Portenzo iPad 2 Case: Now a Smart Cover

[kettybear]

More pics

Here's some more pictures. I took like 16. The first picture in this post shows that the ipad sits flush with the case. It does "sink" into the case by about 3mm. My camera hole is misaligned as you can see.

Also, notice the fabric binding is not extended to the same length on the front and back cover. It kinda bothers me but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like that.

 

[kettybear]

More pictures

Everything pictured here looks fine. Corners are nicely folded. The sound and lock button are hard to reach but that's because the iPad's tapered.

 

[kettybear]

Splinters

Here's the picture of my two splinters. The bottom one worries me a little. I hope it doesn't split anymore than it already has.

 

[VMicelli]

IMO, ugly and cheap

 

[glen e]

looks like most of these coming out now need a quick touch up with 200-400 grit wet dry sandpaper - don't be afraid to do it...

 

[romad7]

looks like most of these coming out now need a quick touch up with 200-400 grit wet dry sandpaper - don't be afraid to do it...

Reminds me of buying unfinished furniture. For some people it's part of the bonding process and makes it personal. For others it is a PITA and they dont want anything to do with it.

I guess for me, I love the case and whatever touchups I have to do are preferable to buying any number of Chinese robot made plastic crap out there.

 

[Xultar]

That wood looks like ---- Portenzo should be ashamed. It looks like found scrap wood. They must have contracted out for mass produced ----

I guess they've decided to cash in instead of producing quality products. This is truly sad.

 

[Nuvi]

That wood looks like ---- Portenzo should be ashamed. It looks like found scrap wood. They must have contracted out for mass produced ----

I guess they've decided to cash in instead of producing quality products. This is truly sad.

These cases are now turning out ugly as hell! WTF! 2 months wait and now they start producing crap. I would rather wait 3 months then get these products that are far cry from the originals.

 

[club1820]

Okay I resized the pictures and here's my case.
Three things that aren't perfect
--Camera hole is misaligned a bit
--splinters
--no foam for the sound chamber

Everything else looks good though

Are the splinters by the headphone jack? otherwise don't see any. this area looks like it could have used a better sanding job. you can probably do yourself.

Edit: saw you next post of splinters. looks bad. I would be worried.

Camera alignment would bother me a bit. not centered but still functional.

 

[club1820]

Also, notice the fabric binding is not extended to the same length on the front and back cover. It kinda bothers me but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like that.

That is just unprofessional. they should be the same!

 

[club1820]

The sound and lock button are hard to reach but that's because the iPad's tapered.

could it be because your iPad is sunk in? Did it automatically sink in on install or did you push it further down? Maybe if it was more flush with the wood the sound button would be more accessible?

 

[club1820]

The bottom one worries me a little. I hope it doesn't split anymore than it already has.

can you try gluing that down with some wood glue? I would try that instead of pulling it off.

 

[club1820]

Reminds me of buying unfinished furniture. For some people it's part of the bonding process and makes it personal. For others it is a PITA and they dont want anything to do with it.

I guess for me, I love the case and whatever touchups I have to do are preferable to buying any number of Chinese robot made plastic crap out there.

True. But to an limited extent. some fine sanding before applying satin seal is fine. But to be missing the foam, misaligned camera hole and lining, and most of all those splinters! Geeze.

 

[club1820]

So Kettybear, at the very least, does your super duper secret power button work?!?!?

 

[club1820]

For those of you who have had your iPad2 cases for awhile or even those who purchased for their iPad1 and have had for some time, - can you speak to the durability of these cases? I'm wondering how these have held up to being dropped, banged, sat on, etc. Have they held up?

also, - I havent seen any mention of the microphone. has anyone noticed any difference in function when they installed their iPad in these cases?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Nuvi]

I looked at Portenzo "stealth/hidden power button" video at YouTube. Even on the 23 1/2 model you see that the camera hole is misaligned. It seems that the change in material and the frame manufacturing has really brought their quality down. Compare the latest pics on this site with the pics with original birch frames on Portenzo site and you'll see a huge difference in quality.

After seeing the pics posted here I emailed (with pics) Portenzo and told them that they should cancel my order if they can't deliver the quality that is expected and shown in their website. I've waited 7 weeks now but I would have been happy to do that if at end of this wait I would have perfect case in my hands. Now it seems we get some crap quality cases with splinters, rough cutting, lack of sanding, missing foams from sound port and misaligned camera holes.

Now I get why Portenzo did this! They wanted to cut down the waiting time so they decided to make their cases sloppy and ugly so nobody wants them. Great strategy!

Edit: I think it's clear that there are some serious problems with the quality of maple plywood. It looks like some junk wood that wouldn't be used in any visible place. They need to bring back the birch plywood if they want to keep producing quality. The thing with Russian birch or maple (for that matter) is that its grown in cold climates so the its more dense and tougher then wood grown in warmer climates. However, its also expensive. The maple frame used is uneven and jaggy, your classic junk wood. The old birch frame looks so much much better. Take a look at the wood layers and you notice a huge difference. Also the colour on new maple frame looks dirty.

 

[kettybear]

could it be because your iPad is sunk in? Did it automatically sink in on install or did you push it further down? Maybe if it was more flush with the wood the sound button would be more accessible?

I pushed the iPad all the way down but it's really hard to get it to not sink in. I get one side sinking in deeper than the other if I try to make it flush with the wood so I just pushed the whole iPad all the way in. The power button does work and there's no way to NOT push the iPad in when I try to ht the power button. A firm press on the corner is needed.

As for the splinters...I pulled them off. They weren't that big. I think the closeup shots made them look bigger. The bottom one was about a third of a toothpick in width.

