RhinoSkin Drops Hardcase Prices

Posted By: Ed Friday, January 18, 2002 9:24:18 AM

Saunders, maker of the RhinoSkin line of cases, is lowering its prices for all its aluminum and titanium hardcases. All aluminum cases will now be $35, down from $50, and titanium cases will be $70, down from $100. There are hardcases of both types for the Palm m500 and V series, and the Visor and Visor Edge. These prices have already taken effect.

The RhinoSkin molded aluminium hardcase for the Palm V series is currently on special at $30.

“We had set a strategic goal for the past year to improve our designs and lower our production costs to reaffirm our position as a market leader,” says Mary Repke, Vice President, Marketing at Saunders. “As a result of reaching these goals we have been able to pass savings on to the consumer while improving product function and securing a competitive advantage.”

In the up-coming months RhinoSkin plans to release more cases for the Palm III and Handspring Visor models.

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Not a fan of Rhinoskin

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 9:45:08 AM #

I bought a Vx case for my brother for Christmas. VERY poor design. Almost impossible to open the damn thing, and it scratched the hell out of his stylus. What good is a sturdy case if you can't open it? And yes, I tried bending the case a little to make it easier to open--that helped a little, but created other problems.

Extremely disappointed with Rhinoskin. I will not be a repeat customer.

RE: Not a fan of Rhinoskin

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 10:53:11 AM #

Try a Smartercase instead

RE: Not a fan of Rhinoskin

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 12:59:02 PM #

Yes, I agree. I bought the aluminum Palm V/Vx case and immediately cut my finger on the sharp edges. I mean come on. Isn't sand paper cheap? These clowns could have at least smoothed the edges.

But I have a bigger problem. The aluminum probe is so large that I had to jam it into the stylus port. Well, this foreign object (i.e., probe) did a tremendous job of creating an orifice so large and jagged (pieces of plastic came off) that I cannot use it to insert my stylus--it's too wide now.

"Great...", I though. Not only does Rhinoskin suck, but it causes irreversible damage as well.

I chucked that P.O.S. and went back to my Palm blue hardcase. Still peeved at these clowns selling overpriced "cases" that aren't much better than tin cans for corned beef. Heck, a corned beef can has smoother edges.

RE: Not a fan of Rhinoskin

PFloyd @ 1/18/2002 6:53:28 PM #

Wow. Some other planet.
Loved my Rhinoskin Molded Palm V case. Perhaps my version was different from these others. I don't know how you'd hurt yourself on this case. (There's a joke there crying to be let out but I'll resist.) Found it very well engineered and well made.
my 2 cents

RE: Not a fan of Rhinoskin

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 10:13:24 PM #

> Wow. Some other planet.

Let me ask you a question. Will you answer truthfully?
Are you a Rhinoskin employee or an affiliated troll?

I bet you're a Rhinoskin employee trolling around. Because I know 5 other people who ordered Rhinoskins and everyone commented on the sharp edges. Some people applied sandpaper and others returned it as a defective product.

Have you checked the Internet reviews? All of them stated the sharp edges as well. Even my favorite site, The Gadgeteer, says the same thing.

RE: Not a fan of Rhinoskin

PFloyd @ 1/19/2002 6:53:54 PM #

Absolutely. My real name is Vinc Duran and I'm from Boulder, CO. I'm a long time Palm user and a genuine fan of Rhinoskin cases. When I called DirectCase to order a Titanium case they were quite new and out of stock. The guy recommended I try the Aluminum Molded case. He said the TI was pretty new and hadn't had the design quite as ironed out like the Aluminum did. I'm thinking the one I had must have been later than the cases that folks had problems with.
(I encourage everyone on Palminfocenter to log in when they post. That might lower the incidence of Trolls.)

PDA Bias?

Mojo @ 1/18/2002 10:16:18 AM #

My question is... why do they not expand their line up to include more PDA's? I would like to see a version for any of the CLIE models but repeated attempts to contact them have gone unanswered.

I would also venture a guess that some people from the Handera group might like to see some cases for that model as well.

RE: PDA Bias?

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 10:46:30 AM #

I'm not into flaming but I agree!!! I emailed them 3 times when I was interested in purchasing a case from them, and they never responded to my email!!! Poor customer service means lack or no concern for consumers!!! Bottom Line. Now I know why their products are low quality, because they refuse to take customers opinions. Beware of this company

RE: PDA Bias?

