The Proporta Treo 700 Lateral Case Review

For some time Proporta has been known for their custom molded aluminum PDA cases as well as their Alu-Leather case line, which consists of hand-crafted leather cases with an aluminum “screen saver system”. Today wer’e going to take a look at the next generation case from Proporta: one that was created especially for the Palm Treo 700 series, and one which blends the protection and industrial design of their aluminum cases with the classic leather style of their Alu-Leather case line, fusing them into something new – the Treo 700 Lateral Case.

Included in the box are the case, a removable belt clip post screw, and a detachable belt clip. So far you are probably thinking to yourself, “Yeah, it’s a leather flip case, what’s the big deal?”

While it’s true that the front of the case is the aluminum reinforced black leather that we’ve seen before in the Alu-Leather flip style, the case’s bottom is a shiny, perfectly molded aluminum holster.

There are properly placed cutouts to allow button and port access…

…and?use of?the camera.?

The design reminds me of something else…perhaps an ultra modern black leather sofa with chrome accents.

The overall effect is a fusion of cold and warm, leather and metal, hard and soft. In hand, the curves of the case’s back perfectly mimic those of the Treo. The metal holster is wrapped with a 1.25″ band which forms the anchor for the bottom tab and the base of the flip-lid.

The flip-lid is kept shut by a single magnetic snap on the front which is secured by the bottom tab. The lid rises up and over, which means that it will swing out of the user’s way when the phone is in use.

The aircraft grade aluminum holster is lined in shock absorbing neoprene?so that nothing hard or scratchy will touch the Treo’s plastic body.

While the metal holster has the necessary cutouts to allow unfettered access to all buttons and ports, it is curved so that it will still offer protection in as many places as possible, most notably the left side volume and camera buttons.

The right side is cut to match…?

And the bottom of the case is left open so that the Treo may be synced and charged while in the case, albeit with a cable and not an after-market cradle. When the case is closed, the 1.25″ wide tab protects the open sync and charge port while still leaving the headset jack free.

The design of the case allows the stylus to be accessed and the antenna to do its thing, while any SD or MMC card will be kept more or less covered. This will pose a problem if you want to use this case while carrying an SDIO WiFi card or an SDIO GPS module, as these peripherals would need to be removed before closing the case.

The interior of the aluminum reinforced flip-lid has two SD or MMC card slots. I hope you can see it in the photo (click it to enlarge), but there are actually depressions in the aluminum to accommodate the cards,?so that they will not rest directly on top of the PDA’s screen. Even so, I generally prefer not to carry any this close to the screen.

When closed, the case provides full screen protection, full rear bottom protection, and some protection to the Treo’s front edges.?I guess it all boils down to which side hits first in a long drop – hopefully it will be the back bottom. 😉

For those that are wondering, the case including Treo measures approximately 4.6″ long x 2.6′ wide x 1.3″ thick, and it weighs 8.4 ounces. The naked Treo measures 4.4″ tall x 2.3″ wide x 0.9″ thick, and it weighs 6.2 ounces.

Installing or removing the belt clip post screw is very simple – locate the metal reinforced hole in the case back’s middle…

…and insert the post screw to finger tighten.

The clip is the plastic pinch-clip variety which can accept up to a 1.5″ belt.

According to the Proporta site, “The Lateral Case will soon be available for other leading devices. If you have any suggestions as to how we can improve the design further, please email [email protected] – we’d love to hear what you have to say.?”

I really like the design of the Proporta Lateral Case; it has an edgy look which appeals to me, without being too over the top. It provides excellent screen protection while also allowing easy access to the Treo’s face when it’s wanted. The only thing keeping me from making this my everyday?wrapper is…that I have a lavender and maroon case that I just can’t give up. Give me this case in a color other than black or brown…and I might be tempted; it’s that spiffy. If you are content with black but don’t want boring, then this?case may be?exactly what you’ve been looking for.

The Proporta Treo 700 Lateral Case is available directly from the manufacturer, as well as other retailers.
MSRP: $49.95
What I Like: Great industrial design; excellent screen protection; access to all ports, buttons and other necessary goodies; fits nicely in hand, doesn’t add a lot of bulk to Treo
What Needs Improvement: Just a personal request – offer colors other than only black, please?

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About the Author

Judie Lipsett Stanford
Judie is the co-owner and Editor-in-Chief of Gear Diary, which she founded in September 2006. She started in 1999 writing software reviews at the now-defunct smaller.com; from mid-2000 through 2006, she wrote hardware reviews for and co-edited at The Gadgeteer. A recipient of the Sigma Kappa Colby Award for Technology, Judie is best known for her device-agnostic approach, deep-dive reviews, and enjoyment of exploring the latest tech, gadgets, and gear.

5 Comments on "The Proporta Treo 700 Lateral Case Review"

  1. Hmm… Doesn’t lateral go the other way? All the cases like this that I’ve seen have been referred to as vertical flip cases.

  2. “lateral” meaning side …
    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lateral

    Good point though, made me go look 🙂

  3. I have to agree with Judie. Proporta’s cases are great, but I’d really like to see a choice of colors. They have several colors in their iPod Nano cases, so please add these options for Smartphone cases too!

  4. Good one Chris. 😉

    If you take the name “lateral” as meaning “side”…I think this statement might be where the name comes from: “This unique new design offers vastly improved protection to the sides of your Treo 700 ? without compromising the trademark Proporta Aluminium ?Screen Saver? System.”

  5. Ah… Got it. 😉

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