Vaja leather cases

Vaja.biz cases

If you're anything like me, you probably carry a pocket-full of tech gadgets every day. If I'm going on the train somewhere, I make sure not to forget my mobile phone, iPod, PlayStation Portable, laptop, portable mouse, noise-cancelling headphones, iPod sync cable and goodness knows what else.

Obviously, I need cases for my gadgets - I'm not about to take my iPod Nano around without a case to protect it from scratching. When you get into buying accesories for your tech, there are a few tiers - from cheap and cheerful third party gubbins, through official branded kit, all the way through to prestige items designed not only to protect your hardware but to add to its cachet too.

The Vaja cases we're looking at today fall into the latter category. Made of expensive, high quality leather, Vaja accessories are designed for the more discerning traveller - those who have an aversion to turning right on aeroplanes, for example. We previously went mental for Vaja kit when we first saw it, and now we've had the opportunity to get our hands on it. I ordered a matching set of travel cases for my PSP, iPod and mobile to see if it would get me chicks, or at least get me an upgrade on my next long-haul flight.

PSP case

Price: $140 (base)

Possibly the first thing that will hit you about this case is the price - one-hundred-and-forty smackeroos for the base model (that's around seventy-five quid in real money). There are plenty of options for customisation - the colours can be tailored with a large range of options, and you can choose a couple of different designs. Every case from Vaja is hand made on order to ensure top quality.

The PSP case is very much a travel wallet - not unlike an expensive purse. I had mine created in a tan leather with an ochre trim (to match my Mulberry wallet, natch). The case folds out to give you access to the insides and is secured with magnetic poppers.

The main compartment stores the PSP itself and there are pockets for a couple of games. If you like to take a plethora of games when you travel, you can buy an entire UMD wallet from Vaja - personally, I'm struggling to find two games worth playing on the PSP at the moment. There are multiple slots for memory cards and a zipped compartment which you can use to store your headphones or a spare battery.

The finishing on the case is absolutely exceptional. The stitching is high quality and tough and the interior of the two compartments is finished with branded cloth that won't scratch your kit. The whole thing has the feel of a premium product. OK, so $140 is a heck of a lot to pay for a PSP case - but if there's a finer case on the planet, we haven't seen it. If you don't give a monkey's about great quality and brilliant design, then you certainly won't care about this product. But if you want the best, this is it.