The BoxWave Designio series of cases are an interesting mix of hard shell case and soft leather designed to protect and beautify your Palm Treo 750. To be honest you’re going to be hard pressed to find a case that really provides the level of protection that the Designio series provides, without adding a lot of bulk and doesn’t take away from the looks of the Treo. The Treo 750 at its heart is a business phone and the Designio case keeps true to that form.

Let’s take a look at what’s in the box.

 As you would expect with a top of the line BoxWave case, in the box you’re going to find a small cloth like bag to protect the case during shipping (or storage should you need to store it) as well as a foam insert to help maintain the shape of the case. Along with that there is the detachable belt clip. Let’s stop there for a second – the belt clip as provided is not a permanent feature of this case. On the backside of the unit you’re going to find a slot for the metal screw to attach which can be put on or taken off at will. To me this is an important feature that a lot of case manufacturers miss. I don’t always want to have a belt clip on – many times I want to be able to put my phone into my pocket and go. The BoxWave Designio design allows for just that without having a peg sticking you in the leg.

Fit and finish of the case is pretty good. The inside of the case is lined with soft fabric which helps cushion the Treo as well as keep the shell from scratching it. Beyond the fabric is a hard plastic shell which is the wrapped in “premium grade” leather. This makes for a really solid feel, a tight fit, and a very attractive outside that form fits to the Treo almost perfectly.

As with almost every fitted case I’ve tried for the Treo 750 you’re going to have to adjust how you attack the keyboard. There is not a lot of space between the outside edge of the Treo and the beginning of the keys on the keyboard so you’re going to feel the ridge created by the case. Overall the ridge height isn’t too bad since the case is fairly thin, but it will take a little getting used to. If you have been using a “naked” 750 for a while this will definitely be a different experience. I found that (since I’m a double thumb type) that I needed to keep my thumb nails trimmed a little more to make getting to the outside keys a little easier.

The case itself doesn’t add a lot of bulk, so if you’re used to carrying your somewhat chubby Treo in your pocket the Designio won’t add too much to that. It still fits fairly comfortably in the pocket although if you’re a cowboy … nah, if you’re a cowboy there’s not much chance you’re fitting a Treo in those jeans anyway.

As you can see from the images above, all the controls are easily accessible, there’s a cutout for the LED, the MiniSD slot is simple to get to and the bottom ports are also easy to get to. The only thing you definitely shouldn’t plan on using is a dock. There’s just no way you’re getting the Treo into a standard Palm dock with this case on there.  I also found that the design doesn’t hinder access to the stylus which was really nice.

Real life use of this case I found myself opting to just ignore the belt clip and keep the device either in my hand or in a pocket. Its not uncomfortable to keep it in a back pocket with the case on, and the leather gives a good tactile feel when you’re carrying it in your hand so there isn’t a lot of fear from dropping. I also tended to be a lot more careless with the treatment of my Treo while using this case. I was more apt to just lightly toss/slide the Treo down on my desk at work whereas without the Designio I was very conscious of how hard I was treating the phone. I think that’s a testament to how solid this case feels. I obviously wouldn’t recommend the military standard drop to concrete tests – but I think the Treo would faire much with the case than without it.

All in all the Designio case was a real treat to use. I’d love to find a bunch of things to complain about – since that’s typically my style but I think the only thing I can really come up with is that every once in a while the top of the case would catch on the inside of my pocket. I also didn’t find a lot of use for the belt clip – odd since I’m a holster fan.

You can buy the BoxWave Designio Leather Shell Case (in Black only) directly from BoxWave for $39.95.

[tags] BoxWave Treo 750 Designio, www.justanothermobilemonday.com, Treo Leather Case, Treo Hard Case[/tags]

Disclaimer: BoxWave provided this case free of charge.

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