Saunders 00497 RhinoSkin Aluminum Hardcase for Palm Tungsten TX/T5

I've had an aluminum Rhinoskin for years now on my old Palm Vx, so I was excited to see one finally become available for my newer T5. I'm sure all the Rhinoskin specs are available elsewhere online, so I'll stick to comments on useability. Although this is not a review of the PalmOne aluminum hardcase, I will make some comparisons, since that is what I have been using til now with my T5.

Since my T5 tends to get bounced around a fair bit inside various backpack pockets and flight bags, having a hard case to protect it has always been quite important to me. The trick is in trying to maintain as much protection as possible, while at the same time making it as useable as possible, and I am quite impressed with the Rhinoskin in this regard.

My first observation was that the Rhinoskin looks sleeker than the PalmOne hardcase. In fact, comparing them side by side reveals that the Rhinoskin actually is a bit smaller in every dimension. The design appears well thought out cutouts in the case provide access to all of the T5 connectors without having to open the case. There is even an access hole on the buttom for the reset button (not that any of ever have to worry about resetting our Palm right????), and a small grille so one can hear the speaker. Even the infrared port has its own cutout. The stylus is easily accessible with either the case open or closed. I've always been a bit irritated with my PalmOne case, which I had to not only open, but then also pull the Palm a ways out of the back side of the case as well to remove the stylus.

Any time you make a cutout in any hard case, there is no doubt that you reduce the protection to some degree. Even though there are a lot of cutouts in this case, they seem well-designed, and are custom fit to the T5's configuration. As a result, overall protection for the T5 inside seems to remain quite high it's a design that appears to do a good job balancing protection with useability.

The case is held closed by little metal latching tabs, which provide detent-like action for opening and closing. Unlike the PalmOne latch (plastic), the latching mechanism is all metal and should be pretty durable. If the detent holding action isn't enough for you, it appears that you could *probably* bend the metal tab on side slightly for more resistance, although I don't anticipate wanting to do this anytime soon myself.

Mounting your T5 into the case is accomplished in the same way as with the PalmOne casethat is, but sliding the T5 into a plastic "rail" mounted along the hingeline of the Rhinoskin. Once mounted and the case is closed, there is only a slight amount of "rattle" space certainly far less than with my PalmOne case.

I normally carry two SD cards with me in my case, a standard-size SD memory card, and a PalmOne WiFi SDIO card. Although the Rhinoskin case includes slide-in storage space for two SD cards on the inside of the front cover, I was initially concerned that the SDIO card wouldn't fit because it is so much larger than an SD memory card. On my PalmOne case, I had solved this problem by filing back the little plastic rails of the card holder partway to allow the SDIO card to actually fit fairly decently. However, I was happily surprised to find that the WiFi SDIO card actually fits quite well into the Rhinoskin! The trick in getting it to fit is to put it in upside down and backwards (i.e. when fully inserted, the metal contacts on the card will be exposed and toward the top). In this configuration, the "bulging" part of the SDIO card is away from the screen of the T5 when the lid is closed, and appears to provide a comfortable distance from the screen when closed.

I suppose I should also mention that the Rhinoskin also comes with a belt-clip attachment. It works by screwing in a little metal post into a screw socket on the back side of the Rhinoskin. With the metal post screwed in, the provided plastic belt-clip attachment clips on or off to the metal post, much in the same way as many cell-phone belt clips. The beauty for me in this arrangement is that since I don't plan on using the belt clip at all, I can leave the metal post out and not have to worry about it catching on things. However, it will be available if I ever do decide I want to walk around town with my Palm on my belt, and will only take a minute to install.

If protecting your T5 is of high importance to you, but you want much better useability and a sleeker look than the competition, then check out the Rhinoskin.

I was a bit hesitant to purchase a T5 case of my Palm Tx; but I am glad I did. I often prefer the soft, black, leather cases for all my Palm pilots ( well, at least for my past ones...) but I ventured on faith to purchase my first hard case for my new device and I probably will never go back. This is the perfect case for this Palm. It fits like a glove. There aren't any pockets in it for cards or money; its strictly a case for the Palm Pilot and has two SD card slots in the front of it. I really like the fact that the Palm itself is not stuck in a stationary place in the case; but it fits on a separate plastic hinge and can easily be "flipped" to its back and (if needs be) can be cleaned or accessed. When closed, all the vital Palm parts are still available: It can easily be charged, the earphone jack is readily accessible, even the speaker and the "reset" buttons all have their openings.

Remember; this is not a wallet case there are no slots for credit cards for your your dollar bills. If you are looking for a slim-line case just to house this Palm and a couple of memory cards; this is the perfect case for you!

