it closed and put the Blackberry into sleep mode. Both of these features are well engineered. The only thing I would ask for are stronger magnets as the flip cover moves around more than I like. The cover flips out of the way so it is not in the way of clicking the keys or using the phone.
Another well engineered feature is the ability to remove the beltclip stub from the case. Giving you the choice of slipping it into your pocket/purse or hanging it on your belt.
A positive discovery of writing this article was that Noreve now has a North American website making it easier and less costly for those of us in the States, Canada, and Mexico to buy their products.
The Noreve BlackBerry 8800 Tradition leather case is well made with good functionality. It is competitively priced at $45 and comes in 13 colors. There are many Blackberry cases available and if you are someone that prefers the flip cover you should consider Noreve.
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This case is only OK, but you may want to think twice.
The real reason I wanted this case is because I was sick to death of carrying around a wallet and a phone at the same time, and this case has 2 card slots. I thought it would be perfect – 1 for my driver’s license and 1 for a debit/credit card (cash would go in my pocket and all would then be fine, but not so).
The cards fit in the slots OK, but the case will NOT fully close with the cards in, which is very awkward and disappointing. The magnet does not have enough force to hold the flap closed, which means that the magnet in the front flap of the case turns my blackberry on and off as it sways to and fro when I move down the street with the case on my hip.
The cards are so thin, and I don’t understand why Noreve would put the slots there if they are basically unusable. It’s fine without the cards, but that’s irrelevant in my view.
Also, the leather to the side of the keyboard is raised significantly, making it somewhat difficult to hit keys close to the edge when typing.
The Noreve case looks elegant, but it doesn’t elegantly solve any problems really (and it actually creates one or two). All-in-all, I’m a bit disappointed, and I wish that I had read about these problems BEFORE I purchased (because I wouldn’t have proceeded to do so), hence I post them here to help aid others!
I always try to be fair… so I’d like to submit a update after having used this case for a bit more time.
It is in fact possible to fit in two cards, but I have to slightly bend the front flap such that the magnet at the bottom is moved closer to the bottom part when it closes. The flap seems to have a metallic sheet inside, so the bend is maintained. I guess I didn’t try this before because it doesn’t seem intuitive to bend something new out of shape to make it work!
2009.09.18:
I ordered a leather case for my cowon s9 on the 10th of Aug and still haven’t recieve the product. I called the custom and the guy told me that it’ll be shipped on Sept. 24th and that since I’m paying for the cheapest transact it’ll be another 12~15 days, which means I’ll probably get the product exactly 2 months after my order! I hate to say this but my experience with Noreve is quite disappointing!