Guess what,,, Nutshell just announced the release of their new Nutshell which holds a SKINNED TREO!
I think our boys down under must have sub-contracted Palm One employees (releasing a New improved version just shortly after releasing a new improved version)
My goodness I'm going to have to get a bigger sock drawer since I cant send mine back (I cut the metal ring and the tag off)
I think I'll stay with my Nutshell "the original" case it's plenty big and noticable on my belt already. Incidentally I can feel it vibrate loud and clearly through its belt loop fastening. I wonder if the Treo can vibrate less intensely or vibrate fewer times before it picks up -- it seems to vibrate about six times before the answering service from Sprint kicks in. However the phone's speaker volume when I'm talking on the phone seems low despite the adjuster thingie on the phone screen with those bars. Can you tell I'm still new?
BTW, loving my clear frosted silicon skin. I like it so much I've just been carrying the phone instead of using a holster. But the Nutshell is still best for jogging. And the Seidio is my choice for nights when me and wifey can get a baby sitter.
I have never heard of an adjustment on the vibrater. I remember from 15 years ago my big mamoth pager had 10 different types of vibrate.
Ya, I cant wait. The Speck skin tight is the only skin-holster combo I've seen. I give up on the lock/release cases whether its a 20 dollar Sydney Harbour or a 100 dollar Piel Frama they all protrude a foot off the hip. The Nutshell is perfect for the track. The Seidio holsters are great but I also want protection from scratches.
I'll also be reviewing this Seidio pouch-skin combo next week.
Last edited by jamespaulritter : 05-07-2005 at 05:00 PM.
Your posts are highly informative and entertaining as well. The quest for the perfect case, is a difficult one and your posts help. Like to suggest a different solution to you. The cases you tried early on were open in the front so that you could see the screen and use the keyboard. Unfortunately, they were far too thin to provide ample protection in case of a fall. The thin leather cases and skin cases are compact, but the price of "thin" is a lack of fall cushioning. Further, when you start with a thin leather case, or a skin tight case, perhaps they are not inherently stiff enough to properly support a belt clip.
The answer is more along the lines defined by the Vaja case T65. Actually the product which I ordered is called the Treokitz and the company called itzkitz www.itzkitz.com.. The product starts with plastic wrapped on one side with quality leather on the other side with velvet. It is open providing access to the critical Treo outlets and keyboard/screen.
Why buy two devices, one to carry and one to protect when in use, when the Treokitz offers higher than average protection by its sandwich of materials and higher than average accessibility at the same time. They also have attempted to improve on the clip used by Vaja, while their pricing is half Vaja's price and includes free shipping plus other goodies. But clearly price is not the issue for you, it is protection/accessibllity. I am probably a weak away from receiving my case, but just thought I would let you know that there may be an alternative to your double protection plan.
But I am looking forward to trying the Seidio pouch case and am right now running the Speck skin tight through the ringer and will be posting a full review tomarrow.
In the movie Laurence of Arabia, Anthony Quinn is helping Lawrence rob trains. Quinn eventually discovers a white horse on a train and says goodbye. When Lawrence asks where are you going? Quinn replies when you get what you want, it is time to go home.
I thought after your adventures and compliments with the Nutshell, which I agree is a fine product, that you too would have ridden out into the desert with your nutshell on your belt. Instead you continue to demo other alternatives. Will the quest for the perfect case continue unabated for you longer term? Not my business but wondering why after appearing to be satisfied, your product evaluations continue.
I guess when you say its not my style, you mean that there is not enough protection of the screen?
First off I have to tell you I loved your post, I graciously welcome all expressions of creativity and culture even if only of the slightly aged cinama variety.
The Treokitz case has qualities I strongly dislike.
1) Lock/release swivel (so I know it will stick out to far for me)
2) Screen facing out with no cover
3) The edge of the case comes to close to the buttons
4) Theres nothing to hold the SD card down (I check 10 times a day to see I have lost my SD card)
Yes the Nutshell is near perfection but 2 weeks ago I got another scratch on my beloved Treo. I dont know how this happens I am ultra carefull. If Nutshell would have came out with their skinned Treo holster before I bought mine I would have went for that.
