Strange & Charmed

So many to choose from.

As it has been well documented for us at The Pink Mac, we love iPad cases. Love them, obsessed with them, and yes, hoard them. Each of our cases have specific uses for specific times. For example my cheap $5 rubber case is for around house when I have little risk of putting my iPad in harms way in of the big wide world. Then there is my display case, perfect for different viewing angles which makes watching movies or showing off pictures a lot easier. But my most used is my rugged travel case. Thick padding and a cover fully protect my iPad while I take it out with me to school.

However, I have had this traveling case for some time, it is starting to wear down, and frankly I would like a change. So I need your help. I will describe everything I am looking for in an iPad case and if you have any ideas of what would fit my needs, please leave a comment below with a link to the case. If I like it and it is within my price range I will pick it up, use it, and even review it for the website!

1. Needs to fit an iPad 1
2. Needs to have a folio cover.
3. Have some padding for protection, but not so much that it is too bulky
4. Has a good method to hold the iPad in place, but does not cover too much of the sides around the screen.
5. Needs to have some form of a strap to connect the folio cover to the back while the case is open. I hate having a cover flap around and move while holding it.
6. It would be nice if there was a strap to put your hand through so you can hold the iPad with one hand.

Help me Pink Mac readers, your my only hope!

I know it has been a few months since my last post, but I am finally back to blogging after my eventful summer! I moved at the end of July and have been busy putting together my new apartment. I decided that I should give you guys a peek of my new office since I am pretty much done furnishing and decorating it. Enjoy and keep your eyes out for more new content coming soon!

This week I believe I have gathered a great group of links to share with you! They range from fashionable tech accessories to newly released applications, and from Apple news to meditation. So, without further ado here are this weeks Missing Links!

• If you’re one of the many Apple fans who were unimpressed with WWDC read this.
• Are you a student looking for a new Mac? Read about Apples new Back to School Deal!
• Wish your iPhone could get you a date? Well, there is some good news for you!
• Are you interested in some new fashionable accessories? Click here Apple Fangirls and Fanboys.
• The 5th Avenue Apple Store is getting a facelift, read about the cost of all that glass here!
• Stuck in a mental rut and need to get the creative juices flowing, try meditating on this one.
• I think this is a very interesting bag solution for the modern male.
• Wacom introduces some Paper to go with their new iPad stylus.
• Feel like your iPad Facebook experience has been lacking? Perhaps you won’t for long!

I have decided to start a new series of posts weekly on The Pink Mac called The Missing Links! Each week I am going to post links to some interesting articles I read in the previous week that I thought would be good to share. Obviously, with the WWDC Keynote from Steve Jobs last week, many of these will be related to the Apple updates, but in the future I am going to try to provide more of a mix of topics. So, without further ado, here are The Missing Links for 6.13.11.

• Everything you need to know about WWDC 2011
• Engadget’s Apple iOS5 Hands on Preview
• All Things Digital’s Apple’s invisible iCloud the Promise of Simple Seamless Sync
• iBookstore comes to the iTunes store at last
• Apple’s Reading List could be the best thing to happen to Instapaper
• Read Write Web’s Learning to Program with Project Euler

{Happy Reading}

As a fan of sketch notes, I have always appreciated the work of others, but very rarely attempt to do the same on my own. Yesterday I wasn’t feeling very well so I lay in bed sketching for a bit. This is what resulted. I know Apple didn’t create the iPad to be used in conjunction with a stylus, but it really does help to use one if you plan to take full advantage of the sensitivity of the screen. Although the iPad is mainly a touch input device, I was reading an article from CultofMac.com that I thought I would share about how the iPad really is a great pen based tablet.

On that same note, I have been reading about various stylus’ to perhaps find one that would better suite my needs as I am finding that all styli are not created equal. I read a great review of 12 stylus’ from Macworld that I thought you may also find interesting if you, like me, are looking for a new stylus to use with your iPad.

{Image above was created using Penultimate for iPad and the BoxWave capacitive iPad Stylus}

This is a quick review of my newest iPad case acquisition- the Incipio Premium Kickstand in sand/beige ($30). Made of durable ripstop nylon, this is a great case that quickly and easily converts to some great viewing angles and also into perfect typing position! Click the video above to see this case in action.

Miss Trenchcoat and I love iPad cases… and by love I mean we are obsessed. At last count, we have eight cases and two body sleeves for our grand total of two iPads in the household. It is a little excessive, we know, but our cases are used for a plethora of reasons. Some are folio cases with covers to protect the screen which are perfect for when we travel, some are cases with built in stands for watching movies together, and some are minimalist back cases to keep the sleek feel of the iPad intact.

Lately I have found myself using one of those sleek cases for the past few weeks and I am loving it. But this case is special and very very different then any of the other cases we have. While The Pink Mac regularly features cases that we love, most of those cases range from the $50 – $70 range. Now these cases are amazing and have a great level of craftsmanship, however it is obviously a lot of money to invest in a case. This case I am using is different because it cost me a grand total of five dollars (tax not included). I got this case on a whim, it had a nice design, nice feel, and Miss Trenchcoat was getting a pink one so I wanted to match! It really impressed me with the simple design and how it protects the iPad. The rubber feels perfect for gripping and holding, and it surrounds the iPad totally from the back to around the front edge, so it is very hard for dirt and dust to get under the skin of the case. It doesn’t protect the front at all, but with a screen shield on I feel moderately safe leaving the iPad around on a desk or in a drawer. The upside to having no front protection is the iPad is still super thin as intended.

But the point of this article isn’t to review the case, but to remind everyone that those cheap-looking knock-off cases you find in dollar stores may actually turn out to be perfect for your needs. You don’t need to go out spending over $50 for some designer case that you spent hours online researching product reviews of – sometimes it is good to be spontaneous and give the $5 case a shot, because who knows you might end up liking it after all. And at the end of the day, the reason you buy a case for you iPad should be first and foremost: protection. So if it does the same job for less, why not give it a try?