Reviews

BoxWave Armor Case for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1

May 3, 2005

I’ve long been an advocate of adequate protection— for your mobile electronics, that is. Hard cases made of aluminum generally provide the best protection possible in a durable and light form factor, and the Armor Case is certainly no exception to that rule. The case is very slim and fits my camera perfectly, barely adding any bulk at all (the T1 is still perfectly pocketable while in this case, as it must be). The exterior of the case is slightly molded on the front, like the T1, and features two cutouts, one to accommodate the carry strap and the other to provide access to the dock/charging port. There is also a hinge on one site, and a small “nubbin” on the other side that is slightly bumped out to allow you to open the case. As you can see from the photos, the interior of the case is lined in neoprene to prevent the camera or the delicate screen from scratches and damage.

In practical use, I found the design of the case slightly problematic. The case is relatively easy to open, but not too easy; that’s a good thing because you don’t want any worries about your expensive camera coming out of the case unexpectedly. The hinge though, was surprisingly squeaky—I’ve had a wide variety of aluminum cases, and I’ve never had one before that squeaked when I opened it. The camera fits very well in the case, and if you turn the case upside down while open, the camera will tend to stay in the case until you give it a little shake so the camera will fall out into your hand. Getting the camera into the case is a bit more challenging if you have attached the hand strap to the side of the camera; you must first thread the end of the strap through the hole and pull it through, then press the camera into the case. I’m somewhat confused by the bottom opening, since the T1 does not connect to AC power or to a computer via cable; unless you have the external wall charger for the battery and a card reader on your PC, the only way to charge the battery or transfer pictures is with the camera dock that comes with the T1. Since I’m not as concerned about damage to the camera when it’s connected to my computer, and since there’s no way I know of to connect the camera to a PC with a cable, I’m not sure why the cutout was included in the design. I would have preferred a case with no cutouts at all, offering maximum protection to the camera. An external attachment for a lanyard or hand strap would have been even better, offering the best of both worlds.

As it is, however, there really aren’t many custom case choices available for the T1, which is quite a shame. It’s a great camera, packing a lot of power into a very small form factor. The Active Case from Sony isn’t a good option for me, since I don’t really like Velcro fasteners, so I’ll be sticking with the BoxWave Armor Case for now. It provides good protection while adding a minimum of bulk. Normally $34.95, the BoxWave Armor Case for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 digital camera is currently on sale for $25.95. For more information or online purchase, visit the BoxWave
web site.

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