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Bellagio LifeDrive Case

January 2, 2006

The case I was sent for review is made of red leather, with matching stitching and a small metal Bellagio logo on the front. The case is secured by a tab on the bottom with a magnetic snap. Open the snap to flip up the front cover of the case and you’ll find two SD card slots as well as a business/credit card slot under the lid. I like the high placement of the card slots; that means there’s much less chance of them coming into the screen and damaging the device.

The LifeDrive is held in place with a yoke made of leather stretched over some sort of internal frame. That makes the device easy to remove when you want to take it out of the case, but that also means that it doesn’t have much protection on the sides. The yoke is also a bit difficult to line up with the screen opening, and since the part on the bottom is rather narrow and made only of leather, it stretches easily, leaving excess length. All of the controls are accessible inside the case, including the headphone jack, sync/charge port, reset button, and voice recorder button. The portrait/landscape toggle button is covered by a thin layer of leather, but is still accessible if you press in just the right spot. The top of the device is left uncovered when the flap is open, since that’s how you insert the LifeDrive into the case. That means that the stylus, power/hold switch, and SD card slot are all easily accessible.

The unique feature of this case is the back flap that folds up at about a 90 degree angle; with the flap folded up you can dock the device in a desktop cradle.The back of the device is still mostly protected, thanks to the backing of the yoke. Even if you don’t have a cradle, this folding feature will allow you to easily prop up your LifeDrive for use as a desktop clock, to make checking your calender more convenient, and to reduce the screen glare from overhead florescent lighting. Unfortunately the folding design also makes the case rather bulky; it is quite a bit wider across the back than the LifeDrive itself, meaning that if you have small hands (like me!) you may find the LifeDrive to be less comfortable to hold for long periods of time.

This is a nice case for those who aren’t looking for the slimmest possible profile, and the docking/desktop stand feature is fairly well implemented. This is the only cradle docking case I’ve seen for the LifeDrive, so if you need that feature I can certainly recommend this case. If not, you might want to look for a more form-fitting case from another manufacturer, or wait for Bellagio’s new Prima line of cases, which will have a smaller overall profile and is expected within the next couple of months. The regular price of this case is $44.95, but PocketGoddess readers can mention the code PG10 when they call 877-CASE-950 (in the USA) and get it for an even $40.