• Nice quality leather
• Great pockets
• Would like to see rail system for Palm V series

• Don't really like Velcro attachment
• Cannot accommodate peripherals
• Don't really like Velcro attachment

Design:
Cost/benefit:
Coolness:
Overall:

Pictured is the new RhinoSkin "Leather Executive" their very first leather product. Their marketing material reads "A Classy executive look with semi-rigid edges and interior padding for the protection RhinoSkin is famous for."

This case comes in only the two most popular executive colors; Black and Brown (errr "Chocolate" - OK it doesn't sound like an "executive" color, but trust me it looks the part). It has several internal pockets, a zippered closure, and utilizes velcro to secure the PDA. RhinoSkin makes a Leather Executive to accommodate every Palm and Pocket PC device on the market.

Well it sure is "classy" but I think nothing beats Rhino's Aluminum Palm V molded case for protection. The nicest thing about this particular case is the high quality of the leather, it feels like a leather sofa! However, it also feels like it has some sort of "stiffening" or padding material in the leather halves. It is not simply a thin leather case, I suppose that's how the "famous RhinoSkin protection" is built in. I think this case should simply be marketed toward the executive that wants great style to complement the function of their Palm, and that this case does wel1. For protection I'm staying with the molded case which I personally think is more "executive".

That's the form; here's the function. The case uses a two Velcro securing patches to hold the Palm device in place. The hook patches are sewn into the back interior of the case, and the loop fasteners are applied to the back of the Palm with self adhesive. The review version that I was presented is for the Palm V series unit, and I'd prefer to see a silo rail system for attachment, sticking velcro to the back of my executive Palm V is not appealing to me. Kind of like putting a bumper sticker on your Jaguar. I suppose this makes manufacturing less costly and holds down the price; all the Leather Executive cases use this design making the only manufacturing change the actual dimension of the case.

This case is very functional and has pockets for money, business/credit cards, and a stylus holder loop.

In my travels I have read some threads at eGroups OmniSky forum talking about this case as a viable OmniSky/PalmV combination case. Well I can tell you that the Palm V Leather Executive is not the way to go. As you see in the photo below, the antenna sticks out of the case, but more troublesome is that the zipper will hit the corner of the Palm as you can see.

I was told by RhinoSkin that for a Palm V/OmsiSky combo case one might consider their RP1100 or RP2000 cases.

The bottom line is I think this is a great leather case, but there is nothing striking about it that sets it apart from the rest of the cases on the market. And, at $49.95, I'd kind of expect it to; at $39.95 I wouldn't care. RhinoSkin is known for it's high quality products, and this one is no exception, maybe I was just looking for some compelling feature in this case, something as unique and exciting in a first product of it's kind (for RhinoSkin) such as the Ti and molded Aluminum cases were.