I never understood people who cover their iPads/iPhones/etc up. I've always used mine naked. Sure I end up getting couple scratches here and there and sometimes I even drop it. But damn, it's nothing more than a toy and I'll most likely get a new one next year or at the latest, in 2 years. I swear some people treat it like it's more precious than a baby.
If you plan on selling it to upgrade next year, but want to use the device without babying it or keeping it in a bulky case, then a skin makes sense in my opinion.
Personally, I would be annoyed if there were a scratch on the display, but wouldn't be too concerned about the bezel or the back of the device.
Frankly, I quite like the idea of using a device until it "dies" or is no longer of any use, and have it build up a patina over time.
Something like
this:
Unfortunately for me, I like to keep up-to-date with technology, and this early in the life of devices like the iPad, the year-on-year changes are pretty massive and have warranted an upgrade each time. Next year probably will too, as they'll hopefully put in a CPU & GPU capable of driving the retina display at speeds as quick or faster than the iPad 2.
My new iPad 3 came out of the box with a scratch on the back of it though, and I'm unsure about what I want to do with it. I don't have any dead/stuck pixels, dust under the screen, or severe backlight bleeding (I had to exchange my iPad 2 three times) so I don't really want to go through the hassles of exhanges to get a new one without any problems, and frankly I don't like the waste when doing that. It's going to hurt resale value though...
I didn't use any type of case on my iPad 2, and managed to avoid any marks, but I'm thinking about buying a sleeve for this one to make it easier to carry around. I rarely took the iPad 2 out as it was a WiFi model, so I would wrap a fleece or something around it in a backpack, but I went with the 4G model this time and think I'm probably more likely to take it out and want a proper case now.
Haven't decided what kind of sleeve I want to get yet though.
- I like the look of this AMI case, but it has exposed metal zips, which eliminate it as a possibility. (also the price! )
- These Selvedge Denim sleeves look pretty nice, but there's minimal padding there.
- Some of the ColcaSac sleeves look nice (the monochromatic ones) and they're definitely well padded, but I'm not keen on Velcro...
- I like that this Sena Leather Sleeve has a magnet in it (I'm surprised there aren't many more "smart" sleeves out there) but ironically, I think it ruins the look.
Any other sleeve suggestions? Personally I wouldn't want one made from synthetic materials. I feel like you can spend a bit more on a sleeve than any other type of iPad case, because the general dimensions are unlikely to change any time soon. Many people are still using sleeves purchased for their original iPad with the new one.
There's a few wool felt sleeves that I've seen which also look quite nice, but I haven't yet found one that makes the list. A lot of them are using snap fasteners which will put pressure on the device for example.
