Five of these cases are simple sleeves that are open at the top, but hold the iPad snugly, including the Waterfield iPad Smart Case, Waterfield iPad Suede jacket, Booq Boa skin, Acme Made Skinny Sleeve, and the SwitchEasy RibCage. You can turn any of these cases upside down and shake it without worrying that the iPad will fall out.
Three other cases, the iFrogz NeoFirm, the Kensington and the Speck PixelShield, are envelope-style sleeves. This means that they have a flap that folds over the top to protect the top of the iPad.
The STM glove and the Booq Taipan Spacesuit, include zippers to close off the top of the cases. The STM Micro is a shoulder bag with Velcro closures.
Black iPad Smart Case with iPad
The Smart Case is a heavily padded sleeve that weighs 8.4 ounces. The interior stiffening protects the glass face of the iPad or iPad 2 from knocks. The side of the case is leather, and the interior stitching reduces wear on the seams. There is a small loop on the bottom to make it easy to remove the iPad for use. The case comes in a choice of six colors: Black, Copper, Flame, Green, Pearl, and Pine.
Flame iPad Smart Case
The Smart Case also has a pocket on the back, made of stretchy nylon, suitable for holding thin, light items. If you put the iPad charger into the pocket, as Waterfield suggests, this doubles the thickness of the case.
Rating: 4.5 Stars.
Well made. No visible seams. Good Padding.
More expensive than other sleeves. iPad Suede Jacket
The basic iPad Suede Jacket is just a thin suede sleeve. There is no padding, but the suede acts as a screen cleaner. It does protect your iPad and iPad 2 from scratches and scrapes, but not against bumps and drops. However, if you carry your iPad in a briefcase, this may be all the protection that you need.
iPad Suede Jacket Pocket
The optional mesh pocket provides enough space for a charger and cord. Unlike most Waterfield case products, your only choice is black.
Rating: 3 Stars.
Well made. Simple. Inexpensive. Very thin. No Padding.Sand Booq Boa Skin
This is an envelope-style case with a stiffened face. The stiff front protects the glass front of the iPad, and a stretchy back holds the iPad snugly against the front. The front has a tweed-like texture is very well made. The Boa Skin?s profile mimics the iPad with a flat front and rounded back. This 6.56-ounce case makes insertion or removal of your iPad easy and provides extra protection when inserted in a shoulder bag.
Purple Booq Boa Skin Front and Back
The Boa Skin for iPad comes in black, turquoise, violet, sand, and yellow. Booq bags generally show no wear, even after years of use, so this unique iPad case may be just what you need.
Rating: 4 Stars.
Easy iPad insertion and removal. Stiff front protects glass face. Reasonable price. Unusual shape. Logo tab on back. The Skinny Sleeve
The Acme Made Skinny sleeve is a basic rubberized sleeve; no extra pockets, loops, zippers or any other adornments or distractions. One side of the Skinny Sleeve is stiffened to protect the glass front of the iPad. Acme Made claims that the StretchShell neoprene is water and stain resistant, and it gives that appearance, with a slick, rubberized finish. Unfortunately, this finish also makes the Skinny sleeve somewhat slippery. These are available in white and black.
Rating: 3.5 Stars.
Well made. Water resistant. Stiff interior protects the glass front of iPad. Hard to hold.Red RibCage
SwitchEasy markets this case as an "ultra tough reinforced protective sleeve? and their marketing is spot on. It is available for all iPads too. The thick faux leather protects your iPad from bumps and knocks, and the embossed ribs on the case give it quite a bit of stiffness, doubly protects the screen. However, the finish on the white one that I tested picked up color from other things in my pack, so I?m not happy with the finish. If you choose this case, you may want to choose one of the other colors, such as black, red, or grey.
Rating: 3 Stars.
Tough. Stiff ribs protect well. Inexpensive. Easy to hold. Finish prone to marking. Quite thick.Green NeoFirm
This is an envelope-style case with a stiffened face. The back of the NeoFirm contains a stiffener, so that when you insert the iPad with the front of the iPad facing away from you, it rests against the extra protection in the NeoFirm. The back of the case is rubberized on the outside, which gives a good grip. I like this case, but it is not yet available for the iPad 2.
Rating: 4 Stars.
Simple fold over flap. Stiff interior offers protection. Rubberized back for a solid grip. Attractive design on back. Unusual shape.Reversible Sleeve
The Kensington Sleeve works just like an envelope. It has a flap near the top that folds over the front to seal your iPad into the case, which keeps the iPad from slipping out. As the name implies, this case is reversible - you can turn it inside out. This lets you choose the color that best matches your outfit or computer bag use it when you want a different color. My review unit is gray and black. The nice part of this sleeve is that is fits any device that is 10 inches or under, which means you can use it with the iPad 2 or Amazon Kindle.
