Face Armor & Disc Jackets Score: 85% Developer: Pelican Accessories Device Type: Memory/Storage

Function: The front of the PSP is both beautiful and vulnerable. You don?t want anything bad to happen to your PSP?s front face. Period. However, the way the PSP is designed, the face is open to the elements, awaiting anything that might rub up against it and scratch your screen. Pelican?s Face Armor & Disc Jackets is designed to help protect your investment. The Face Armor is a flip-up cover for the front of your PSP, while the Disc Jackets protect the read window of your UMD discs.

Performance: The look of Pelican?s Face Armor is intended to match the PSP. It is a glossy black plastic that looks very similar in appearance to the front of the PSP. The Face Armor attaches to the PSP by way of two easy-to-use thumbscrews that attach on both sides of the USB/Firewire port on the top of the PSP. Once attached, the cover can flip down over the PSP to protect the screen and controls during transit or can flip up to allow you to play your PSP without removing the Face Armor from the unit. The Disc Jackets are quite interesting in their design ? they are a very slimline and low-profile design. The Disc Jackets offer full coverage on the UMD?s back side (the side with the read window), but only barely lip around the UMD to the edge of the other side. This protects the UMD from grit, grime, and fingerprints, but doesn?t increase the size of the UMD very much. If you have a storage case that has room for UMDs, they might just fit with Pelican?s Disk Jackets on them for added protection. (This, of course, is not the case for storage cases that have locations for the UMDs to mount to. This is more for soft cases with slip-in pockets or larger areas intended to hold a few UMDs.)

Features: Protects screen and controls Fastens with two thumbscrews Glare protection Glossy black finish High-density foam layer (inside cover) 4x UMD Disc Jackets included 5-Year product warranty Console Protection Guarantee

Drawbacks & Problems:: The main issue I have with the Face Armor is that it creaks. The hinge makes a creaking noise when you open or close the top. The sound is not so much the issue as the possible underlying meaning. My fear is that the Face Armor?s hinge may wear out faster than I?d like. I?ve tried stressing the hinge a bit, however, and other than the creaking sound, it seems to be just fine. The Disc Jackets seem to do their job and take up the least space of any UMD protectors I?ve seen, but they may not give you as much peace of mind. PSibabe, for example, found that MadCatz? UMD Cases offered more reassurance. Then again, sometimes bulkier protection just seems safer. In the end, it?s a matter of personal preference.

-Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins