Scosche FoldIO
Scosche's case is the slimmest folio here, and has a neat gimmick. The iPad clips onto the one side of the FoldIO as it might into a hard case. The two left-most clips are loose enough to allow the left edge of iPad to flip out of them and be slotted into one of the notches on back of the case's cover. It makes for a good stand. Unfortunately, the cover latch, a solid, curved strip of leather-covered plastic, attaches to the iPad so tightly, it can push the tablet out of the clips holding it to the case. And the cover of the folio doesn't fold flat against the back of the case so it's not very comfortable to hold when reading.
Reg Rating 65%
Price RRP: £39 Online: £30
More Info Scosche
Twelve South BookBook
A truly bonkers zip-closed iPad case that packs your tablet in what appears to be an ancient leather-bound tome. If you live in a stately home, you can tuck it away in your library and no one will know where your iPad is hidden. If you're a Steampunk, this is the case for you. For the rest of us, it's cute, yes, but ultimately impractical since it's not the most comfortable folio to hold open, and you'll need to remove the iPad to sync it.
Reg Rating 65%
Price RRP: £70
More Info Firebox.com
Monster iPad Case Test: Folios
COMMENTS
Corner and edge protection
One of the main reasons to put the 'pad in a case is to protect it when the inevitable drop happens. A lot of these cases don't protect the corners or edges of the 'pad.
One of the benefits of the Apple case, which I still haven't replaced, is that it does the job of protecting the pad exceedingly well. It's also extremely convenient being thin, relatively unobtrusive and the little stand, whilst primitive, works very well.
What's worrying is that despite the iPad being out for 6 months plus, none of the folio case makers have really bettered the Apple case in terms of core functionality. Aesthetics maybe, but functionally not.
Now...
I know you can't review EVERY folio, but why miss out the Incipio Kickstand? To me, it's one of the front runners - it can be used as a stand, it's got good protection and doesn't block any ports (some of these do) it looks, well, alright, and it's cheap.
Have I picked up a lemon and not noticed?
The Twelve South case
You can synch with the case on if you're only using a cable, and not a dock - the zip flattens just enough, and the bottom corners are far enough from it for the cable to fit without any problems
Point taken, but...
Point taken about the manual brightness control, but the auto brightness definitely uses the ambient light sensor at the top centre of the screen surround, hence the hole in some covers at around this point.
More often, cover are far thinner around the edge and simply do not obscure the sensor at all.
brightness control
The iPad has always had a brightness control, under Settings>Brightness & Wallpaper. iOS 4.2 just places a copy on the multitasking bar.
