The first and most essential accessory a new iPod owner buys is a case to protect it—particularly the delicate, scratch-prone color display. Since the Apple iPod is the world’s leading portable media player, it’s only fitting that we take a look at a case made by a company that is a world leader in computer and A/V accessories—the Belkin Clear Acrylic and Brushed Metal Case for iPod.

The Belkin name has become ubiquitous for high quality, hi-tech accessories and products for home and business. You’d be hard-pressed not to find Belkin among the leading computer and A/V accessories and products being sold at both online and traditional brick-and-mortal retail establishments. I can’t remember when I did not see a Belkin exhibit at all the trade-shows I’ve been to over the years that failed to draw an enthusiastic crowd. The Belkin products I’ve personally used have long outlasted both their cheaper and overpriced OEM counterparts.

About Belkin

Belkin offers a diverse product mix that provides people with seamless electronics integration in their homes, cars, and on the go. Belkin, a privately held company founded in California in 1983, is the recognized global leader in connectivity solutions. Since our inception, Belkin has experienced an amazing 20-plus consecutive years of dramatic growth.

Our product mix includes award-winning innovations for easy-to-set-up networking solutions, accessories for iPod^® players and XM player devices, and the first CableFree USB Hub. Our PureAV^® brand, a line of cables, power, and digital wireless accessories, extracts the full performance potential from high-end home theater equipment, while offering elegant designs and advanced features.

Belkin’s U.S. presence includes headquarters in Los Angeles, a distribution center in Indianapolis, an award-winning Industrial Design Group in Hollywood, and an R&D facility in Rochester, New York. With major facilities in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, our reach extends to offices throughout Europe and to our Pacific Rim sites: Australia and New Zealand and, most recently, Singapore and Shanghai.

Belkin has come a long way to become the market leader across its product lines in just over two decades. From a garage in Hawthorne, California, with two employees and sales of $100,000 for the year, Belkin has become one of the fastest growing companies in the world, with over 1,000 employees and sales topping $1 billion. In addition to earning Inc. magazine’s 2003 Hall of Fame award, Belkin has been listed twice in its list of “500 Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies in the U.S.”, the “Inner City Top 100” list for six consecutive years, and the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Fastest Growing Private Companies” list for five years.

The Box and the Case

Belkin’s packaging is influenced by their strong presence in the brick-and-mortar retail channel and the Clear Acrylic and Brushed-Metal Case is no exception. The box is designed to hang from a display rack or sit on a shelf, and features Belkin’s typical, clean white and blue design. When your products speak for themselves, you don’t need gimmicks, or wild and flashy packaging. The case is displayed through a typical plastic blister pack, accented by a front and side profile photo of the case. You’ll have to look close—but not too close—if you want to see the case’s three main selling points:

● Brushed-metal face

● Touch-sense, click-wheel protector

● Clear, acrylic, form-fitting case

On the back is a much larger photo like the one in the front that presents an even better view of this strikingly good-looking case in action with a pair of “Guitar Heroes” playing on the iPod. On closer inspection you’ll notice the Belkin Acrylic and Brushed-Metal Case has a lifetime warranty—which is always nice—from Belkin. A quick look on the left side panel of the box, and you’ll see that the case works with the 30GB, 60GB, and 80GB 5^th Generation iPod Video.

Opening some accessory boxes requires the patience and skill of a Houdini. Or an extremely sharp pair of scissors or blade. Assuming that you don’t end up scratching or damaging what’s inside as you try to get it out, you often end up destroying the box. This can make returns for an exchange or refund a real pain at times, as you try to convince the person behind the counter that your dog did not use the box for a chew-toy.

Fortunately, with the snap-open clamshell design of the blister pack, you’ll have your new case out of the box in seconds rather than minutes, without a single broken fingernail, the use of sharp instruments and colorful language, or ripping the box to shreds. The case is stored on one side, and the rear cover for larger 5^th Generation iPods in a peel-away protective jacket, is on the other.

The Belkin Acrylic and Brushed-Metal Case is two-piece design with an acrylic rear cover that has cut-outs for the hold button and headphone jack up top, and the sync/recharge port on the bottom. The hole for the headphone jack is large enough to fit both standard and aftermarket iPod headphone plugs without issue, and without leaving too much of an unprotected gap around the edges—a problem with cheaper cases. An etched “Belkin” logo is on the rear cover near the top, adding a subtle but nice bit of branding.

