Speck Case In Use

I've been using a Speck case for my Zune 80 for last few weeks, and I'm not really impressed.  The case is constructed from a silicone that reminds me of the stuff that they use for the seal on a scuba diving mask.  While it's certainly durable, the downside is that in winter, it acts a dust magnet.

Getting the Zune 80 into the case was simple enough.  I first placed it in, down side first.  The Speck case has special areas where the silicone thins for the Zunepad and the buttons.  The trouble came in when it was time to insert the included plastic screen cover.  The benefit is that Zune is now completely isolated and protected, but as you'll see from the images below, despite my best efforts, it hardly looked real good doing it, and the silicone failed to form a solid gasket around the screen cover.

On the rear is a plastic button.  To that attaches a removable belt clip.  Unlike some other cases, the clip is plenty secure, and didn't fall off during testing.  I also appreciate that access to the ports and hold button is preserved with appropriately placed cutouts.

I think that this product has some room for improvement.  For starters, I'll ditch the plastic screen cover.  After that, I'm contemplating taking an X-Acto knife to the Zunepad cutout as while I can scroll, it does slow me down as the silicone is not as frictionless.  I'll think of it as Speck case 2.0.

Comments

[Sam Zebian]

Just don't exacto it while it's on your Zune... I used to use cases like that, but because of all of the dust, I bought an invisibleshield for both pf my Zunes.

[bob e]

that case does not look too good... i use the one from zuneone.net, much better looking but this one probably does a better job of protecting the Zune if you drop it.

[LCpl Nelson]

I am a U.S. Marine Rifleman and all I know is that when I took this thing with me to Iraq (the 30g version) with the toughskin case, it survived being knocked out of a hummvee turret while moving and nothing was wrong with it at all. Great job Speck!

[Pat]

These are finally available and I just received mine today. They ditched the thick plastic piece and now include a normal stick-on screen protector. If you don't like leather cases (which I don't), this is by far the best case available for the 80gb.