wolfen68
Headphoneus Supremus
I just received the iSkin for the Iriver h140 bought direct from iSkin.com.
Initial impressions are the following. The material is a decent silicone rubber of just the right thickness and consistency. Installing the skin was a snap, and the protecting window seats very nicely...with little clear cushioned feet to avoid it from rubbing on the 140's display. My skin is the "Arctic" or clear color, which is actually a little more opaque than I wanted. From a distance, it has a whitish appearance that resembles an ipod. Upon closer examination however, it is clear that there is something different underneath as even the stenciled words can be read through the skin and the black and silver coloring can be differentiated. I do wish it was a little more clear to provide an improved "see thru" effect.
The provided clip is a clear plastic that rotates and is detachable. I feel the clip is a joke and am somewhat disappointed by it. It seems fragile and not very secure. Possibly more important is the awkward angle it causes when worn on the hip. The clip is relatively narrow and distant from the center of gravity of the device. Therefore, the Iriver leans away from the hip and tends to wobble around. If your not wearing a belt (waistband only) I'm certain the clip would slide off during any serious movement and the device would take a tumble (the instructions even state that the clip is designed for "casual" use only). The clip is also awkward in that it has no cantilever style fastening like many clips of this type. It simply slides on or off, and has a slight "hook" that holds it in place....thus making it only work with a belt where there's a slight edge to grab on to. Since the clip is narrow, the 140 also sits on hard surfaces awkwardly as it's balanced on an elevated narrow surface, prone to tip one way or the other. I never had this problem with the black later model stock case (which has a superior belt clip BTW). After some experimentation, I promptly removed the clip assembly and focused on the skin itself.
Without the clip, the skin sets nice and flat on any surface, with a non-slip grip (reminds me of the old Archos bumpers). The skin allows access to all ports with little rubber flaps. The flaps work well, except that the line-in/out flap is a little loose and bulges up unless you contort the skin juuuust right. The power connect flap is fairly small, and is harder to open, but not enough to be a problem. The reset hole has no access...but that's not regularly used. That could be fixed with a sharp paper clip if anyone ever felt the need. The joystick, hold switch, and head-out/remote have full cut-outs...no flaps. Depressing all the function buttons through the iSkin is easy...no problems there due to little nubs molded into the rubber.
The skin is definitely a lint magnet. The darker colored skins would obviously show this worse than the lighter ones. This may be an area of complaint for some.
It still seems to me that having a rubber suit on would elevate the internal temperature of the device...so far I have heard of no problems in this area. The 140 never seems to get too warm during use anyways.
Overall, I'm satisfied with the iSkin but very disappointed with the belt clip. Without a functioning clip...I wish I had paid $10-15 less for this accessory. My main mission was some minor shock protection, as well as keep dust and dirt out of the openings over time while cutting down it's size profile as compared to the stock case. The iSkin should work for that purpose.
Initial impressions are the following. The material is a decent silicone rubber of just the right thickness and consistency. Installing the skin was a snap, and the protecting window seats very nicely...with little clear cushioned feet to avoid it from rubbing on the 140's display. My skin is the "Arctic" or clear color, which is actually a little more opaque than I wanted. From a distance, it has a whitish appearance that resembles an ipod. Upon closer examination however, it is clear that there is something different underneath as even the stenciled words can be read through the skin and the black and silver coloring can be differentiated. I do wish it was a little more clear to provide an improved "see thru" effect.
The provided clip is a clear plastic that rotates and is detachable. I feel the clip is a joke and am somewhat disappointed by it. It seems fragile and not very secure. Possibly more important is the awkward angle it causes when worn on the hip. The clip is relatively narrow and distant from the center of gravity of the device. Therefore, the Iriver leans away from the hip and tends to wobble around. If your not wearing a belt (waistband only) I'm certain the clip would slide off during any serious movement and the device would take a tumble (the instructions even state that the clip is designed for "casual" use only). The clip is also awkward in that it has no cantilever style fastening like many clips of this type. It simply slides on or off, and has a slight "hook" that holds it in place....thus making it only work with a belt where there's a slight edge to grab on to. Since the clip is narrow, the 140 also sits on hard surfaces awkwardly as it's balanced on an elevated narrow surface, prone to tip one way or the other. I never had this problem with the black later model stock case (which has a superior belt clip BTW). After some experimentation, I promptly removed the clip assembly and focused on the skin itself.
Without the clip, the skin sets nice and flat on any surface, with a non-slip grip (reminds me of the old Archos bumpers). The skin allows access to all ports with little rubber flaps. The flaps work well, except that the line-in/out flap is a little loose and bulges up unless you contort the skin juuuust right. The power connect flap is fairly small, and is harder to open, but not enough to be a problem. The reset hole has no access...but that's not regularly used. That could be fixed with a sharp paper clip if anyone ever felt the need. The joystick, hold switch, and head-out/remote have full cut-outs...no flaps. Depressing all the function buttons through the iSkin is easy...no problems there due to little nubs molded into the rubber.
The skin is definitely a lint magnet. The darker colored skins would obviously show this worse than the lighter ones. This may be an area of complaint for some.
It still seems to me that having a rubber suit on would elevate the internal temperature of the device...so far I have heard of no problems in this area. The 140 never seems to get too warm during use anyways.
Overall, I'm satisfied with the iSkin but very disappointed with the belt clip. Without a functioning clip...I wish I had paid $10-15 less for this accessory. My main mission was some minor shock protection, as well as keep dust and dirt out of the openings over time while cutting down it's size profile as compared to the stock case. The iSkin should work for that purpose.
