PDair Aluminium Case for HTC Apache / Sprint PPC-6700

Gadgeteer Hands On Review by Judie Hughes

March 29, 2006

It totally figures that about the time I am ready to move on from a device, its accessories will start becoming available. Ah well, such is the life of an early adopter...

Case in point, I recently received the new PDair aluminum case for the HTC Apache/PPC-6700. I have long been a fan of this company's hard cases, so I was looking forward to pairing their latest aluminum offering with my PDA Phone. As some of you may recall from my PPC-6700 review, one of my concerns regarding the PPC-6700 was its plastic body and the lack of overall protection should the device ever be dropped. Those concerns are definitely quieted with the introduction of this type case, but there are a coupe of caveats which we will explore in this review...

The PDair metal case is composed of aircraft-grade aluminum which has been lined in springy black neoprene. The case measures 4.4" tall x 2.7' wide x 1.2" thick, and it weighs 1.7 ounces. The 6700 that it will cover measures 4.3" tall (not counting the antenna) x 2.3" wide x 0.93" thick when naked, and it weighs 6.6 ounces, so adding the case will add a bit of bulk to an already blocky device.

The case is opened by popping the tension clip on the right side. A 1.5" hinge is on the let side, so in effect the case opens like a book being started from the wrong end.

The PPC-6700 sits inside the case snugly, and at first glance it might appear that the screen is completely left uncovered and thus unprotected. However, that is not so. I'll talk about that in a moment.

In the meantime, take a look at how the left side has a cutout which allows access to the recorder button, volume slider, Explorer button and Infrared port. The buttons can be a little tricky to get to for those with larger fingers; even though the cutout is large enough, the buttons are at the top edge where the two halves of the case come together. The Explorer button is directly under the corner of the hinge, so it can be the most tricky to press.

The right side of the case features the snap closure and a cutout for the camera button

In the case, the 6700's screen is completely covered by a sheet of plastic which has been built into the viewing area. This means that anytime the power button on the phone is pressed the screen will be immediately viewable, and as calls come in everything can be operated as if the phone were not in a case at all. There are cutouts which allow the unfettered use of the front button cluster and joystick.

An unexpected side effect of having the plastic cover over the PDA screen, and in conjunction with all of the necessary cutouts around the case, meant that dust and other airborne "floaters" were always getting between the case's clear screen and the PDA's screen. This drive me crazy! While it was great to have the protection, it almost seemed like more trouble than it was worth at times.

As I mentioned in my February 25 diary entry, not having immediate access to the touch screen did help me to further develop my "one handed operation of the phone" skills, because I now had to rely on using the hard buttons below the screen in tandem with the joystick. That doesn't mean that I grew to like it or that it was ever easy. It just had to be done as it was not always practical to pop the case open to look for a number. This is definitely a time when using Voice Command would come in handy - both for phone calls and for application opening.

The top of the case has cutouts so that the antenna, miniSD card slot and power button are all exposed. The design of the case is clever in that even though all buttons are exposed, all corners are covered. In the even of a fall, the PDA would be much better protected than if it were not in the case.

The back of the case has cutouts to allow the use of the external antenna port, the camera, the LED light and the mirrored rear speaker. There is also a hole which can be used to attach the included removable belt clip.

Adding the belt clip is a simple matter of screwing the receiving nub into the hole, and then attaching the clip.

The bottom of the case has a cutout for the reset button, sync and charge port, the headphone jack and the microphone. The case can not be used in conjunction with the cradle, but it works perfectly well with a sync and charge cable.

Perhaps the most innovative and exciting feature of this case is that it opens to allow full use of the sliding keyboard. The only problem is that I can't help but think that the hinge should have been placed on the opposite side of the case. Wouldn't it have made more sense if the side of the case that flops useless when using the keyboard could have been under the sliding screen, instead of directly under the keyboard?

I thought maybe it might be an issue of clearance, since the sliding portion of the screen would have to pass directly over the case's hinge, but it appears that there is enough room. Perhaps a later version will place the hinge on the opposite side.

Overall the PDair case is an effective way to protect the expensive and fragile HTC Apache. It is the only case at this time which allows the use of the keyboard while the PDA is in place, but the hinge being on the "wrong" side makes use of the keyboard less comfortable. The clear plastic window does provide good protection for the screen, but it also hinders typical PDA use and allows the collection of unwanted dust and debris. PPC-6700 users that need the protection a case such as this can offer will simply have to decide whether or not they can live with the caveats. For now, it is my PPC-6700's home.