Buy Saunders 00497 RhinoSkin Aluminum Hardcase for Palm Tungsten TX/T5 Now

This is a solidly built, highly protective case for the Palm Tungsten TX (I assume it also works well for the T5, but this one was bought for a TX). The design is simple; it consists of an aluminum hardshell lined with thin neoprene that provides shock protection. It doesn't add much to the size or weight of the TX, and most everything is accessible with the case shut (you probably can't put it in a crade-type charger, but that's about it.) Overall quality seems pretty good, and your TX is likely to survive a drop from 'held in your hand' height to the floor with no or minimal cosmetic damage.

There are, however, two quirky things with the design that caused me to ding it a star in the rating.

1) The latch/grip point you use to open the case is, IMO, poorly designed. It is fairly difficult to open the case with one hand, since the little grippy bit on the 'front' of the case is hard to grip/push effectively. There is a small lip on the 'back' side that is easy to push against -but you normally would open the case by pulling the 'front' towards you, not pushing the 'back' away. On the bright side, it is not going to come open accidentally in a bag or anything like that.

2) The SD card slots in the inside front of the unit seem to be backwards. The way the cards go into the slots, you are looking at the backside of them -and the contacts are exposed and vulnerable to damage! They should be flipped around the other way so that the contacts are protected better and you can see the labels on the front of the cards.

The belt clip isn't that great -it doesn't 'lock' like some other designs I've seen, so the PDA can swing and rotate annoyingly -but at least is solidly built and doesn't look like it will fall apart or fall off. If you want something to keep a TX on your hip, look elsewhere.

This case is nearly identical in design to the "Palm TX Armor Case" (which I also ordered for comparison purposes). That case is available in black if you want a hard case that isn't silver in color. I kept this one because the it seemed a little sturdier and it came with a 2-year product protection label from StuffBak for free.

Read Best Reviews of Saunders 00497 RhinoSkin Aluminum Hardcase for Palm Tungsten TX/T5 Here

PERSPECTIVE: Active Palm owner and user

I recently upgraded to a Palm T|X from my old T3, and chose again to go with a RhinoSkin hard case, given my previous good experiences with their products. Thus far, I have not been disappointed.

In terms of protection, the case is of admirably sturdy construction, and has yet to see a dent from my clumsy handling. The latch seems less "tight" than I feel comfortable with, but can me manually bent slightly to allow for better closure in any case, it has not popped open when dropped. The T|X itself fits snugly in place by means of a rail that slides up one side of the Palm and locks in. The case is lined with a layer of foam, and is conformed perfectly to the contour of the T|X, without extra room for the unit to rattle around inside.

With regards to functionality, 2 secure slots for spare expanision cards are available in the door, and are easy to access without risking harm to the screen of the T|X inside. Well-designed openings at the top and bottom allow easy access for the IR port, expansion cards, synching and charging, without removing the unit from the case.

I do not use the belt clip feature on the case, due to my current "gadget setup" it suits me well to have it either in my pocket or a bag. However, it is important to bring up the one design criticism that I have, which is true of all RhinoSkin hard cases I've tried recently the belt clip mechanism is unreliable. The belt clip hooks on by clipping onto a screw, which needs to be tightened into the back of the case first. This design choice seems to be made so that if you choose to use the case without the clip, there will be nothing "extra" protruding from the back of the unit, allowing for easier storage and eliminating a "snagging" risk. The difficulty is that, no matter how tightly I've secured the screw, it eventually works its way loose. This leads to the Palm dropping off my belt at random times, without warning. The only way around this is to routinely unclip the unit and check the screw, which is clearly both inconvenient and easy to forget to do. And, as good as this case is at protecting the T|X inside, avoiding extra trauma to one's expensive PDA can only be a good thing.

FINAL WORD: An excellent option for attractive protection for your Palm T|X. Just be vigilent if you plan on using the belt clip.

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My TX was coming out of my purse drained of power once or twice a week, and I was blaming the new device. Then a friend of mine suggested that stuff in my purse might be turning it on or shorting across the charging pins. Also, I wanted to keep different cards for media and for work data.

So this looked like a robust little case for such a purpose.

The ergonomics are great. I can grab it, and fish the stylus up with my right hand while opening the case with my left hand. The card slots allow me to carry three cards (2 in the case and one in the TX).

Sometimes, I will head out of the house with nothing but my cell, keys, and my TX -with my drivers license, debit card, transit pass and a couple biz cards tucked in the case. This doesn't work in my purse, because it really overstuffs the case a bit, but it works fine in the pocket of my jeans.

As I often am seen carrying a dense little backpack that masquerades as a purse, this is a liberating thing...:)

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