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Proporta m500 Series Aluminium Case Review By Ed Hardy 7/30/2002 A good number of people feel nervous about carrying around an expensive handheld without some kind of protection. For them, a nice hardcase just fits the bill, like the one Proporta offers for the m500 series.
Shape The disadvantage of this shape is, when it is opened and you are using the handheld, the front cover is hanging off to the left, which is frequently in your way. There is no way to fold it around to the back. It has a rail that is connected to the hinge and fits into the slot on the left side of the handheld. This holds the Palm in the case even when the cover is open. In case some of you aren't aware of this, the m500 is thinner than the m505 and m515. This means it will fit in this case but will rattle around a little bit. If you can find something to add some extra lining, it would help a lot. This case has slots that allow you to easily insert and remove the stylus and SD/MMC cards. These work quite well. On some hardcases you have to turn the case over and open the back in order to get at the SD card, but not this one. And you can take out the stylus without opening the case at all, which will come in handy for those of you who use a stylus/pen combination. These slots have other advantages, too. You might be able to tell from the pictures that I'm currently using the ttools SLIMpoint stylus, which doesn't fit inside most hardcases. Fortunately, the Proporta one has no problem. The downside of the slots is the case isn't even a tiny bit waterproof. If you are looking for protection from the rain, look elsewhere.
HotSyncing You can open the front and back as much as they'll go, which kind of makes a T shape with the handheld at a right angle to the case. If you put your cradle up on a thick book or on the edge of your desk, this creates enough clearance for the case to allow you to fit the Palm into the cradle. The other possibility is to give up your cradle and buy a HotSync cable. However, there isn't a slot at the bottom of the case for the HotSync port so you'll have to open the case to connect the cable.
Protection Of course, it will definitely protect your handheld's screens from getting scratched up if you carry it around in your purse or backpack. The interior of this case is lined with neoprene, which gives the handheld some cushioning if you drop it. Still, I wouldn't recommend you throw it out a window. The lining isn't very thick. As I mentioned earlier, this case isn't waterproof because of the cut-outs for the stylus and SD slot.
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RE: I love my Proporta Hard Case. : )
RE: I love my Proporta Hard Case. : )
RE: I love my Proporta Hard Case. : )
I am very happy with it, it does everything I expect of it, including keeping my m505 in my back pocket EVERY day!
Can't fault it and the price from Proporta or Expansys is now ~£25. Compare that to the price of Palm's offering and Proporta wins hands down.
mrscarey
palmist and visionary
RE: I love my Proporta Hard Case. : )
Palm Hard case or this one?
RE: Palm Hard case or this one?
Dennis G. Esler
scouter075@attbi.com
I would suggest
RE: Palm Hard case or this one?
Flip Case with latch?
If someone would just make a flip cover that is thin, offers a variety of colors/finishes, stays shut via some sort of latch, and is able to swing all the way around to the back, this would satisfy the vast majority of palm users.
It wouldn't provide back/front protection, but I'm actually wondering where most of these people think they're taking their palms to, field combat?
RE: Flip Case with latch?
RE: Flip Case with latch?
Hmm..
RE: Hmm..
Paul Revere edition
www.proporta.com/default.asp?id=silvercases (doesn't work in Mozilla, does work in IE, darn it)
RE: Paul Revere edition
You'd need a case to protect the CASE!!!
RE: Paul Revere edition
Alternate hotsync method
3. Open the back of the case and swing it around to the side (keeping the front of the case covering the face of the Palm), and set the Palm in the cradle. You can't see or use your Palm in this position, but it works for a quick hotsync while on the run.
4. Forget the cradle and cable and hotsync via IR. Of course your desktop or laptop must also have an IR port (standard on some laptops), and it's slow as molasses, but it's a good way to 'stealth sync' while in meetings. Oh, forget syncing that 5Mb movie clip this way, you don't have the time.
I enjoy this case, but sometimes get tired of my thumb hooked over the cover. You can't just hold the Palm in your hand like you can with the flip cover... you must hold it by the opened cover unless you are a leftie holding it in your right hand. Good case though.
SD cutout
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I love my Proporta Hard Case. : )