Price:	120 Euros		Reviewed by:	Shaun McGill
Supplied:	Piel Frama		Review date:	20/06/2005
Pros	Excellent materials and stitching Love that zip pull! Subtle design Clever use of internal space (no crowding) Good value		Cons:	Only available in black (personally I would like to see a dark brown but that may ruin the subtlety of the look) 120 Euros may be a bit rich for some

I recently wrote a PDA Thoughts article called ‘The case for a case’ (http://www.clieuk.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1691) and coincidently received an email from Piel Frama the next day. I took a look at their range of products and spotted the PDA Bluetooth Bundle Leather Case which looked like a possibility for what I required- a case to hold a notebook, my PDA, MP3 player and mobile phone. As you can tell from the image below that’s not the actual purpose of this case but it goes to show that it is a flexible solution for your travel needs.   I reviewed the Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse bundle recently (http://www.clieuk.co.uk/bun.shtml) and it was a sure fire hit, receiving no bad points at all. This solution effectively gives you that very mobile office wherever you are- you get easy navigation with the mini mouse as well as laptop equivalent data input. It’s an excellent choice for travelling as you can leave the laptop at home and still have the ability to carry on working wherever you are- in a hotel, on a plane, train etc. etc.   The only issue is the fact that it is a pain to carry three items around with you and you really don’t want to let expensive technology alone to wander in your travel bag (and get damaged). Piel Frama’s intended purpose for the Bundle Leather Case is to bring all of these items together into an elegant accessory which does not draw attention, yet retains an air of quality about it and they have succeeded on both counts.   As is standard for Piel Frama the packaging is excellent- simple yet elegant, all you get is a box with a paper inner sleeve and the case. I like good packaging but it’s nice when it is not overdone and thus should help to keep the costs down.   A paper pad is included as is a holder for a pen. Again, this is not overdone because you get what you need without countless slots for credit cards, money etc. which would probably ruin the overall look of the inner case.   The quality of the materials is what has sold the case to me. If you need protection for what could be up to £600 of PDA and accessories this will do the job well- obviously it will not stand up to being crushed but for small drops and protection from the weather it is ideal. This may sound like a strange comment but the zip is the most striking part. You feel like it will never break and the tag used to pull the zip round is brilliantly designed- it bends in the middle and the quality of the metal is lovely. The girls at work loved it and even a couple of the guys got semi-excited about it. When you have a case that is all black leather with black stitching and a black zip a shiny silver zip pull stands out a mile and brings a touch of exuberance to the product. The zip pull is also flat as well so engraving it with initials or a short name is easily possible- I can see ‘247’ being added to this one soon:)   Cases are always difficult to review and I swore that I would never review one again but this baby is different. It’s not an all-singing, all-dancing carry everything of a case and it’s not ‘just a case’ either. From what I can see it has been designed to be unobtrusive (i.e. it will not tell the world that you have expensive toys inside it), to give protection and easy access to just the items you need when on the road and to endear itself to the owner through quality materials and design- people will not stop you in the street and say “wow, let me look at that case” but you will know what’s under your arm and it will probably stay with you for a long time to come.   I now need to persuade Piel Frama to let me keep the case! :)   At this stage a standard review would probably end but there are usage possibilities for this case that may not spring to mind immediately. If you do not use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse or only have the keyboard you can still make use of the internal compartments and you can also customise it without having to take scissors to it (do not do that!).   The paper pad is a nice touch but for day to day use a Moleskin is my note taker and it has been by my side more and more over the past few months. Fortunately this case holds the Moleskin perfectly on the right hand side and a keyboard, mouse and PDA still fit in quite easily when it is closed.   In my top photo there is an iPod Photo unit in the bottom holder- the iPod is a bit small for this holder but you could potentially include a slightly larger case and hold your headphones in that section as well as the iPod or any other device you wish to add such as a Dictaphone or media player.   Going back to my PDA Thoughts article mentioned at the top of this review, this case is the nearest I have found to cover everything I want and with some clever use of the space it will become ideal for me. I guess that you will either need this type of case or not but if you are considering it I can guarantee that it is beautifully made, looks great and in my opinion is worth the price.   By the way- they let me keep the case and it's now my daily buddy for carrying my precious mobile gear.