The case comes in two packages: a nice black box that you can wrap into something and offer as a gift and one of those insane vacuum plastic mold outer packaging that cut your hand if you are too eager to open it. The case itself is a vertical flip type (i.e. not like a book, but rather like a clipboard or a policeman's notebook, you know, like the ones on TV). It closes with a magnet lock, like those Ungaro bags, which I like: that prevents excessive wear on the lock. In addition, there is a velcro thingy you attach to the back of the Clie that helps hold it in place (though I doubt anybody will ever use that). The Clie slides in behind a clear soft plastic ribbon holder, which keeps it reasonably tightly attached. The case is made of fine soft leather that feels really nice to the touch and makes a good companion for the Clie.

When the Clie originally came out, I used to incessantly wonder how case makers would deal with the twisting screen idea. Covertec does it the smart way: they don't. The upper, closable, part of the case does not attach to the Clie and hangs loose when you hold it in one hand. Not sure if that's the best way of doing it, but I don't really see any other solutions, and, apparently, neither did Covertec. That allows you to freely rotate the screen of the Clie and properly close the screen no matter what.

The case includes holder space for three credit-card-sized cards and two Memory Sticks. With everything inserted, the case becomes a bit thick, but since it's definitely not pocket material, it doesn't really matter anyway. I find that you can put the Clie into your back pocket without a case, but once you have a case, it becomes pretty much impossible to do so. There is also a holder for a pen, which is quite useful, seeing as the pen goes in from the bottom on the NR70, a most dubious design idea.

The one drawback that most people do and will likely complain about is that there is no opening on the bottom of the case to be able to Hotsync the unit or to connect external peripherals to it. It ticked me off at first, as well, but after some consideration, it occurred to me that because the Clie fits so tightly into its cradle, it would be next to impossible to create a case that would realistically protect the unit AND allow it to fit into the cradle with the case on; and if that can't be done, then leaving the expansion port open lets dust, dirt, and other foreign substances get into it. As it is right now, it's basically impossible to get it dirty, which I would prefer to the problem I had with my Palm V where the connector got so dirty that I was hardly able to Hotsync anymore. Granted, it has not been so much of a problem with recent devices, but I'd rather avoid it if I can. I guess it's up to individual users' usage patterns, though.