The first accessory every iPad 2 owner buys is one of Apple’s Smart Covers. But as elegant as the Smart Covers are, they do not offer much in the way of protection – my iPad already has a number of alarmingly deep scratches on the back from being in my bag with my keys and camera.

Enter the Dodocase for iPad 2 – a hand-made, book-like case with an elegant wooden frame. The DodoCase has a moleskine-like design and elegantly encloses your entire iPad like a hardback book. On the right side of the book sits a wooden frame that has special cutouts for the iPad, while the left has an ownership label and customiseable colour lining.

Likes

Protection
The DodoCase is great for toting your iPad around inside any old bag and you don’t have to worry about the Smart Cover sliding off and it getting scratched or dented.

Look and feel
The case itself looks great and it’s quite nice to carry around. It’s fairly easy to get the iPad in and out of the DodoCase, with squishy corner fasteners making sure that it stays firmly in place. The wooden frame has cutouts that allow access to the connection ports and right-hand controls and an elastic band ensures the lid stays firmly shut. It’s also comfortable to use your iPad while it’s in the case (particularly in landscape mode), but it’s also fairly easy to take it out if you need to.

Weight
The bamboo used to construct the DodoCase is really light, so despite its considerable size (see below), it doesn’t add much weight to the iPad at all. Since I usually take my iPad with me when I want to avoid lugging a heavy laptop, this was quite important to me.

Dislikes

Magnets

I’ll start with a big one: no magnets. The DodoCase for iPad 2 does not support the iPad’s sleep/wake if cover is opened feature, which is quite disappointing for a case that isn’t exactly cheap. You can however jerryrig your own solution by sticking a slim fridge magnet in the right spot of the cover, but I would have assumed that  wake-on-open support would be a no-brainer for this type of product. The FAQ on the DodoCase website seems to hint that future versions of the DodoCase will have magnet support though, so it may be worth checking back in the near future.

Stand
If you flip the cover over, the case will also prop your iPad up a bit, giving you a better angle for typing. However the Smart Cover has a slightly higher angle. You can also stand the DodoCase upright , but unless you have a sufficiently grippy surface, the whole affair is a bit wobbly – the Smart Cover wins again here.

Size
While the DodoCase does add quite a bit of protection for your iPad, it does feel unnecessarily large, compared to the thin and sleek design of the iPad 2. The case is roughly 2,2cm thick when closed, which is 2,5x thicker than the iPad. When the iPad is inside the case, there looks to be a bit of space between the back of the iPad and the case, which seems unnecessary.

Conclusion

The DodoCase for iPad 2 is a great-looking case that is really well made. If you mainly plan on using your iPad around the house, I would probably stick with the Smart Cover, simply because it is more convenient. But if you plan on taking your iPad out a lot, the DodoCase is a great and stylish alternative to getting a bag with a laptop pouch.