Vaja's Custom Cases [Archive] - Thoughts Media Forums

Jason Dunn

08-23-2002, 07:01 AM

Vaja is known in the Pocket PC industry as being a high-end case manufacturer – their cases are unparalleled in beauty, and also unparalleled in price. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/articles/vajacustomsmall.jpg" /> Vaja now offers you the ability to tweak the features of your case with many options for colour, material, features - and even a logo! <!> The Case You’ve Always Wanted Un-published PocketPC.com article originally written April 25th, 2002. Vaja pulls out all the stops with their beautiful custom-made cases Device Requirements Vaja offers the custom cases for iPAQs (3600, 3700, and 3800 series), HP Jornada 56x, and Casio E-200 Pocket PCs. The case reviewed here was designed for a 3600 series iPAQ, and is dubbed the “804/801 - Custom Sync-able iPAQ case”. What’s Hot As if Vaja cases weren’t unique enough already, you now have the ability to custom-make your own cases with a dizzying array of options. Where to Buy Cases can be purchased online directly from <a href="http://www.vajacases.com">Vaja Cases</a>. The particular case I had was around US $154 with the options I selected. If you pick the most expensive of everything, and get a custom logo on the case, you’ll pay a staggering US $205.40 plus shipping. Expensive? Yes. Unique? Absolutely – you’ll be the only person around with a case like it. A word about Vaja quality If you haven’t seen a Vaja-brand case in person, you might not appreciate how truly magnificent the craftsmanship is. Creating your custom case First, you need to decide what kind of leather you want the case to be. With some other case manufacturers, your choice is “black” or “black”. That’s not a bad thing, but more choice is always better, right? Vaja has a mind-boggling array of leathers and colours as shown in Figure 1 – twenty-two different choices, all varying in price from no additional charge up to US $19 extra. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/articles/JD-484-fig1.jpg" /> Figure 1: 22 different leather and colour choices Figure 2 shows a larger view of some of the choices – from left to right, the leathers below are Blue Nubuk, Reddish Brown Buffalo, and Vitelino Ice. Vaja leather is always smooth and soft, and I’ve yet to see any case with a significant flaw in it. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/articles/JD-484-fig2.jpg" /> Figure 2: Three sample case colours and leathers <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/articles/JD-484-fig3.jpg" /> Figure 3: My custom case for review – what a beauty! After you’ve chosen the leather, the closure mechanism is next: magnetic or snap? The review unit I had (Figure 3) used a snap closure, and it’s something Vaja recommends if you’re going to carry credit cards in the card slots. Since I designed this case with the idea of being a wallet, I opted for the snap closure (Figure 4). <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/articles/JD-484-fig4.jpg" /> Figure 4: Snap closure and money pocket The inside of this case houses two credit card slots on each inner face of the money pocket (Figure 4). Additionally, there are two card slots on the outer face of the money pocket, and there are two slots beneath the card slots on the inner face. Bottom line: there are eight distinct slots for cards. The cover of the case is the classic cushioned cover – it’s not very thick, so I’d advise getting the cushioned cover vs. their slim cover that doesn’t offer any cushioning. Other choices include whether or not you want the UltraClip belt clip, if you need extras and if you need a hole in the top for headphones. The ultimate in personalization The final decision is the best one of all: personalization. For US $15, you can get it personalized with your name, company name, slogan, etc. For $50 you can get your company logo on there! As Figure 5 shows, I have Pocket PC Thoughts on it. The image is a little difficult to make out because of the dark leather and the fact that the logo is just plain text (I’ve since acquired a better logo). There are better examples of <a href="http://www.vajacases.com/vaja/catalogo.nsf/htmlmedia/imagenes_custom/$file/companyper.jpg">Vaja logo work on their web site</a>, and keep in mind that the personalization will take an extra seven days. You can submit a logo in several graphical formats and Vaja will reproduce it on the case. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/articles/JD-484-fig5.jpg" /> Figure 5: Personalization with a custom logo That’s it! You’re done your custom case! I was very pleased with the custom case I designed – it had all the same quality of a normal Vaja case, with the added benefit of being exactly what I wanted it to be. Gotchas As always with Vaja cases, the only negative is price. They’re not inexpensive cases, but as with all things in life, you get what you pay for. Conclusion If you’re looking for the best Pocket PC cases around, and one that you can tweak to your own liking, look no further than Vaja – but remember to bring your wallet!

johncruise

08-23-2002, 07:09 AM

what the?!!! $200+ for a case???

Nice idea for the wallet... if you loose your pda, you loose also your money and whatever ID's (including credit card) you have in there. :wink:

Vaja ... the cases for the rich and famous! :way to go:

Marc Zimmermann

08-23-2002, 08:37 AM

Personally, I like the excellent leather cases from http://www.pielframa.com much better than the excessively expensive ones from Vaja. Virtually everyone in my Pocket PC user group likes the leather and workmanship quality.

Pony99CA

08-23-2002, 09:17 AM

Vaja is known in the Pocket PC industry as being a high-end case manufacturer – their cases are unparalleled in beauty, and also unparalleled in price.

