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Hey, it's @Aaron_the_Ho and here's what the Pelican ProVault CE3180
case for the iPad Mini had to go through in order to bring you this
review
We through this non-waterproof case into a tub the water. We discovered a new word
called
elastomeric which is basically something describes all the orange stuff on the case.
We also dropped from table height and then we spun it around and dropped it
again and we also
reaffirmed their dislike for cases that require screws
Pelican Vault CE3180 is a very rugged case it will provide great protection
for your iPad Mini.
Real usage. Real reviews.
MobileReviews-Eh.Ca
The Pelican Vault CE3180 will definitely protect your
iPad Mini or your iPad Mini with Retina. It is shockproof
as well as water resistant - it's not waterproof - and the screen cover will
definite protect your screen. It also doubles
as a viewing hinge so you can view your
iPad at any angle that you really want to. And because there is no screen
protector you can easily access everything on your screen.
Now the bad things about this case is that there is no screen protector so if
you're to drop it like this, well,
there's a good chance that you are gonna shatter the screen of your iPad Mini.
Now with that being said you can install third-party screen protector. So if you're
looking for something pretty tough maybe can get one of those temperate screen protectors and
then this case were almost be indestructible,
unless you submerged it 'cause it's not waterproof. With all that being said, this
is still a very excellent case for non
office environments. We gave it a score of four Eh's
out of five and that makes it comparable to the Lifeproof Fre as well as the
Otterbox Defender for the iPad Mini.
Now between all these cases - the free in Otterbox Defender - I do prefer the Pelican
CE3180
once we go through all the details I'm going to tell you why.
We break all our reviews into three categories which are design, protection
and functionality and there is going to be annotations on the screen to help you
navigate to the section where you need to go
look at as well as a table of contents with the timestamps
in the description section below. Now in terms of design the Pelican CE3180 is a
pretty unique case.
The attached screen cover with the multiple viewing angles as well as the
requirement to use screws to install the case
makes a pretty different when compared to some on the iPad Mini cases that
we've reviewed.
In terms of the weight and bulk, the case is not light and it will add
about a centimeter around your entire iPad Mini as well as
almost tripling the thickness of your iPad Mini. There is this hinge
on the side that kinda adds to the bulk of the entire case, but with all that
being said,
it doesn't make the iPad Mini unusable. Now in terms of installation, this isn't
the easiest case to install because it does require you to use screws now
Pelican
does include an installation tool in the packaging as well as two spare screws, so
you've got a bit of we'll say leeway in terms of losing those little screws that
are only about a quarter of an inch in size.
One of the things that a notice about this case is that when you're installing the
pieces together, there's a lotta little teeth that interlock the front bezel
and the back of the case, and you really have to snap everything together in
order for your screws to align
and for you to usually, you know, put the screws into the holes.
Pelican is really known for the quality of their cases and it definitely shows
with Pelican CE3180
There's a piece a Dragontail Glass the covers the camera hole - I don't know
what that is but it sounds fancy - Dragontail.
This orange stuff is called elastomeric co-polymer and it's basically
rubber and then absorbs all the shock.
And the last thing is that this hinge is actually made from aircraft grade
aluminum. So all in all this whole
case is very, very well built and is very solid. And despite the fact that we've
dropped on this concrete floor,
it does show wear and tear, but still maintains its form.
If you wanna know more about this case, I do recommend the you watch the install
and unboxing
video, as well as the up-close technical specs review that we've done for this
case.
In terms of protection, the Pelican CE3180 is a tough case.
It is shockproof up to 4 feet or 1.2 meters and it does meet Milspec
810G. Now we did a drug test in this very room and we
kinda swatted of a desk, and it survived. We also
you know dropped from about chest height, which is about four feet on me, and then
we also did one of these spinny
drops on the floor and the iPad Mini is fine - it's the same one that is
in here now - and the screen is not shattered. So
I would definitely say shockproof. In terms of water, it is NOT waterproof it
is water resistant but some in the verbiage that we saw
on the internet as well there was printed out given to us is that will
protect for momentary submersion. We actually dropped this case into a bucket
of water we did the momentary submersion and
and then we went and checked to see how much water actually got to the iPad Mini,
and nothing really got wet. So this case will definitely protect and if you protect
the iPad Mini if you accidentally drop it in a stream and pull it out right away or a
a really big bathtub. Now in terms of screen protection that is
actually one of its biggest drawbacks, because it does have this really quick
screen cover, but there is no screen protector no built-in screen protector
for this case. So if you were to drop it this way
in a gravel parking lot there's a good chance your screen is gonna get busted.
