Keep those Electronics Safe
Products from MDX designed to protect a variety of important gadgets

Reviewed by Monte L. May, PCI 262/EMSCI #009
IPMBA Industry Liaison
Kansas City P.D. (MO)

MDX Industries of Newbury, Massachusetts, is the manufacturer of Cell Safe^TM, a series of protective products designed for wireless phones, radios, GPS, PDAs, and laptops. The purpose of these products, described as "electronic armor," is to prevent damage to electronic equipment from moisture as well as impact and/or shock. The Industry Relations Committee tested some of the Cell Safe^TM products and found them to work very well.

One of our committee members was assigned the Cell Safe^TM phone case. It is a hard plastic cylinder case - available in yellow or clear - lined with foam interior padding. It includes an interior Velcro strap to secure the phone or radio in the case. The case has a number of carrying options - it is sized to fit into any standard bicycle water bottle cage and has a side-mounted loop for attaching to belts as well as a loop on the top for attaching to hooks, clips, and tethers.

The reviewer placed his Motorola Star tac phone in the case, secured the Velcro strap and the outer fasteners and hurled the phone case down the street. It went about a block, bouncing several times off the asphalt street. The case did not crack. More importantly, the phone inside was still secure and appeared to be undamaged. It worked fine. We also tested the Cell Safe^TM PDA Case with a Handspring Visor PDA. So far, like its wireless phone counterpart, the PDA Case has done its job protecting its electronic cargo from damage.

The phone and PDA cases are advertised as watertight and are said to float, but we did not test those features.

If you utilize either a wireless phone and or a PDA while on bike patrol, I recommend these products for keeping your electronic devices protected from unnecessary damage.

Cell Safe^TM also offers several accessories, such as the Clip Safe^TM, the Flash Clip^TM, and a nifty neoprene Key Cover^TM that silences rattling keys. For more information on these products check out their website at www.cellsafe.com.

Monte can be reached at industry@ipmba.org.

IPMBA thanks Cell Safe^TM for its generosity in providing all attendees of the 12th Annual IPMBA Conference with both a Key Cover^TM and a coupon good for a Cell Safe^TM Phone Cover^TM.

(C) 2002. This review originally appeared in the Fall 2002 issue of IPMBA News.