Slappa Hardbody Ipod Case for 3G Review

[Jahn]

Slappa has made an ipod case for the 3G, and it arrived on my doorstep tonight!

The black psuedo velvety feel of the case is interesting - it seems to be tactile and stick to my fingers (good for grip) yet water bounces right off it.

the slappa logo is either plastic or very light metal - i guess we'll find out which after it gets scratched up. the thing that worries me is the plastic front - it's not a hard plastic like on the iVod, but rather a flimsy film plastic - this covers the screen and the scroll wheel but i'm afraid it will easily scratch, leaving the screen sorta of hard to read. but then again i'll have to wait until it gets into positions to be scratched first, so it's a wait and see. The plastic film is a bit raised from the wheel, so pressing down and rotating the wheel feels a bit odd, and i exert more pressure than i usually do to get contact consistently to make that wheel spin. It's no glide, that's for sure. the 4 buttons are no problem since they are exposed - i hope they don't get scratched up.

the clasp is the biggest problem. the magnetic button is pretty weak magnetically and just doesn't seem to snap easily and securely - thus the clasp takes a bit to stay down without popping back up, and dangles open at the slightest lift of my fingernail. the clasp is definitely metal, as is the gator clip in the back - that thing clamps like a beast, which is great - your ipod wont be falling off anytime soon. even if the clasp lets loose - that's because inside the case your ipod is snuggled into a basket and wont slip out easily even if the case swings open for any reason. the openings on top and bottom are plenty wide to let any headphone plug or line out or dock to access the ipod while it's still in the case - even a pocketdock.

This baby's got junk in the trunk. That's about 3 CD cases wide - an vaja case is about 1 CD case thinner, and my old skintight ipod skin is far thinner. But this case is still thin enough to fit into either my camera bag or my winter coat - it wont fit into a pants/shirt pocket, but during warmer weather that's what the belt clip is for anyhow.

I think that covers it - if you want to know anything else, let me know. For around $30, it's a serious competitor to the far more expensive vaja ivod case. It's not as svelte, but this Chunky Monkey could just be the ticket. BTW right now it's 15% off too, so check out our fine sponsor, Slappa!

 

[Jahn]

Wow this review died on the vine. *bookmarks to bump tomorrow when more folks are out and about*

 

[Spankypoo]

 

[The Actual]

Well, I'll help you out with some shameless patronizing:


Thanks for the review because I was thinking about buying that case but then I didn't because I wasn't sure how good it would be but then I read your review and now I will buy it and thank you so much.

 

[fr4c]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn Wow this review died on the vine. *bookmarks to bump tomorrow when more folks are out and about*

heh, you're not the only one. give it some time and see what happens.

 

[Dominick]

Jahn, thanks for the feedback. We are always listening to ideas on how to make our products better. Here are a few pieces of info to compliment some of the things you mentioned.

1) This case is designed for the road warriors, so yeah it's roughly 2-3 millimeters thicker then the standard cases on the market. We want to make sure the case is able to handle being an everyday case so protection was the first priority. I don't know that it's all that much bigger then most other cases. FYI...the xEVA we use is of the same density as that used on our HardBody CD cases + the inner neo-grip player stabilizer both add a few MM to the thickness.

2) the SLAPPA logo is an alloy piece (not plastic) so it will not crack or split like plastic, and unless you are REALLY hard on the piece, scratching is not likely

3) the plastic window should not scratch either unless it's sharp surfaces that rub it. One complaint we heard from many (most) users of the G3 version of iPod, was that the click wheel and buttons were too easily activated, which was an annoyance with regards to functions being activated accidentally. We decided on the current window design because it will adequately protect the screen/front of iPod, protect the functional buttons from being activated by slight touch, yet gives the user access to the functions

4) regarding the clasp please send an e-mail to me with your address and we will replace the case.

5) regarding the discount, yes we are running the 15% off now, and for all head-fi visitors remember that you could use your head-fi discount code (headfi) to receive an additional 20% off.

6) a mini-ipod is in the works...we'll keep you posted if you just send me a mail (sales@slappa.com)

As always thanks for the support and the feedback

Dom at SLAPPA

 

[Darwin022]

Is there enough space inside the case behind the ipod to store... say.... a pair of ety ER4-Ps? If so, I am seriously considering this case

 

[KenW]

Do they make one for the Karma??? I've had a Vaja on order for 6 weeks now and still nada. Getting real tired of waiting. So much for 20 days.

 

[jordanr]

Why can't someone just make a 4th Gen. case as unobtrusive and simple as the stock Apple case, but which also integrates cut-outs for the screen and wheel? After 3 months of looking, I still haven't found anything that fits the bill. Has anyone else?

 

[KenW]

While not ideal, I've found the iSkin to be a reasonable solution.

 

[jordanr]

It looks decent, and certainly minimalistic enough, but what's the inside like? Plastic?