[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam Accessories] Xerxes8933a:
I mentioned this product in another thread but now having received the case and used it for a day or two I feel that a more in depth review would be suitable as a seperate post.

I found the IDS / Digital Express, TyTn Leather ‘Book Style’ Case almost by chance while searching for a case for my Orange SPV M3100. In fact doing a Google search for a TyTn case didn’t show up any products that I liked and it was only when I tried searching for a ‘M3100 case’ did Google throw up a link to the IDS website as a sponsored link. I’m glad it did as while the case isn’t perfect it’s much better than the case supplied with the phone and the old Krusell P900 case that I was using.

Costing $25.00 USD (about £13.50) the IDS ‘Book Type’ Leather Case fits the TyTn phone perfectly offering a good level of protection while still allowing access to all the features and controls of the phone.

Fully closed the case adds about 5mm to the overall dimensions of the phone with a little more bulk being added to front of the phone by the screen flap. I appreciate that some people might not like this and consider a bit too much bulk is being added to the phone (especially as the phone isn’t the slimmest device to start with) but in practice the additional bulk doesn’t become too intrusive.

The case itself has a flap that covers and protects the touch screen and also provides a small internal pocket for a Transfalsh Adaptor. The flap is held closed by a small magnet and is easily flipped open to gain access to the screen. Personally I would have preferred a Velcro strip to keep this flap closed but the magnet does a good enough job and isn’t so weak that the flap comes undone of its own accord, even if it did open the phone is still protected by the main case which is kept closed using a more secure press-stud arrangement.

This flap coupled with a screen protector should satisfy most users and keep the device protected from day to day wear and tear.

The front of the case as mentioned is held closed by a press-stud. Opening the front of the case allows full access to the internal keyboard by sliding the screen to the right. While the case is quite a tight fit and so holding the keyboard inside the case, it isn’t such a tight fit that you wouldn’t want to keep a secure hold of the phone in this position, that said as most people would use both hands to hold the phone and type so I can’t really see this being an issue either.

Cutaway areas in the case allow access to all the phones buttons/controls as well as both the front and rear cameras and stylus.

The above image shows the one area of concern that I really have with the case, namely that the top right hand corner of the phone (above the power button) and to a lesser extent the bottom right hand corner (by the stylus) are a little exposed and could sustain scratches or more severe damage in these areas if dropped (this happened to an old P900 of mine once with a Bodyglove case using a similar case design so perhaps I’m just being a bit too cautious about this – maybe not :? ).

I can understand why this approach has been taken as the gap is needed to accommodate the sliding screen and keyboard access but I feel that IDS could have put a edge or seam on the front panel of the case that protects these areas of the phone when the case is fully closed (after all the front of the case has to be folded away from the screen to slide the screen open).

Maybe this omission was a factored down to cost but personally I’d sooner pay a bit more for a device that fully protects my phone.

The belt clip slides over and securely fastens to a screw that fits into the back of the phone case. The clip is easily removed from the case by pressing a spring loaded button at the top of the clip, allowing the case/screw to be slid up out of a central recessed slot that holds the case and clip in place. While some might not like this arrangement, it does mean that the clip can stay on your belt if preferred.

The clip feels strong enough although with any plastic item you can’t be sure just how robust it is until it’s had a few months use which sometimes exposes weaknesses in its design or manufacture.

My preference would have been to have something similar to the Krusell Mini Belt Clip which provides a little less bulk but I guess again this is a matter of preference.

Conclusion

Overall the IDS the IDS / Digital Express, TyTn Leather ‘Book Style’ Case is a really nice product and as mentioned previously, in my opinion offers a significant improvement over the case supplied by HTC in the box. It seems to be well made, allows full access to all of the phones features and most importantly appears to offer a good degree of protection.

The case considering its features and apparent build quality is quite inexpensive. Delivery postage was free and it took about 5 days to arrive here in the UK from Hong Kong so I can’t complain about the service either.

Because of the short amount of time that the TyTn has been available there are relatively few cases out there at the moment and of those that are available most of them are very similar in terms of design and features. The IDS Leather ‘Book Style’ Case whilst not being perfect (and make no mistake its good points far outweigh the bad) is certainly good enough to help protect your investment from the day-to-day hazards of use while providing full access to all of the phones many controls and functions, above all it looks good too! 8)

I’m sure that in time, similar and possibly better cases from other manufacturers will appear but until then you could do a lot worse than to get one of these as it does seem to offer a fairly unique design with a lot of features that I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Pros:

Leather Construction

Flexible / Well Thought Out Design

Offers a good degree of protection

Full access to all phone controls and features

Secure Belt Clip

Free Delivery and Fast Service

Cons:

Magnet holding front flap may not be to everyone’s liking

Corners on right of phone not fully protected by case

Belt Clip may be a bit bulky for some people

Product Site: http://www.ids.hk/index.asp

Product Link: TyTn Leather ‘Book Style’ Case

Cost: $25.00 plus taxes (includes free world wide shipping)

Overall Rating: 8.75 out of 10

Oh and just in case you're wondering... no I don't work for IDS or have any comission arrangement with them, I just thought I'd share my experiences on this product with other forum members given that there are so few cases out there at the moment :D

Regards,

Xerxes