Coyote67 @ 1/18/2002 10:51:22 AM #

Going to go out on a stretch, but maybe because Sony doesn't have enough marketshare (yet, ugh)? I do think a case for the 760c would have been smart. Its been out for quite some time and is fairly popular.

Maybe they did some market research and found sony people don't like to protect their investments? :)

---------------------------------------
When you have a Clie shoved up your mouth, you can only talk in vowels.

RE: PDA Bias?

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 11:04:57 AM #

Mojo,

Rhinoskin already has cases that will fit Handera's models - because the Handera is in the "Palm III" form factor. I know their Palm III cases work because I tried my Handera 330 in them. The TRG-Pro model on the other hand is a _tight_ fit due to the bulge on the back of the TRG Pro.

One could probably fit some of Sony's models in Rhinoskin cases as well, but they would need to try each case out to get the custom fit.

Case in point on the original aluminum and titanium slider case - the ONLY difference between the Palm III case and the Handspring case is a little bit of extra padding in the case on the left hand side.

I would bet that some of their models would fit other devices, but its going to be up to the consumer to find out which one works best for their PDA when Rhinoskin does "make" a case for thier particular PDA.

RE: PDA Bias?

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 12:45:46 PM #

that shove Clie up your mouth to talk in vowel guy, maybe they did some market research and find out that Clie owners don't want to put their Clie in such ugly cases. Anyways, those clies are really kinda durable, and designed to be hang around the neck for easy access not hidden in some hard case that's very hard to open.

Well, they are not that bright of a Market researcher anyways, I mean who will make a line of peripherials for some dead (half dead) product line like Visor ??

No PDA Bias

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/19/2002 12:27:13 AM #

While Sony has done pretty good for only being seriously in the market for 9 months or so, they still have less than 10% of all handheld sales. HandSpring has twice that and Palm has 6 times as much. Rhinoskin have to make cases that fit the largest number of customers. I know this will upset you Sony fanatics but its the truth backed up with statistics, not just my opinion.

RE: PDA Bias?

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/19/2002 5:50:51 PM #

LoL .. you mean that dying company has 2 times the market share than clie !? O well that means they'll haveone hell of a lawsuit when they file for chapter 11

.. Sony is in the palm market for like only a year and already succefully captured 10% of the market share ?? that's prety impressive I'd say

Comp USA $9.99

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 11:18:39 AM #

Molded Case for V series is showing a $9.99 llist price right now. Was hoping it was the one for the m5xx series as well, but I don't think so.

At last! it's not $30 overpriced now!

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 2:59:05 PM #

I got mine for $50 and i think it was too overpriced... Even if it saved my m505 a lot. Keep it up Rhinoskin. Thanks for not taking advantage of new m505 owners anymore.

graph

I love my PalmV RhinoSkin slider case

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 4:00:07 PM #

I did have to sand smooth the sharp edges though.

You do NOT want any RhinoSkin!

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 8:56:23 PM #

Agree 100% w/ other comments along this line: Ti clamshell fails to protect Palm Vx (case easily and frequently bends out of alignment), ruins stylus. They have poor customer responsiveness and "finance" R&D on backs of early buyers. Not satisfied? They won't respond to (in my case, dozens) of requests -- until AFTER return period: Then it's "sorry Charlie." They are unreasonable about substitutes, and quite rude. Anyone knows that repeat business is what sustains a company: Can't imagine they have much of this, based on my experience w/ them and their products. Suspect THIS is the reason they are dropping prices. Guess they thought they could make it on a great economy; but now the marketplace is speaking. Stay away from RhinoSkin!!!!

RE: You do NOT want any RhinoSkin!

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2002 10:17:08 PM #

Amen, brother or sister ;-)

I will never be a repeat customer of Rhinobutt again. Fool me once; shame on you. Fool me twice; shame on me.

Amen.

Who designed it?

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/19/2002 1:38:35 PM #

It is difficult to open the first few times, although I loved the way it kept my m505 protected with the hard cover, but my problem is, "Where do I keep my expansion cards?". I tried putting the cards, only 2 at the time in the back, under the Palm. It wouldn't allow the case to close tight, and every time I'd open it, the cards would fall out. How could they make it for the m505 and not include slots for the cards. Also, why not make room for storing an extra stylus? I say, put at least 6 slots for cards and a place to hold extra styli, and you've got a good thing!