Portenzo iPad 2 Case: Now a Smart Cover

[Xultar]

Wasnt someone here trolling about how beautiful Portenzo's corners were and that they didnt have that fold?

Guess all cases have them - actually Portenzo has even more folds in the corners.

If you are talking about me FIRST I'd like to really examine in a PM your use of the word 'trolling' because unlike others I refuse to put up with peoples BS.

Second, I challenge you to link to the 'trolling' post or quote the 'trolling' post. Because you are either being willfully misleading or you grossly misunderstood what was posted.

 

[SoybeanStasher]

Wasnt someone here trolling about how beautiful Portenzo's corners were and that they didnt have that fold?

Guess all cases have them - actually Portenzo has even more folds in the corners.

Portenzo's corners are flatter, tighter and rounder, though. The Octavo corners look like the corner was snipped off with a straight cut.

If you look at a real Moleskine, it has the same four fold corner that the Portenzo has, although the Moleskine is even flatter and hard to discern (plus the paper backing goes all the way to the edge).

 

[Steviejobz]

Portenzo's corners are flatter, tighter and rounder, though. The Octavo corners look like the corner was snipped off with a straight cut.

If you look at a real Moleskine, it has the same four fold corner that the Portenzo has.

looks like there is a gap between one of the 4 folds on the portenzo and the inside liner. Octavo liner is perfectly flat.

The one major difference is as you said, portenzo rounds off the corner whereas octavo has an angle. probably done to avoid too many folds on the inside cover. But that is a pure aesthetic choice. I like the angle.

Nice case though!

 

[phant0m]

Portenzo put up new pictures of the Composition 2 case on their site.

So pretty. Wish I had $20 extra bucks to spare for the upgrade.

 

[flht]

RCI/SBS,
Are you getting/did you get the camera port? I have sub 3900 order and went with basic Levant (would've preferred Moroccan) with camera port because thought that would be fastest. I haven't heard anything and account shows same as it did right after my order on 3/3. Haven't heard anybody with order in hand or email say they had a camera port....just trying to figure out what is holding things up.

SBS: How's the sound? Was good on first version, but the speaker has been moved and they had to work things a little differently. Looks good though. Thanks for the pics.

TKS

 

[SoybeanStasher]

Oh, I guess I should comment on the function rather than just form.

The Magna Grip magnets work very well. I'd say the amount of force needed to pry it open is about that of the MacBook Pro lid. I also got the strap and it doesn't get in the way too much when it's not strapped around the case. The use case I imagined, in which I strap it for transport and otherwise just rely on the magnets for general use in one location, should be fine.

The auto-wake magnet works perfectly. No different than my Smart Cover.

I can see no issues (weak stress points, lining getting stretched) with folding the case back on itself. You won't get much of a typing angle, but that's what most of us wanted right? A thin-as-possible case.

I popped it in and out a couple times. Pretty painless either way (remember: to pop out, hold the case upside down, open the cover just a tad, and push the back of the case a little bit to put pressure on the back of the iPad).

What can I say? I love it.

 

[SoybeanStasher]

RCI/SBS,
Are you getting/did you get the camera port?

SBS: How's the sound? Was good on first version, but the speaker has been moved and they had to work things a little differently. Looks good though. Thanks for the pics.

No camera port.

Sound isn't too bad. I only tried it briefly while my surrounding coworkers went out to lunch and I didn't want to blast it at full force, but I will say the sound port generally works. It's muffled compared to what I usually do to reflect good sound: hold the iPad naked and cup my hand around the speaker to redirect it towards me. The Portenzo's sound port basically attempts to do the same thing, but the reflective surface is obviously much smaller than a hand.

 

[SoybeanStasher]

I saw this in the Octavo thread:

Everytime I folded the cover around so I could hold it, the screen clicked off. The magnet was coming through the back of the case and activating the smart switch. This was one of the features that I bought it for, and it was rendered completely useless. I had to disable the smart switch just to read my book. Also the same happened when I was typing mode.

I can't get this to happen with my Portenzo. Now I'm just one guy out of hundreds of cases that will be shipping to you all in the coming days/weeks, but I can say with assurance that MY case doesn't exhibit this issue.

 

[Xultar]

So pretty. Wish I had $20 extra bucks to spare for the upgrade.

It is pretty but it isn't worth the $20 bucks. To me it is worth 10 for sure but not $20.

 

[flht]

SJ,
You've got some finely calibrated eye balls. I saw what you were talking about and looked at my Portenzo1 to see what had happened to it. It has the same 4 folds as the new one and there are some minor gaps there as well, but it hasn't lifted at all. My case was put through the paces over Christmas with everybody using my Pad and passing it around. From 3 yrs old to 50, all having a great time. I was cringing as everybody had to double the cover back and I had not been doing that....just being anal.

