Some cases are made of embossed leather that simulate alligator and ostrich. Avoglio makes them out of the real thing. The case shown on the right is made of genuine South African farm-grown ostrich and has rigid inserts inside the skins to keep your PDA protected in style.

Avoglio, a German company, makes a "Slim" model slip-case that can accommodate a selection of PDAs, including Pocket PCs such as the iPAQ, Toshiba e310 and e740, Sony Clié, HP Jornada, Palm m500 series, Palm m100 series, Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 and more. Though the Handspring Visor isn't listed, our Visor Deluxe fit perfectly. The case fits snuggly on Pocket PCs and Sony models, so you won't have to worry about your PDA falling out. The m515 fits entirely inside the case (the top doesn't stick out, as with the iPAQ shown on the right) and stays firmly inside. It seems miraculous how well these PDAs stay inside the case even though it has no closure of any kind. If anything, when new, it's hard to get the PDA out of the case!

Rigid inserts inside the leather prevent damage to the screen and back/sides while in your purse, pocket or brief case. You'll have a choice of approximately one dozen colors in your choice of farm raised South African ostrich skin or Louisiana alligator skin. Be sure to thoroughly peruse Avoglio's web site to find all colors available for the skin of your choice.

The case arrives in about 5 - 7 days in the US, and is encased in a dark textured presentation box which makes it an excellent gift. Inside you'll find plenty of protective paper and a note card with background and care instructions.

This case is definitely a great choice for European elegance, snug fit and quality of manufacture.

When you see a PDA in a Nite Ize’s universal Stand-up PDA Holster, you would guess the PDA owner drives a Hummer: you won’t find a PDA case that looks more rugged. From a company that specializes in making cases for PDAs, phones and GPS gadgets to survive bad weather and rough handling, the Stand-up Holster gives your PDA good protection and provides easy to wear and hands-free access features.

These universal PDA Holsters are made in durable Ballistic nylon with a metal frame. The abrasion-resistant outer fabric is so durable that it won’t be scratched easily. The cover of the case has a large Velcro strip so that it won’t accidentally open. The back of the case is a bendable metal frame with an extra sleeve, which can be positioned to have your PDA stand-up at an angle, or snapped on to the back of the case for hanging on bags or belts. Two rubber friction-feet at the bottom of the frame are designed to prevent any slipping while the PDA is standing up.

There are lots of pockets in this PDA case. The PDA slot can fit an iPAQ tightly, and a naked Toshiba e310 loosely. In the main compartment, aside from the slot for your PDA, there are two more slots for your CF cards. Outside of the main compartment, there is a small zipped pocket that would fit SD cards, credit cards or business cards. On both sides of the main compartment you will find stretchable side pockets that can store styluses, pens and such, leaving the recording button access open. All of this fits into a very compact design!

The bottom of the case is an open-end design with only two none stretchable straps to hold the PDA in place, so that even while your PDA is in the case you can still have access to ports and power supply. There are two stretch cords that can hold your PDA outside of the case for hand-free access.

www.niteize.com
$29.99

It’s about time someone made cases that go with women’s purse colors and fabrics. All the way from Malaysia, Bajou cases are created truly to reflect a women handheld user’s taste in style. Each case is hand made with a silk covering. You can get different colors and patterns on the outside, and solid color linings on the inside. Bajou cases open in two folds with a Velcro strip in the centerfold to secure your PDA , and three credit card slots on right hand fold and a business card sleeve. The cases are closed using Velcro similar to some wallets.

Bajou cases are designed to fit the Palm Vx and m500 series, but they will fit other models tightly as well. We tried it with Palm m130, Visor Deluxe, even a Toshiba e310, they all fit perfectly. The padding on these cases is quite thin, so it’s safe to say that Bajou cases are more for style than serious protection.

The fabric of Bajou cases is sourced from diverse locations in South East Asia. The manufacturer can’t guarantee to supply more cases in certain design once it’s out of stock. Our favorite design, 1976, for example, is out of stock with no return date in sight.

www.bajou.com
$29.50

Here's a versatile, feature-packed case that won't cost you an arm and a leg. The folks at PDA Skins make the PDA Pro, PDA Plus and PDA Pro Phone cases. We received the PDA Plus for review, and it features 2 zippered compartments to hold both your PDA and a Stowaway keyboard (or other items). The PDA Pro has a single zippered compartment and the PDA Plus Phone adds a cell phone holder and is available in vertical or horizontal models. All PDA Skins cases are made of leather and have compartments to hold credit/business/memory cards and include a belt clip and a shoulder strap. The quality construction, number of compartments and nice leather make these cases a deal for the price!

The PDA is secured with Velcro, and optional inner sleeves are available if you want your PDA to be protected even when it's removed from the PDA Skin case. The phone model features a flip-open design and has a hole in the top of the case to accommodate the iPAQ in its GPRS phone sleeve or Visor Phone antennas. Our PDA Plus model's front compartment holds any PDA model. The PDA need not be removed when you want to use it because the case opens in a manner that allows you to access the screen and all buttons while still in the case (see top illustration). This is particularly handy if you use the case with the attached belt clip for quick hip access. The front compartment also has 4 slots for business card/credit cards/cash or memory cards.