The front panel of the case is also made of acrylic, with an attractive brushed metal inlay. The Belkin Clear Acrylic and Brushed-Metal Case is available in five different colors. The model you see here is the black one. The “Touch-sense” click-wheel protector is a thin, but tough vinyl membrane with a cut-out for the click-wheel button. A thin sheet of stiff, plastic-like material is affixed to the back of the panel. Don’t try to peel it off—it’s supposed to be on there! It not only secures the Touch-sense click-wheel protector in place, but serves as a protective barrier against any dust getting underneath the front cover—particularly the area around the iPod’s screen.

Installing the Case

An Apple 30GB iPod (5.5 Generation) is used in this review to show the installation process, which can be performed in less than a minute. First, you’ll want to make sure that your iPod is free of any dust, smudges and fingerprints, particularly on the screen. I used a can of compressed air and a Microfiber Cleaning Cloth.

The two halves of the case snap apart without requiring the almost excessive force of some similarly designed cases. Lower and press the iPod into the bottom half of the case. Notice that your iPod is sitting countersunk inside the rear cover. Give the front of your iPod a final blast or two with your can of compressed air to make sure you get any specks of dust, especially on the screen. Now snap the top half of the case down on top of it. Peel the protective sticker off the case’s the screen, and that’s it! Your iPod is not only protected, but has a sleek new look.

Impressions and Final Comments

Other two-piece cases that solve the issue of being able to access all of the iPod ports by leaving the top and bottom of the device completely exposed, also makes it easier for dust to creep in between the case and the iPod over time. Definitely not good for the iPod or its screen. By closing up both ends of the case (except for the port holes), and countersinking the iPod into the bottom half of the case and using a flush-mounted lid with an additional plastic seal behind it, Belkin makes it more difficult for dust to find its way between the case and the iPod. The Touch-sense click-wheel protector fits like a second skin, and doesn’t interfere with the click-wheel or button's operation in any way.

Belkin also uses a higher-grade acrylic on the Acrylic and Brushed-Metal Case, which allows the iPod’s color screen to display with surprising brightness and clarity without moiré patterns or other discoloration. The acrylic is also a bit tougher and less prone to scratching than on cheaper cases—though it certainly isn’t scratch-proof. Anyone tired of their “boring” white or black iPod, will find that this case is an affordable and practical way to protect it, while giving it a fresh, new look that will make it a stand-out among all the other unadorned iPods out there. The case cleans up quickly and easily with a soft, lint-free cloth dampened with water.

If you have to remove your iPod from the case for any reason, you’ll find it a lot less trying or potentially damaging experience than with some of the other cases on the market. Just hold the case in one hand, and at the bottom of the case, push up on the little lip just above the synch/recharge port to disengage the top cover. Then gently pry the iPod out of the bottom cover with your thumb.

Still, the case isn’t without its disadvantages. Although it doesn’t seem to take as much of a beating as the rest of the iPod, the click-wheel button is not protected. Some competitor’s acrylic cases use a pre-cut piece of Mylar that sticks to the click-wheel and button. The problem with these is that they can interfere with the use of the button. They also serve as “dust magnets” on poorly fitting and sealed cases. They are also easy to lose when taking the case apart.

Using a case like this, whether it’s made by Belkin or not, also adds additional bulk to the iPod. Though this hardly makes much of a difference in terms of weight, it creates another problem: the inability to use an iPod dock. This won’t be an issue for those who find the sync cable that comes with the iPod more than satisfactory for the job (present company included), I was curious about whether there was a chance that Apple’s Universal Dock would work. So I borrowed one from a friend. Apple’s dock comes with a number of inserts for different model iPods. I knew right off the bat that the 30GB insert wasn’t going to work, but I was hoping that the one for the 60/80GB iPod would. My hopes were dashed, however.

If bulk and the use of a dock are important to you, then a film-based protector is a good alternative. But even these aren’t without drawbacks. The cheaper ones just don’t hold up, and you may find yourself doing more harm than good to your iPod’s screen and finish trying to remove the adhesive residue left behind, once the protector has been removed. Better-quality film protectors last much longer, and usually don’t make a mess when removed. However, they do require a well-lit and immaculately clean work area, a sharp eye, steady hand and lots of patience. If you’ve got all four, then you may want to take a look at this product from ShieldZone instead.

The only other thing that someone might want on the Acrylic and Brushed-Metal Case is a belt clip. But for me that would fall into the “nice to have but really don’t need” category with this case—more so in the latter part of that category. I prefer to keep my iPod tucked away in a pocket, as would anyone considering this type of case.

If you want to protect and give your iPod some style at an affordable price, then the Belkin Clear Acrylic and Brushed-Metal Case for iPod is definitely worth a look.