Belkin IPod Mini Aluminum Case

Choosing a case for your IPod is like choosing underwear. Everyone has their own idiosyncrasies, individual needs, and selection criteria. What works perfectly for one person may not work for someone else. Additionally just like you want more than one pair of underwear , you’ll probably want more than one case for your IPod.

As I said previously, Griffin’s ITrip was a really important add on for me, but it did limit my choice of cases. And as I said in my IPod Mini review, I was going to be schleping my IPod around into child filled environments. This meant my IPod hitting the floor from an unsafe height was not a matter of if, but one of when, so a hard case with some protection was a necessity. I looked around a little bit and settled on Belkin Aluminum IPod Mini Case (aff).

The case has a hinge located at the bottom and opens like a clamshell. Inside the case there’s a thin layer of black foam about 1/16″ thick. The foam gives the unit some protection from impact and keeps the IPod from sliding out of the open top. The bottom has a slot for a data cable to be plugged in. The aluminum case is about 1/8″ thick, and has a brushed finish, so small scratches wont show. Now why the manufacturers of IPod docking stations haven’t made designs that will accommodate units in their cases is beyond me, but I’ll say it’s annoyance more than anything else.

The case has a plastic window over LCD display screen, so you can read it without any problems. The one thing I don’t like is that the clickwheel is completely exposed. I know a thin plastic sheet might not have appealed to the stylish metrosexuals out there, but IMHO would have been a good idea. The case also has a post in the back with a detachable 360 degree swivel belt clip.

While I didn’t have a accelerometer and elevation contour map, I can confirm from empirical testing, that the exterior layer withstands the stresses and prevents your IPod from experiencing a catastrophic impact failure from height of approximately 1 meter under standard atmospheric and gravitational conditions.