We love our gadgets and can't live without them, alas, gadgets are power hungry little buggers that are in constant need of feeding. Taking them into the wilderness without the means of plugging into the grid can be difficult and even dangerous for the most part. If you need to rely on a portable GPS, phone and the like, then the Joos Orange by Joos might be that life saving gadget that can look after itself. The Joos Orange is a portable solar power charger, or in other words, a life saver for the tech savvy. It's a power station that can create virtually infinite free power as long as the sun shines up high. We've put it thru the test, and found some interesting results. The full review is right below!
I'm a big fan of Sena and their leather goods are one of the best around. I got the chance to review Sena's latest leather offerings for the iPad 2, the UltraSlim. A fine leather sleeve that is one of the slimmest I've tried yet. Sena uses very high quality leather in all of their cases and sleeves, the Ultraslim is no exception. Anyone who owns an iPad 2 and uses it in conjunction with a Smart Cover knows its limitations of protection. The UltraSlim isn't here to give you constant maximum protection, but what it does offer is the elegance of non-bulky carrying and storing protection that some of you may be on the lookout for. Be sure to check out the full review right after the jump to see if the UltraSlim is worth your hard earned cash. (see end of post for the updated review).
Here's another Smart Cover compatible sleeve for the iPad 2 for those who just can't live without it. There are numerous accessories that are now Smart Cover compatible with the iPad 2, and SGP's latest and greatest Illuzion sleeve is one of those accessories. The Illuzion sleeve is made out of genuine leather that comes in all the same colors as the Smart Covers so you can perfectly match the Illuzion leather sleeve with your iPad 2's Smart Cover. If you're looking for a nice leather sleeve for your iPad 2, you should check out the full review right after the break.
The Apple Smart Cover is the official "case" for the iPad 2 that was designed together with the iPad 2 from day one. Picking up from the older iPad Case that was made for the first generation iPad, the Smart Cover takes on a similar front design and feel. The polyurethane Smart Cover feels exactly like the older iPad Case while the leather version of the Smart Cover does not feel like expensive leather. Are the Smart Covers really all that magical as Apple says? Find out in the full review right after the cut.
The Sena Argyle has got be the most amazing and elegant looking pouch for the iPhone 4. It combines italian leather and embroidered argyle pattern for a very sophisticated look, not to mention it's a big attention grabber. Typically with pouch style cases you cannot have any other case on your iPhone 4 in order for it to fit into the Argyle. The Argyle has a very snug tight fit which is a very secure so your iPhone 4 will not slide out by itself. You can however use a back skin and a screen protector on your iPhone 4 with the Argyle without any problems. At first the Argyle has a very tight fit and requires you to push a but hard to insert your iPhone 4 inside. After a week or so of daily use, the Argyle will break-in a bit to completely form fit the shape of the iPhone 4 which will make it easier to fit.
It's not everyday you see a case like this around. This is the iSkinVu case for the iPad and it isn't your typical iPad case, this case is an eye catcher. The Vu looks amazing with it's semi-transparant color combination and unique detailed pattern that is found all over the case. The Vu features a hybrid combination of hard clear plastic and a colored TPU material which is also known as Thermoplastic, a semi-flexible rubbery plastic. This combination of hard plastic and TPU materials make the Vu a great all around protective case against bumps, scratches and even small drops. iSkin's Vu has Microban protection to help keep the colors from fading and discoloring over time, and it also helps keep germs off. If you're using Apple's iPad Dock, the Vu has a back dock cover which slides on and off do allow for docking.
While looks are great, function is always a big thing with cases, and the Vu does have a few negative aspects. The Vu has a pretty thick TPU that covers part of the iPad's bezel and fully covers the bottom home button area. This is great for protection but it also makes for very hard and somewhat frustrating installation. Once I got the Vu on my iPad I noticed that there is a good lip all around the iPad's bezel, however these lips did not completely sit flush on the glass surface. Because of the thickness of the material it looks like it lifts a bit off the surface. This isn't a big issue with comfort but it does make it a bit hard to press down on the side volume buttons because they are fully covered. Also, the volume and rotation switch are covered with flaps that you need to dig in with your finger nails just to get to those covered areas.
The Vu features a back dock cover which you can remove in order to dock your iPad with Apple's iPad Dock. But this cover is a big pain to get in and off and it just made me not even want to take it off ever. But once you do have this dock cover installed on the Vu, it does not completely stay flush with the seem that it connects to. I do hope this does get fixed after a while. Overall the Vu looks fantastic when it's on the iPad and it also feels great to hold with it's textured patters all over the back on the front of the case. Both the texture and the TPU material gives you a good grip. The Vu does not attract any lint or dust so it keeps looking good. For $64.99 I would expect the Vu to not have any of these issues mentioned, but it certainly gives you that great protection and good looks. The Vu is available in seven colors. Price $64.99.
