PDair Aluminum X50 Extended Case
www.PDair.com
Price: $39.95

The PDair Aluminum case is a great hard case that is an alternative to the Rhino Skin hard case. They have seemed to improve upon the Rhino Skin and make a great hard case. Plus this new extended battery version allows you to use the extended battery in an aluminum case.

The case came in a very professional looking retail blister pack that nicely showed the case and belt clip. Inside you find the case, the belt clip, and the screw on belt clip post.

To put your PDA in the case you simply open up the case and slide in your PDA from the top. The inside of the case is lined with a soft neoprene so that it will not scratch your PDA. The PDA stays in place via two pieces that come up the sides to grab on to your PDA and hold it in place

The case opens with a door on the front. The hinge is on the right side so the case door opens to the right. This may cause some problems for left handed users but there is not much PDair could do. Also the hinge is on the outside of the case so that it does not rub against your PDA and scratch it like some have reported with the Rhino Skin. The door is secured by a small tab that is bent to snap over a plastic piece on the outside. It is hard to explain but works out great and holds the door shut securely. It is also easy to open.

To accommodate the extended battery, the extended battery version has a wider channel at the back of the case to allow for th extended battery to slide in. There also is a bump out towards the bottom on the front that gives room for the D-Pad and quick launch buttons on your PDA.

All the necessary cutouts are on the case to use all the button on your PDA. All together there are cutouts for:

Lock, Wifi, and Record Button on the left side
Sync Port on the bottom
Stylus Silo
Half of the top so that the card slots and headphone jack are exposed
On the back top to be able to get CF cards out
Two Holes on the front for the Mic and Wifi Light

All the cutouts lineup perfectly and are sized perfectly so it is easy to get to the PDA. Unlike the Rhino Skin, the whole case is metal even up the back, so there is no plastic back like on the Rhino Skin. This does not seem to effect wifi or bluetooth performance. On the top, the case covers the front portion of the top all the way to the line on the X50 series that you can see that divides the front silver pieces from the back. It just covers the ir port, but not the headphone or CF and SD card slots. So if you do have something like a barcode scanner coming out of the CF or SD card slots, this case will work great.

On the inside of the door there also is a slot for one SD card. To insert a card, you turn it so the label is facing toward the case and you slide it in. The card is held tightly and off the screen so that it will not cause damage to your screen or to the SD card.

On the back there are also four metal points that come out by each corner. These are small and make it so the case sits level on flat surfaces. They do not seem to get in the way when using the case either and are a nice addition.

The belt clip system is fully removable. There is a small plastic post that you screw into place on the back when you want to use the belt clip. The part around the screw on the post is covered with a neoprene like material that makes it so it wont come unscrewed from the case easily. Once the post is on, the belt clip can be slide on and off easily and it also allows the case to swivel a full 360 degrees.

Overall the PDair Aluminum Case is a great hard case. They have taken the ideas from the Rhino Skin, yet improved upon them and added the ability to use the extended battery in the case. If you are looking for a metal case, this is definitely the case for you.

Pros:

• Great Protection
• Good Craftsmanship
• Fits Extended Battery

Cons:

• Thick to accommodate extended battery
• Price

Thanks to PDair for the review sample!