Review on 🦓 C4Labs Zebra Bramble Case - Raspberry Pi 4B & 3B+ (6 Stack, Black Ice) - Sleek Protection for Your Raspberry Pi! by Shah Bell

As mentioned, this is not an easy case and I can usually respect that on my own. Although the creators say this is meant to be a "useful" build, it definitely isn't, as I've found it to be nothing but disappointing throughout, even now that it's been completed. For me, I can't really pinpoint what the problem is at the design or implementation level, but from what I understand I've done everything according to the instructions (plus a few more because, let's face it, it's more of a headache otherwise ). For reference, I bought the 4 slot version with 2 Raspberry Pi 4 Model B's and one I already had and bought 3 official PoE+ helmets for $20 on top. Actually, I was specifically looking for a relatively cheap case that supports PoE caps and that's exactly what fits, so good, right? Well, despite what they say, this cover doesn't agree with official hats. I would first like to address the problems you will find even without hats. 1) You should notice that the case is multi-layered with a transparent part on the outside and a black/wood part on the inside. When inserting one of the plates to hold the RPi into the case, it should be held on the inside while the "latches" on the plate should snap into place with notches on the outside. (to keep it from slipping out, which is almost pointless as the two sides of the case do a pretty good job). Those little curls are brittle, and at least once one of the curls on mine has snapped on its own, although for reasons I'll tell you, I'll also say good release. Now you understand that the plastic is really dense, and if you make even a slight misalignment of just a millimeter in the grooves when mating the outer and inner walls (which is almost inevitable considering I don't believe that (even the cases are produced in such a high quality) you're going to have a heck of a time trying to get a Pi in and out. Seriously, don't think you can do something like hotplug, said Peace. Now imagine you have a complete suitcase and you'll find that it's easier to take the whole damn suitcase apart and then put it back together than it is to pull individual pis out of the suitcase. If you end up buying this, just do yourself a favor and saw off the locking bits on either side of each panel with a hacksaw. it will be much easier (yet not as easy as it should be, because again it's tight) for you to get them in and out this way, and you won't lose much stability in the process. 2) Which made me realize I *really* didn't like this case, but then again, it contains incredibly small misalignments. You see there are holes on the inside of the case, apparently to access the ports on the side of the Pi. There's plenty of room for a USB-C power port and audio jack, but micro-HDMI ports can *incredibly* be less than a millimeter close to the bottom of their opening, and since the inner wall is so thick anyway, that's no the micro HDMI cable is thin enough that it cannot penetrate the inner wall and actually penetrates the port all the way. Trust me, I even bought one on purpose because it had a thinner head than the others considering the ones that came with the Pi starter kit I got a while back are way worse: about 2mm thick top and bottom for micro HDMI. an ending that definitely doesn't work well in this case. In any case, since the inner wall is as thick as it is, the HDMI output often just doesn't work because you can't plug it all the way in. In other words, if you ever plan on using the micro HDMI outputs on your RPis, I really don't recommend this case. That, or you could probably just cut the baffles between the holes and notches to hold each of the panels, but then again that's more crap that's not really needed. Now for PoE.3) I was about to write about how to not put a PoE enabled RPi in the top slot because the PoE fan screws conflict with the inner top wall, but later I realized that C4Labs themselves pointed out It was a mistake on my part not to read it. 4) On the other hand, as something they don't mention, don't plan if you bought at least the 4 slot version, also a 2 also means the 4th slot, although I'm not sure) because if you do this do, it's very likely that the PoE hat will *precisely* hit the screws that secure the first of the two (or three) case fans. Since they protrude on their own beyond the screws holding the fan together, you'll hit the PoE hat itself if you try to add a PoE-capable RPi to this slot, preventing it from going all the way in, and so that You can close it's case from another end. If for some reason god knows you get this case anyway and don't expect less PoE, you probably need to trim the top screws on each of the fans or just forget about it and hope the bottom screws will do. to keep the corresponding fans stable.