PSP World

Capdase Deluxe UMD Case

When Sony created the UMD, they came up with one of the best portable disk formats ever produced. The UMD is not without its faults however, and it’s opening on the bottom needs protecting. When we first reviewed the Pelican Disk Jackets, we really thought the design would be difficult to improve upon. It was. Several companies have released UMD cases since, and most have failed to eclipse the Disk Jacket’s mix of size and utility. Then we received the Capdase Deluxe UMD Protective Case, and we realized there was a new sheriff in town.

From a purely aesthetic perspective, the case is very good looking — and available in both white and black. Consisting of three separate “petals,” the case has a top translucent petal to allow viewing of the top UMD, protected underneath in the second petal. The third petal contains either another UMD, or the included — and extremely handy — Memory Stick pad. We decided to use the term “petal” because the design of the case is very organic, and that isn’t by accident. By using a design that resembles an opening flower, using the case is very intuitive — second nature, even. You slide the top petal to the right to expose the top UMD, and then slide the middle petal to the right to expose the bottom UMD. The result, when fully open, very much resembles a flower — which can be seen below.

Each of the bottom two petals is cut perfectly to hold a UMD, with a raised nub in the center for added stability. Another ingenious touch was a lowered right-hand corner. This allows the user to press down on the corner to pop-up the upper left corner of a UMD, the optimal position given the placement of the opening on the bottom of the UMD. The upper right corner of the case is where all the petals are hinged together by a sturdy plastic pin, and the design of this hinge allows for unlimited stacking of the cases, so if you have a large UMD library, they can all be protected and carried together — although this adds to the small size that makes the case so appealing in the first place. The case also includes labels you can place on the sides of the petals, so if you decide to stack the cases you will always know what’s where.

Overall, the Capdase Deluxe UMD Protective Case is an excellent, although slightly expensive, protector of your UMDs. $6 may seem like a lot to protect only 2 UMDs, but when compared to the actual price of games — $40 - $50 — $3 a game all of a sudden isn’t unreasonable. The quality, design, and excellent protection warrant the price, in our opinion. We would recommend the Deluxe UMD Protective Case to anyone that is concerned with protecting their UMDs and wants something as well designed as the PSP itself.