March 2008 News Posts
Home
|
|
 |
| Topic: |
Otterbox
3600 |
Date:
|
02/08/2003
|
|
 |
| |
Otterbox 3600
About a month or so back I started doing some
research on waterproof PDA cases and kept running across information on one
made by Otterbox. I had made vacation plans for a trip to the beach and
scheduled a rafting trip for the youth at my church and thought it might be a
great opportunity to test a case in a "real life" scenario as opposed
to simulated situations.
I contacted the company and, to my surprise, they
sent me not only a case but also several accessories for it as well. Even
though I had read the online documentation of the product, I can't begin to
express how impressed I was with the quality of it once I actually had it in my
hand.
Let's start from the beginning and discuss the
specifications of the case. According to the Otterbox web site, the case will
fit 99% of all PDA's and is waterproof, dustproof, airtight, crushproof, and,
despite all this, still allows you to use your PDA while in the case. The
design even offers virtually unlimited expandability.
Yea, I know. You're probably like me and thinking
that a web page can promise anything but how does the case stack up in real
life? Well, let's take a look at each of these claims and se how do indeed hold
up.
UNIVERSAL:
First of all is the case's universal fit. As you
can see from the following photographs, the recessed screen access (which is
covered by a clear flip top cover) contains a clear flexible membrane which
will allow you to not only access the power switch but also use your stylus on
the screen of your PDA. The access window is roughly 2.5" wide and 5"
high and, as you can see, allows access to the complete screen area as well as
the power button and the area below the screen where the additional buttons
were added on the newer Clie models.
The PDA is mounted securely to the inside of the
case through use of two crisscrossing Velcro straps which will hold it centered
in the access screen until you secure the two halves of the case together (more
on this later…). The case comes with a foam insert that serves a dual
role. It will not only hold the PDA securely onto the underside of the PDA
screen access area but will also protest the PDA from any shocks or impacts
that should occur if you drop your PDA while in the case.
The case is made in two halves that held securely
together by a clasp at each corner. Although the clasps hold the two halves
securely together, you also have the option to insert the included screws into
the clasps to keep them from opening without the extra effort of removing each
screw with an allen wrench.
Although the standard case is plenty deep enough
to contain my NX70V, you may need to purchase the optional Deep Box Kit if you
have an exceptionally thick PDA or GPS that you wish to mount in it. It is also
useful if you, like me, wish to keep extra batteries or accessories with you in
the case. For example, I have two foam inserts that I have customized to hold
either a 9-volt charger from Seidio with 2 9-volt batteries or, if I want
extended time using my Clie without having to remove it from the case to charge
it, I have another one that is fitted to hold a Sony PEGA-BC10 Battery Charger.
With it turned to the "On" position instead of the "Charge"
position, I can use my Clie just about all day without having to take it out of
the case. (There is ample room below the connection port of the Clie for the
adapter plug…)
Note: Because the foam inserts that I made add an
additional inch or so to the content of the case, I used a long razor to slice
the foam insert that came with the Deep Box Kit into two thinner inserts so
that I can use one in the Deep base in conjunction with the foam inserts
pictured above and the other by itself to help cushion the PDA in the shallow
base.
WATERPROOF:
The next claim make on the Otterbox web site is
that it is waterproof, dustproof, and air tight. It's not that I doubted that,
but I had to test this for myself. As I mentioned in the top of the review, I
had previously scheduled a rafting trip down the Ocoee River (site of the
kayaking events for the 1996 Olympics) and made arrangements to attach the
Otterbox to the bow of my raft while shooting the rapids. I even had the
wonderful guys who developed Fun Cam to write a script that would use the
internal camera to take still shots and motion pictures every few minutes.
Unfortunately, as you probably read about in the Clie Connections article
titled "Best Laid Plans", I was unable to go rafting or even to send
the case in my absence.
But than I got to thinking: The thing that
concerns the average PDA owner the most (with regards to their PDA getting wet)
is keeping their unit protected in case of rain. That being the case (no pun
intended…), I put the NX70V in my Otterbox case and placed it outside
during a violent thunderstorm. As you can see from the photo below, the rain
was really coming down to the point that you could hardly see the black case
against the rain splashing off the driveway. It rained so hard that the
recessed area in the front of the case filled up full of water!
