It appears thinner than the stock windowed case (three-snap) but that's really an illusion if you take the depth of the belt clip stud into account.
The finish is nice, though there is a slight manufacturing defect visible on the hinge side. Not too noticable.
The opening for the navigation buttons still suffers from the same awkwardness of the original iriver windowed case; the lower edge is too close to the lower buttons, making it awkward to use them with your thumb. This is compounded by the height of the metal case above the player...seems like it could be closer, but it's probably due to the space needed for the window pane and the foam lining. Usability isn't any worse than the iriver case, but access to the lower buttons is better with the Outro, for instance.
The protective covering on the window does not want to come off easily! The window appears to be glued to the bottom side of the top door, and I was afraid I was going to pull it loose when removing the protective plactic sheet. It came off okay, although it left a small amount of adhesive that I still need to remove. There was a little adhesive on the outside of the case (presumably from the window installation process) that was easily scraped off with a fingernail.
The belt clip screw is too long. Even with the supplied washer, and following Boxwave's instructions, it will contact the back of the player. I'm surprised it didn't pop all the way through the foam lining. I added some more washers for now, but I will trim the screw tomorrow and we'll see if that works better.
The apparent scratchs in the photos are not visible in real life. That's a result of a harsh camera flash and macro lens. It actually looks very nice.
The latch appears to be very secure. I'm not sure it wouldn't open if it was dropped from six feet (with a player in it), but it feels tight enough for most lesser scenarios.
The belt clip itself isn't as nice as the one on the iriver windowed case. And the stud fits REAL tight going into the clip. Maybe it needs a break-in period.
Still, there should be a fair amount of protection afforded by this metal case. I give it 3 out of 4 stars