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A BIG THANKS to Kristen Golliher of Otterbox for providing the product for this review. Stay tuned for details on a contest giveaway of this exact same Otterbox 1920 that I’m reviewing here!

This review posting has been referenced and linked from Otterbox’s case reviews page. The link is located under OtterBox PDA Case Reviews: 1920 (Treo Case). Thanks very much, Kristen!

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Do you work in an environment that may be harmful to your Treo and wished that there were a case that was durable, tough enough to withstand a lot of potential hazards that may befall on your Treo? Do you wish that you could take your Treo with you at your work site without worrying about possibly damaging it? Well, wait no more because Otterbox has the answer with the ultimate armor case for your Treo: the Otterbox 1920 PDA Case for the Treo 650/700p/w

This is one durable, crush proof case that can withstand a lot of beating, yet allows you to use your Treo as if you didn’t have such an armor case. The the Otterbox 1920 PDA Case for the Treo 650/700p/w provides the ultimate protection for the Treo 650/700p/w allowing you to place phone calls, type and send out a text message or email, access your important data and everything else that you normally can do with the Treo. Yet, the armor case protects the Treo by providing a tough, durable armor shell that will withstand crushing, drops, blows and other potential hazards that many industrial users may experience while at a work site. Make no mistake about it. While many others may claim to have an “armor” case, this has got to be the true and ultimate “armor” case that can provide crush proof protection. Just a quick feel of the case and you can tell that it is tough. It is crush proof and possibly run over proof (if I can even say that) and I don’t recommend trying it just for the sake of doing so.

Pics of the Otterbox 1920 for Treo 650

Click on the thumbnail images for a bigger picture

Video of Otterbox 1920 PDA Case for Treo 650/700p/w

Unfortunately, since Vimeo limits a maximum weekly 30MB upload limit, I am unable to upload the video to Vimeo (and will have to wait until Sunday to do so), so I will only be uploading the video to YouTube for now and edit this posting later to include Vimeo’s video.

Video at Vimeo

YouTube

The case is made of high quality polycarbonate/ABS shell material for maximum strength and rugged durability. At various areas including the side, back and bottom of the case exterior there is rubber overmolding to allow a better grip of the case and for drop protection. There are protective membrane vents (white circles) located inside the case at the back (for the speaker) and at the bottom (for the microphone) to allow sound to pass through yet still allow adequate protection. The case is completely sealed against outside elements and potential hazards such as dust, sand, water (the case is water resistant but not waterproof), chemicals and dangerous compounds from directly contacting the underlying Treo device. This provides excellent protection as there is very little chance of exposing the Treo to such harmful elements while it’s encased in the case. Yet, you still retain all the functionality of the Treo device such as placing and receiving phone calls, sending and receiving text messages and emails, accessing important data and documents and other multifunctional features of the Treo while having such a heavy duty layer of protection.

Here are the details and specs Otterbox 1920 (taken from Otterbox’s site)

Work virtually anywhere with complete use of phone, email, internet, MP3 files and camera all through the case. Available in black, the OtterBox 1920 Accommodates Palm® Treo™ 650, 700w and 700p models. Casing completely seals device from the elements while providing access to keypad, touch screen, volume and program buttons, saving customers hundreds from having to replace or repair damaged devices. Watch a video on the features of the 1920 Case.

Here are my observations

First, keep in mind that this case is meant as a “working” protective armor case and not a “waterproof” case that is normally associated with the Otterbox cases and the Otterbox name. This is NOT a waterproof case but it is water resistant. Originally, I was expecting to do another underwater submerging video but I guess that will have to wait for another future Otterbox review. Sigh.

Second, also keep in mind that this is meant as a protective armor case. To provide rugged durability and strength to withstand a lot of pressure and abuse, it’s obvious that there will be extra added bulk in the case to provide that high level of crush proof protection. As I’ve shown in my video review, there is quite a lot of extra bulk added to the Treo with the case. But keep in mind that the objective is for armor protection and there is no way you can expect such heavy duty protection in a thin and lightweight case. If you consider the alternative, which is possible damage to your several hundred dollar Treo device, not to mention the invaluable data and information stored in it, wouldn’t you think that compromising the size and weight seems fair?

