The Fortte “Open Face” case for Palm’s Centro

The accessory market for Palm OS handhelds has traditionally been dominated by a triumvirate made up of Proporta, Brando and – to a lesser extent – Boxwave. Sir Rohr’s Fortte is a new player and plans to topple the market over by offering exclusive color options and various new form factors. Can their offering for the Centro stack up?

Fortte’s products ship via FedEx from the United States. Unfortunately, the Austrian Customs catch the parcels from time to time…

A small blister protects the case during transportation:

Our case was ordered with belt clip (as it is intended to be given away). The belt clip thus ships in a small satchel along the case. People who dislike belt clips can order their cases without one – the screw in the back is then omitted:

Getting the Centro into the case is easy. The device is slid in, and a clip in the back is then closed. Fortte’s method is more secure than the friction locking systems found in other manufacturer’s offerings:

The device remains perfectly usable while in the case:

Fortte did a great job at keeping the keyboard usable:

The controls at the top and the bottom remain fully functional:

A cutout on the left side keeps the volume buttons accessible:

The Centro’s memory card door is badly designed and requires you to remove the battery door when swapping memory cards. Thus, Fortte chose to cover up the “slot” – no functionality lost.

Finally, here are a few shots showing the Centro next to a QTek 8500 in a pink case. Of course, the case color can be chosen from dozens – the list is available at Fortte’s web site.

In the end, Fortte’s case for the Palm Centro is excellent. People who wish to be able to design their case from the ground up can now do so – but have to accept a higher price. The case we reviewed here costs about 80$…but is worth every penny…

Related posts:

1. Fortte STiL Vertical Pouch for Palm Centro – the review
2. Next giveaway: Fortte Centro Case
3. A stylish case for your Treo
4. Proporta Aluminum-Leather case for the Palm Centro – the review
5. The Proporta leather case for the Treo 650