My wife is now using the Pad1 with Portenzo and she is not careful, she just uses. Folds the cover back flat against itself....hey it's just a cover. Any way the thing is holding up like a champ and the inside material now has a little patina on the corners showing it's class. It's like the farmer's almanac, people pick it up look up what they what to know and put it back on the shelf...most worn book on the shelf.

 

[Apollo231]

I saw this in the Octavo thread:

I can't get this to happen with my Portenzo. Now I'm just one guy out of hundreds of cases that will be shipping to you all in the coming days/weeks, but I can say with assurance that MY case doesn't exhibit this issue.

Oh my... that's good to know, I hope the Octavo fans on this thread get to read that! If the people that cancel and went for Octavo in such a rush had stopped and realize that the reason why Portenzo is backed up in delivering orders was because everybody feels that they have a superior product, they would have gotten a better functional case if they waited... This reminds me of the The Tortoise and the Hare story LOL

 

[Steviejobz]

SJ,
You've got some finely calibrated eye balls. I saw what you were talking about and looked at my Portenzo1 to see what had happened to it. It has the same 4 folds as the new one and there are some minor gaps there as well, but it hasn't lifted at all. My case was put through the paces over Christmas with everybody using my Pad and passing it around. From 3 yrs old to 50, all having a great time. I was cringing as everybody had to double the cover back and I had not been doing that....just being anal.

My wife is now using the Pad1 with Portenzo and she is not careful, she just uses. Folds the cover back flat against itself....hey it's just a cover. Any way the thing is holding up like a champ and the inside material now has a little patina on the corners showing it's class. It's like the farmer's almanac, people pick it up look up what they what to know and put it back on the shelf...most worn book on the shelf.

That's good to hear. I was thinking about getting one for my wife once their backlog cleared up a bit. Glad to hear the first model has held up. And yes, my bionic contact lenses have been put to good use!

 

[Xultar]

I saw this in the Octavo thread:

I can't get this to happen with my Portenzo. Now I'm just one guy out of hundreds of cases that will be shipping to you all in the coming days/weeks, but I can say with assurance that MY case doesn't exhibit this issue.

I would assume that maybe a magnet or two in the thousands they order would be unusually strong.

It doesn't seem to be something that is a recurring issue in bunches of P&Q cases.

If that happned to one person it wouldn't frighten me away from P&Q. If the P&Q iPad 2 case looked as good as their iPad 1 case i'd have put P&Q on my list for sure. I just don't think their quality is as good as Portenzo now.

I did consider them for my iPad 1 but ultimately I went with Portenzo and I'm so happy I did. That is why I'm back with Portenzo for my iPad 2.

 

[Steviejobz]

Oh my... that's good to know, I hope the Octavo fans on this thread get to read that! If the people that cancel and went for Octavo in such a rush had stopped and realize that the reason why Portenzo is backed up in delivering orders was because everybody feels that they have a superior product, they would have gotten a better functional case if they waited... This reminds me of the The Tortoise and the Hare story LOL

I have an Octavo and I can assure you the person who complained about this has a rare issue or installed his iPad upside down.

Several others who have received Octavos have also said this was not an issue. Just to be clear since the post took that complaint out of context. The good news is that if he writes to get a replacement issued, he will get an answer from P&Q the same day.

 

[SINphul]

If we were all being honest here, I think we can all agree that both case offerings (Pad & Quill and Portenzo) are beautiful and an excellent choice for your iPad. The differences are only in the minute details, which come down to pure user preference.

At the end of the day, I decided to stick with Portenzo...so at this point, all I care about is when the hell I'm going to get my case, and why some people who ordered well after me have already had their cases shipped

 

[Apollo231]

I have an Octavo and I can assure you the person who complained about this has a rare issue or installed his iPad upside down.

Several others who have received Octavos have also said this was not an issue. Just to be clear since the post took that complaint out of context. The good news is that if he writes to get a replacement issued, he will get an answer from P&Q the same day.

And I'm sure he will get an answer the same day lol but how can we know that we don't work for either companies . Besides some companies have more business than others that might be why P&Q is prone to answer emails in a timely manner or give it that job task to somebody that might not know whats happening in the shop. Maybe Portenzo should leave answer emails to somebody, but hey, Darin is a passionate guy, he likes to answer them personally, it is his business after all.

So what did you end up getting Steviejobz? P&Q or Portenzo? I'm kind of curious...

 

[flht]

SBS,
Tks for the update. If RCI's is also sans camera port, the port my be the issue for my order. Who knows what the production process is.

I've been doing the same thing with my hand for a sound reflector, pretty effective. I wondered about Portenzo1 and why they chose 3, now 4 slots, versus routing out the whole space. I can only assume they experimented and either it sounds better or they were concerned with removing too much framing material. I don't think it would be the latter with all the other access ports. The sound port is one thing I believe P&Q has probably done better. They say theirs is patent pending so maybe our boys just decided not to go there.

