Just a quick heads up, in case anyone is still considering the smart cover and looking to save a few bucks.
I do not personally own a smart cover, so I can not make any judgements regarding the worthiness of the purchase, however, I did notice earlier this week that a local big box discount store had them in stock for $12
I live in the South East US and the store was Big Lot's. Due to the nature of the store, they may or may not have them at several locations and I did not have time to look at them in detail, as I was in a rush.
I just thought I would mention it. I purchased a very well made leather zip case from them for $15.00 when I purchased my Ipad2. I have yet to see anything that comes close to the quality for that price anywhere, even in other diso****/ close out stores. I've had that leather case for about 8 months now and it is holding up very well. It still looks great.
I was hoping to find one for my mom, to replace her older style Spec (canvas type) case that she has for her Ipad 1, as it's looking rather shabby. Unfortunately, I had no luck finding another nice leather case like the one I nabbed up several months ago.
the closest I found was a leather case at Tuesday Mornings (another close out store) and they wanted $50 dollars for it (marked retail cost was listed as $99).
Anyway just thought I would spread the word, as these types of items can go quickly at close out stores and never return.
I also noted the SmartCovers are listed on Ebay (buy it now with no shipping charges) for $14 from several different sellers.