Marianne Schultz

the musings of a geeky girl

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Video Review: DODOcase BOOKback for the iPad 2

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I’ve finished my video review of the DODOcase BOOKback skin for the iPad 2 and it’s now available on my YouTube channel:


This skin costs $19.95 plus shipping directly from DODOcase. It covers the rear of the iPad to protect it from scratches while still allowing you to use a screen cover like Apple’s own Smart Cover.
Overall, I really like the BOOKback and it’s a keeper for me. It adds good grip to a naked iPad, protects the back from scratches, and is an ideal companion for the Smart Cover if you’re interested in maintaining the iPad 2’s thin profile and don’t need any drop protection. Watch my review to get my full list of pros and cons.
Next up on my review schedule is a Treegloo case for my iPad 2. Treegloo makes hardcover book-style cases for the iPad much like those sold by DODOcase and Portenzo. However, Treegloo offers some unique customization options not available through other companies, like custom images on the inside cover, suede lining for the wood frame that holds the iPad, and more. I chose a standard black exterior, the London Underground map for the interior, red suede lining for the wood frame, and a new closure called the Kinetic Latch. It’s scheduled to arrive this week and I’m already far too excited to receive it.

Video Review: Apple Bumper Case for iPhone 4

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Though I’d actually recorded this video earlier this week, I thought today would be the perfect day to publish it. If you haven’t already heard, Apple announced today at a special press conference that they will be offering a free Bumper case (other cases from 3rd-party manufacturers will also be available to choose from) to all iPhone 4 owners in an attempt to make up for the signal reception issues many have experienced with the device’s new exterior antenna design.

I’ve been using an official Apple Bumper case for the past couple of weeks and I wanted to share my opinion of it. Overall, it’s a very minimalist case that offers little drop protection though it is quite well-designed (which is exactly what I’d expect from Apple when it comes to an accessory for their flagship portable product). In particular, I think it poses a few issues for those who use 3rd-party accessories that connect to the dock connector or headphone jack and I demonstrate my findings in this video.
I don’t think the Bumper case is quite worth $29 given how little protection it provides but you iPhone 4 owners out there won’t have to worry about that since Apple will given you one on the house (or they’ll refund you if you’ve already purchased one). Look for the details on the offer later next week on Apple’s site (I’ll also post a link here when it’s available).
I can replicate the “death grip” on my naked iPhone 4 that causes the cellular data connection to be drastically reduced. The Bumper case does indeed prevent this for me since it prevents my hand from bridging the connection between the two separate antennas that constitute the iPhone 4’s exterior metal band. Though many of you might claim that I’m an Apple apologist/fangirl for saying this, this isn’t a big issue for me. I have read warnings about holding cell phones a certain way in order to avoid “blocking” the cellular antenna in the manuals for most, if not all, of the cell phones I’ve owned before the iPhone. It is a problem faced by all cell phones with internal antennas these days and the iPhone is no different. I’ve never dropped a call because of this issue and it hasn’t impeded my use of my iPhone 4 at all.
Without further ado, here’s my video overview of the Apple Bumper case:

Review of the DODOcase for iPad

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On the day before the iPad was released in the U.S., I placed an order for a DODOcase for my soon-to-arrive iPad. I was attracted to these cases because they look just like Moleskine notebooks and I wanted a case that would both protect and “camouflage” my iPad for use in public and the DODOcase looked like it would be perfect. I received the case just over a week ago and have been using it regularly and I love it, though I do have a couple of minor issues with it. Read my full review of the DODOcase to find out the details and see up-close-and-personal pictures of it in action.

First Look: DODOcase for iPad

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If you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw that I talked about ordering a DODOcase case for my iPad on the day before the iPad was released. I love the look of Moleskine notebooks and wanted at least one case for my iPad that provided a bit of camouflage while using it in public. The DODOcase fit the bill and I placed my order right away. It arrived today (well within the 4-6 week delivery window) and I’m just starting to use it and wanted to post a quick video of it to start off. I will write a full review of it after I spend some time using it regularly.

My first impressions:
  • The case is well-made and doesn’t feel flimsy at all.
  • It fits the iPad very well and the pictures and description of it at Dodocase.com are accurate.
  • It makes my iPad look like a large Moleskine notebook from afar (or even up close if someone doesn’t look closely at the edges to see the cut-outs and the sides of the iPad), which is exactly what I was hoping for.
  • My only durability concern revolves around the four foam pieces in each corner. These serve to hold the iPad in place and they could compress over time and fail to hold the iPad in securely enough. I won’t hazard a guess at how long they’ll hold up, but I’m not extremely worried about them now.
Here’s my first impressions video of the DODOcase for iPad:
The DODOcase costs $49.95 and can be found at the company’s site here.
Questions? Anything specific you want me to cover in my review? Comment on this blog post or send me an email at marianne at macgirl dot net.
DISCLOSURE: I purchased this case with my own money – it was not sent to me as a review unit.

Dirty rotten developers: minor reformation

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I wrote about Matt Rajca, a developer who released an update to his Gazette RSS feed reader app but made it a paid update requiring users of the previous version to pay yet again to get the newest version of the app, a little while ago. At that time, Rajca held firm against the criticism of his actions in that forum thread, stating “It’s just $2.99! Maybe the App Store wouldn’t full of crap [sic] if people would be willing to pay a decent amount of money for quality products” in response at one time. However, he’s since made a vague attempt at amends that I wanted to note.

Matt is now offering promo codes for the latest version of Gazette to those who purchased Gazette 1.X. However, the major catch is that this offer is only valid for MacRumors.com forum members. In order to get the code, he’s asking for a screenshot of your iTunes purchase history showing your previous purchase of Gazette 1.X and your iTunes account email address so that he can have proof of purchase and know where to send the code.
First, I do want to say that I appreciate that he’s making this offer. However, I have not seen him apologize anywhere for his poor treatment of the customers who bought Gazette 1.X, nor does this promo code offer seem to apply to any other customers but those who happen to be members of that forum, and chances are that there are still many forum members who purchased Gazette 1.X and have not seen this offer. I would have hoped for a better, more thorough attempt to reach out to unhappy customers to make things right, as well as some sort of acknowledgement that he didn’t make the best decision to shaft his customers to begin with.
For the record, I have not taken him up on his promo code offer, nor do I plan to do so. As I said before, I am perfectly happy with ByLine as my RSS reader app and I think I’ll even go back to NetNewsWire once the transition to Google Reader synchronization is complete since I found it to be a very competent RSS app as well.