Just to recap:
1) Seidio clip type (I bought because the proclip was taking forever to come out)
2) Proclip (snapped like cheap junk when I cought it on a book shelf)
3) Seidio cradle type (Seidio sent for free to see what I thouhgt of it)
4) Pacific Rim plastic over screen case (I ordered a case from Pac Rim but not this one, but I went ahead and did a review on it any way, then sent back this accidental shipment)
5) Pacific Rim open face leather case (Again then sent the wrong case but I went ahead and reviewed it)
6) Sena leather case (Cheap junk, 5 bucks to send it back)
7) Nutshell (Perfect but still getting use to naked treo out of the case)
8 ) Redisigned Seidio clip type (Seidio sent it free to get feed back)
9) Redisigned Seidio cradle type (Seidie sent it free to get feed back)
10) Treo central silicon skin (they are inexpensive and Im tired of getting scratches on the phone and have high hopes that it will work well with the Seidio pouch case for skinned Treos or the Nutshell for skinned treos)
11) Speck skin tight (Just wanted to see it first hand since its totaly different from the rest and its a skin that covers the SD slot{thats great} it may work well in the Seidio pouch or the new Nutshell) if not its only 2 dollars in postage to send it back. P.S. Its the worst case I have ever seen.
12) Seidio pouch for skinned treos (Seidio is sending it free to get feedback)
But maybey the most imprtant question is why would I put out all this effort to do this. It's alot of fun
1. Nice snug fit
2. Looks good
3. Solid leather cover for the face. Definitely not cheap leather.
4. Decent protection
5. Provides more to hang onto so there is less chance for it to slip out of my hands
6. Ratchet clip
7. You don't need to take the phone in and out of a holster, which adds to the potential of droppage
Its good that it is fun for you to investigate the efficiency of Treo cases. You have also helped alot of others, myself specfically included, with your posts. I would like to question one of your assumpations by making a series of assumptions myself that i can't entirely prove.
There is an inherent difficulty in trying to use a clip with a skin case or with a thin leather case. The clip needs to be connected to something secure and there is nothing secure about thin leather or even the material that skin cases are made from. I question your generalizations about particular clips being good or not good, because I think the stiffness of the case is an important criteria as well. My case when received will have quality leather stiffened by a plastic shell. Unless you of evidence to the contrary, I feel the clip will function much better in my case, just becasue it can be better anchored.
A second generalization that I would suggest is that the risk of damage is far greater when one is using the Treo than when one is carrying it. The nutshell case does a brilliant job of keeping the Treo secure on your hip, but frankly that is not when maximum security is most advantageous. It maks far more sense maximizing security when the phone is in use imo. The people who put on thin leather cases may be fooling themselves. Imagine a crash test, similar to the 5 mph car crash. Does anyone really think a thin lealther case or even the silicon material will protect their Treo sufficiently. My suggestion is that a case with leather on the outside a stiffer plastic in the middle and velvet on the inside, provides far better protection where and when it is most needed.
My hope is that because of the stiffness of the Treokitz case, the clip will work better. Also because it provides maximum protection by combining 3 materials in its protection, it may be a safer solution than even your double protection solution that you are currently testing. What do you think?
My experience with cases is that they are in far greater danger on my hip, because that's where they usually are just as I get on or off a boat. They are not always there a split second later. On the other hand, although it is true that it is in far greater danger of being dropped from my hand, that 20-30 times that I have dropped my Treo600 has done no functional damage to the unit itself.
That said, the security of the "clip" is foremost for me, and it has been my experience that the unit is far more likely to go into the drink with a clip than with a loop, so I have ordered the Nutshell with the loop, because I have yet to find a clip that will not eventually work itself off my belt if I give it enough reason (tension, torque, plus stupidity), and that has happened several times to me already.
Actually, the unit I have ordered solves your boat problem. The case is comfortable either on the hip or in your pocket. On boats, in your pocket makes more sense.
After carrying my Treo 300 around in a nutshelll for 2 years, I found no real incidents of risk on my hip. But I probably dropped the Treo 8 or 9 times from varying heights and each time it was unfortunately "naked". From my viewpoint, maximum protection while it is off my hip is the key issue.
I wish my unit came with a belt loop but unfortunately it didn't happen. One of the many tradeoffs required in chosing ones case.
My hang up with lock/release clips is not whether the male adapters are hooked to a solid case or not, it is that they cause the phone to stick out to far, which just looks silly.
My emphasis on a strog clip relates mostly to non-lock/release holsters.
I do agree with mdavis that a lock release is not secure enough, for me any way. If your Treokitz comes with the "ultra clip" you should run it through the ringer because they have left many Treos on the side walk.
