Not long ago, I decided to finally replace my aging MP3 player.  As much as I loved the giant hard drive on the Creative Portable Media Center, I had to give it up for two reasons.  First, the thing was a brick (although it was considered on the smaller size when I got it about four years ago).  Second, and more importantly, it would not sync with Vista.  Unable to add new content to it, I determined the time had come to buy a new player.  After much consideration and research, I finally decided upon the Sandisk Sansa e280r, with eight GB of flash memory and an option microSD card (up to two addition GB of storage space).

Overall, I have loved the Sansa, however, there were a few drawbacks, mostly on the cosmetic side, which I noticed.  In order to address these problems, I called upon our friends at Boxwave for assistance.  In this, the first in a short series of articles about the fantastic products BoxWave sent me, I am going to take a look at the Flexiskin case.

One of the main problems I had with the Sansa player was that Sandisk offered minimal protection for it in the box.  I mean, let’s face it, the shiny black surface of this player is just screaming out for a scratch or nick.  Sure, the Sansa includes a cloth pouch, but this pouch offers only minimal protection and does not allow you to access the controls without removing the player from the pouch. 

I searched high and low for a better solution than that offered by Sandisk to protect my new investment/toy.  After much deliberation, the only case that really seemed to work well was the Boxwave Flexiskin.

The FlexiSkin comes in four colors: Coral pink, frosted clear, jet black, or super blue color.  Of course, I selected black because I have no fashion sense.  I was going to describe the case to you, but I think I will let Boxwave take care of that as their description is exactly what I would have said, only better:

FlexiSkin? is durable, soft to the touch, and can stretch and flex to help cushion your SanDisk Sansa e280R Rhapsody from bumps and hard knocks. Usable and protective, FlexiSkin? the new protective case for your SanDisk Sansa e280R Rhapsody!

The case has a nice cutout for the screen, headphone jack and other connections (including the power cord and MicroSD slot).  The main controls have raised button on the case which correspond to the buttons lying underneath on your player.  I was surprised, however, to find that there was no button on the case to correspond to the power/menu button.  There is also a final cutout for the scroll wheel and the large “enter” button in the center of the scroll wheel.  Probably the only drawback I found on this case was that the area around the scroll wheel was raised a little too high, making it slightly difficult to access the scroll wheel.

The case also comes with both a detachable belt clip and a lanyard.  I am not crazy about either option, choosing instead to store my Sansa in a pocket, however, it is nice to know that those options are available should I want to use them.  I was also please to see that the nob for the belt clip is completely detachable, leaving a flat surface when you are not using it. 

In addition to the case, Boxwave also sent me the Screen Puff.  This may be one of the handiest accessories I have ever used.  Essentially, it is a small (slightly larger than my thumbnail) pillow made from non-abrasive and lint-free material, which can be used to clean your screen on the go.  It even comes with an attached lanyard, meaning you can tie it onto your MP3 player or device, and and always have a small wipe accessible at any time.  The Screen Puff even comes in a whopping seven colors, ensuring that there will be a color to meet even the most discerning personality.

The Boxwave FlexiSkin case is available from Boxwave, and costs $21.95.  The Screen Puff accessory is only an additional $2.95.