Rating: 4 Stars.
Simple fold over flap. Protects from everyday bumps and scratches. Inexpensive. Difficult to get the iPad into and out of sleeve. Annoying placement of manufacturing tags, which stick out when reversed.PixelShield
The PixelShield is a slip case with a handle. You can slide your iPad into the case, and carry it via the built-in handle. The PixelShield has a stiffened internal shield to protect the glass front of the iPad. Speck?s signature square patterned material makes all their cases easy to grip. The top portion of the PixelShield covers the top inch of the iPad, but you can leave that uncovered, which makes it easy to remove the iPad.
Close View of Handle and Flap
I found that having a handle encouraged me to swing the iPad as I walked; that's not a behavior that will end well. It may be only a matter of time before you bang the iPad and case into a wall or a door. Hopefully, the thick neoprene will prevent a disaster. The cases comes in bright red and black. I don?t see any reason why you can?t use this case with an iPad 2, but it?s not listed under the iPad 2 product list, which seems to be growing daily.
Rating: 4 Stars.
Stiff interior to protect the glass front of iPad. . Handle for easy carrying. Easy removal of iPad. Handle encourages swinging the iPad when walking.glove iPad
The glove iPad is a basic neoprene sleeve, with a zipper on the top. While the case works fine, the ends of the YKK zipper, inside the case at 9 and 3 o'clock, narrow the inside of the case just enough that it is difficult to get the iPad into the case. A zipper guard also protects the iPad from hitting the teeth by accident. It has a single zipper pull at the top, and a small loop on the back to assist you in inserting the iPad. The iPad 2 should slip into this bag with less trouble.
You can buy this sleeve from various online retailers, including RadTech.us, who often sends review products to MacNN. They have multiple sleeve colors, including orange, black, teal, sage, mushroom, pink, red, and black.
Rating: 3.5 Stars.
Well made. Inexpensive. Ends of the zipper get in the way when inserting the iPad.micro for iPad
STM also sells a small shoulder bag that fits any 10" or smaller tablet, including the iPad. The 300D water resistant micro ripstop polyester outer shell withstands a lot of abuse. The thickly padded inside is a soft nylon material that won?t scratch your device. The 1.5" shoulder strap makes the bag easy to tote.
The nice features of the micro for iPad shoulder bag include, handles that you can hide inside little pouches, an outside pocket suitable for carrying the charger or other accessories that closes with Velcro, and pockets inside that pocket for pens, keys, and more. A slip pouch on the other side has no flap.
Rating: 4 Stars.
Built to Last. Versatile. Comfortable to carry. Needs more internal padding to keep iPad in place.Taipan Spacesuit XS
The neoprene Spacesuit XS for the iPad includes some improvements over a basic sleeve. First, the neoprene is textured, but surprisingly, this does not make it easier to grip. The texture is ?silky,? to use Booq?s wording, which seems more of a fashion statement than functional. Also, the YKK zipper has two pulls instead of one, which means that you can close the zipper anywhere you want, instead of just at the right end of the zipper. However, the zipper ends still make inserting the iPad into the (already snug) case a bit of a chore, but seam guards protect your iPad from hitting the zippers. The complementary interior color is made of soft material, that won?t scratch your device.
Silver Taipan Spacesuit XS
The Taipan Spacesuit XS is marketed for the iPad and the iPad 2. t is available in berry, silver (reviewed) and black and comes with an unprecedented 5-year warranty.
Rating: 3.5 Stars.
Attractive textured case. . Two zipper pulls. Texture does not make case easier to grip. Ends of zipper get in the way when inserting the iPad. All of these cases provide some level of protection for your iPad when you carry it around. Which case is best for you depends on how you carry your iPad. If you put your iPad in a briefcase, and just want to protect against scratches, then a thin sleeve like the Waterfield Suede Jacket might be sufficient. If you want to protect against bumps in a bag, then any of these cases will work. On the other hand, if you carry your iPad without a backpack or briefcase, then you might prefer the Speck PixelShield because it has a handle. If price is not a concern, the Waterfield Smart Bag is probably the nicest of all the covers reviewed here, while the STM Micro bag is the most versatile. Part 1: iPad jacket and sleeve-style cases Part 2: Folio Style iPad Cases
Part 3:Fitted iPad Cases
No comments:
Post a Comment