I recently purchased Agent18’s DragonShield for my Zune 80. It arrived today, so I immediately tore open the shipping package to see what I could see. As an avid Zune user, I’ve been concerned about the screen especially, and how bad it would be if it was to get scratched. So, I went looking for cases. I wanted something rugged, but useable. The DragonShield looked to fit the bill. And, it does, with one caveat. Read on.
The DragonShield comes in a pretty compact package (click images for larger views):
Here’s what it looks like straight out of the package:
The Dragonshield has some nice marketing inserts inside the protection unit, and the back insert is extremely useful, as it shows the steps required to insert the Zune and also to remove it if you need to:
The Zune 80 fits inside this thing like a glove. I’m serious. The DragonShield provides no additional room, which is great because there’s no room for the Zune 80 to move around if it gets jarrred. It’s like a second skin. I feel really comfortable carrying this thing around.
And, the Zune 80 is *completely* encased, without losing access to any of the buttons, connections, or the earbud connection. I’m not worried about the screen getting scratched any longer.
OK…so I mentioned there is a caveat. But, when you think about what the case is designed for, it really doesn’t matter that much. The case is designed to keep your Zune protected when carrying it around and traveling. And, while all ports are accessible, it still does add an extra, miniscule size to the Zune 80. This extra bulk means that the Zune 80 no longer works in the PC cradle:
…or, my Altec Lansing im414 portable player:
Don’t get me wrong, the Zune still fits in the cradle and im414 slots — it’s just that the DragonShield adds just enough extra size so that the connector on the bottom of the Zune 80 doesn’t make enough contact to work.
You can opt to use just the synching cable with the Zune 80 and it will work fine, but I prefer my cradle for synching. And, there’s really nothing you can do to make it work with the im414 besides just removing the Zune 80 from the DragonShield. But, because of the tight fit, removing the Zune 80 from the DragonShield is quite an effort in itself, so the recommendation from me would be to only use the DragonShield when traveling or moving around — maybe during running on the treadmill or something like that.
With a case that completely surrounds the Zune, you might be concerned with the quality of the screen when inserted into the case. I can honestly say that the screen looks just as good, and just as crystal clear in the case, as it does outside of the case. I had the same concern, but that concern has definitely been alleviated.
The DragonShield is only available from the Agent18 web site, and it’s purchase price is $24.95 which is well worth the cost if you’re concerned with damaging.