[Galaxy Tab 10.1 Accessories] J33per:
This is my review of the Gumdrop Drop Tech Case for Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Review. Some people might ask "why do you need a rugged case" I simply reply, "why not?" I paid good money for the Galaxy 10.1, money WELL worth it, but I want to protect the device. Aside from the Gumdrop case I recently installed, I also have the ZAGG InvisableSheld Maximum Coverage wrap on it (http://www.zagg.com).

I have always been a fan of rugged cases, starting with the Otterbox Defender I had on my Blackberry 8330. I was disappointed when I contacted Otterbox and found out they had no plans of making a case for the GT101. A few weeks ago I came across the website for Gumdrop (http://www.gumdropcases.com/) and my prayers were answered! I quickly pre-ordered my Gumdrop case for my Galaxy Tablet 10.1, then the waiting began.

I received the case in the mail on Monday October 10th, and was instantly impressed by the packaging it arrived in. Having worked retail for many years, a lot of times you can judge the quality of craftmanship of an item by the package it comes in, this packaging was clean and simple, yet drew attention to it. If I had a storefront, I would have no problem displaying this item on an endcap.

Once I got it opened, it was a bit tricky trying to figure out how to disassemble the case to put my Tablet in it. I was being careful as I didn't want to break anything, which I came to find out would be rather difficult to do to this tablet...

The trick is to start at the top-center and peel the rubber case away from the plastic "shell". Doing so, you can then work around the Tablet and remove the rubber outer layer, which snaps securely onto the shell.

Once the rubber case of off, you then snap the Tablet into the plastic shell. This is a very ridged shell and the tablet snaps extremely securely into place. The shell has the built-in screen protector, so I removed my currently screen protector, which was a ZAGG InvisableSheild which was recently damaged protecting my device, I have a warranty replacement on its way, but wanted to see how this case worked without the ZAGG. Note, I still have the rest of the Maximum Coverage InvisableSheild, which includes back and sides, and it still seemed to fit fine in the case.

I read some reviews about "bubbling" due to the cases built in screen protector (which is replaceable if it ever gets damaged) But I have not seen any distortion what so ever with the screen due to the protector, in fact, it seems alot more crisp and clear then the ZAGG InvisableSheild that was on it.

These next pictures show the shell's fit around the cameras, perfect alignment.

Once I got the shell snapped on, it was time to replace the rubber case. Doing so was fairly simple but wasn't just a case of sliding it over. It requires you to push down around the edges, "snapping" the rubber into the shell. This makes the fit incredible! There is NO play between the rubber case and the hard shell, a problem I often had with my Otterbox cases.

The port covers on this case was something that amazed me. Every Otterbox case I have owned has had the rubber port covers eventually break off, as you can see in the following picture, I do not think this is going to happen with this case any time soon... There is a rather thick piece of rubber holding both the charging port and the headphone port covers on.

So was this case worth the $49.99 I paid for it? Simply put, I would say "Yes". This case might not be for everybody, as it turns a rather slim device into something a little... beefier, I guess would be the best term for it, but in my opinion it did not take away from the portability of the device. If anything, I will take my tablet more places and not have to worry about breaking it...

I am interested to hear from other owners of Gumdrop cases, as well as anyone who has any questions, feel free to let me know!

Thanks!

Jeeper

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