I don’t know about the rest of the Gadgeteer team, but I feel like it’s raining iPad cases these days. Don’t believe me? Well, it’s a Saturday afternoon at 4:30pm and just a few minutes ago I heard someone walking on my deck and when I went upstairs to see who it was, a Fedex truck was driving away and a box with another iPad case was left behind. To avoid drowning in iPad cases, we’re going to post one review per day until we run out. First up is the Hard Candy Cases iPad Bubble Sleeve.
The iPad Bubble Sleeve from Hard Candy Cases is a semi-hard shell zippered case with a tough canvas exterior that reminds me of a LEGO brick. The case is available in Pretty Pink, Black Luster and Gold Green. As you can see, I was sent the Pink version.
Unzipping the sleeve with the dual zippers reveals a soft Black knit interior with a panel of small EVA-foam padded squares on the screen side. The other side is designed to hold the iPad in place with Red rubber corners.
These corners appear to be sewn in…
But in reality, they have a Velcro bottom that allows you to adjust their location. I should note that the first sample of the sleeve that I was sent from Hard Candy Cases had these items glued in. One of them had come loose in transit and managed to get sticky residue all over the interior. I contacted them about this problem and am guessing this is their solution.
When I first saw the Bubble Sleeve on Hard Candy’s site, I thought the corners held the iPad in place so that it wouldn’t fall out. This isn’t true. The corners really don’t do much at all. I even tried moving them around so that they would be as tight around the iPad as possible – this had little effect.
I don’t think the Bubble Sleeve works that well as a play through case and in my opinion, the price is about $20 too much. But given the rigidity of the sleeve and its padding, this case performs very well as protective transport type of case (even though there is no room for the AC charger). For example, I would feel comfortable using it to hold my iPad inside my luggage on a trip.
Have you found your perfect everyday iPad case yet? My quest continues.
Product Information
| Price: | $49.95 |
| Manufacturer: | Hard Candy Cases |
| Pros: |
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| Cons: |
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I ordered one of these from Amazon. It had the same glue problem, which I had read about in the comments, but really wanted the case anyway. I could tell the corners were sliding when I opened the case and the glue had smeared into the inside of the case. Peeling them off got more glue dripped around.
I figured that a replacement from Amazon would only come with the same problem. Fortunately, I contacted the company, and they sent me a whole new case with the new sewn in feet. They also offer to replace just the feet if that suits the customer.
It seems like a well made case. I was drawn to it because it’s very protective, as you noted. It seemed like the only case I saw that had the firm exterior and wasn’t just neoprene. Also, the corners are moveable to accommodate my Belkin Grip Vue case. Maybe I’m being overly paranoid, but my daily work bag is a Timbuk2 messenger and things end up just rattling around in there, so I worry. Don’t actually have an iPad, because I waited for the 3G and now they are very hard to find! Hopefully my reservation at the store will come up soon. I placed the Grip Vue in the Hard Candy case, and it seems to hold pretty well. The weight of the iPad might change things, but maybe the Grip will make the corners hold better. Hard to say until I actually get one.
It’s a shame they had this glue problem, but it’s really nice that they are standing by their product and making it right. From my exchange of messages with them, it sounds like the glue releases in certain climate conditions.
@Tamara Thank you for your comments. You’ll have to let us know what you think of the sleeve once you get your iPad.
Soon, I hope! We put our reservations in two weeks ago. Stopped by the Apple store Saturday, one of the staff said he’d been seeing 2-3 week waits for the reservations. So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for some time this week.
Darn Apple and their popularity. The Apple store guy thinks it has to do with availability of the components.