Review of ModMyPi case for the Raspberry Pi

I was looking for a Rev 2 Pi, as I wanted one to see if the revision checker function of the Python Gertboard programs worked properly.

Farnell was quoting up to 3 weeks lead time, RS are out of stock. Nobody else seemed to have it in stock, but over at ModMyPi, they said they would have some in within a few days. Sold to the man in a hurry It turned out that it was with me within 48 hours, which was excellent.

If you buy a Raspberry Pi from ModMyPi you have to buy a case as well (it comes out at around £40 delivered – with a case). But the cases looked interesting and you can mix and match the colours for top and bottom section. So I bought one with a black base and a white top. I know – boring! They offer some lovely bright colours, but I wanted to stick a RasPi.TV label on the top – so white seemed like a good choice to go with the RasPi.TV logo. And black seemed practical for the base.

The whole case with RasPi inside.

Looking at the case, I have to say I think it’s really well thought through and cleverly designed. I like it.

The base makes use of the Rev 2 board’s holes so you can attach the RasPi board to the base with two small screw bolts (provided).

Underneath the base – optional rubber feet are provided too

The top or ‘lid’ has holes so you can see the LEDS. There are also holes for all the ports, and ventilation holes top and bottom (I’ve covered the top ones with my label )

Holes for LEDs to shine through

The ‘lid’ also has a small perforated section over the GPIO ports where you can punch out a slot for easy ‘lid on’ GPIO access.

Closer look at optional GPIO “punch-out” slot

I haven’t punched mine out because I prefer option 2, which is simply to remove the lid, which you do easily by gently squeezing the “springy thing” on the side. If you don’t squeeze it, the lid is hard to remove – so it won’t come off by accident.

“Springy thing” you press to remove the lid

It’s a beautiful piece of design work. A simple thing – a box, that does its job very, very well.

Most of the time I leave the lid off. The base is invaluable to me for protection against shorting the underside of the board – for example, by putting the Pi down on coins, or keys, or other little bits of wire that seem to follow me around since I got interested in electronics.

If you’re in the market for a case, I can heartily recommend this one as robust, practical and versatile. And the price is right at £5.99. You can view the ModMyPi case selection here.

via RasPi.tv http://raspi.tv/2012/review-modmypi-case