Third, I’ve found that you have to make sure that you fully push your Treo inside the case before closing it up, or else, the buttons may not be correctly and fully lined up with the buttons on the case. One sure way to tell is to press on the 5 way directional buttons. If you press one and it registers something else, you should re-open the case and give the Treo a good push to make sure that the keys are aligned properly.

Fourth, I’ve also found that the bottom rubbery plug that covers the connector ports sometimes may require a good nudging or pressing to fully close it so that it seals the bottom. You may need to examine the plug and try to maneuver the plug so that it doesn’t “stick out”. Normally, it’s not hard to fit the plug in. That’s hardly any concern.

Fifth, as I’ve shown in the video, the case does seem to grip the Treo inside very well, especially at the top. You may find that you have to give it a bit of a wiggle or jiggle it a bit to pull out the Treo. Again, this is just an observation and really isn’t a concern either.

Overall, this is one heavy duty, durable, crush proof, tough “nut” to crack. I really like how the case fully encloses the Treo to keep it safe and protected from any kind of potential hazards. The idea of having external buttons, the extra plastic screen protection so that nothing really directly “touches” or makes contact with the underlying Treo is quite innovative and very appealing. I especially like how even though the Treo is so well protected on the inside, I am still able to do everything with the Treo (text message, access data, screen, etc) as if I didn’t have the case at all. This is quite an innovative idea and I’m sure it will be very popular with a lot of people working in external environments such as construction sites, chemical plants, dusty environments, and other places where there’s a need for mutli-functional device like the Treo in a normally dangerous environment that otherwise would not have been possible, before now.

Here’s the best part. The Otterbox comes with an unconditional lifetime warranty. What other manufacturer can offer such a warranty?

You can purchase the the Otterbox 1920 PDA Case for the Treo 650/700p/w at the Palm US Store.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of the Palm US Store and purchases made via the affiliate links in this posting and on the site will help support Palm Discovery and ensuring that the site continues to run and that I can afford to give away more of the product samples I receive. Thanks to everyone for your support!

Thanks for reading.

Okay, listen up guys. Now that you’ve read all the cool things about the Otterbox, here’s your chance to win the exact same Otterbox case that I’ve reviewed. I have left everything pretty much as new as I can have it (as I do with all my other product samples) and will be shipped pretty much in the same package that I received originally.

Here’s the details of the contest:

Write up your reasons for why you wish to win the Otterbox 1920 PDA Case for the Treo 650 and why you need it.

Send your submission to [name of this site all in one word] at gmail dot com (eg. nameofthissite@gmail.com ) Obviously, you are NOT going to send your contest entry to nameofthissite@gmail.com, right? Okay, if you still haven’t figured it out, Contact Me and I will give you the email address to send it to..

Please put Otterbox giveaway contest as the subject since I filter all emails and put in a Title at the top of the email so that the entries will have a distinctive title.

You can vote for the entry simply by adding a comment to the individual entry’s post. Keep in mind that the comments will be tracked (to prevent dupe voting and possible abuses). I will likely be having two rounds of voting to declare a winner so that it’s fair to all entries.

Deadline for contest submission is December 31st midnight PST (Pacific Standard Time). I will periodically be posting the submissions on the site as postings as they come in and will hold a vote from the readers of who will ultimately win the contest.

Special considerations will be given to those who can provide pictures of why they need such a case.

A HUGE THANKS to Kristen Golliher for allowing me to give this away to one special Palm Discovery reader.

Please keep in mind that I am paying out of my own pocket to ship the prize to the winner so I would be very appreciative if you could please support Palm Discovery by visiting and purchasing from amongst the various vendors and suppliers that I am an affiliate of. Those include: Audible.com, Boxwave, Handango, Palm US and others.

Thanks for visiting and supporting Palm Discovery. If you are not reading this article from Palmdiscovery.com or Palmdiscovery.net, the website you are reading it from is guilty of copying and posting my content without consent. Please visit Palm Discovery for the original source of the material.

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