Reviews

Metal Deluxe Case & CommandPlay Game Grip for Tapwave Zodiac

June 12, 2005

Metal Deluxe Case for Tapwave Zodiac

It has taken quite a long time to get an aluminum hard case for the Tapwave Zodiac; mainly due to the advanced curved design of the handheld. I was worried at first that this case would be nothing more than a boxy, stopgap solution, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only does this case fit the Zodiac like a glove, it’s obvious that the designers tried to think of everything. The exterior of the case is made of brushed aluminum, and the interior is lined with black neoprene. The front of the case may look a little strange, since there are raised areas to prevent the analog stick and buttons from being mashed when the case is clsoed. There are cutouts for the speakers, charging port, stylus, and headphone jack. The case is held closed by a nicely low-profile latch that is easy to open even though the lip of the clasp doesn’t stick out very much at all. The hinge at the top of the case is also very petite, in direct contrast to the huge hinge on the Logitech PlayGear Pocket case I reviewed yesterday for the Sony PSP. On the back you’ll find a cutout for access to the reset button, as well as a removable belt clip secured with a small threaded screw attachment.

Flip up the lid and you’ll see that putting the Zodiac in the case is as simple as sliding it under the lip on the bottom. You’ll also see two SD card holders under the lid, which are very handy if you have several game cards you’d like to carry with the device. The device is completely useable in the case; there’s no reason to remove it unless you want to do so for an extended gaming session. You can even insert and remove SD cards from both slots with no difficulty. All of the buttons and contriols work just great, and the case is so light you’ll hardly notice that it’s there. The only slight negative is the fact that the stylus can be a bit difficult to remove from the back of the Zodiac when the device is in the case. I’ve found that the easiest method is to put a fingernail under each end of the stylus to losen it from the grip, then push it out one end of the case. Some people may find this annoying, but I honestly think it’s the best possible design the developer could have used. Of course if you use a separate full-size stylus, as I do, you won’ t find this a problem at all.

I’m a big fan of aluminum cases because they’re strong, durable, and extremely lightweight. If you have a Tapwave Zodiac, this case is definitely the best possible option for you, unless you simply dislike metal cases and would prefer a leather case. The removable belt clip is a nice bonus as well. I can’t imagine putting my Tapwave Zodiac in anything else. You can buy one for $29.99 at the Tapwave online store.

CommandPlay Game Grip for Tapwave Zodiac

The Tapwave Zodiac isn’t just a great handheld; it’s also a fully-featured mobile gaming system. That’s great, but it isn’t very fun if your hands cramp trying to play Tony Hawk for more than five minutes at a time. Fortunately the CommandPlay Grip solves that problem, and quite handily too. It’s a molded plastic accessory that holds the Tapwave Zodiac and gives you a handle on each side to hold while you’re playing games. They’re just the right size to put your hands in the perfect position to use the analog stick, face buttons, and trigger buttons on the top of the device without strain. Rubber grips on the bottom and side of each side ensure that you can hold the CommandPlay comfortably for a long period of time.

Installation is easy; just remove the stylus from the grips on the back of the device, slide the Zodiac under the lip on the front of the game grip, and then press the top of the grip into the stylus grippers on the back of your device. After extensive playtesting, I can say that the CommandPlay Grip is truly excellent and goes a long way toward reducing hand and finger strain when playing button-intensive games. Obviously it won’t help if you play a lot of stylus tapping games, since the grip makes it a bit more awkward to hold the Zodiac with only one hand; this is definitely a two-handed accessory.

One neat feature is the fact that there’s enough room to use just about any kind of headphones or earbuds with the CommandPlay Grip, and you can also switch SD cards too. It is not possible to charge the Zodiac when it is installed in this accessory, since the bottom lip covers the charging port. Your Zodiac will fit in the Tapwave Sport Deluxe case while attached to the handheld, but it does make a rather lumpy package. The CommandPlay is durable enough that you can toss it in your larger gear bag though and not have to worry about it getting damaged, unless you’re bag is crushed by an elephant or something— in which case you have much larger problems indeed. If you want to purchase the CommandPlay Grip you can get one for $19.99 at the Tapwave online store.

All content copyright 2001 - 2007 PocketGoddess.com
XHTML | CSS | RSS | 508