[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] QBall16:
Just received the new Gumdrop Droptech case for my Prime.

I was surprised by the weight of the Fedex box that the case came in, as soon as I opened it I understood why. The Prime itself is no lightweight, and the Gumdrop case probably weighs half what the Prime does. There are no installation instructions included with the case, I didn't need any, I have owned a couple of Otterbox cases for my phones, if you are familiar with the way things are generally done in a multi-layer case it's not hard to puzzle out. However I think Gumdrop may be giving the general public a bit too much credit here, it wouldn't hurt to slip some simple graphical instructions into the box. The front layer which includes the integral screen protector snaps on to the Prime and the silicon rubber layer enfolds everything. Spend thirty seconds making sure the tabs are seated in the slots and you are finished. Installation takes less than a minute.

The Screen protector is great, I didn't bother removing my old screen protector before putting it in the gumdrop, and there's really no need. The screen works perfectly through both layers. I didn’t notice any diminution of image quality or responsiveness .

Silicon rubber tends to be tacky and pick up lint like a magnet. I was pleasantly surprised by the texture of the Gumdrop, it's not nearly as tacky as I have come to expect silicon rubber too be, the texture of the rubber is quite smooth, and I really don't expect to see it picking up lint like it's on sale. The case is HEAVILY molded however in almost a tire tread pattern, the treads make picking up and handling the Prime very sure, I don't feel like I am going to drop it, and the extra girth makes the tablet easier to hold.

All ports, including the MicroSD port are accessible by prying up little rubber flaps. The flaps fit into molded tabs in the poly carbonate front piece. If I had to rate them on a scale of 1-10, 1 being very easy to lift and 10 being very difficult to accidentally dislodge, I'd say they are about a 4.

Also worth noting, you cannot use the KB dock with the Gumdrop case in place, and the front polycarbonate part of the case does interfere with your thumbs hitting the spacebar when typing on the soft KB with the device completely flat on a table or your lap. Elevate the upper edge of the device an inch or so and the problem goes away.

In terms of protection, I would have to rate the case, as very protective of the device, say 7.5 on a scale of 1-10. Everyone is different in their expectations, but I expect the case to add excellent impact protection and good casual splash protection. It's not going to add any structural strength to the Prime, but I feel the device itself is pretty rigid, so I don't worry much about that. With the protection comes a significant increase in girth and weight, and here is where I think some people will probably get heartburn. Again, this is a case of different expectations and purposes I travel a LOT on the job, I bought a 64Gb Prime because I wanted a Tegra3 Hotrod with a lot of storage to replace my laptop, MP3 player and Kindle. The fact that it's very thin and somewhat light, really didn't even come into consideration for me. If thin and light is a big consideration for you and you use your tablet in a fairly controlled environment then this case probably isn’t your cup of tea. If on the other hand, like me, you drag the thing all over the country, weekly, and use it everywhere from planes trains and automobiles, and are looking to add some heavy duty protection then the Gumdrop case is a great option, and I think right now it's the only option for the Prime. At $59 plus $7 shipping, the price of admission is pretty salty. But when you compare it to the cost of replacing your investment, then it starts to look a lot more reasonable.

Hope this is helpful to anyone considering one of these cases.