Acme Made is a small company based in Oregon that has already established itself as an en-vogue name in the USA, having distributors in numerous Sony Style Stores and the fashion haven Fred Segal in Santa Monica. Clearly the cases have design credibility when it comes to appearances, but the real test is in the functionality. The case was rated on usability, robustness and practicality. And just for arguments sake we rated it on looks too.

First impressions...
The case comes in three colours – a soft baby pink, pale sky blue and a garish lime green. They appear shinier than first expected – the exterior box leather is not leatherette but more like PVC. The inside of the cases are lined with a micro suede, which looks like the real deal but is more of a friend to the animals, and is a perfectly acceptable substitute. When in the case, the iPod is held in place by an elasticated pouch with a cut-out for the click wheel and a clear vinyl screen protector. In the fold of the wallet there is an elasticated strap to hold headphones in place, and on the top flap there is an inside pouch for holding small items such as credit cards (there is not much room for anything else). The wallet is held together by a surprisingly strong concealed magnet on the fastener (we know, magnets and hard drives are a no-go, but this one is lined to avoid interference), which is decorated with a metal Acme logo. The top of the iPod is completely exposed for full access to the headphone jack and firewire port, and the bottom dock connector port is also fully accessible to plug in the charger.

First impressions of the case are good – it is well made and the materials are high quality. The outside feels sleek and smooth and the inner microsuede is so soft it couldn’t possibly scratch your iPod. A gripe though would be that where the plastic outer coating has been applied, some of the ‘putty’ that has been used to seal the layers is a bit uneven. But overall, it looks great and is an unusual take on the generally more practical iPod case .

Additionally, without wanting to engage in any gender debate, this really is a girl’s case. Firstly it does look like a purse, and secondly the colours are not exactly manly. So any references to lipstick or handbags in this review are made in the expectation that a girl… will be the one using the case.

In goes the iPod…
The first thing to note is that the case fits fine with the 20GB and the 40GB models of iPod, and feels really secure, if not a little bit bulky, kind of like a leather-bound book. At a squeeze it can even fit the 1st generation iPod. The magnet is effective at keeping the wallet closed; there is no danger of it coming open unexpectedly. When not in use, the headphones can be wound up and put in the strap on the inside of the wallet. This is a bit fiddly and for perfectionists involves the careful segmenting of the cabling so that none hangs out either side, and precise positioning of the earbuds so that the case can actually close with them inside. Also, non-standard earphones such as Shure E2cs are not catered for, as they are too bulky to be contained inside. And don’t even go there with the Sony MDRs.

What we found with the wallet was that it is really usable – the click wheel is not obstructed at all and the iPod doesn’t need to be removed to be charged, to use an iTrip, plug in speakers, operate the Navipod… you get the picture. It will even fit in car accessories such as the Arkon windshield/vent mounts. Using the dock with the wallet is impossible, but unlike other cases such as the iSkins, the iPod easily removed from the wallet and so the hassle involved in minimal.

Carrying it around was a pleasure – it was easy to find in a large bag (partly due to colour, partly due to its size), though a bit big for a pocket, and operating the iPod when in the wallet was easy enough. It did however seem a shame to hide it in a bag, and there was no way of having it on display short of holding it – and that’s just crazy talk. A belt clip would look weird, as would a lanyard, so I guess the pride in the case comes with owning it, knowing it’s looking cool in your bag.

We noticed that as we used it more, the microsuede got a bit dirty (as would real suede), but it is washable so normal wear and tear dirt can be cleaned off. Also when using the headphone strap, stuffing the headphones through in a hurry was handy, but getting them out untangled was a challenge. We didn’t try it, but we reckon that the wallet would have pretty good shock and chip protection if dropped – the iPod is held away from the edges of the case by the protruding rim and so would be buffered from the fall.

In summary, the case looks and feels great, is really easy to use and has great compatibility with peripheral devices. On the downside, the male market is a little excluded, it is fairly bulky for those looking for a slim-line case, and the ‘putty’ sealant on the edges looks a bit messy on some of the cases.

Buy the Acme iPod Wallet