I'll chime in...as an artist, and as someone who has both the Sketchboard Pro and the Darkboard.
I've owned too many iPad drawing pad holder things to count at this point. I've also made my own out of yoga mats! I found a yoga mat that was essentially the same thickness of the iPad. Here's an example of the first one I made...
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I made a few versions of this, but they all essentially were the same. I had tried the bamboo holders from Amazon, and those were okay. I didn't find the bamboo surface all that fun to rest my wrist on for hours at a time, and they all just kind of looked...janky.
Sketchboard Pro rolls around and I backed it on Kickstarter. I liked it, I never loved it. Same issue as the bamboo ones, the hard plastic surface wasn't great, and the legs on that one felt flimsy. I have a "heavy hand," so I always wondered when I would press too hard and snap those damn legs off.
I backed Darkboard, too, and this one, in my opinion, is the better one. It's lighter, MUCH lighter. Sketchboard Pro is 4.5 pounds, while Darkboard is 1.4! It's also smaller, and fits on my desk nicer.
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The sleeve that it comes with is super nice, and AstroPad added in the stand for no additional cost to Kickstarter backers (I actually prefer the angle of the Darkboard stand over the Sketchboard Pro) My only complaint was the charging port didn't have a hole to run the power cord through, so I just drilled one in there myself. Pretty easy, seeing as it's made of foam.
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Expensive? Sure.
But I use this every day, for hours at a time, and it's light enough to take off my desk and sit on the couch with, or take it on the road with me to draw in hotels or on vacation. So far, this is the best drawing pad / cradle I've used for the iPad, but every artist is different and has different needs. This one works best for me.