since I learned I have arthritis in my knees and would, therefore, be unable to run to keep in shape, I took up swimming.  Every weekday morning, before working out I swim laps in the gym’s pool.  It is great exercise and I enjoy it thoroughly.  One of the things I miss about running, however, is the ability to listen to audiobooks while I run. 

A coworker, David, and I were having a conversation about this when I suggested that someone should make an underwater case for iPods.  Weeks later, David came across an advertisement for that very thing and forwarded it on to me.

I jumped on the chance to purchase this product from H20 Audio.  I purchased the case and headset to fit the Generation 3 iPod Nano.

  The case fits very well and is the best part of this two piece configuration.  It is easy operate.  The controls fit directly over the Nano’s and work flawlessly.  It water tight seal does not make opening and closing the case overly difficult.

The headset, which is a separate purchase for, I suspect, several reasons.  One is that they have several different cases, but only one model of headset.  The other, and I think the actual reason, is that the though the case needs little improvement, the headset could stand a few.  One the headset isn’t comfortable.  The plastic that holds the ear buds presses too much on the side of the head.  It isn’t so uncomfortable as to deter usage, but could be improved.  That is the easy improvement.  The difficult improvement is the design.  I thought the most challenging aspect of the product is to get the sound to your ear when submerged, until I used it.  That’s when I realized the biggest obstacle the designers face is not submerged audio, but the frequent shifting between submerged and non-submerged audio.  Water tends to fill your ears when underwater (go figure).  The audio quality of these ear buds is great underwater and satisfactory when out, but they do not deal with the transition well.  Maybe they could figure out a way to keep the water from getting in the ear.  Or better yet, since they sound better when submerged, maybe they could figure out how to hold the water in your ear.  Either way would be an improvement.

All in all, I really like the product an don’t regret the purchase, though it is very pricey.  It is completely suitable to listen to music while swimming laps, though the constant shifting in audio quality (under vs. out of water) makes listening to an audiobook too challenging.  With that said, if you are just hanging out in the pool and not trying to swim laps with this thing, run out and get one right now… don’t even finish this blog post!

And there you have it.

Joe.

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