Now
there is about a quarter an inch between the front bezel and the actual
touch screen, so does provide a bit a clearance. Now if you're really worried
about your screen you can install a third-party screen protector. This case
is meant
for the iPad Mini and iPad Mini Retina, and because it uses screws
you can fit something in between the front is on the back and I've confirmed
that with our Pelican vendor.
With all those things taking into consideration the Pelican CE3180
does score a little lower
when compared to Lifeproof Fre and the Otterbox Defender, mostly because
there is no built-in screen protector. Yes. there's a screen cover
makes it really tough but you can't use your iPad Mini in it.
So for everything the protection category, for this case, the water
resistance as well as a shock drop.
We filmed it all and we posted it to make sure that's,
you know, this case actually lives up to its expectations. So your
if you're interested in watching me try to break stuff I do recommend you watch
those videos are actually a lot of fun to make.
In terms of functionality for the Pelican CE3180, there's
some really awesome things and there's some quirks that we were we're gonna talk
about right now.
Getting to the headphone jack and the lightening port connector
are very simple cuz you just have to deal with these cold polymer
elastomeric plugs. Now for the mute
switch as well as the volume buttons, if you have it open like this
and you've got the screen cover folded onto the back
getting to the volume buttons is a little difficult because the volume
buttons are actually on the back side
case. So the screen cover action almost rubs up against those volume buttons. Now you
can still get to them but it's a little
awkward. We thought it was a pretty neat feature to have the volume buttons on
the back at the case but when
you have with the screen cover, well, I'm not quite sure that's a good idea
anymore.
Now in terms again to the mute/ringer switch, again, if you've got the screen
cover folded back
getting to the mute/ringer switch it actually bumps up against the
the screen cover and so it's difficult to kinda fit your finger. I don't think
I could fit my finger
in without opening up the screen cover a bit. Now
again, you just have to get used to that you know quirkiness
of accessing that part your iPad Mini.
The last thing I will add is that there are a couple a sharp parts to this case
which is
kinda weird because you've got all this nice rounded stuff but then you got this
hinge
and this plastic is very very sharp. You've got this latch
and the teeth on the inside a latch it's actually pretty sharp as well and so
if you're not careful there's a good chance you might be able to write give
yourself a nice little red mark on your skin.
I just cracked my wedding ring. Ow.
In terms of the sound quality coming from your speakers or iPad Mini, we didn't
notice any sort a degradation in terms of the sound, so you can easily watch
whatever you need to watch
on this iPad Mini with this case on it. Now when it comes to the screen
useability and screen viewability of this case, well, it definitely beats most of the
other cases
with screen protectors because there is no screen protector on this
case. So accessing your entire touch area of your iPad Mini is
easy to do as the bezel doesn't cover much of the touch
area actually extends quite a bit further than the touch area. So you can easily
access the swipe menus of iOS7 as well as using a stylus and getting to the very
edges of the case. In terms of the screen viewability, no screen protector so it is
exactly like a naked iPad Mini.
I don't know what else to say about that. Now last category is really case
extras and one of the neat things, though it's not really in extra it's
something worth pointing out
and we did rate it because this case allows you to view your iPad at any
given angle
so you can view it like this or you can view it like this
and it's very neat because the hinge, I'm not quite sure how to describe it, but
the hinge on this case makes that possible.
Now between the Lifeproof Fre and the Defender in this case this Pelican CE
3180 definitely allows for better functionality of your iPad Mini
inside the case. Now why would I choose Pelican CE3180 over Lifeproof Fre
and the Otterbox Defender, well
it's got a great warranty. Pelican has a lifetime warranty on all their cases so
if your case was to break so somehow this cover came flying off
while I was using this iPad Mini in the case, Pelican will give me another case
for free.
With that being said if you break your device inside a case they'll replace the
case but not the device. Now
I don't know of any other case manufacturer that has lifetime warranty
on their
products, and that's pretty crazy, and that's probably the reason why
one of the biggest reasons why I would go for the Pelican CE 3180.
If you wanna know more about this case, I do recommend that you check in OCLI.CA
they sell a lot of Pelican stuff and so this is one of the cases that they do
sell.
If you have any questions about this case, leave them in the comments section
below, I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can
you can also find us on Google+ , you know, start a conversation with us on Google+
tell us what you think about
this case cuz I'd love to know if you do have it or you do want it
on what you like about it. Find us on Twitter and Facebook. Twitter
we try to send all the deals that we get so if there's ten percent off of something
We'll definitely tweeted out so that you guys get that same benefit,
I'm @Aaron_the_Ho. I'm a reviewer at MobileReviews-Eh.Ca and definitely keep
your iPad Mini safe in this case.
Thank you for watching!