Windows Phone Thoughts: Cover your Axim X3/X30 with a Krusell case

The Multiadapt system


Figure 11: A multitude of adapters.

The basis of this system is a mating plate that is sewn into the case. This mating plate has a connecting point for a lanyard and it will also take any of the lower three adapters shown in Figure 11. The left-most one of these, the smallest one, is a male adapter that then provides a secure mounting point for adapters like the upper three adapters shown. These are, from left to right, a sticky or screw-mounted holder, a small belt clip and a larger belt clip. For all three, you slide the male adapter into the receiving slot and it locks into place. Press buttons on the holder then retract a pin that allows the adapter to come free again.

For me, and I know a lot of their customers, this is an attractive feature of Krusell's cases. The same holder will mate with all of their cases which means that once you've invested in a particular holder, it will serve you well in the future. It should be noted that neither case comes with any adapters. They need to be bought individually and separately, but they will fit any other Krusell case with the Multiadapt feature.

One slight problem I did have whilst wearing my Axim on my belt was that, on a couple of occasions, I knocked the Axim sideways on with a bag that was on my shoulder. What happened next was that the male adapter sheared off one of its edges, thus causing the case to come free from the holder. There is a good and a bad point about this. The good point is that a small piece of plastic sacrificed itself in order to protect the case and the holder from breaking under that sideways force. The bad point, though, is that my Axim dropped to the ground on both occasions. Luckily the case protected it :-). I should point out that this was not a common occurrence at all and was largely due to me not watching where I was going and causing my bag to shift position.

Conclusions
Cases are a highly subjective issue - a bit like choosing between different applications that do similar functions. Both the Classic and Handit cases do their job of protecting the Axim very well. Neither are a wonderful fit for the PDA, but then I've also bought Dell's own "executive" case and it is a terrible fit! The Multiadapt feature gives the cases a level of flexibility in use that isn't readily encountered elsewhere and the price of the cases won't break the bank.