Now, not all iPad cases are created equal. There are sleeves, socks, murses and manbags, folios and more, each all offering their own pros and cons. I had next to no choice at all from where I procured the iPad, so ended up getting a Gecko Glove silicone case to get me through and protect the ‘Pad until I found something better.  (By the way, the Gecko Glove – okay for a silicone case: Nice and grippy, manly, but pretty heavy! Comes with a crappy screen protector, which I failed to get on correctly, so it went in the bin)

Pretty much all the Australian Apple resellers I’ve had a look at have a pretty lame selection of cases. There was the rare-as-hens-teeth Apple case which fit my requirements except for the sexy factor. There was a nasty Belkin leather folio case I found at Dick Smith. But then I discovered the Macally Bookcase. It was sleek, pretty sexy, similar to the Apple case, reasonably priced and had overall good reviews! So I snapped one up from a seller on eBay and two days ago it arrived in the mail from San Francisco.

It initially lived up to my expectations. It’s made of a suede-like material with microfiber on the inside to completely protect the iPad. The iPad is mounted with a plastic frame with protruding corners that kind of prop the iPad in place. I wouldn’t say it snaps into place, it kind of pushes in, snugly, but doesn’t feel insecure and there’s no way the iPad is going to slip out of its leathery home like what some Incase (and its counterfeit cousins) users are complaining about. It also lets you prop up the iPad for typing or watching videos (very similar to the Apple case) which is very handy. It’s a very slim and contoured case, as you can see by the photos too. No room for a pen or business card holders on this one.

On the downside, however, there were a couple of things I am a bit miffed about. Firstly, the case had a strong glue odour when I took it out of the box. A day later that smell is barely noticable. So that suede-like material is definitly not REAL suede

As soon as I removed the case from its packaging I noticed a small, dried yellow mark on the back of the case (which was there from the factory) and scratched it then attempted to dab it off with some water. Since I didn’t really grow up in the 70s, I don’t know much about suede and it seemed that I’d stained the case by doing that! Therefore I’ve come to the conclusion that suede-like materials only look good when you keep them in a sterile environment. This is pretty poor from a product designed to protect another product from dirt, scrapes and bumps. But I did find a solution – an $11 can of ScotchGuard from the supermarket. (This stuff is great, it keeps anything made of fabric protected from grease, oil, stains and practically everything!)

After having the Bookcase for a couple of days I’ve noticed the front of the case slightly curling upwards. There is a small chance this could have been as a result of the ScotchGuard, but I’ld almost rule that out as impossible to be honest. And last but not least, one last gripe I have is that the case’s edging cheapens it a bit. You have a fine product that looks fantastic, and you finish it by sandwiching together 3 layers of materials with some cheap looking stitching? Great.

End of the day, it’s a nice case that has a good design and appearance, as long as you protect it from the outset with ScotchGuard because otherwise it’s a dirt magnet. It’s sturdy enough to protect the iPad but its finishing has a bit of a cheap look to it on the edges.  It ain’t no Baja case but you get what you pay for, and I’m happy with it!

• The hole for the headphone socket on the outer shell doesn’t provide enough clearance for the plug footprint of my headphones..  This can be easily remedied with a Dremel and a 953 Aluminium Oxide grinding stone on a low speed so it wouldn’t melt the plastic.
• The inner shell has a deformity right underneath the docking connector (green arrow in photo) so it kinda lifts up a little around that point letting dust in. Sigh.  Since I’ve lost the receipt, and everytime I’ve been in Optus they only have gay colours in stock to replace it with, well I just gotta live with it – life’s too short I guess

Finally…

• The bridge of the inner connector (red arrow) that sits above the dock connector has started scratching the metal band on the iPhone. I’m not sure why but I presume dust gets in and rubs against the metal – scratching up the iPhone which is why I bought the case in the case in the first place!

The way I fixed it was…PVA glue.  PVA is safe, dries translucent, and is easy to remove (you just rub it off with your finger) and is pretty easy to apply.  In the garage, from other projects, I had a bottle of PVA from Bunnings and the smallest paintbrush I could find (1/8″) which is about the same width as a nailpolish brush. Just brush a layer or two of that shit onto the metal band of your iPhone – you could go the whole way around, or do what I did and just do the bottom side since it was the only part being scratched up.   Be careful not to get PVA into the seam between the band and the glass, I think it will be hard to remove.

Give it 10 minutes to dry, touch test it and whack that case back on!  Job done, back to drinking beer.