by boysbytes, 18 December 2003.

If you're weighed down by your PDA and mobile phone hanging around your waist but can't bear to be without them, then check out one interesting solution in the form of the e-Zio case system. The e-Zio lets you have your cake and eat it!

Quick Draw

You've seen on TV and movies how police detectives draw their guns from their shoulder holster. Their firearms are well concealed under their jackets, and are easily within reach. Taking this idea and principle, eHolster has created a unique gadget carrying system, the e-Zio Case System.



The e-Zio Case System

eHolster has designed their products to be modular. You choose the case carrying system you like, together with the ePouch. The ePouches are made of ballistic nylon material, and have sizes to fit most PDAs and mobile phones. If your gadgets increase, just get another ePouch. If you feel you prefer another case carrying system, just buy the harness and reuse your existing ePouches. Take myself as an example - I already have the eUro Case System, with two ePouches. For this review, I only needed the eZio harness and reuse the ePouches. So you could switch around different case systems depending on the situation.



Pictured is the e-Zio harness.



The e-Pouch is easily attached to the harness. The straps look durable enough to handle most situations.

There are three versions of the eZio Professional Case System. The eZio Professional Case System comes with the eZio harness, an ePouch for a PDA, and an ePouch for a mobile phone. Then you can choose between the types of material for the ePouches - leather, Ballistic Nylon and Vinyl.



The complete e-Zio Professional Case System.



A closer look at the e-Pouches with the iPAQ h3800 Pocket PC (with the Proporta Aluminium case) and Ericsson R520m mobile phone.

The eZio harness is made from nylon. The buckles are plastic, but should be sturdy enough to handle normal use. The harness is held together by a square plastic plate with 4 metal rivets. The underside is thick leather for comfort.



This is the underside of the plastic plate that holds the e-Zio harness together. The underside is leather for better comfort.



The top part of the harness with 4 solid rivets.

The straps are padded and have a textured underside to prevent slippage. On the harness there is a hidden wiring conduit for your hands-free kit, or headphones. Once fitted, the ear piece is within easy reach.



The wiring conduit under the straps for routing headphones or handsfree kit.
In Use

The e-Zio distributes the weight of the PDA and handphone well. After 4 hours wearing the e-Zio, I would prefer more padding around the straps. It is hardly noticeable under my jacket, and I didn't have trouble accessing my PDA or handphone.

Here are some photographs of the e-Zio in action.







The only time when the e-Zio didn't fare too well is when I had to attend a meeting. Why? The e-Pouch's cover is secured by velcro. I never liked velcro because it becomes awkward separating the velcro in quiet situations. I'd prefer an option to have e-Pouches with plastic latches.

But all work and no play makes me a bored boy. The e-Zio also performs well to carry your MP3 player, or Walkman. I couldn't test this out because I don't have any MP3 player, or Walkman. But I imagine the wiring conduit will work well with headphones, and keep your music gadgets hidden under your jacket.

Conclusion

The e-Zio isn't for everyone. If you spend most of your day wearing a coat or jacket, the e-Zio could be for you. The benefit is that you won't have to wear your gadgets around your belt and tempting pickpockets. If you dislike hanging gadgets around your belt, the e-Zio will hide them under your jacket.

Read offline with Repligo

You can read this review as a Repligo document (397kb).

Download the free Repligo Viewer for Palm, Pocket PC, Microsoft Smartphone, P800 and Windows from http://www.repligo.com

Pros

• Conceals the PDA and mobile phone for work, and even music devices for play. Deters pickpockets since the devices are out of sight.
• Modular system lets you mix and match.
• Presentable during official occasions.

Cons

• Unfastening the velcro straps for the e-Pouch is distracting.
• More padding on the e-Zio straps would be nice for extended use.
• May cause unwanted attention since it looks like a firearms shoulder holster.

Coffee Cups



Product Details

Website: www.eholster.com

Product page: http://www.eholster.com/ezio.html

Price: From USD61.95 (Promotional price USD56.95) onwards.