The rear compartment (closest to the body, when worn) is large enough to accommodate a Stowaway keyboard, or whatever else you choose to put in there. It also features pen holders, a fishnet compartment up top and a lower compartment suitable for money, or cards, whether business, credit or memory. The front face of the case also has an external slip-in compartment where you can store cards and money.

The case construction is excellent: the stitching is durable, the zippers are heavy duty, and the leather, while not smacking of top-grain luxury is attractive, well-finished and durable. For the price, you can't go wrong with this case: it's very cleverly designed, sturdy and made of genuine leather.

www.pdaskins.com
$29.95 to $34.95

For people who have a taste for quality leather but are smart with their money, Galanteya offers good quality leather cases at very affordable prices. These fragrant, colorful leather cases are available for iPAQ 3100 series through 3900 series. And what’s more? They offer cases not only for the “naked” iPAQ, but also for iPAQs wearing various sleeves.

With material imported from Europe, Galanteya cases are made of good quality leather in a variety of textures and colors. The cases come in shiny or grained finishes as well as crocodile and alligator covers with black, brown, tan or multi-tone colors. The inside of Galanteya cases is soft suede, and both the cover and back are softly padded for protection. Each case is designed to fit specific iPAQ models, and are available for naked iPAQs and iPAQs with CF sleeves, PC card sleeves, Dual PC card sleeves and Silver Slider II sleeves. The cover is shut with a snap closure and has a large slot on the back and two slit small slots for memory cards.

The case design is quite simple yet the designers paid attention to the details of protection. The insert in the cover helps to protect the iPAQ screen and the leather surrounding the front face of the PDA is double layered so that when you close the case, your screen won’t get scratched. The cutouts on these cases leave you with access to the stylus, microphone, ambient light sensor, LED, record button and power button as well as the reset button and serial port. The cases are available with or without belt clips.

Galanteya leather cases look prestigious, add very little bulk to your iPAQ and provide good protection for both the screen and the entire unit. The selection of colors and textures will ensure you find something that’s both functional and nice to look at. The best of all, price isn’t going to hurt your wallet.

www.galanteya.com

$19.00 to $29.00

Now that PDAs are becoming ubiquitous, the PDA case marketplace is booming with quality products that are reasonably priced. Bellagio's cases look more expensive than they are, and they give your PDA a touch of class while protecting it from day to day bumps, thumps and scratches.

Bellagio cases are made in Bolivia, and are available for a variety of PDAs, such as the Palm m series and i705, the Samsung I300 smartphone (not easy to find cases for that!), iPAQs, and every current Sony Clié model. We got the Sony SL/SJ case, pictured near right, and it fit like a glove. The NX series case comes in two flavors: book style and flip top (called Slipper). We got the flip top, and it's ingeniously designed to accommodate the CF hump at the back of the unit, and to allow you to swivel the display in and out of tablet mode while still in the case. The back of the case has a section that's attached with two short pieces of elastic webbing, which accommodates the hump and allows you to leave the CF card in the PDA (it sticks out the top and is uncovered, so you won't block reception if using WiFi while the NX is in its case). It also allows you to angle the NX, while in the case, to get the NX into the cradle. See the image, far right. The case does fit the NX tightly, and you'll spend a few minutes getting the NX into the case. The front cover is very rigid and has slots for storage and expansion cards as well as credit cards.

The leather is excellent quality, and you'd gues they cost twice as much as they actually do. Each case has a custom fit, and is designed to fit your model PDA perfectly. The Bellagio cases have cutouts for buttons, controls and expansion slots, and you don't have to remove your PDA to sync. Cases are available with and without belt clips, and you can have your case custom embossed for a modest fee. These are lovely cases that won't set you back an arm and a leg, I heartily recommend them!

www.bellagiodesigns.com
$29.95 to $34.95

Looking for an affordable soft case that'll protect your PDA and accessories from the elements and occasional thumps and whacks? It's hard to beat the $20 Pygmy Pouch.

The Pygmy is a universal case which fits all PDAs— OK, not the Newton Message Pad , but everything else. In fact, it's a great choice for the new Sony Clié NZ90, which is longer and larger than other PDAs, and hard to find a case for. It's also a nice fit for the Clié NX series, which are longish PDAs.

The case is made from Water resistant PVC Microfiber and does indeed repell rain drops.You can't take your PDA swimming in this guy, but water drops do bead up rather than saturating the case. Cell foam padding insures that your PDA is insulated from the school of hard knocks. The front, back, bottom and case flap have some pretty thick padding which might even protect your PDA should you drop it (I didn't try though!). The only area with no padding are the left and right sides of the case.

Inside the case, you'll find a wide elastic band that you can use to hold your PDA more firmly in place, or you can use it as a divider if you want to carry something else inside the main pouch. The case's front has a pocket to carry expansion cards, credit cards and anything else you can think of. This pocket doesn't have a closure, so don't invert the case when you've got precious expansion cards in there!

The Pygmy has a sizeable velcro closure and has a handy nylon pull tab you can use to open the flip. It comes in black, and has a very grippy removable ABS belt clip mounted on the back. It measures 6-1/4” tall x 4-1/4” wide x 1-1/2” deep.

www.pygmypouch.com $19.95