Raspberry Pi Pod and micro:bit base

The parts are made from birch plywood which means they feel very solid and likely to provide good protection for your Pi. It doesn’t come with assembly instructions, but it’s pretty obvious which part goes where. The parts are engraved on the inside with letters to give you an assembly order.

Once I’d worked out that the letters would go on the inside (and would therefore be unseen) I set about putting it together. The bottom plate of the case has holes where the Raspberry Pi has it’s mounting holes. This gives you the clue that it’s best to screw the Pi to the case bottom and then build the rest of the case around it. I wanted to see what it was like without the fixings, though, so proceeded without finding the necessary screws and nuts.

Placing the Pi on the bottom plate gives you the base and then it’s just a case of building the sides up, in order, around it. The finger joints are tight (as you would hope they would be) and slot together with a little force. I was worried about breaking the parts and so I took it easy when pressing on the joints. Everything slotted together perfectly.

It’s possible to run the Pi with the top of the case off. It is not possible to connect the GPIO cable to the Pi when it is in this case, at least not in this model. There is a different model costing a couple of £s more with a slit for the cable – you can see that model here.

I think it’s good to have the two models, providing you do order the one you want, as this case is all about aesthetics. It’s meant to be on show and is best suited to media centre Pis where it will be part of your living room furniture. The extra slot might spoil ‘the look’ for this model, I think.

The next thing to do was to put the top on…

This completed the assembly of the case. I have since disassembled and re-assembled the case and, though I’ve no doubt that the wood will eventually wear down to a point where the joints aren’t fully ‘solid’, the plywood seems very hard-wearing.

I am very impressed by just how… pretty it looks. The engraved raspberry on top (there are other engravings available including fully customised) makes it look very stylish. Seeing it fully assembled reminded me again that it seems to be designed as a piece of furniture, not just as a case for the Pi.

I did my traditional ‘shake test’. The Pi does move a little inside the case when mounting hole screws aren’t used, but it’s 1-2mm at most. When squeezed the case hardly flexes at all and feels extremely solid. I really wouldn’t want to drop it on my foot! I should add at this stage that the case is provided with plenty of ventilation – both on the sides and on the bottom. There is also a (|) slot cut into the top of the Pi so you can see the power/ethernet LEDs on the Pi board itself.

Access to a normal SD card is absolutely fine because it sticks out (as you can see from the pics) which does of course mean that it’s susceptible to damage if you knock it or drop it, just like all the other cases I’ve reviewed.

I decided to try out the two microSD card adapters I have to see if the case would accommodate them. The Adafruit adapter was, again, too big for the case. In fact, I actually knocked a piece of plywood off the SD card slot trying to get the thing to fit. However, the Quilix adapter, by having virtually nothing protruding out the back, does fit well and actually provides more stability to the Pi inside the case when not using fixing screws.

Just for interest, here’s a picture of the case with the top plate on but the bottom plate off. You can clearly see the mounting holes here.

I’m going to give this case a score of 8/10. This model is suitable for use in semi-permanent installations, such as media centres, and is appropriate for when you want the Pi ‘on show’. The lack of a GPIO cable slot makes it less attractive to hobbyists, but there is a different model if you need that. I’m pleased that it accommodated the Quilix microSD adapter as media centres are always best without the SD card sticking out. Most of all, when I look at the case, I just get reminded of the word ‘furniture’. It’s laser cut, certainly, but it has that rough, hand-made appeal that a good wooden cabinet has. It’s practical as well, with the mounting holes and ventilation holes.

All in all, you’d buy this case for it’s attractiveness and sturdiness and you’d look at the other model if you wanted to use it in a prototyping way with a GPIO cable.

I really can recommend this case if you want something ‘different’ to show off your Raspberry Pi.

Update (June 2013) – I’ve decreased the rating on this case as it has worn slightly from where I’ve re-assembled it a few times and now comes apart very easily.