If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you’ll know that last week I took advantage of Apple’s Back to School promotion and bought myself an iPod Video. Since I rarely let any of my gadgets go naked, this past weekend I went iPod case hunting. After looking through my options, I decided on iSkin’s eVo3.

When I first saw pictures of the eVo3 online, I thought the case looked very sleek. However, my first impression was based on the pictures from iSkin’s site. When I hunted deeper for some user pictures, I started doubting the sleekness of the case. It looked like the skin didn’t flow and things were out of place. Now having the skin in my hands, I can say the overall visual quality of the skin is somewhere in the middle. When looking at the skin from the back or side, the skin looks amazing. However, when you look at it from the top, the skin doesn’t flow as nice. But, that’s not why I bought the skin. I bought it for protection and that’s what I’m going to focus on.

In the protection department, the eVo3 greatly surpassed my expectations. There is only one spot on the iPod where it’s not protected, and that’s the headphone jack. Considering the majority of the time there are headphones plugged into the jack, that leaves a one-hundred percent protected iPod; something most cases don’t offer. And, not only is it protected, it’s functional. I can use every single one of the iPod features with the iSkin on, including docking it, and use accessories like Griffin’s iTrip.

So how does iSkin accomplish one-hundred percent protection and functionality? I’ll tell you. The iSkin comes in two pieces. The first piece is made of silicon. It’s meant to “hug” the iPod from behind, so the skin has a full back and sides, with a small lip coming over the front of the iPod to keep it attached. The silicon piece also has a small “silicon membrane” which goes across the lower section of the front of the iPod. That small layer of silicon goes over the clickwheel, and allows you to scroll and click the wheel through it. The silicon piece also contains a small flap over the dock connector, so you can pull the flap back to connect a cable, a flexible layer of silicon over the hold switch which allows the hold switch to be used through it, and a small hole for the headphone jack.

The second piece to the iSkin is a hard piece of plastic. The hard piece of plastic contains a hole for the clickwheel, and fits into the silicon part of the skin. The way it connects with the silicon is actually pure genius. Instead of just having the silicon lip push the plastic against the iPod like it did in the eVo2 model, the eVo3 has a double lip which accomplishes two things. The first thing it does is it prevents the hard plastic from moving, which was a problem in the eVo2 model. The second thing it does is prevent the plastic from ever making contact with the iPod, leaving your iPod scuff free. Now you would think the plastic would obstruct the viewing of the screen, but luckily iSkin made the plastic crystal clear, so you’ll barely know it’s there.

Now in the functionality category, the eVo3 actually improves the iPod usability. First of all, since the hard plastic has a small indent where the clickwheel is, it serves as a barrier to your finger, preventing you from slipping off the clickwheel during intense scrolling sessions. Secondly, the small silicon membrane over the clickwheel gives the wheel enhanced precision, allowing you to not only scroll quickly, but scroll precisely when you’re trying to choose between two items right next to each other. Finally, the iSkin adds much needed grip to the iPod, allowing you to hold it in your hand comfortably without feeling like it’s going to slip out.

Now no product would go with out some minor gripes, and the iSkin is no exception. My first gripe with the iSkin is the silicon over the hold switch. While it does provide added protection, it can be a little hard to get used to at first. Your normal response when trying to use the hold switch is to put your finger behind the switch and push, but you just can’t do that with the skin. You have to use the top of the silicon to move the switch, something which doesn’t feel quite right. I’m sure with time the new hold switch method will grow on me, though.

My next gripe is actually a problem with most silicon skins. The silicon attracts lint like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Well, that’s a lie because my eVo2 did the same thing, but you know what I mean. This can be a problem since the clickwheel cover is made of silicon, and when you get a lot of lint on the clickwheel, it becomes hard to use.

Other than that, I’m very pleased with my iSkin. While it does make the iPod look a little weird, the added protection and enhancements to the iPod greatly outweigh the negatives. If you’re interested in purchasing an iSkin, they can be found at most Apple stores or online on iSkin’s website. They come in six colors (green, blue, red, white, black, and pink) and cost $35. As you can probably see from my pictures, I choose white since it goes well with my MacBook.