We’re a 3-Pi household now – our 2 very early 1st generation Pis are used as an internet radio and a wireless print server, and the last one is used for general testing, project making and also got pressed into service in school last week running Scratch in KanoOS.
All three have different cases, so I thought I’d compare them for features and price.
In the middle is my favourite, and the most expensive – the beautiful PiBow from Pimoroni. This ingenious case is made from layers of laser-cut plastic held together by nylon screws and bolts at each corner. Each layer is slightly different, so they are numbered, and assembling it is good fun. There is also a gap to allow you to get a ribbon cable out from the GPIO pins, although when I’ve needed to wire any buttons or anything up, I just leave the top layer of the case off. £12.95 plus postage.
On the right in this picture (and, confusingly, on the left in the one at the top of this page) is Mr Raspberry’s Fantastic Case
– at £3.49 this really is a bargain. It’s totally clear, so I used this one for the Raspberry Pi I took into school so the children could see its parts clearly. It has a slot for a GPIO cable. It doesn’t hold the Pi particularly securely inside, as it sits at a slight angle and does move slightly, which might be a problem depending on how and where you intend to use it. It also comes without assembly instructions, which I actually found made a fun puzzle, but some may find this frustrating. It’s made from 6 pieces of clear plastic that need slotting together in the right order. But, hey, it’s £3.49!
My most recent case is the translucent one, slightly misleadingly described as Raspberry Pi Case – Clear
by its retailer. It’s the one on the top in these photos. You can get it for £5 with free delivery on orders over £10. It’s made of just two pieces of very solid plastic, and it holds the board incredibly securely. It is not as transparent as the Mr Raspberry case, though, so if you want to show off the workings you’d be better off with a different case, but if you’re looking for an inexpensive rugged case to keep your Raspberry Pi safe, this is a good bet. Unlike the other two cases, this one doesn’t allow access to the GPIO pins, but that’s probably not an issue for most users.