 

[glen e]

I pushed the iPad all the way down but it's really hard to get it to not sink in. I get one side sinking in deeper than the other if I try to make it flush with the wood so I just pushed the whole iPad all the way in. The power button does work and there's no way to NOT push the iPad in when I try to ht the power button. A firm press on the corner is needed.

As for the splinters...I pulled them off. They weren't that big. I think the closeup shots made them look bigger. The bottom one was about a third of a toothpick in width.

screw all this - buy/borrow a dremel tool with a mini drum sander head and cut a notch yourself for free - using the mini drum will make the cut far cleaner than the way they are even making the case these days...this should take all of 3 minutes...

 

[kettybear]

I looked at Portenzo "stealth/hidden power button" video at YouTube. Even on the 23 1/2 model you see that the camera hole is misaligned. It seems that the change in material and the frame manufacturing has really brought their quality down. Compare the latest pics on this site with the pics with original birch frames on Portenzo site and you'll see a huge difference in quality.

After seeing the pics posted here I emailed (with pics) Portenzo and told them that they should cancel my order if they can't deliver the quality that is expected and shown in their website. I've waited 7 weeks now but I would have been happy to do that if at end of this wait I would have perfect case in my hands. Now it seems we get some crap quality cases with splinters, rough cutting, lack of sanding, missing foams from sound port and misaligned camera holes.

Now I get why Portenzo did this! They wanted to cut down the waiting time so they decided to make their cases sloppy and ugly so nobody wants them. Great strategy!

Edit: I think it's clear that there are some serious problems with the quality of maple plywood. It looks like some junk wood that wouldn't be used in any visible place. They need to bring back the birch plywood if they want to keep producing quality. The thing with Russian birch or maple (for that matter) is that its grown in cold climates so the its more dense and tougher then wood grown in warmer climates. However, its also expensive. The maple frame used is uneven and jaggy, your classic junk wood. The old birch frame looks so much much better. Take a look at the wood layers and you notice a huge difference. Also the colour on new maple frame looks dirty.

I agree that the maple plywood does not look as good as the birch or bamboo. The quality of the materials has gone down as well as the care taken into producing these cases. For the $90 I spend on this case, I expected better materials and workmanship. The fact my spine binding is not centered (so it's the same length on both covers) really bothers me. My case has all these cosmetic imperfections but I don't think they're enough to warrant a return. *sigh*

Update: I complained about the spine and the lack of foam by the sound chamber on Portenzo's wall and they're shipping me a replacement. I didn't even ask for one. At least the customer service is good. =)

 

[club1820]

After seeing the pics posted here I emailed (with pics) Portenzo and told them that they should cancel my order if they can't deliver the quality that is expected and shown in their website.

please let us know their response, if any. thanks.

 

[club1820]

Update: I complained about the spine and the lack of foam by the sound chamber on Portenzo's wall and they're shipping me a replacement. I didn't even ask for one. At least the customer service is good. =)

yes, I agree their CS has been good. Quick favorable response. they just need to work on their Quality Control a bit.

 

[Jasmynp]

Folks I ordered a Porenzon and decided to cancel because I didn't want to wait. I ordered a P&Q Octavo. It shipped in no time and is great quality. Great costumer service too. They offer a few less options but that was a decent trade off for me. If you're still holding out or plan on canceling your order, give P&Q another look.

 

[Toonbay]

Ordered mine a couple of days ago but just cancelled tonight, felt 6 weeks wait plus possible 2-3 weeks delivery to UK was too long to wait and also the last view posts on here about quality etc made my mind up. Guys at portenzo replied to e mail very quick and made refund to paypal so that was good

 

[club1820]

Ordered mine a couple of days ago but just cancelled tonight, felt 6 weeks wait plus possible 2-3 weeks delivery to UK was too long to wait and also the last view posts on here about quality etc made my mind up. Guys at portenzo replied to e mail very quick and made refund to paypal so that was good

Did you let them know why? Maybe that will help for the rest of us who are still holding out for hopefully a good case - long wait withstanding.

 

[Nuvi]

please let us know their response, if any. thanks.

I got a very quick reply from Portenzo. They told me that they are very aware of what is being posted in the forums. They also told that it seems that out of all of the cases they are sending out they have only had a few issues with some of the cases.

In my email I told them that if they can't deliver the quality that is shown on their site gallery then they better just cancel my order since if I get crap quality like we've now seen then I'll just send it back and plaster the Internet with pictures of this case. So it was up to them. Either deliver quality that we've come to expect from them or cancel. I also told them I would rather wait three moths for this piece of functional art then get some sub par quality in a day.

They responded that when you receive your case and you feel that there is an imperfection that we are not happy with they would hope that we would reach out to them first before we plaster the internet with "some minor defects that they would be willing to make correct for us."

In all honesty I feel that the defects we've seen are not minor. Single cases have had multiple defects which for me at least is telling that there is / has been major problems with quality control. Let's face it. We easily end up waiting 8 weeks for these cases and we can end up paying over $100 for them so we should get the highest quality iPad case we are expecting to get. Anyway, I'm still waiting for my case so they didn't cancel my order which is great. I truly hope they can deliver! What ever I end up getting I'll be comparing to Portenzo web gallery. In the end, their work quality will speak for them. If they deliver quality they get the praise but if they deliver crap they have deal with the consequences.

I have to admit I'm Portenzo fan but I'm also far from being some mindless fan boy. I truly hope they can deliver the quality we expect. Anyway, what ever happens I'll post close up pics of my case on this forum with relevant comparison pics found on their site.