Friday, April 11, 2003
Vaja I-Volution Morpheus III for HP iPAQ h5400 Series Reviewed
Posted by Dave Beauvais in "HARDWARE" @ 11:00 AM
The Vaja I-Volution Morpheus III case for the HP iPAQ h5400 series is truly a work of art. With perfect craftsmanship, a form-fitting design, and excellent protection, the Morpheus III is quite possibly the perfect case for a "naked" HP h5400 series iPAQ. However, Vaja cases are often some of the most expensive cases you can buy for your Pocket PC. Is the Morpheus III worth its three-digit price? Check out my review of this case to find out!
The Vaja I-Volution Morpheus III case for the HP iPAQ h5400 series is truly a work of art. With perfect craftsmanship, a form-fitting design, and excellent protection, the Morpheus III is quite possibly the perfect case for a "naked" HP h5400 series iPAQ. However, Vaja cases are often some of the most expensive cases you can buy for your Pocket PC. Is the Morpheus III worth its three-digit price? Read on to find out!
Case Description and Features
The I-Volution Morpheus III case is designed to be used with a "naked" iPAQ -- one with no expansion sleeves attached. In fact, since the case is designed to fit every curve and contour of the h5400 series iPAQ, it's impossible to use the case with any type of sleeve attached. If you use a sleeve with your iPAQ most of the time, this probably isn't the ideal case for you. Accessories such as snap-on thumb keyboards that are designed to be used over a sleeve might actually work, though I was unable to test this since I don't currently own such an accessory.
The case combines the best features of a soft leather case and a hard shell case into one. The shell of the Morpheus III is made up of three layers of rigid ABS plastic to protect against impacts. The inside front flap of the case features two slots for holding spare SecureDigital cards, which will come in handy for those of us who don't yet have 512 MB or larger SD cards and have to swap cards in order to carry all our data. :)
When the case was announced, many readers here at Pocket PC Thoughts and other sites were concerned that it would make the slim h5400 iPAQs big and bulky. While the case does add some amount of bulk, I don't consider it to be excessive, and the level of protection provided by this case is hard to beat. The raised, curved portion of the outside front flap, the rounded edges, and sweeping curved ridges along the sides of the SD slots inside give the case a very sleek appearance. The lines and curves of the case even line up perfectly with those of the iPAQ.
Figure 1: Top view of the Morpheus III and iPAQ h5455 side-by-side to show relative sizes.
Figure 2: End view to show the relative thickness of the case compared to the iPAQ h5455. This is a slightly deceptive photo since the belt clip post makes the case appear to be much "taller" than is actually is.
Figure 3: Top view of the Morpheus III and iPAQ h5455 side-by-side to show relative sizes.
The leather is of outstanding quality with absolutely no visible flaws or imperfections. I think this is important for a case that costs as much as this one does and it truly shows that you get what you pay for in terms of craftsmanship.
Perhaps the best feature of this case, though, is the fact that you can dock your iPAQ in its cradle while it's in the case! (The case must be open, of course, since the magnetic "latch" covers the sync port on the bottom when closed.) This is the first case I've used which has this feature, and I have to say, it's wonderful! All the leather cases I'd used with previous Pocket PCs required me to remove the PPC from the case prior to docking in a cradle. It is so much more convenient to be able to simply slip the iPAQ in a cradle while still in the case! The first two or three days I used the case, the leather "hinge" was not broken in yet and the case wanted to flip closed while docked. Within a week, however, the leather has given enough that the case now stays open easily.
Figure 4: An iPAQ h5455 docked in the Morpheus III case.
You can order the case with or without an UltraClip belt clip according to your preferences. Personally, I prefer to carry my Pocket PCs on my belt, so the case I reviewed includes the UltraClip. I have used UltraClips on cases in the past, but the Vaja is the first that has used a metal post on the back instead of plastic. This adds more security to the clip and eliminates the wear that occurs over time on the plastic posts.
This photo, borrowed from the product page at Vaja Cases' Web site, illustrates the construction of the case better than I can explain it in words.
The Vaja I-Volution Morpheus III case for the HP iPAQ h5400 series is truly a work of art. With perfect craftsmanship, a form-fitting design, and excellent protection, the Morpheus III is quite possibly the perfect case for a "naked" HP h5400 series iPAQ. However, Vaja cases are often some of the most expensive cases you can buy for your Pocket PC. Is the Morpheus III worth its three-digit price? Read on to find out!
Case Description and Features
The I-Volution Morpheus III case is designed to be used with a "naked" iPAQ -- one with no expansion sleeves attached. In fact, since the case is designed to fit every curve and contour of the h5400 series iPAQ, it's impossible to use the case with any type of sleeve attached. If you use a sleeve with your iPAQ most of the time, this probably isn't the ideal case for you. Accessories such as snap-on thumb keyboards that are designed to be used over a sleeve might actually work, though I was unable to test this since I don't currently own such an accessory.
The case combines the best features of a soft leather case and a hard shell case into one. The shell of the Morpheus III is made up of three layers of rigid ABS plastic to protect against impacts. The inside front flap of the case features two slots for holding spare SecureDigital cards, which will come in handy for those of us who don't yet have 512 MB or larger SD cards and have to swap cards in order to carry all our data. :)
When the case was announced, many readers here at Pocket PC Thoughts and other sites were concerned that it would make the slim h5400 iPAQs big and bulky. While the case does add some amount of bulk, I don't consider it to be excessive, and the level of protection provided by this case is hard to beat. The raised, curved portion of the outside front flap, the rounded edges, and sweeping curved ridges along the sides of the SD slots inside give the case a very sleek appearance. The lines and curves of the case even line up perfectly with those of the iPAQ.
Figure 1: Top view of the Morpheus III and iPAQ h5455 side-by-side to show relative sizes.
Figure 2: End view to show the relative thickness of the case compared to the iPAQ h5455. This is a slightly deceptive photo since the belt clip post makes the case appear to be much "taller" than is actually is.
Figure 3: Top view of the Morpheus III and iPAQ h5455 side-by-side to show relative sizes.
The leather is of outstanding quality with absolutely no visible flaws or imperfections. I think this is important for a case that costs as much as this one does and it truly shows that you get what you pay for in terms of craftsmanship.
Perhaps the best feature of this case, though, is the fact that you can dock your iPAQ in its cradle while it's in the case! (The case must be open, of course, since the magnetic "latch" covers the sync port on the bottom when closed.) This is the first case I've used which has this feature, and I have to say, it's wonderful! All the leather cases I'd used with previous Pocket PCs required me to remove the PPC from the case prior to docking in a cradle. It is so much more convenient to be able to simply slip the iPAQ in a cradle while still in the case! The first two or three days I used the case, the leather "hinge" was not broken in yet and the case wanted to flip closed while docked. Within a week, however, the leather has given enough that the case now stays open easily.
Figure 4: An iPAQ h5455 docked in the Morpheus III case.
You can order the case with or without an UltraClip belt clip according to your preferences. Personally, I prefer to carry my Pocket PCs on my belt, so the case I reviewed includes the UltraClip. I have used UltraClips on cases in the past, but the Vaja is the first that has used a metal post on the back instead of plastic. This adds more security to the clip and eliminates the wear that occurs over time on the plastic posts.
This photo, borrowed from the product page at Vaja Cases' Web site, illustrates the construction of the case better than I can explain it in words.
