Contact Info:
Brando
URL:
www.brando.com.hk
The Price:
- Color Series: HK $180 (~$32 USD)
- Special Edition (All Clear White): HK $268 with Free Bullet String - Black
The Pros:
- Nice construction; virtually indestructible!
- See through cover
The Cons:
- No spring mechanism to keep flap closed
Palm Infocenter.com Ratings*:
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*Maximum Rating is FIVE (5) InfoPalms |
The PalPal
Twistor Review
Robert Zach (zachr@lucent.com)
The Pal Pal Twistor case for the Palm V series is a marvel of plastic and creativity. The case is the first "flip" style case I have seen for a Palm V/Vx. Until now, Palm's new rail system for this series limited the unit to "book" style covers.
The case is actually manufactured in two halves, hinged together at the top. The bottom half (back of the book) is also hinged on the left side (or spine) with the typical Palm V rail (or silo) connector. To continue the analogy; this allows the case to open like a notepad instead of a book ;-)
Due to this design the case is ambidextrous; but for lefties you will still have to keep the stylus in the right hand side silo since the rail mount must be in the left side.
This case is made of a tough Poly Carbonate from Germany. As the pictures below
illustrate (they are from the manufacturer's web site) the case can withstand torturous
twisting - maybe that's where it get it's name from?
 
The case also comes in 7 different colors: Navy /Blue/Yellow /Orange/Purple /Green /Red
The color is limited to the bottom half of the case as seen in the photo below.
All of the cases are made of a translucent textured top half with a visually clear
window the size of the actual display. With this clear "window" items such
as triggered alarms can be easily read without opening the case.
With the cover closed up the Palm is well protected. There is a slot in the top
for the IR port and the right hand silo is open; I suspect this was done to accommodate any
sort of stylus that may be hard to grasp - I liked that idea. The HotSync port is
also covered for protection, and the unit can bee put in a cradle still attached simply by
swinging the Palm out of the bottom half of the case. The contrast button is also covered,
but I look at that as a set and forget item - besides it is easily available again by
simply swinging the Palm out of the bottom half of the case.
 
The one thing that I think the case was missing was a simple spring loaded mechanism
to help hold the flip closed. With this, and maybe some small detents in the lower
edge of the case (by the serial port), the case would close with a much more secure
feeling.
Finally, I think this is a great case. I like the simplicity. The case is
lightweight and adds little to the overall size of the unit. In fact I will be
giving this case a whirl as my primary case for a while. I also think that it is
important to note that Brando, the owner of this company, was a pleasure to deal with.
His communications were prompt and courteous. If you are not Hong Kong based,
and have hesitations purchasing oversees, rest easy I think you'll like the Pal Pal
Twistor. And, check out that packaging! Even the foam shipping container is custom
designed; although as tough as this case is it should survive even the most zealous postal
office ;-)
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excel
