IPhone case suggestions

Warning: No poker content

I've had my new IPhone 3GS for about a week now. It's been great for me and the issues that I've had with it have not been the ones I thought I'd have.

To wit:

Pros:
1. I loved my iTouch and this is basically the same thing, with phone capabilities and full-time Internet. Add the awesome App store for buying games and such, and you have an unbeatably beautiful and functional mini-computer. The keyboard, which now goes landscape for a full QWERTY layout, is much easier to type on than I had imagined it would be and I'm getting fast at it. This was my primary concern and it's been allayed.

Cons:
1. Syncing sucks. Truly awful. There is NO way to sync my contacts, calendar and notes with Outlook on both my work and home computers. ITunes will only let you sync one library at a time. I got around that with a clever hack I found, but the syncing still duplicates the contacts every time I sync to the other computer. I tried signing up for MobileMe, but it doesn't work with my work computer. I tried the trial versions of a dozen third party software vendors, and none of them fit the bill. I can't believe something the Blackberry does so seamlessly without any effort can be impossible to do on the iPhone.

2. 'Silent Mode' is a little too silent - There's a switch on the side of the phone which lets you switch to the mode where the phone vibrates instead of ringing. But the phone only makes one little vibration and it's hard to feel. My Blackberry had a setting to let me adjust how many times it vibrated. No such setting with the iPhone. One timid shake and that's it.

3. Push mode sucks - My Blackberry would alert me to new emails before my Outlook would ever know. The iPhone (which supposedly has Push capabilities) waits FOREVER to let me know I have mail. Unless I open the mail app and refresh, that is. Kinda defeats the purpose. Plus, there's no external indication of new mail (like the Blackberry flashing diode).

4. No good case options - The purpose of this post. My blackberry came with this great leather case that had a magnetic flip-top. My phone clipped easily and securely to my belt and it was smooth as silk to take the phone out. My iPhone, on the other hand, has only two options. Option one is a nice leather case with a belt clip and a flip-top, but the phone is meant to stay in the case. It fits so snugly that it's nearly impossible to take out on the fly. Which is important, because the flip-top interferes with landscape typing. Option two is either a belt-clip where the phone is accessible, but the face of the phone is exposed to bad things happening to it, or some sort of form fitting case with no belt clip. We discount the belt holster as an option because it doesn't clip onto the belt, meaning you have to take 5 minutes in the morning to loop it onto your belt and position it.

So the question is: Does anyone have any tips for me? On either iPhone usage I might not be aware of, or a good case that combines form-fitting snugness with a belt clip and protection? I thought I had a good plastic case I bought on the street for $10, but I hugged Ali with it and it fell apart, giving my phone it's first dings and scratches. For the amount I paid for it, I'd like it to remain pristine, thank you very much.