Noreve Leather Case for HTC Star Trek

[Brandon Miniman]

At the time of this writing, the HTC Star Trek (that's the Qtek 8500, Dopod S300, Cingular 3135, etc) is generally accepted by most to be the sexiest Windows Mobile Smartphone on the market. With such a distinction, good protection from a case is essential to keep the device blemish-free. There are very few cases for the HTC Star Trek. One in particular from Noreve promises to provide top quality protection with top quality leather, in several color choices. Read on to see the results of our tests!

[DaleReeck]

One thing I never understood about case manufacturers is the poor "hole matching" many of them have. I have often gotten cases where holes do not line up. I mean, don't they actually try these things on an actual phone product before manufacturing?

[Brandon Miniman]

It's probably more tough than we imagine to get the holes lined up perfectly, especially with an imperfect material like leather. If you want something very precise, go with a plastic or metal case.

[Pony99CA]

At the time of this writing, the HTC Star Trek (that's the Qtek 8500, Dopod S300, Cingular 3135, etc) is generally accepted by most to be the sexiest Windows Mobile Smartphone on the market.
OK, who are these "most" that say that? Where's the survey data that backs this claim up. :D

I haven't seen the Star Trek in person, but based on the photos from Adam's review, I don't think it's the sexiest. I think the Q is far sexier, but that's obviously subjective.

That's not to say it isn't one of the sexier Smartphones, of course. I just don't like such sweeping generalizations. If we still had the Smartphone forum, I would have posted a poll there to ask, but oh well....

We now return to our regularly scheduled forum. :)

Regarding the case, I think it makes the phone uglier (or less sexy :)). I guess there's a a trade-off between looks and protection, though. I had the same issue with my Motorola V710. I bought the leather case, but eventually stopped using the top part because I thought the phone looked better without it. Unfortunately, I now have a big scratch on my external display (although it's not really distracting) and several scratches on the case.

Maybe one of those clear skins would keep the looks while offering some protection.

Steve

[Pony99CA]

One thing I never understood about case manufacturers is the poor "hole matching" many of them have. I have often gotten cases where holes do not line up. I mean, don't they actually try these things on an actual phone product before manufacturing?
I'm sure they do check it before they start manufacturing. However, I suspect that they only do it occasionally (if at all) during manufacturing. If they don't check regularly, jigs can shift, pieces of leather may not all be identically sized, etc., leading to cases that don't quite match.

When I worked summers in a truck engine plant, we were supposed to check every so many pieces with gauges to ensure the machines were still within tolerance. If the case manufacturer doesn't do this, the more they make, the farther off they'll get.

Of course, for hand-made products, I would hope that every piece got tested.

Steve

[DaleReeck]

OK, who are these "most" that say that? Where's the survey data that backs this claim up. :D

I haven't seen the Star Trek in person, but based on the photos from Adam's review, I don't think it's the sexiest. I think the Q is far sexier, but that's obviously subjective.

That's not to say it isn't one of the sexier Smartphones, of course. I just don't like such sweeping generalizations. If we still had the Smartphone forum, I would have posted a poll there to ask, but oh well....

We now return to our regularly scheduled forum. :)

Regarding the case, I think it makes the phone uglier (or less sexy :)). I guess there's a a trade-off between looks and protection, though. I had the same issue with my Motorola V710. I bought the leather case, but eventually stopped using the top part because I thought the phone looked better without it. Unfortunately, I now have a big scratch on my external display (although it's not really distracting) and several scratches on the case.

Maybe one of those clear skins would keep the looks while offering some protection.

Steve

Perosnally, I care little about how the device looks or how "sexy" it is. Hey, back in the day I used to care an iPaq with the dual PCMCIA jacket. So, looks weren't exactly paramount ;) I am for functionality and protection.

