The Facts
Specifications according to the manufacturer:

- Colors: Big Sky Blue, Precious Pink, Tangerine Orange, Luscious Lime (review sample)
- Material: Polyurethane "pleather" and velvet polyester
- Cost: about $25 from retailers (see below)
- Full functionality to all buttons and ports in the case including the sync port on the bottom of the player
- Plastic holder with belt clip (ships with iPod unit) slides right onto the back of the case.

Construction
The construction and build quality of the case is very good. All seams are stitched accurately and evenly and they seem very strong. If you have any trepidation about the "pleather" that the case is made of - don't. Fake leather technology has advanced to the point where the fake stuff is very durable and it's quite difficult to tell it from the real thing. The pleather that Pacific Design uses is very good quality, seems very durable, and it's a bonus that this iPod case is a "cruelty-free" product. The colored section of the case has a slight sheen to it and it is a very vivid green. (If you buy this case, be sure to choose a color that you like.) The material of the white stripe doesn't have a texture and has a matte finish, which makes a nice visual offset. The Pacific Design insignia is subtly embossed onto the bottom of the front flap. The end result is a very sharp looking case.

One thing that I particularly like about the case is that it's soft/hard in all the right places. I mean the outside of the case is padded without being bulky, but the seams that make up the corners are stiff and protective. The interior is lined with soft velvet (more on that later), but the flap is a stiff piece that "flaps" as it should.

Embedded magnets on the bottom corners of the flap/case anchor it when it's closed. I'm always cautious about placing magnets near hard drives, but my iPod never seemed to mind it.

A clear panel of vinyl covers the iPod screen. This vinyl sits just above the face of the iPod (sewn between the inner and outer layers of the case) and never touched or scratched it. It is fairly thick and is good quality.

Usage
This case is small and light, and it made me a more stylish iPod listener everywhere I took it.

You can use the flap as a stand to prop up the iPod. Just bend it back to form a triangle shape with the table providing the bottom plain. The flap and hinge area are plenty strong to support the iPod in this manner. Nice.

One potential weak spot that I envisioned was the flap and I'm happy to say that it held up to my torture test. The area at the top of the case that bends when you open the flap has a thinner width (due to the cutout for the headphone port) and I thought that there was potential for the material to weaken at this hinge. Therefore, I was purposely pretty hard on the case and folded the flap all the way around every chance I got. Even though I tried to hurt it, I'm impressed that it show no signs of wear. Close inspection reveals that the inner velvet is fused, either by glue or heat, to the outer layer. However they did it, the case holds up well.

One defect in the case is that the cutout on the bottom for the iPod dock connector is just a little too small. I was able to connect the iPod in the case with both Apple cables and third-party cables, but the case prevented the Apple cable from completely seating in the iPod and would not "click" to anchor in.

Another problem is that the cutouts for the clickwheel and the vinyl window for the screen don't quite match up with the iPod. If the iPod fit downward in the case just another few millimeters, they would match just fine. The problem arises at the top of the case, where the cutout in the flap, designed to fit around the headphone port, doesn't quite line up. This forces you to push aside the flap in order to get the headphone cable connector inserted. It is not a big problem and it never prevented me from using headphones with even big connectors on them, but it's still not quite right nonetheless.

Perhaps my biggest gripe with this case is how the inner velvet lining sheds. A few days after I started using it I noticed that my silver mini was covered with little black specs of the material. Not a lot, but enough to get onto my hands and to alert me that it might get into the clickwheel mechanism and top ports. These little pieces of velvet dandruff are easily blown off, but the case is still shedding now and you can collect a bit of the material on your fingers if you rub the inside of the case.

Pacific Designs' marketing material claims that you can use the Apple iPod mini belt clip with their case. I tried this and it does indeed work. The belt clip no longer grabs the iPod, instead it hooks onto the stitched seams of the case. It is easy to put on and take off, and when mounted, the white of the belt clip matches the white stripe of the case quite nicely. The clip, however, does not grip the case as strongly as it does the iPod, but it should work just fine for almost all uses.

The Bottom Line
If you're in the market for a leather or flap style case, you should consider this one from Pacific Design. It is stylish and well made. There are issues with the slight misalignment between the iPod and the case, and with the velvet lining shedding, but these faults may not bother you as much as they did me. Overall, this case is easy to use, attractive, and protects the iPod well. It strikes a good balance between style and utility. 3/5 stars.

The good: cruelty-free "pleather" is very good quality, protective, stylish, well made
The not so good: slight misalignment of cutouts, dock connector cutout too small, interior fabric sheds velvet dandruff

For more information:
PacificDesign.com. You can purchase the case directly from places like eBags.com and BagsForMe.com.