Between a Sponge and a (Revo) Soft Case(?!)

In which delusional wonders if he’s taken the joke in the title too far.

It be soft, guv’ner

Noticing a gap in the market, PalmTec have produced a neoprene softcase. Up until now there’s been a choice of either the hard case (also by PalmTec) or leather style cases, but none really for the ‘young with-it professional’. So (being at least ‘young’) I opted for a neoprene case in which to house my Revo.

How does it look?

The case is styled in a similar way the the hard case, with a black curved section at the top with the neoprene below it. The entire case is done in wetsuit material, neoprene and the sort of thinner plastic fabric you also find on wetsuits. The neoprene part is coloured and the plasic fabric is black. It all makes for quite a cute case.

While the case certainly looks better than the hard case, it isn’t quite perfect. I’d say that the colours are a little too bright. I can appriciate that it might be difficult to use darker colours to colour the neoprene, but I’d have prefered the blue on mine to be darker. However, the red case should be left as it is, just because red has to be bright!

It’s all about Protection

‘If the case is soft, will it protect the Revo?’ You may well be wondering this. Well, the answer is ‘yes’. Although the case is soft, it appears to have a flat plastic insert between the inner and outer layers, which offers good protection without disfiguring the case. Whether this is the same plastic used in the hard cases, I don’t know.

The neoprene also offers good shock protection as it is a ‘springy’ fabric. You could think of it as an inside-out hard case, with the padding on the outside.

Bits and Bobs

The case also has a pocket for storing cards and small documents. This is another place the soft case scores over the hard case. The pocket is divided up, with a large back pocket taking up the whole width of the case, with two smaller card holders on the front. Also there are no hinges to break on the case, so you can fit more in the pockets than in the hard case.

There’s also a pen/stylus holder in the middle of the case, where the hinges would be. This proves useful as you can keep a pen and small pad in the case to make notes on, because sometimes you won’t want to have to open the Revo for a quick scribble!

Greater than the sum of its parts?

Well the neoprene case is definitely a neat little case, smaller and more stylish than the shell case. If I was asked to pick between the two, I’d have a difficult choice. They both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Basically it would depend on what I was doing. For just carrying the Revo around, I’d have the neoprene case every time, as it is smaller. However, for travelling the hard case would be my choice, because it can just be dumped in my bag, safe in the knowledge that it’ll come out the otherside unscathed. So it really depends what you are using it for, so I’ll have to leave the final decision in your hands. (sorry!)