Sunday, September 25, 2011

SwitchEasy Canvas case for iPad 2

SwitchEasy Canvas case for iPad 2

I only just recently got my first iPad1, and I decided I needed a case for it2. I tend to think these things through carefully, and I came up with these requirements:

  1. Protects the screen
  2. Protects the metal back
  3. Can be put in a bag
  4. Isn’t itself a bag
  5. Opens and closes like a book
  6. Turns the iPad on when opened, off when closed
  7. Can prop the iPad up at several different viewing angles
  8. Does not obstruct any ports/buttons/features
  9. Not made of leather
  10. Not cheap junk

I was very surprised at how difficult it was to find a case that meets all, or even most of these requirements.

Smart Cover

I first considered Apple’s own Smart Cover, because it’s a first-party accessory and Apple generally makes good stuff.

The Smart Cover fails #2, but whether that even needs to be a requirement is debatable. The iPad 2’s metal back is surprisingly scratch-resistant; not quite so much as a MacBook Pro or Air, but much more so than my iPod Touch. Still, it is an expensive device, and it just makes me cringe to think of setting it down on random counters and tables all the time. This is not a situation one encounters as frequently with an iPod or iPhone.

However, most of the reviews I recall reading of the Smart Cover indicate that it fails #3, in that it is likely to slip off of the iPad when jumbled around in a bag with other things, defeating the entire purpose of having one.

Further negative points against the Smart Cover included this review from Marco Arment, who is usually fairly thorough about these things, and the surprising inability for me to play with one at an Apple Store to see what they’re like.

Retail stuff

I looked around for a while at Target and Best Buy, but was surprised at how little there was to choose from. Many failed some combination of #7, #8 and #10, and every single one failed #6.

Best Buy also had as many, if not more, non-iPad tablet cases. I wonder how that’s working out for them.

Amazon stuff

At Amazon, I was dismayed to find seemingly dozens of nearly identical leather cases (which of course fails #9) from many different no-name brands, all bitterly throwing verbal attacks at each other in product descriptions and review responses.

I continue to not understand the prevalent obsession with leather - in any product, including (but not limited to) clothing, sofas and car seats. Aside from the discomfort it causes me to use a dead animal when synthetic materials would serve me just as well3, I just don’t like the slippery, mushy, destructible feel that it has. I don’t understand the appeal at all. Perhaps it’s one of those things that people do just to show off how much money they have (which is another thing I’ve never understood)? If so, there’s some kind of irony in all of these cheap, imported brands hawking them.

Many of them sort-of-passed #6, but there were often complaints relating to this in reviews: the magnets were either too weak and didn’t turn the iPad off reliably, or they were too strong and turned it off at the wrong times, like when the cover flap was folded back over the iPad.

Many of them failed #8 (particularly the often-forgotten microphone on the top). There were also frequent complaints about the leather fitting the iPad poorly and/or becoming deformed after continued use, causing various sporadic failures of #6, #7, #8. There were also frequent complains about ‘chemical smells’ as an apparent byproduct of the leather manufacturing process.

After many hours, I was not able to find a single case on Amazon that passed all of the requirements.

A short rant about keyboard-combination cases

The iPad is not a laptop. It’s not supposed to be a laptop. It does not replace a laptop.

If you keep it chained to a keyboard constantly, you are missing the point.

Finally, the SwitchEasy

I had almost given up when I finally found the SwitchEasy Canvas through this Quora question. It meets every requirement quite nicely. I almost didn’t find it on Amazon because of its severely lacking product page, but it’s there, inexplicably separated onto a separate page for every colour4.

My only complaints:

  • SwitchEasy is a completely forgettable brand name. I literally cannot remember it at all. I keep having to look it up every time I write or talk about it.
  • The way you slide the cover flap over at a weird angle in order to expose the rear camera is kind of awkward. However, I cannot see any other reasonable way to accomplish this with the portfolio-style design: the alternatives would be to either leave a hole in the front cover so it doesn’t completely cover the screen, or to block the rear camera completely. The way they did it was the best of few options.
  • I wish it had some kind of handle or strap on the outside.

Things I like about it:

  • Not leather! This is a personal preference, but the material feels durable and well-made, and looks very nice.
  • The iPad is held in place extremely securely by a plastic shell, which is mostly hidden by the synthetic-fabric cover which surrounds the entire thing.
  • Does not add an unreasonable amount of weight or bulk. Just the right amount of padding to make it feel protected against normal bumps (perhaps not a very high drop, but I’m careful with my stuff) but not too much padding to make it feel cumbersome.
  • Magnets work perfectly to turn the iPad on/off when opened/closed.
  • Clasp is secure and has a great tactile feel. I’ve read some complains about variances in the manufacturing process, but mine was perfect. I prefer this to only using magnets, which I would worry might allow it to flip open accidentally when jostled.
  • In what seems too much to be a coincidence, the product name is Cabel Sasser’s chosen name for the as-of-then unnamed original iPad.
  • Minimal branding imprinted on it.

All and all, I feel like this is the closest I could come to what it would be like if Apple itself tried to make a case that meets my requirements. I’m happy with it. (And, of course, the iPad itself, but that is another story.)

  1. Like an engineer, I kept trying to justify it with a use case, and couldn’t find one: I already had desktop and laptop Macs. Eventually, I realised: it’s just more fun, and that’s enough. ↩︎

  2. Unlike my iPod Touch, which has never had a case. My pocket is its case, and it does a fine job. The same will be true of my iPhone, when I eventually get one (when the service plans aren’t absurd). ↩︎

  3. Please understand: I enjoy a good hamburger whenever I can. I understand that this makes me somewhat of a hypocrite. ↩︎

  4. I got black, of course; or rather, I hoped I would, since the product page doesn’t actually say that anywhere. ↩︎