First off, I wanted to publish "price paid" in this review since 3rd party sellers are selling the case for upwards of $65. Be wary if Amazon has run out of this and is selling it via a 3rd party. I paid $17.75 for the case via Amazon direct.
I have a Zune 120. (The form factor for the Zune 80/120 is identical.) This thing slid on my zune like a comfortable old pair of long john underwear. It has an attractive, "ridged" look to it as you can see from the pictures. It really does make your zune look more rugged.
The intent of this case is to help prevent scratches, scrapes of the zune when dropped. and to hopefully help prevent more serious problems like platter damage since these zunes use actual hard drives (with moving parts!)
The screen protector, as stated in many other reviews, is garbage. You can try to follow the tips on here for getting it on right; but I suggest you save yourself some headache and put it directly in the garbage can. It really should not be included with this product since it does tarnish the reviews a bit. Don't be concerned, however, since the Dragon toughskin case surrounds the actual screen with a slightly raised "edge." Therefore if you drop it, as I did getting out of my truck at the gym, the screen is going to be more or less protected by this raised edge. This of course, wouldn't apply in a drop where the screen hits directly on an uneven surface like the corner of something, a rock on the ground, etc.
Since I only use my Zune at the gym, it's not a huge concern. I just wanted a little more protection when working out. I keep my zune in my pants pocket by itself (no keys, coins, etc.) and face the screen toward my leg. I have not had any issues whatsoever with the screen scratching or blemishing. The only problem is getting my paw prints all over the screen after a few uses.
As other reviewers have stated, this rubber does seem to attract dust, pocket lint, etc. I have tried several methods of cleaning it and have found the best way. A can of compressed air is not a bad idea to remove a lot of the debris. But even better, is just a small piece of scotch tape or packing tape. This lets you get in all the grooves, ridges, to remove all the lint etc from the dragonskin case. I do this once every couple weeks and it takes maybe 2 minutes. (Same principle as the lint rollers for sweaters, etc.) It definitely makes the case look new again, restoring it to its original black condition. It works great.
Just thought I would note also that if you are one of the smart ones who have picked up a Zune over other less-featured, more popular players on the market, the Zune itself has several safeguards to prevent hard drive platter damage built into the unit. For example, if your headphones are ever yanked out of the headphone jack, the player stops the music (thereby stopping any data reading) instantly. Also, the player has jar/drop detection; so if the player has a sudden "bump," the zune stops reading any data and puts whatever song you're listening to on "pause."
This case can only help, though, in regard to preventing damage in an accidental drop. I believe the case is a good value for the money and was obviously designed with the Zune in mind since it fits so perfectly. Speck Dragon Toughskin Rubberized Case for Zune 80/120 GB (Black)
The Speck Dragon Toughskin Rubberized Case for Zune 80 GB is a terrific product for your money. This case does not leave the buttons exposed like most others do. If you look closely at the product pictures you can see the button areas are covered. I would say this is the main reason I purchased this product over others. The other reviewer brings up a very good point. I would totally agree that the screen protector (glorified sticker) provided is not very good. If you mess up and have to try a second time to stick it on you might as well throw it away. There is a full length clear piece of plastic inside the case that has tabs sticking out the top and bottom. The tabs hold the case squarely in the display box during shipping. When you unpack the case save this piece of plastic. All you have to do is cut off the tabs and trim it to fit over the screen area. Make sure to leave a little overlap so the edges of the case around the screen have something to grip. There is also a cardboard insert (actual Zune size) that works very well as a template. The case is rubber and fits the Zune very snugly so it holds the trimmed piece of plastic without slipping. You are able to use the full Zune button functionality even though they are fully covered by this case. I was worried about being able to "touch" scroll without pressing the actual center button and it wasn't a problem. I would suggest using something non alcohol based to clean any plastic screen protector as it tends to haze even after cleaning it once with the wrong stuff. The only down side I can see is that rubber tends to show dust and may be hard to keep clean. Using a can of compressed air and a light coating with a silicone based cleaner ought to do the trick. With not a lot of after market case options available yet for the Zune 80 GB this ain't a bad way to go!
Overall, great product. The description is a little misleading, about the "DRAGONSKIN" and "MAXIMUM PROTECTION", but marketing is marketing. The rubber case is pretty durable when dealing with drops and scratches though, and it looks awesome, I might add. All you have to do is place the Zune into the bottom part of the Toughskin case first, then pull the top part of the case over the top of the Zune.
About the screen...
Like the first review said, the screen "protector" is crap. It's just a clear sticker that you peel apart from its sticker protector things, then you have to try to stick the sticker onto the Zune's screen (with snake-like aim) before the sticker soaks up all the dust in the room, like it was obviously intended to do. But to be honest, a 1-star rating for just that reason was a little unfair-whoever wrote that first review. I found that you can pretty easily use this other piece of plastic as a screen protector. Yeah, there was another piece of plastic that came as one of those random, pointless packaging items, inside the actual rubber case. You can just cut it up in 3 snips to fit the Zune's screen perfectly, and it sits in the rubber case just fine without moving around. It works great, being thick and stiff (the plastic haha).
Again, overall, great product. It does what it's intended to do: protect the Zune while leaving access to ports and functions. The only reason I gave this product a 4/5 was because of the lack of screen protection THAT WAS EXPECTED and because the rubber gets dusty easily-but that could just be because I have an extremely dusty room.'
Detail Products
Detail Reviews
Click here for more information
