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X-Doria Dash Folio for iPad mini: review and giveaway
If there's one thing that lets loose a flood of goodies from accessory manufacturers, it's a new Apple device with a different form factor. We're starting to see a lot of new cases for the iPad mini, including the Belkin Portable Keyboard Case I reviewed on Friday. X-Doria has released a sweet leather case for the mini as part of the Dash Folio line ($39.99) that is worth a look by owners of Apple's little tablet. Design I'm impressed with the physical design of the Dash Folio with one exception that I'll discuss in a minute. For the most part, this is your typical folio-type case with a leather exterior and a flexible plastic casing that holds the iPad mini in place. There are magnets in the cover to turn the iPad mini on and off as you open and close the cover, and X-Doria threw in a nice touch with an elastic band that keeps the cover closed while you're in transit. Once the case is open, that plastic casing has a small ridge that slides into any one of a number of thin slots embossed into the cover. This provides a way to use the case as a handy landscape orientation iPad mini stand. Functionality The construction of the Dash Folio, like many of the other X-Doria products we've reviewed, is excellent. The plastic casing is easy to slide on and off of your iPad mini, but holds it into place securely. That casing also does a great job of protecting the sides and back of your mini, complete with covers for the volume and on/off/sleep/wake buttons. The stand capability of the Dash Folio works great. I put my iPad mini into the case while going for barbecued ribs last night (yum!), and having the stand available made the device easier to use with one hand -- and I was able to complete dinner without coating my screen or the case with barbecue sauce. %Gallery-179049% The magnets in the cover do their job well, if you have them lined up properly with the right side of the iPad mini. I found that I needed to listen for the "latch" noise to be sure that the iPad was actually turned off, and sometimes needed to scoot the cover back or forth a few millimeters to get it to turn off the mini. My only major complaint? Well, the case comes in two colors -- black and brown. The black case uses a black plastic casing to hold the mini, while the brown case uses a fluorescent yellow-green plastic casing. Why fluorescent yellow-green? I don't know, but I wish they had used something less ... radioactive looking! Conclusion There are a lot of cases available for the iPad mini, and if you're looking for attractive, inexpensive, and functional mini protection, the X-Doria Dash Folio is worth considering. Pros Relatively inexpensive Plastic casing provides a lot of protection for the iPad mini Fit and finish is excellent Stand works well Magnets in cover turn your iPad on and off Cons Yellow-green plastic used in the brown leather case is eye-jarring Magnets don't always turn off the iPad the way they're supposed to Who is it for? iPad mini owners who like the look and feel of leather, the protection of plastic, and the functionality of a case that doubles as a stand. Giveaway Our loss is your gain! If you don't happen to mind that yellow-green plastic, enter this giveaway and the X-Doria Dash Folio could be yours. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before February 20, 2013 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive an X-Doria Dash Folio for iPad mini valued at $39.99. Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
X-Doria Dash Folio Leather, Sleeve Stand: review and giveaway
The flood of sleeves, cases and accessories for the new iPad continues unabated, and we recently received two new products from X-Doria. The Dash Folio Leather (US$49.99) and Sleeve Stand ($29.99) can protect your iPad and give it a way to stand up on its own as well. Dash Folio Leather The Dash Folio Leather takes the time-honored folio case design, adds the flap design of Apple's original iPad case, and ties it up in a nice leather package. There's nothing too exciting about the design that hasn't already been done before by a thousand other manufacturers; the cover includes the requisite magnets to turn your device on and off, there are card slots and a space for papers in the cover, and you can shoot photos with the back-facing camera through a hole. The leather comes in black, tan, and white, and is smartly stitched; the case is lined with a felt material that's a bit different from the usual microfiber. If there's anything that is out of the ordinary with the Dash Folio Leather, it's that the leather bezel that surrounds the iPad to hold it into the case is much better made than many that I've seen. Pros Well constructed On/off magnets in the cover Cons Really nothing new to see here. Move along Sleeve Stand While the Dash Folio Leather is rather pedestrian, albeit well-made, the Sleeve Stand is definitely innovative. The idea is deceptively simple: take a zippered iPad sleeve made out of a nylon material, add some nice padding to it to keep your iPad riding comfortably, and then add a pair of stiff plastic flaps to hold onto your iPad while you open the case wide. You get all of the protection of an iPad sleeve and the convenience of an iPad stand, all in one inexpensive product. Like the Ford Model T, the Sleeve Stand comes only in black -- but the interior can be gray, light green, or pink. I like the interior padding of the Sleeve Stand. It's like bubble wrap, except more permanent since you can't actually pop the bubbles to annoy your spouse or roommate. Although I obviously didn't give it a try, I think the padding would stand up to a pretty good drop or bump. Pros A lot of good padding on the inside The design is unique and useful Two zipper pulls make it easy to open the sleeve and grab your iPad Very good protection for the money Cons Exterior colors other than black would be nice %Gallery-158401% Giveaway To keep TUAW Labs from imploding into a black hole from the density of review of equipment we receive, we give away all of the items reviewed to our readers. It's your chance to get your hands on some protection for your iPad 2 or new iPad. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before June 18, 2012 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. You may enter only once. Two winners will be selected. One will receive an X-Doria Dash Folio Leather valued at $49.99, while the other will receive an X-Doria Sleeve Stand valued at $29.99. Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
