Seidio Crystal Treo Case Review

is the SD Card able to be removed without removing the case? I would presume so based on Seidio's reputation but am too lazy to go look at their site.

This case actually has a seperate skinned holster made for it with a silicone strip built in on top to prevent the case from popping out.

I bought the crystal case, holster, and replacement battery cover from Seidio Online. I agree mostly with your review, and overall for the money, I like the whole system; however, here are my observations:

Replacement battery cover:
All good. Pays for itself upon your first hard reset.

Holster: Still a two hands holster. You must lift the retaining arm with one hand and with the other, seat and reseat the Treo. You can do so with one hand, but the spring is quite strong and the arm will catch and place pressure on your SD card and the surrounding unprotected areas. maybe I'm just too careful with my Treo. With my work Nextel, I just slap it in and whip it out of a similar holster, and there are wear marks on the top of the phone. Also, I sometimes brush up against things in tight spaces, and I do have a few scratches on my crystal case.

crystal case: I agree that the raised lip at the edge of the keyboard hinders typing. I am disappointed in how flimsy the plastic clips that keep the case together are. After one drop, one cracked; however, the case still stays together. The case will fly apart depending on how your Treo lands when it is dropped. I dropped my treo 700p twice. First time, it fell on the lower left hand corner on concrete (I see everything in slow motion when something traumatic happens). The case flew open. Treo was undamaged, one crystal case clip broke. The second drop on concrete, it landed face first, and slid a few inches. Treo undamaged, some imperceptible scratching on the crystal case. So unless you dropped your treo on an unflat surface (like a bunch of rocks), the screen is protected somewhat by being "even more" recessed in the surrounding crystal case.

As a final note, I have an Agent 18 crystal case for my video ipod. the retaining system is much more durable than the seidio case and overall build quality seems less flimsy.

Despite these downsides, I prefer the seidio crystal case much more than my previous rhino aluminum case. The instant access to the screen and keyboard,less bluk and weight, and "almost naked" beauty are worth the tradeoff of less protection. I think I'll be ditching the holster for the seidio horizontal leather case for the extra protection from brushing up against things.

If anyone is interested in some photos of the clip damage on my crystal case and my criticism on the holster retaining arm, I'd be happy to provide them.

thanx,
jb

This is my personal review but others may disagree.

Seidio Crystal Case and Swivel Clip Holster Review

What an exciting day! After having ordered my Crystal Case/Combo for Treo 700 on the 21st, my order finally arrived. I have now given it three days worth of wonderful use. I currently give the combo a C+ grade. I have based the grade on the following categories: Ease of Assembly, Usage, Compatibility, and Design.

Upon opening the box, I quickly jumped to the instructions. They were quick and easy for the Crystal Case. Step 1, “Place both thumbs there and apply pressure to these points,” and Step 2, “Gently pull apart until the back of the case lifts away from the phone.” Before I knew it the case was secure on the phone. The case gets an A grade for assembly.
I then allowed seven other Treo users and five palm users each look at the case. They all agreed that the case was very good looking, simple and easy to use. But after the third time taking the case off, the case became too easy to take off. In fact now with one finger I can flip the case off, using little to no force. Started with an A grade for design but it has now dropped to a B. Now came the test with the holster.

The holster has “no assembly required” therefore it earns an A. I have always enjoyed the Seidio Cradle holsters. Important note: The holster in review is SKU # HLTR700ASC, 335 Swivel Clip Holster (Cradle Type for Crystal Case). I have been excited to sample the new Spring Clip on the top. The Treo w/Crystal Case slid directly into the holster. Compatibility grade is now moving up!

Once removed I found the problem, the spring clip catches on the top of the crystal case; slowing down my ability to remove the Treo. Several attempts resulted in the same result. In addition, on three occasions my SD Memory Card popped up and almost came out. I continued to use it through out the day with the same result. Each call forced me to have to lift up the Spring Clip further and further just to get the phone out of the holster. This is interesting since the Clip Holster instructions state: Spring Clip Holster for Skinned Device Step 2, “To remove your skinned device from the holster, gently lift the spring clip at the top…” Well I am lifting much more than gently. I have to use two fingers to open the clip just to pull it out. I look like an idiot trying to get my phone out. In the end I give Compatibility “C” (would be a B, but it doesn’t work with the standard Palm Cradle either), Usage “C” and Design “C” (because the case catches).

Also, I am frequent Chatteremail user and the side buttons "Q, A, Option and P, Backspace, and enter" are a little covered making it hard to type.

Lastly I attempted to place the Treo in my standard Palm Cradle, well I should have seen this coming—It doesn’t fit. Therefore each time I need to put my phone in the cradle I need to take off the crystal case; furthermore, this will be easy since the case now can be flicked off with one finger. I have attempted to not use the crystal case and instead just use the holster, but since the holster is designed for both, my holster is now too big for the Treo; causing it to fall out.

Finally I called Seidio and asked for help. The technical support person who helped me told me I should try opening the spring clip more when taking out my Treo. Well thanks for the obvious answer! But to open it the amount needed you almost need two fingers! When I asked about the case falling apart he said that I have 14 days for a refund and 180 days to return it for a replacement. When I asked about the cradle, he justifiably said, Palm has stated skinned Treos’ will not work with the Palm Cradle. This I should have realized and checked out.

Overall, I am very disappointed in the Seidio Crystal Case with combo holster. I have been a big fan of the Seidio line products, having had my company purchase about 30 items from them in the past but I am giving this product a C+ grade.

For a casual user this might be a great case and holster combo, as for me, the hardcore user, I am not liking it.

In the end the case ended up breaking and I sent it back.

Got the clearcase from Seidio because you guys didn't carry it yet. Loved it for all of 24 hours, until the clips on the side started peeling off and breaking. Apparently my backpack is just too treacherous a place for the cover?

I wrote them several times and no one replied, so I called. Kudos to the super cool tech person who had me take pics of it so I didn't have to bother to return it for a replacement. Kudos for getting a new one to me within days.

The case is still crap though. Sorry. Not only that but the dust that too easily accumulates under the front of the cover has already scratched my 3 week old Treo 700. Not nice.

Oh, and I was told that the case was not meant to be taken off once it was put on.

I'm not sure how to get the dust out without doing that.

Pass. Really. I love the idea but in reality it doesn't work out.

(I have a happily naked treo now and it hasn't scratched since I took the cover off)

Does anyone know if this crystal case can be used with any of the pouch cases, such as the SPE P6 pouch case? I just got a treo 700p yesterday.

I like the concept of the pouch case (vs. the holster), but would also like to protect the casing of the phone from scratches (so the crystal case is apealing). Would love other people's opinion. Thanks.