OtterBox for iPod Video product reviews

I purchased my iPod video and it came with the standard cloth cover to keep the screen from scratches. I was afraid to use it really because if you have seen an iPod that has been used they always looked beat up and you can no longer view the video screen. I was offered the Otterbox to try and see what I thought about it. My teenage daughter begged and pleaded to use my iPod while we went out to eat at our local McDonalds and she put it in her lap. She of course jumped up to get to her drink and there went my nice iPod right on the hard tile floor. It not only dropped, it bounced a few times. Thanks to the Otterbox it was protected and didn't even have a mark on it. The box itself was also perfect, not even a scratch. This case really does an awesome job at protecting your iPod! You can take it out and it looks as if it was just purchased. Mine will not be coming out of the case except to charge. I recommend this product, and the only complaint I have is it makes the iPod a bit heavy to carry around, but it's worth it.

Well, this was a bit of a tough one to review for me. The reviewer who was going to do it fell through for understandable reasons, so it came to me... and I don't actually own an iPod at all! But, in the spirit of 'I love a challenge!' I went out and convinced a local retailer to lend me one for a day, with the promise that if I broke it or drowned it, I would buy the wreckage off him... so I was REALLY hoping this case lived up to the hype... cross fingers, a quick plea to a higher power (the accountant, not to kill me if I botched this), and away we went!

First step was, of course, to make another shaped-polystyrene mock-up coated in my special water-sensitive colour-changing goo, bore a quick hole for the internal headphone plug to sit in, and time for the water test. Now this unit is rated water-proof to a depth of 3 feet (1m) which is not a lot at all really, but then, that's usually plenty to protect it if you drop it in the shallow end of the pool, in the bathtub, or if you want to take it into the shower with you, or out and about while it's raining. OK, you need to consider WHY you would want to, but people are strange ducks at the best of times, and it's quite possible. However, look further down for our other test, which is far more appropriate to us Kiwis. So, firstly the shower test. Yup, I dragged this unit into the rainbox with me and left it on the floor while I scrubbed. Now, since it was just a polystyrene mockup at this stage, I wasn't scrubbing to the beat, but afterwards a quick check confirmed it was still dry inside. Further testing with the iPod inside the case also proved the watertightness of this unit, and the ease of which you can groove while you wash. Test 1: Passed.

Now for the immersion test. Putting the mock-up back into the case, I dropped it, not too gently either, into the sick full of water and left it there for half an hour. Pick it out, dry off the outside, and peeled it open checking for purple splotches. Not a one! Totally water-tight at a depth of 0.3m. Off to the local watch shop to use their pressure-tester again, pumped it up to a pressure equal to a depth of 1m... no sign of water getting inside. Then, just to see, we took the water pressure up to a depth of nearly 2m... and there was just a tiny bit of moisture getting through one of the seals. Pretty good! Test 2: Passed.

Now, for something a little different... I went to a local supermarket and chatted to the guys in the frozens section who were de-icing the freezers. A bit of banter later and I was able 'accidentally' drop the case into the huge bin of ice. Because I was distracting the fellow and keeping his eyes up on my face, nobody noticed for at least 10 minutes when I 'discovered' that it had 'fallen out of my pocket and into the bin!' We were all very impressed when, after digging it out, it was clear that no harm had come to the iPod at all, to the point where these lads are thinking of buying an Otterbox case when they get their iPods. Perfect for those wanting to take their tunes to the slopes during ski season. Test 3: Passed.

Now, because 'waterproof' usually also means 'small particle proof' we decided to test this unit in something a little drier, but no less damaging to consumer electronics: sand and fine dust. Taking this unit to a local engineering workshop and getting them to let us have a play with their sandbalsting cabinet was as simple and waving a dozen bottles of Tui at them during lunchbreak. -smirk- Now since I didn't exactly want to blast the case into oblivion, I didn't aim the blaster directly at it, but instead bounced the sand (actually, micro-fine particulate glass beads) off the wall behind it so that it was surrounded by swirling dust and small particles. After 10 minutes of near-drowning the case in dust, we pulled it out, and despite a bit of 'frosting' on the case, there appearded to be no damage, and not a jot of detectable dust managed to make it inside through the seals. Test 4: Passed.

Finally, the most risky test of them all... The Drop. For this one I used a friend's accelerometer. This is a nifty little device that measures G-force shocks. Firstly, we dropped the accelerometer on it's own from various heights until we found one that created a shock JUST outside the safe rating as stated by Apple. Considering there is a small hard-drive inside, you don't want to shake it too hard. Then we put the accelerometer inside the case and, with much treepidation, dropped it. Sure enough, there was less shock registered, enough of the force was absorbed and diverted by the case to keep the iPod safe. However, this is one test we didn't plan to trial with an actual iPod, so we decided to try a few more drops from increasing heights, all of which indicate that an iPod enclosed in this case would survive many drops that they would not normally survive without it. Test 5: Passed... probably.

Overall, despite being quite bulky, this case will most defintely offer your iPod Video protection against almost anything you could throw at it. Because there is a little movement of the iPod inside the case, you may wish to invest in a roll of adhesive foam draft-stopper strip and put a few pieces in strategic locations inside, just for extra padding. I was really impressed by the combination belt-clip and headphone cable-winder on the back. Though it makes this case far bulkier than is comfortable, it is removable if you have other ways to secure the case during, shall we say, active use.