More importantly, however, is condition of the
Clie when I dried it off and opened it up. Do you want to see for yourself?
Well, just scroll up to the top of the page. That's right. The photos of my
Clie in the case and of the inside of the top half were taken when I removed it
from the rain…
But will it hold up to being put under water
pressure? According to their web page, it passed the military specs for being
waterproof but I wanted to test it for myself. (I should have been born in the
"show me" state…) I thought about simply sinking the case in the
lake in front of the house but then I had another thought: why don't I take the
same Fun Cam script that I had intended to use while rafting and try to get
some underwater photos? I attached a waterproof flashlight to the side of my
Otterbox case and a brick to the base. (Without the brick, the case floats even
with the weight of the Clie in it….) I tied a small rope to the wrist
strap attachment and lowered it into the water. After leaving it in there for
several hours, I pulled it up, sprayed the mud off it with a water hose, and
brought it inside. Although it contained about 50 photos and numerous movie
clips, the only thing visible was murky water. Oh well.
Crush Proof
While the clear flip up cover and the optional
accessories may not hold up to the crush test, the case itself is very sturdy.
Made or reinforced ABS plastic with a rubber coating around the grip, the case
is built to withstand virtually and situation that you may run across. Dropping
it to a concrete floor from a height of 8 feet showed absolutely no damage to
it at all (although the PDA had shifted slightly inside the case). As seen in
the following photos provided to me by Otterbox, the case will withstand a lot
of weight as well.
Note: the case was run over by this jeep while on
a rocky gravel road - not a smooth paved surface. Other than the case suffering
slight cosmetic scratches, the integrity of the case and the PDA inside was not
damaged at all.
Expandability:
As seen and described in the photos above, the
case is modular in design so that it can be expanded in almost any way needed.
The Deep Box Kit gives you extra depth if needed and the access ports on the
top top and bottom (as seen in the close up photo above) are removable to make
room for other attachments.
Let's say, for example, that you are using the
case to house a handheld GPS receiver that has an antenna protruding out of the
top. By replacing the port at the top with the optional "Through the Box
POD Kit", you add an additional couple of inches to the top of the case.
This can also be used to customize a connectivity port such as adding a serial
or USB port to the case for a connection to an internal device.
Speaking of connectivity, another option is the
"Through the Box Connectivity Kit." It is designed in such a way that
the two halves screw together to clamp around two pieces of rubber that are
notched around 6 different sized rubber plugs. These plugs can be removed from
the hole they poke through and replaced with a cable of the same size. When the
halves are put back together, they form a watertight seal around the cable.
While not every cable will fit through the kit, the vast majority of them will.
Other accessories that attach to the outside of
the case are a neoprene wrist strap that can attach to the bottom or either
side, a belt clip, or a lanyard with which to hang the case from around your
neck. These can be used individually or in conjunction with each other. Still
another accessory that can be purchased is "Screen Replacement Kit"
which contains not only 3 replacement screens (the flexible membrane through
which you access your PDA) and gasket to re-seal the screen but it also
contains a replacement for the primary case gasket and another foam
insert.
Versatility
As I mentioned at the top of the article, this
case protects your PDA to the extent that it can be used in any environment -
even under water. If you center the camera lens of your NX70V so that it is
facing straight out the top of the case and then position the Clie in the case
in such a way that the camera lens is as far up and centered in the case as
possible (as opposed to the screen being centered in the access window) than
you can take almost unobstructed photos out the access port in the top of the
case. The capture button and power button are not accessible with the PDA
mounted in the case in this position, however, so you will need to use a
program like Fun Cam to activate the camera.
Summary
In the last 7 months I have evaluated about 6-8
cases for my Clie. None have impressed me as much as the Otterbox 3600. While I
am very disappointed in not being able to evaluate the case as I had planned
(on the rafting trip), the case itself is one of the most impressive cases that
I have seen and is well worth the $99 price tag. It is versatile, expandable,
and virtually indestructible. If you need to use your Clie in an outdoor
environment, this is the best case you will find.
|
|
|
 |
| Category: |
Accessory
Reviews |
|
 |
|