I forgot how effective that little reflector is until I got the iPad2 and it wasn't there....that's when the cupped hand went it to action. The sound ports are one of the things that has kept me from going with another style cover. I watch a fair amount of video on this crazy thing.

Enjoy as I'm sure you will.

 

[Xultar]

If we were all being honest here, I think we can all agree that both case offerings (Pad & Quill and Portenzo) are beautiful and an excellent choice for your iPad. The differences are only in the minute details, which come down to pure user preference.

At the end of the day, I decided to stick with Portenzo...so at this point, all I care about is when the hell I'm going to get my case, and why some people who ordered well after me have already had their cases shipped

It could depend on options and or whether or not they had one made that a customer cancelled...that they could just send out right away.

The good thing is that they are sending stuff out.

 

[MrMac'n'Cheese]

What is this alano people speak of? The basic entry-level black iPad case?

Those are not real leather, those are faux leather.

Honestly, whether it's high end leather, or paper mâché, it's all good as long as these cases are so beautifully crafted.

 

[Steviejobz]

And I'm sure he will get an answer the same day lol but how can we know that we don't work for either companies . Besides some companies have more business than others that might be why P&Q is prone to answer emails in a timely manner or give it that job task to somebody that might not know whats happening in the shop. Maybe Portenzo should leave answer emails to somebody, but hey, Darin is a passionate guy, he likes to answer them personally, it is his business after all.

So what did you end up getting Steviejobz? P&Q or Portenzo? I'm kind of curious...

Well I paid for both but only received my P&Q so far

I have a cancel request in with Darin and awaiting response. Credit card still charged. If backlog clears up may get one of these for my wife who is already begging me for her own iPad.

 

[mysterygirl]

SBS,
Tks for the update. If RCI's is also sans camera port, the port my be the issue for my order. Who knows what the production process is.

I've been doing the same thing with my hand for a sound reflector, pretty effective. I wondered about Portenzo1 and why they chose 3, now 4 slots, versus routing out the whole space. I can only assume they experimented and either it sounds better or they were concerned with removing too much framing material. I don't think it would be the latter with all the other access ports. The sound port is one thing I believe P&Q has probably done better. They say theirs is patent pending so maybe our boys just decided not to go there.

I forgot how effective that little reflector is until I got the iPad2 and it wasn't there....that's when the cupped hand went it to action. The sound ports are one of the things that has kept me from going with another style cover. I watch a fair amount of video on this crazy thing.

Enjoy as I'm sure you will.

The Portenzo sound port has been patent pending since the iPad 1 (I've seen a reference to it on their website--I think their sound port has a specific name as well). I'm also interested to see how well it's implemented and how well it sounds! I've also (somewhat surprisingly) been watching a lot of video on my iPad.

 

[Apollo231]

Well I paid for both but only received my P&Q so far

I have a cancel request in with Darin and awaiting response. Credit card still charged. If backlog clears up may get one of these for my wife who is already begging me for her own iPad.

Nice, it could be cool to do a picture review one next to each other if you get the Mrs one ;-) A picture does say a lot more than words can.

 

[mysterygirl]

What is this alano people speak of? The basic entry-level black iPad case?

Those are not real leather, those are faux leather.

Honestly, whether it's high end leather, or paper mâché, it's all good as long as these cases are so beautifully crafted.

There are references to the Alano in other Portenzo threads on this forum and I think some various information around the web. It's pure leather--basically, a thickly cut piece of leather to which the frame, strap, etc is attached. It looks beautiful in pictures, but I think when I first looked at it a few weeks ago, it was quite pricey ($125, I think). They also have other "exotics" which are talked about in the other threads. Some really beautiful items--boar, ostrich, stingray. Again, there are random pics floating around and they are very impressive! In fact, I think these types of items are likely one the reasons Portenzo has done so well compared to some makers of similar products. I think if you look at pics posted on their Facebook page, you may see a few of these.

 

[Xultar]

There are references to the Alano in other Portenzo threads on this forum and I think some various information around the web. It's pure leather--basically, a thickly cut piece of leather to which the frame, strap, etc is attached. It looks beautiful in pictures, but I think when I first looked at it a few weeks ago, it was quite pricey ($125, I think). They also have other "exotics" which are talked about in the other threads. Some really beautiful items--boar, ostrich, stingray. Again, there are random pics floating around and they are very impressive! In fact, I think these types of items are likely one the reasons Portenzo has done so well compared to some makers of similar products. I think if you look at pics posted on their Facebook page, you may see a few of these.

OHH MM GGG. Thanks. That is the case I want!!!!! I contacted Darin via email a few weeks ago and he said it was coming. OMG. I would hate to spend that much but I want it soooo bad!

 

[Xultar]

What is this alano people speak of? The basic entry-level black iPad case?

Those are not real leather, those are faux leather.

Honestly, whether it's high end leather, or paper mâché, it's all good as long as these cases are so beautifully crafted.

And you know the Alano is not real leather how?