I have never dropped my phone from my hand but have had a phone fall from a cheap broken clip once, fall from a lockrelease releasing for no reason, and once while in the car I did forget the treo was on my lap when I got out of the car.
But I have had my phone, while on the hip, smack 2 hand rails, a few counter tops, believe it or not the corner of a wall when I turning down the hallway, and once while in the park with my daughters a little boy head butted my Treo. He ran smack right in to me. So for me safer on the hip is better.
So for me a skinned Treo in a pouch case might be, for me, the best of everything.
And this is why its a P ersonal D igital A ssistant
Clearly you are a great deal more sure handed than I am, while I appear to be a bit more precise of a walker. lol.
If you read the link, you will see that the Treokitz clip is specifically different from the clip Vaja 65.
The belt clip itself is pretty much standard issue, but it has a better hinge than most OEM belt clips. It does a good job of grabbing your belt or your pants/pockets very well. In fact, if the fabric is not too thick, it can even lock itself tight preventing it from sliding off. What makes the belt clip combo really extraordinary is the quality metallic hook that goes at the back of the phone case. Chances are the belt clip might get worn out or break before the hook does, since it is metal and not plastic.
I have dropped my phone before, on myself while nodding off on the couch
Many manufactures make metal male posts but there is only one manufacturer that I know of that makes a metal female adapter that might fit your post Krussel
This is an excellent thread. James, your effort and thoughtful analysis is much appreciated by me and I’m sure many others, judging by the # of views (8600+). I was ready to order my Nutshell, until the series of posts about the skinned Treos with the Nutshell case. And now I think I better to wait until you review the Seidio pouch-skin combo next week. Too many choices and too little conviction on my part.
I spent my first 2 weeks with my new Treo in my pocket. Then picked up an OEM case from a Sprint store last weekend, to try. This case has an open screen / covered keyboard. It’s going back, as the keys around the edges of the case are too inaccessible for my fat fingers. Did give me a chance to evaluate horizontal vs. vertical positions on the belt. Vertical will not work for me 100% of the time so the Nutshell with the belt clip is not really an option.
I still have only 2 nagging questions:
1. Do I get the version that allows the skin or the original – I’m leaning toward the new skin friendly version. I like the idea of protection while out of the Nutshell case.
The naked Treo seems too slippery for my taste. Anybody have this combo? Opinions?
2. I’m wondering how hard is it to get the Treo out of the case while in the horizontal position (belt loop version). Maybe there is no difference – horizontal or vertical. My thought is that a skinned unit would be easier to grip, but might be more resistant to sliding out of the case. On the other hand, I could be over thinking this thing.
Will, are you out there? By my reckoning you’ve had your Nutshell case for a couple of weeks. I believe you purchased the belt loop version. How do you like it? I could use some input on the extraction issue in the horizontal position, although I think you ordered before the new, skin friendly, version was available.
I am worried about the amount of resistance with the skinned treo also.
Seidio made the mistake of not putting in a slippery fabric liner in their first pouch case and have corrected it in the second release. Seidio just emailed me and said they dropped it in the mail today.
I have posted to Nutshell 2 times asking if they could comment on the amount of resistance when placing and removing the skinned phone. If I dont here back by Wednesday then I guess its only 10 bucks to order it an only 5 bucks to send it back.
I have no trouble handeling the naked Treo but if I get one more mystery scratch Im going to paint this thing in a clear coat!
P.S. My Speck review is not up today because I made an unsuccessful conversion from Photo Suit 4, to photo suit 7.
Word to all,,,,Photo Suit 4 is not compatible with Windows XP
Here's my opinion. The naked treo is slippery so the skin is pretty essential if it's out and about a lot or just to carry it loosely in one's pocket. That's usually where I carry my Treo when it's in its skin. I also have a Nutshell. I don't use the Nutshell as much. For me the case on the Nutshell is too big even though I got the smallest case that fits on my belt (not even a clip) so personally speaking, I wouldn't get a Nutshell that's even bigger which it would be if it handled the skin on top of a Treo. The Treo maybe isn't the biggest phone in the world but it sure isn't small like a flip phone. It's big enough that I don't want to have a big case around it. Maybe if I were a big brutey manly manly brouser of a big guy it would be different or if I wanted the world to know I'm 'packing' a Treo. But I don't. Anyway good luck!
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