Magnesium Case

[Kwan]

Has anyone bought the magnesium case?
Looks cool, but would like to hear a review.

[alex_mathews]

Review at TreoBits.

[Kwan]

I am impressed by your review.
Thanks. I'll wait for a Homerun to come out. :cool:

[Dr.Grace]

One thing your review didn't touch on is whether there's a significant reduction in signal strength with the case on. My aluminum case by the same manufacturer caused me to lose a bar or so of signal, and in some poorly covered areas (like inside my house!), that meant losing connection to the network entirely.

How is the magnesium case in that respect? Also, is there access to the antenna port with the case on?

Don

[alex_mathews]

I'll need to get in touch with the person that contributed the review of the case. I believe he would have called out that issue if it existed, but I'll ask him anyway. There is no access to the antenna port through the case.

[alex_mathews]

According to the reviewer, there was no impact to the reception with this case.

[Dr.Grace]

Hmmm... Did he/she test it under conditions of marginal signal? I wouldn't expect to see much of a difference if the signal is strong.

Don

[alex_mathews]

The last comments from the reviewer, PJ Arts.

Here's the bottom line:

* BEST protection
* DAMN GOOD LOOKIN' if you're a masculine man (or gal)
* EASY to get the Treo in and out...so, no need to worry about the
antenna thingy
* NO INTERFERENCE with reception
* BLOODY GREAT CASE

[Dr.Grace]

It was a nice review, but the part about having NO effect on signal strength is hard to believe. The test needs to be done in a low signal area. The best thing would be to actually measure the signal strength (for example with a little program called SignalMeter that someone wrote for that purpose.) It's a little tricky because the signal strength tends to fluctuate, so you need to make repeated readings with and without the case. But I found a very noticeable difference with the aluminum Innopocket case. This would be especially problematic in areas with poor coverage, but in high signal areas of course you wouldn't notice a problem.

Don

[alex_mathews]

The case is not made of aluminum, so I don't necessarily agree that no loss of reception should be hard to believe. Your testing method would be more scientific, and I don't doubt it would provide more concrete proof, but it's not the approach the reviewer chose to take. We thank you for your feedback and will consider it for future reviews of this nature.