But if I had to pick a device based on looks, the Universal was my favorite. While it was a tad big, it looked great. Instead of a one-piece crappy plastic body like most PDA's, it was molded from different plastics, with hilites and accented, textured face plates that also doubled as grips. It had metal-ish speaker grills, not just plastic holes where the speakers were. It looked like a mini-notebook, not just a two-piece PDA. When you held it in your hand, it felt solid. Plus, the specs weren't bad either, with a good processor and a great VGA scren. But only tri-band and no EDGE, it was a weak phone for North America unfortunately. Hopefully, their followup will be a better North America phone with quad band, EDGE and dual freq broadband (the original only supported the European frequency). Maybe even a CDMA version? :D

[Pony99CA]

Perosnally, I care little about how the device looks or how "sexy" it is. Hey, back in the day I used to care an iPaq with the dual PCMCIA jacket. So, looks weren't exactly paramount ;) I am for functionality and protection.
Same here. I carried my iPAQ 5550 in a dual PCMCIA sleeve until I got a 1 GB SD card (so I could combine my 512 MB SD card and 512 MB CF card into one). After that, I started carrying the 5550 naked (in the HP case).

But if I had to pick a device based on looks, the Universal was my favorite. While it was a tad big, it looked great. Instead of a one-piece crappy plastic body like most PDA's, it was molded from different plastics, with hilites and accented, textured face plates that also doubled as grips. It had metal-ish speaker grills, not just plastic holes where the speakers were. It looked like a mini-notebook, not just a two-piece PDA. When you held it in your hand, it felt solid. Plus, the specs weren't bad either, with a good processor and a great VGA scren. But only tri-band and no EDGE, it was a weak phone for North America unfortunately. Hopefully, their followup will be a better North America phone with quad band, EDGE and dual freq broadband (the original only supported the European frequency). Maybe even a CDMA version? :D
Yeah, I always thought the Universal looked awesome. In fact, I've said it before, but I wish there had been a non-phone version. Remove the phone and put in a 624 MHz processor, and you'd have a great Pocket PC. :D

Another device I thought looked good was the iPAQ 5550. I think it was the best looking iPAQ ever made (although the 4100s were pretty good, too). The newer hx2000s look weird, especially with the odd buttons and trapezoidal d-pad.

However, none of those are Smartphones. In the Smartphone arena, I liked the Samsung i600 -- the first clamshell Smartphone, I think. I think the Q is much cooler, though.

Steve

[DaleReeck]

Same here. I carried my iPAQ 5550 in a dual PCMCIA sleeve until I got a 1 GB SD card (so I could combine my 512 MB SD card and 512 MB CF card into one). After that, I started carrying the 5550 naked (in the HP case).


Yeah, I always thought the Universal looked awesome. In fact, I've said it before, but I wish there had been a non-phone version. Remove the phone and put in a 624 MHz processor, and you'd have a great Pocket PC. :D

Another device I thought looked good was the iPAQ 5550. I think it was the best looking iPAQ ever made (although the 4100s were pretty good, too). The newer hx2000s look weird, especially with the odd buttons and trapezoidal d-pad.

However, none of those are Smartphones. In the Smartphone arena, I liked the Samsung i600 -- the first clamshell Smartphone, I think. I think the Q is much cooler, though.

Steve

I had the 5550 too, another great looking device with great specs :)

Now I have a Motorola Q as my primary device. I got EB Cases good looking eNovo flip case. It looks like leather but it's actually hard molded and looks very good. But, once again, I have hole issues. For instance, the camera hole is off center and at 1X view, there is vignetting from one corner. Even at 2X, there is a shadow. You have to go to 4X to get rid of the vignetting. And I don't want to cut up and make bigger the camera hole. Not on a $70 case I don't. Plus, you worry about the structure of a case when you start cutting it up. I don't use the camera much, so I'm not hugely concerned, just annoyed.

But more concerning is the hole for the side USB connector isn't large enough to allow for the plastic casing around the metal USB connector. That makes connecting it tenous at best. There really is no excuse for these hole misalignments. It's not just once in a while either, its on almost every case I buy. The eNovo is a great design, worth $70. But I'm tired of the hole issues.