Vaja now offers you the ability to tweak the features of your case with many options for colour, material, features - and even a logo!
Don't take this the wrong way, but is this new? When I first heard about Vaja months ago (a year ago?), I visited their Web site. They had the ability to customize cases back then, if I recall correctly.

I certainly don't have a problem with posting about it, especially if you just found out about it. With all the readers here, it's probably news to someone, after all. But when I see "Vaja now offers...", the "now" makes me think this is a new service. (Yes, I'm a picky SOB. :lol:)

I'm just wondering if I missed something new about Vaja's customizing capabilities (not that I'd pay that much for a case, beautiful though they are).

Steve

Leon

08-23-2002, 10:37 AM

Pony99CA

08-23-2002, 03:07 PM

Don't take this the wrong way, but is this new?
Looking at words like 'what's hot' and 'gotchas', I think this belongs to the series of unpublished pocketpc.com articles. These articles can be old but we were warned about that, see http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2755.

You're right. On the main page, it didn't mention this was one of the old PocketPC.com articles, and I didn't read the full article in the forum which clearly said:

Un-published PocketPC.com article originally written April 25th, 2002.

If the article was like the 802.11b ones, I wouldn't have said anything, as those were clearly tutorials, but this looked like it was supposed to be a new product review. Perhaps reviews from the older PocketPC.com columns should mention that on the main page.

Anyway, I'm sorry I missed that. :oops:

Steve

Jason Dunn

08-23-2002, 04:40 PM

Don't take this the wrong way, but is this new?

"Un-published PocketPC.com article originally written April 25th, 2002."

I'm not sure how much more clear I can make it than that. :?

Jason Dunn

08-23-2002, 04:43 PM

Monty Gibson

08-23-2002, 05:00 PM

When will Vaja release an O2/TMobile XDA Case?

Pony99CA

08-24-2002, 01:35 AM

Perhaps reviews from the older PocketPC.com columns should mention that on the main page.

I could find no way of doing that without it being awkward - the article still has to read as a review. Besides which, who's to say that reviews have to be on new products? :wink:
No, I agree that reviews don't have to be on new products. My problem was that the main page snippet sounded like it was a new service. I realize that you probably don't have time to go edit these pieces to remove all of that language, of course.

If I had read the whole review, I would have caught the old PocketPC.com disclaimer, but as I had already checked out Vaja's cases (and their custom capability) months ago, I didn't bother reading the full review and just read the forum postings.

Anyway, it's my fault for not reading the whole review. Sorry for the digression.

Steve

Pony99CA

08-24-2002, 01:47 AM

Hey, there's nothing wrong with reviewing "luxury" items. In fact, as fewer people are likely to buy these things, that makes reviews like this more important for those who can afford them.

As for Jason being made of money, I bet he wishes. :lol: I don't know if Jason bought his case with his own money, but many companies give prominent people free products to get a review. Also, as this was a PocketPC.com piece (as was painfully pointed out to me :oops: ), it's possible Microsoft sprang for the case.

Steve

JoeMoon

08-24-2002, 09:09 AM

Why is quality so expensive? Well, consider this... First, these cases are amazing. They are better than any american made product I have seen. The stiching is clean, tight and professional. No loose threads, no misguided stitches... The cuts, curves, bends and folds are so accurate... This thing fits your IPAQ like a surgeons glove... It is amazing how accurate the design is... That is the workmanship... All handcrafted! The quality of the leather is top notch... The leather is soft and smooth - unless you get the textured leather... They have a wide variety of colors, patterns and designs... you get to choose! Imagine customizing your own uniquely-beautiful-leather-handcrafted case for a few bucks more than an off the shelf immitation... I don't know about you... But I paid $80 bucks to make my $600 IPAQ look great! People notice the case before they notice the IPAQ! It has hung on my hip for almost 2 years now... Oh, and why pay this extra money... Cause when you have a problem with your Vaja case, they will replace it for the cost of shipping! Try getting an American mongul to do that! We all know how our high tech warlords dance around the "blow 'em off" camp fire when we need something replaced/fixed! I had an easier time getting an over seas company (Vaja) to replace the case than I did having compaq replace the unit when it was DOA! Those are a few reasons why some would spend $10 - $30 more for a Vaja...

Joe...

"You'll never know the sweetness of an orange until you've actually tasted the orange yourself!"

Jason Dunn

08-24-2002, 10:21 PM

JoeMoon - thank you! I'm glad that someone grasps the point of my review instead of expressing another knee-jerk reaction to the price. Yes, it's expensive. But it's also unique - you pay for that. Would I personally pay $150 US for the case I received? No, probably not. But I know many who would, and Vaja is targeting that audience with their product. If no one out there bought these products, they probably wouldn't be in business, right?

To everyone: please recognize that while YOU may not buy this case, others will. That's why I reviewed it. If it's not the product for you, move along, but don't criticize the product or me for reviewing it. No one is asking you to buy it! :?

Master O'Mayhem

08-24-2002, 10:52 PM

UPDATE: FYI... There was a huge misunderstanding between Jason and me which was my fault. The issue snowballed out of control and I took the initative to walk away when it wasnt warrented. At no time did the staff at thoughts make me or ask me to leave. i left on my own Although I have a huge issue in my life to clear up out side this forum, i will be unavaiable for a little while, but I will be back.. see you then.